Kent the Garden of England

The first night off the plane we rode the Tube and the train to get to the in-laws. Outside the train station I spotted my first Urban Fox and I took that to be a good omen.  I spent most of the first few days exploring the Royal Victoria Place shopping centre and learning the local streets in case I get lost trying to find my way to shops. My real pleasure though was how green it is around here. They told me Kent was the Garden of England and with Tundbridge Wells being central Kent I have seen why it has achieved that name.

At the in-laws flat they told me they had a pond out back and I couldn't resist going down to explore. On the first trip we got a surprise, an Urban Fox was cleaning itself in the middle of the path. We stopped and watched it for a few minutes before making a loud enough noise to get its attention and it ran off into the bushes. I brought Geoffrey down to the pond with us and he loved the fact that there was a old stump to rest on while we walked the edges looking at the Ducks and Moore Hens. We made a couple of visits to the pond during the first week. It is such a picturesque place to sit and wait for the nature to reveal itself.

The end of the week we wandered down to the Pantiles. This is where the infamous wells of Tunbridge Wells are located. It is full of shops and touristy things to check out. The waters from the Chalybeate Spring can actually be sampled in the summer so I am looking forward to being able to do that next year. 

Another great local attraction is Calverly Grounds. A local park and recreation area just off behind the BBC store. It was a lovely spot to stop and rest after doing some serious shopping. I just love how many natural areas there are in this part of the country. It is quite a contrast compared the images in my mind when it came to England. I guess I was basing my ideas of the country on London alone which is a bad habit to get into. I have learned there are so many lovely and different places to explore and I can't wait to see more of this wonderful country. It has been very welcoming in the first week and although it will never remove Canada from my heart, I figure there is room for it as well.

Just goes to show that no matter where you go in the world as long as you explore you will find things to leave you in awe and wonder. Keep on dreaming,

~Diligentdaydreamer

The Journey Across the Pond

A week ago we left Canada and have been exploring Royal Tundbridge Wells since. The trip was so exciting that I think the best way to talk about it is to have my friend Geoffrey the Gnome narrate it for us.

Good day everyone! My name is Geoffrey and I come from a prestigious line of travelling gnomes. I have been residing with Diligentdaydreamer and The Hubby for 4 years now and I can tell you I was quite excited to under take this journey with them. After living a sedentary life on their balcony in Ottawa for the last two years it was time for me to see the world again.  I will go through some of my photos to help me show off all of the wonderful things we have seen so far.

My latest adventure started in the early afternoon on Sunday September 16, 2012. With our suitcases packed and ready to go we bundled into the van and headed into town to have a good-bye Lucheon with Grandma. Wendy's won out as the place to go and as far as fast food places go I couldn't complain. I always find they fresh ingredients and have a varied menu where everyone can find something they like. I nibbled on a bit of my toadstool chips while I waited for everyone to be ready to go.  There were tears as good-byes were made and the family headed up to the Memorial Centre to watch an OHL hockey game.

I stayed in the Van as I find hockey rinks bitter cold for my poor little nose, but from the stories I heard afterwards it was a very exciting game between the Kingston Frontenac's and Ottawa 67's. It was good for Diligentdaydreamer to spend the time with her family, even if they were all cheering for different sides.

So with more good-byes and fond memories made we were on our way to Ottawa to spend a night with some friends. It was good to watch my family having laughs with good buddies and relaxing before their flights the next day. I think it made them a little less stressed to know that they were among friends before making such a big change in their lives. I had an early night and fell asleep with Olivia and Sammy the resident cats. I knew it was going to be up to me to wake everyone up the next morning and I didn't want to mess anything up. 8am came all too early and we had to get around and get to the Ottawa airport.

I started to get excited at the airport right away. They had an electric car on display! Us Gnomes are big environment advocates and I really hope electric cars will catch on as the way to travel of the future. Other interesting sites at the Ottawa airport included a canoe, some lovely artwork and of course the planes coming and going. Being a Monday afternoon the place was fairly quiet and it was nice to be able to walk about and look at things with out too many of your big types hanging about. 

Just after 1:30pm our plane pulled into the terminal. We flew on Westjet to Toronto which was about a 45 minute flight. 

