A trip to Bath....

After we had gotten over our jetlag somewhat, we decided to spend a day in Bath, 15 minutes from Bristol. We were expecting a very small country town and were very surprised when we arrived. It looked exactly as it would have done in Jane Austens' day (Bath and surrounds is where Austen based many of her books). The only differences were cars instead of carriages and the clothes being sold in the stores.

We spent a few hours just wandering around, going in and out of stores (including Gieves & Hawkes - in hindsight maybe we should have avoided that particular store ;-) ). After having lunch in a bar that served Bundy Rum, we visited the Assembly Rooms & the Fashion Museum, which had an incredible collection of clothes, some of which were hundreds of years old. Queen Victorias black dress was one of the highlights of the dresses on display. Finally, we worked our way up to The Circus & then the Botanical Gardens which were absolutely magnificent.

While in Bath a second time, we visited the Thermae Spa (www.thermaebathspa.com) It consisted of four levels of luxury. A rooftop spa with natural spring water heated to 45 degrees, which looked out over the rooftops & rolling hills of Bath was the first stop, followed by a steam room with 5 separate sections, each with its own essential oils filling the air. Of course we chose the Eucalyptus room. Then, after a quick afternoon snack (still in our swimmers & bathrobes) we headed down to the lower pool which had currents that gently moved you around while you floated away. It was incredibly relaxing, as you can imagine.

As it was getting late, we decided to head home. It took us 15 minutes on the motorway to get there in the morning but our GPS was a little bit special and decided that it would be better if we took the scenic route - nearly an hour in all. If we didn't need to get home to go out for dinner, it would have been lovely - we certainly saw a lot of the countryside due to that lost little GPS.....

Again look to Flickr for Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627601796148/

Heading to England

Hi all,

So yes, we have been back in Canada for over a month and this blog has been seriously neglected. In order to keep everyone in the loop, I will post a series of entries over the next few days.


First - England.

Long haul travel is never fun, unless you are lucky (read:rich) enough to afford Business or First Class. Unfortunately for us, this was not an option. On the 28th June, James' boss Cody & his wife Kristine dropped us off at the airport for our 9pm flight. (little did we know that their fourth child, Sara, would be arriving in a few hours). When we got to check in, we found out the plane was overbooked. As we had already checked in online, our place was secure. We were then offered 125 pounds each if we would give up our seats and take a flight leaving in 2 hours, and we would also be given access to the Lounge. Why not, we thought. It turns out that the second flight was not a scheduled flight, rather it was yesterdays flight, canceled due to maintenance issues. This meant that we did not board the flight till 4am!!! Luckily we were upgraded and we arrived in Bristol at 11pm London time.

We were very fortunate to be staying with Lindsay, a very close friend of James' mum, in Bristol. It is an absolutely wonderful part of England, close to Bath, Wales & Oxford among many other places. Here we met up with James D & his girlfriend Abby who showed us all around. We went to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a couple of really lovely old houses, Cabots Circus and up and down the main streets of Bristol. We also went to Bath & Oxford (separate Posts) which were really great. Have a look on our Flickr page for photos (it takes FOREVER to upload them on here)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67250933@N08/sets/72157627600973668/

My new truck

Hey All So I have just purchased my new pick-up truck, a 2001 Chev Silverado 2500 HDTD.
It is a chipped 6.6 litre Turbo diesel 4x4 6 speed manual which I'm thinking would give most V8 utes a run for there money. It is a great truck and will be perfect for work and Hunting Season. In the coming months I will be adding the Aussie touch, a 5 post Bullbar (which don't exist here)

Branding Day - Canadian Style

In Canada, big cattle brandings (for the city people - this is where the calves are vaccinated, castrated (males), de-horned, ear-tagged and fire branded with the owners sign using hot irons) are a social gathering with up to 80 people from surrounding ranches helping out to get several hundred cattle branded in a day. In this particular case, we had two heards to brand. The first heard being just under 500 head of cattle and the second being only 130 head.

In Canada, branding is still done the old fashioned way: on horseback with riders roping the calves and pulling them back over to 6 teams. Each team consists of two wrestlers, 4 people responsible for vaccinations, one for castration, one for de-horning, one for ear tagging and three for hot-branding. There is much technique involved to ensure the job is done safely and quickly. It may seem cruel to the animal but is necessary when doing such large heards, however each calf spends no more than 1 minute maximum on the ground. They are also given pain relief injections (not sure of the exact name).

James was given the opportunity of helping to rassle (wrestle) the calves which was great fun and one hell of an experience.

James Helping a 6 year old boy learn to rassle

Following the branding, the owner of the Ranch usually hosts a BBQ supper for everyone that helped. There is mountains of food and some of the best steak you have ever tasted. And lots of alcohol. But the most unusual food you will find there.....

What is this?

Guess yet?

They are the left overs from castration - thats right calf nuts or as they call them "Prairie Oysters". That are herbed and crumbed and cooked in butter on the bbq and eaten! I am not kidding. Both James and I were made to try one. I was nearly sick - they were disgusting but James had several. Everyone else loved them so it wasn't a joke they pull on Australians. After that, the party continued on in a relatively normal fashion and we had a lot of fun. James & Cody settled in and drunk a fair bit of Scotch and beer, Jess socialised and got followed around by the kids.