We landed in Pearson airport which was full of other flyers waiting to take a plane to some corner of the globe. The Hubby and Diligentdaydreamer were very hungry so they found a place to get some grub called Coyote Jacks.  It was a decent burger and fries joint which allowed all of us to rest our feet and refill our tummies. The cheese burgers looked delicious and the fries were nice and spicy. After lunch we found a nice bench rest on a people watch until our ticket gate for Iceland Air opened up.

It was a lot busier at Pearson airport so I didn't want to wander far from my family, but I did manage to catch sight of one or two interesting things. First off if your doggie can fit in a nylon bag on your lap I guess you can take it on some planes as a carry on. One chap was walking his Yorkie around the airport to give it some exercise before the flight. The Aiport also had Wifi everywhere..even in the bathrooms as their signs pointed out. The last thing that I thought was really neat was the shoe shine booth. I was almost ready to unpack my bindle and start my new life working at the airport in the Shoe Shine, but I had second thoughts so it was time to find somewhere for dinner.

We found a quaint little place for dinner called Beaches. The Hubby had a meatloaf and potatoes and Diligentdaydreamer had a beautiful chicken ceaser salad. I munched some more toadstool myself, but they both said the food was great and hit the spot before getting on a plane for 5 hours.  I think the waiting had started to get to all of us as I was really giddy when I saw the Iceland Air plane pull up to the Terminal.

Our flight took us back over Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland. Diligentdaydreamer got a bit chocked up as Grandma talked about Goosebay fondly as the farthest place she had ever lived and since we went right over it, it hit home how far away we were actually going to be from Canada. The flight itself was good but none of us were able to get much sleep. We watched tv shows like Pingu and the Simpsons, some documentaries about Iceland and movies like Rio and Speed. It was a fun way to pass the time. When the plane landed in Keflavik we were all pretty warn out, to the point that we didn't even play the card game we purchased for the 9 hour layover. We spent most of that time napping, looking out the windows at the barren environment devoid of trees and looking around the few duty free shops they had.

Finally the 9 hours had past and it was time for the final 3 hour flight to get to England. It had been a long trying time in the airport so we were glad to be moving once more. As we boarded the plane I thought to myself that I would like some time to explore Iceland proper next time and not be so tired that I didn't want to move or speak. The plane had only a 10 minute delay over Heathrow airport which was beneficial for us as we got a bird's eye view of the Millennium Eye and Big Ben as well as lots of football pitches all lit up in the night sky. It was 8pm local time but our bodies all felt like it was 3pm E.S.T. so when we got through customs and met up with the In-laws the rest of the trip via the tube and the trains were pretty much a blur.

I Geoffrey the Gnome will now turn the keyboard back over to Diligentdaydreamer as this has been quite a lot of typing for my stubby fingers and I am going to go out into the garden to speak to some of the local snails.

Thanks Geoffrey for filling everyone in our flight details for the trip. Because so much has happened since I will leave you all to read over Geoffrey's entry and will post another blog this week to tell you all of the fun things we saw and did during the first week here. Thanks for stopping by and keep on dreaming

~Diligentdaydreamer

Going Away Lunch and a Hockey Send Off!

The last week at my parents place consisted of more walks and bike rides mixed with website shopping trips into town. Watched my bro make his hockey rep. team and my youngest bro still going through tryouts as goalie for his house league. I felt bad for the Hubby as he is not a hockey fan, but he has been good and stuck through it
Today has been hard as it started off with a difficult good bye and did not get any easier. Saying good bye to my puppy Lister, as he has to stay behind until we can save up to pay for his quarantine testing. Other then the trip to Vegas I took two years ago this will be my longest separation from my puppy. At least I know my family will take good care of. Here is a picture I took off the two of us Saturday afternoon.
Today we went into Brockville and had lunch at Wendy's with the whole family and grandma. I tried to be strong when she hugged me goodbye. But she started saying how I was her little girl and how much she loved me and I teared up a little. I was proud of myself for not breaking down completely.
After we took grandma home it was back up to the memorial centre to watch the Ottawa 67s take on the Kingston Frontenac's in an OHL exhibition game. It was an action packed game with thrills and spills. The 67s won 8-7.
So then we had to say good bye to my dad and little bro as they were going back to the house to make sure the little bro for on bed on time as it is a school night. As dad was telling me he loved me out was hard for me to speak. Dad ordered me not to very though add that would stay him off and he needed to drive home still. So after giving the little bro a hug good bye my mom, the bro, the Hubby and I piled into the van and are now on the road to Ottawa.
Tonight the Hubby and I will stay with friends for one final night and then tomorrow at 2pm we take our first flight. I think the adventure of our all will help keep the tears at bay. I love all my friends and family here in Canada and will miss them terribly. I will keep you all close to my heart.

Slow Internet Leads to Outdoor Fun

7 days until we leave Mallorytown . We have been in this rural area for 9 days, but thanks to slow internet and our determination to stay active while we are here, we have managed to 7 days until we leave Mallorytown . We have been in this rural area for 9 days, but thanks to slow internet and our determination to stay active while we are here, we have managed to keep ourselves busy. Due to the length of time since my last post this one will probably be a long one. Hopefully I shall be able to keep you entertained with my tales of things to do when you are visiting the middle of no where. Our first night back home was not dull at all. We drove into the town of Brockville after dinner, which is about 20 minutes away by car. We were suppose to watch my brother try out for his high school football team, but a couple hours of teens doing drills was not our cup of tea. So The Hubby and I took a quick stroll over to the 1000's Islands Mall to do a quick window shop. The mall has changed drastically since I was growing up here. This is mainly due to the fact that Wal-mart has moved out of the mall and built a Superstore plaza up the road with a lot of well known box stores.

-We did go back to Thousand Islands Secondary School or T.I.S.S. for short, to watch the end of the try out session. I really don't understand why my brother wanted to be a T.I.S.S Pirate. He was a St. Mary's Crusader for Jr. High, our mom and myself were both Brockville Collegiate Institute's (BCI) Red Rams and I may be biased, but T.I.S.S. would not have been my first choice for secondary education. However he does want to try T.I.S.S' integrated science program and he is really sporty so maybe I am being to hard on him for his choice and maybe things have changed since I was in school and T.I.S.S maybe closer to BCI when it comes to the academic side of things.

 It was nice to be back in my old stomping grounds. The house has not changed much on the outside since I moved out eight years ago, but my folks have done a lot of home improvements on the inside. I love being able to look around and mostly see fields or forests as far as the eye can see.

 Of course Saturday night from mid-spring until mid-fall there is usually a race on at the Brockville Ontario Speedway (B.O.S.). We could not pass up a night of dust, engine noise and excitement. I think the high lights would have to be the 40 rookie car rolling 4 times and the driver being well enough to get out and give everyone a thumbs up and what I like to call karma for the hot head. There was three cars going around the fourth turn of the course and one ended up going into the wall and being knocked out of the race due to mechanical failure. The driver was so furious about it that he tried to kick one of the other cars when it came back around. Then as they were towing his car away he was seated on the driver's side window ledge when the second car in the accident came by. The hot head started yelling at the driver and gesturing wildly. It looked like he might have tried to hit the other car as well, but he lost his balance and fell from his car face first into the side of the car he was yelling at. The fans in the stands could not stop laughing and cheering at that one. Never tempt karma to teach you a lesson in humility.

 As I mentioned before we have been trying to stay active while we are here. So when we are not playing Civilization IV together to try and pass the time, we are usually out biking or walking around the country highways and side roads. The weather for the most part has been gorgeous and last Sunday night my Dad, two brothers, the Hubby and I enjoyed a roaring camp fire in the family's fire pit on our land across the road. One thing I love about visiting my family is camp fires. I sing my old guiding camp fire songs, teach the boys fire tricks like sugar will turn flames blue, copper will turn flames green etc. It is usually just a nice relaxing time at the end of the weekend.

Our next adventure was not until Wednesday when we went into Brockville to visit my Grandma. I love my Grandma dearly and will miss her when we leave Canada. I am glad I got to spend time with her during my stay here because as we both get older I know the time we spend together is only limited. It is not something that can last forever. Anyways on a happier note, her dog Snowflake is about 13 and is still the cuteness thing ever. So we were happy to visit with Snowflake as well.

We went out and around King St. which is the main street for downtown Brockville. It was nice to see the town, what had changed and what hadn't. We stopped for lunch at Bud's on the Bay because it has a patio overlooking the St Lawrence River which is just amazing.