Jess holding Emma

yummy steak

Kristine, Cody & James

Cody & James

Everyone was very grateful that the next morning was a late start (midday). Branding is very very very hard work.....

Arrival in Alberta

Following our dramas leaving Saskatchewan, we arrived in Calgary at 9:00 that night with a job interview lined up the next morning. It was scary and exciting at the same time that we didn't know where we would be in 24 hours. James had bought a 1989 BMW 735iL for us to drive and it is a beautiful car (and the first James has ever owned outright)

James had a job interview in Cayley, 45mins south of Calgary. The job was on a mixed grain, cattle and hay farm totalling 40,000 acres over several areas. The couple who owned the property Cody & Kristine are two of the nicest people we have ever met. After talking for a little while, Cody drove us around for an hour or so, showing us his property and equipment before taking us to lunch in a really nice pub in High River (which just happens to be owned by his uncle). After lunch we went back out the farm where James was offered the job of Assistant Manager, starting almost immediately.

We were very excited but we had one problem - we needed to find somewhere close by to live. We looked online using their computer and it wasn't looking good until Kristine brought us their local paper. In it we found a room in a 3br townhouse in High River, 10 mins from the farm, with all utilities included for $400/month. After Cody and Kristine took us out for a lovely dinner (very generous people) we went and had a look and took it straight away. That night we were put up in a beautiful hotel. We took them out for a drink afterwards to say thank you and had a really wonderful time.

We are now living in the very nice, well furnished townhouse, sharing with a really nice landlord who is also very friendly and generous, in an amazing little well serviced town, High River. There is a little farm/garden across the road which is part of the development we live in.

Kitchen/Living Room

                                                          

Living Room

Dining Table

Back of the House

So we have the perfect house and James has the perfect job. His hours are long but enjoyable. He is currently driving the Spray Rig which is a highly advanced piece of equipment that practically drives itself thanks to GPS Auto-steer. 

My new toy

As you can see it is a John Deere Sprayer. EVERYTHING Cody owns is John Deere and we don't just mean tractors and other farm machinery. Everything from babies onesies (he has 3 children with a 4th due in a couple of weeks) to BBQs, kitchen cutlery, light switch panels, curtains & bedding in the kids rooms and almost every toy except for the girls barbie toys is John Deere. The cutest is a t-shirt his 3 year old son (who wants to go to John Deere School) has which says "Will trade Sister for Tractor".

Seeding setup

JD 7820 and Bail processor
(small tractor we use for feeding)

The John Deere Collection

James driving the JD8040

We are having an absolute blast and really love it here. In the next post James goes branding and eats calf nuts (I tried one and was almost sick - James had several)....

Nightmares Leaving Saskatchewan

Sorry we haven't written in so long - we have been absolutely flat out. James and I were working very long days. We were living in this awful shack which was almost falling apart and our wages were terrible. 

Even though James and I were doing the same work, I got paid $5/hour less than him. And after a while we realised the people we were working for weren't very nice. James has a diploma in Farm Management and lots of farm experience but they didn't let him drive the seeding machine, even though it was what we were told he would be doing. So James started looking for jobs in Alberta and got a lot of offers in the Calgary area (Calgary is a major city in Alberta). We told the old boss weeks before that we were planning to leave as we both weren't happy and they were very cranky when we finally told them we were leaving. They had told us that James & I could borrow the car to go pick up one he was buying in Calgary (a 1989 BMW 7 series :) !!!! ) and we would drive back and get all of our things. Then the night before we were going to go they decided that we couldn't use it and we had to catch a bus. Eventually we got him to agree to let me drive James to the airport and he flew to Calgary, bought the car and drove back and we left the next morning. 

Next - we are in the most beautiful part of Canada!

Working Hard, First Day on the Job and Im carting Grain to the next town about 40 minutes away, it sure is different driving an 18 speed Semi on the wrong side of the Cabin let alone Road but im getting used to it. 

Must love it though, My HC licence becomes a class 1 licence here so i can drive the B doubles legally.

 loading the Truck with Conola Seed

 One problem with snow, it melts and makes everything very muddy. The tractor is pulling this 40 ton B Double out of the Mud so we can line it up and load up with wheat seed

 Jess driving one of the the Spreader trucks helping spread Sulphate on the fields

 Field setup, we load the spreaders out in the field from the Truck instead of from the Silo, we are on the far southern point of the Farm, about 25 minutes drive from the Yard

 Endless open flat fields for as far as the eye can see

James Loading one of the Spreader trucks with Sulphate

Weekend in Alberta - Calgary & Banff

We decided to take a nice 6 hour drive over to Alberta for a our first weekend to see some friends and visit Calgary ( a major inland City).  

We spent a night at the Fairmont Hotel then two nights in Cochrane with friends Sam and Matt. 

On the Sunday we drove up to Banff where we are planning to spend the Winter. So beautiful

 Jess and I at the weather station looking over Banff

 Banff from the Top

 The weather station, nearly at the Top

 Jess, James, Matt & Sam

 At the top of the Gondala station there was a restaurant and above that there was a giant Compass that showed the directions to all the Capital cities in the world, at this point i was standing almost 19000 KMS from Canberra and just under 1000 KMS from Vancouver.

Banff from the Gondala

They actually sell Firearms and Ammunition in there departments stores, these pictures are taken at a Walmart (which is kind of like a Giant BIG W)