I had a turkey and apple sandwich with a Pepsi. It was really good, I would never have thought to put apple slices on my sandwich, but the apple complimented the turkey breast, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce nicely. It was on multi-grain bread too so I felt very grown up and healthy eating it. If you ever are in the Brockville area I would highly recommend giving Bud's a try. We ended the day by taking a stroll through Centeen Park and Block house Island. Both were really picturesque. I think the best part was the Old railway Tunnel, RCAF plane and the Statue of Con Darling.

The story about Con Darling as I can remember it involves a gentleman who loved making kids happy. Every parade we would have in Brockville you would see Con dressed up as a hobo style clown and he would either have his invisible dog or a live chicken in a run down carriage. He was such a pitiful sight, but he would make jokes and play gags that would make all the children laugh. When Con died parades did not seem as fun as they used to. The kids at T.I.S.S. made the statue in Con's likeness and when you were baby sitting, if you took the kids to Block House Island, Con was always a great landmark to tell the kids to go to if you got separated. I think it is wonderful that even with Con Darling no longer among us children can still see him and his chicken to this day.

Thursday was a long bike ride day. We biked down to Howe Rd and back which according to Google Maps is a round trip of 18km. I was dead at the end, but really proud that I made it with only a few minor stops on the way back as I was past my exercise tolerance by a long shot. I got sun burnt and probably a bit dehydrated, so when I went to the Memorial Centre hockey rink to help hand out jerseys for the Bantam Rep. tryouts I didn't feel like I needed a sweater or coat as I was on fire. Lucky for me the pain of becoming a human lobster took my mind off the fact that it might be the last time I am in the Memorial Centre before I go across the pond. I have been Brockville Braves Jr. A hockey fan since I was eight and no matter where I am I will always have a special place for the rink in my heart. Who knows maybe one day the brother who was trying out for Rep. Will be a Jr. A player with the Braves and I will have to make a trip back to Canada to watch him play.

Friday the Hubby and I decided to keep our long activities up with a walk into Mallorytown proper. It wasn't too bad, only took us an hour to get into the village and we both still had plenty of steam. We stopped at the local grocery store, LCBO and Beer Store combined, Purcell's Freshmart.

They have always had the best subs as far as I am concerned. I think it is the fact that they use really fresh ingredients and that for the past 15 years I have been able to order an SS Club with the works and it always comes with all the things I love on it. That with a blue Powerade made up my lunch which we had at the Recreation Park to give our feet a rest.

 At this time we felt we still had some steam and decided we were going to take a different route back home then the one we took in. My dad had mentioned a back route out of the village that would bring us to a near by side road to the house. We figured if he was saying he could bike this route then we could definitely walk it. We had two bottles of water with us so we set this challenge for ourselves. Unbeknownst to us this route was twice as long as the main route into the village, but it was nice and sunny out and we had lots of time to kill. The highlight of the walk was meeting a golden lab named Roxy. She was nice and friendly, but maybe a little too friendly as she followed us for about 5 minutes. We started to get worried she would get lost or injured if we didn't take her back where she came from. When we got there the owner of the house actually told us that she lived around the corner, so we walked a bit more and once we got near her yard Roxy took off and forgot all about us. She did add an extra 10 minutes of walking to our trip though

By the time we reached the turn off for June Town Rd we were all ready exhausted. Dad had called to check up on us and when we didn't answer due to spotty cell phone reception he came driving down the road to see if we were ok. By the time we met up the Hubby and I only had 4km left in the circuit and we were determined to make it. When we finally reached the house a nice shower and a nap were in order as we felt like we had run a marathon. When we got up we checked the distance we had walked on Google Maps. The whole circuit is 19.2km, I could not believe we had walked that far in one day. 

Needless to say Saturday was rest day we mainly stayed around the house and played with Lister and my parent's Cockatil who is named Hibou.

So that about sums up what I have been up to over the last week and 2 two days. I really can't believe by this time next Monday I will be at the Ottawa Airport waiting for the first plane of our trip to England. I am really looking forward to seeing my in-laws again. It has bee over 3 years since I saw them last and we all get along well so it has been too long since we have had a proper visit. I am going to miss my family, but I think we will all be happy to have a bit of a break from each other after being together for two weeks. So if you are ever out in the country don't just stay inside hoping for the internet to get faster...get out there and get active. As always keep on dreaming ~Diligentdaydreamer