Springbreak in Montreal and Quebec

Saturday Mch 8th was the first day of Springbreak and was also the day of one of the heaviest snowstorms in about 20 years. Opinions vary though as some people were inclined to think it produced the most snow since 1970. Whatever the case it was certainly the most that we have seen since we arrived.




We left about 9am on Sunday to drive to Montreal. The weather was fine and sunny although it was apparent the storm had travelled into Quebec as well. Sunday was also the start of Daylight Saving time.

We arrived in Montreal at about 6.30 pm and became lost as we had entered Rue instead of Ave into the GPS. The Hostel Chez Jean was located in Plateau Mont Royal right in the heart of Montreal. It is situated in a maze of one way
streets so that situation combined with deep snow made our job of finding it extremely difficult.

Monday was bright and sunny and we spent about 5 hrs wandering around the Old Port and Town as well as looking through Chinatown. It seems every city in the world has one. The buildings are older than those in Australia, however, the ones in The Rocks in Sydney and in particular those in Hobart have far more character and beauty. These photographs are in the street outside the Hostel we were staying at as well as in the old part of the city.

We found some excellent places to eat on Rue St Denis which is apparently quite a well known restaurant strip. Tuesday was again sunny and we drove the length of the island and saw the Olympic Stadium and park and then walked up Mont Royal. A great place for walking, bicycling and cross country skiing with fabulous views of the city. Below is a photograph of Wayne and I sitting on the wall on the summit of Mont Royal. The day was warm and the walk was invigorating though by no means difficult.

The snow was so deep on the city streets that the council had to truck it out. Signs were put up in the street 24 hrs in advance so that cars could be moved and tow trucks started driving the area sounding alarms to warn people that removal was about to start. If any cars were left on the street they were simply towed away. It cost $200 to get your car back.

Wednesday morning we left for Quebec and again it had started to snow. We arrived in Quebec about 11 am and were able to check in to Auberge Du Quartier early. This hotel is on Grande Allee which is the street which runs into Old Quebec. We spent about 6hrs wandering arou

nd Central Quebec as well as Old Upper Town which is enclosed within a fortified wall which runs for 4.6 kms. We also visited the Laval University School of Architecture which was once a seminary for the early Catholic Church and Le Chateau Frontanac said to be the world's most photographed Hotel. We also saw La Citadelle which is outside the Old City.These two photographs show the Gateway into the Old Upper City as well as Le Chateau Frontenac.


Thursday we walked over to Battlefields park which was once a battlefield, the site of the conflict that determined the course of Canadian history. The section closest to the cliffs above the St Lawrence Rv is known as the Plains of Abraham- here in 1759 the British finally defeated the French. We followed the park along the river to the Old Town where we explored the Latin Quarter and visited the Basilica Notre Dame de Quebec which is the site of the original chapel erected by Samuel de Champlain the explorer who founded Quebec. We then took The funicular down into Old Lower Town which is dominated by Place Royale, the central principal square. We wandered down Rue du Petit Champlain which is the narrowest street in North America and one of the oldest. We finished the day exploring the Old Port on the banks of the St Lawrence River. After 6 hrs walking we were exhausted and had an early night.

These photographs were taken in the streets of the Old Upper Town.
Friday was overcast with light flurries of snow. We drove home to Woodstock and despite being caught in commuter traffic we made it home in 11 hrs.

Work and Driving

The last 2 weeks have been uneventful in many ways, however, so much has still been happening on a mundane level. Wayne has had Term 1 reports to do which means he has had to enter marks and comments for 10 subjects. Together we have spent about 45 hrs over the last 2 weeks working on them. It has been a steep learning curve for both of us and by the time I have to do mine I should be an expert as we use the same reporting system. Even for the Canadian teachers it was still a time consuming job. Grade 8 students

We have also finally solved our insurance problems. Ernie, Paul's father, has spent countless hours with phonecalls and emails trying to get insurance for Paul and us. The quotes ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 and the whole process has been a bureaucratic nightmare. What I would advise people to do in future if they intend to exchange cars is to sign the car over to the Aussie exchangee so that they don't encounter the same problems that we have. Canadian Insurance Cos will only insure you if you own a vehicle which is quite ironic as they are not concerned about the vehicle and its value but rather about the individuals' driving and insurance record. In fact we can drive someone else's vehicle or rent a car and our insurer will still cover us. We finally got to meet Ernie and Elizabeth and Ernie managed to have the last laugh as he sold us the car for $2 and other considerations. The lady at the MOT queried the price but when I confirmed it she smiled and said fine. Johnsons are the company who insured us and the bonus is that we do not have to get an Ontario license which is what we were previously looking at. A big thank you to Helen Gregory and all of the past and present exchangees who emailed and even phoned us with their help and reassured us with their own insurance stories.


The snow continues to fall, in fact we have had light snowfalls most nights and on Fri 29th we had a heavy snowstorm which will ensure a snow coverage for quite a while. We have had some beautiful sunny days, however they have made little impression on the snow. Last weekend we opened the house up to get some fresh air, we had to rug up to compensate though but it was worth it.

Many people are saying that Spring is just around the corner which saddened us because when the snow disappears Woodstock could look like any Aussie city. A white landscape is still exotic and exciting for us and we definitely haven't tired of the cold yet.

We bottled our first wine brews yesterday. The Rishworths have lent us their equipment, cellar, expertise and hospitality. We hope that we don't wear out our welcome as we are enjoying ourselves immensely. Mike and Wayne hard at work

Two weeks ago we were round there putting the brews down and a quiet night turned into a party at Ed and Pauline Weiss's house with Rob Henry and Carmen, teachers who Wayne works with. Ed lives across from the Rishworths and we only went over for a brief visit when the party and dinner came to us.Below is a photograph of Mike and Laurie Rishworth.

A great night all round with a few headaches the next day. Laurie and Mike are also introducing us to the world of Canadian specials. Mike bought us 2x6kg turkeys for $13 each. We are having turkey tonight, no need to wait for Christmas or Thanksgiving. Wayne has also been shopping online at Cabelas (an outdoor supplier) as they are having an end of season sale.

Our Aussie vernacular continues to confuse the locals. When I called one student a 'whinger' she had no idea what I meant, but when I translated everyone else in the class agreed. When we say someone gave us a 'ring' to catch up they look perplexed, they have not heard of the term 'fortnight', when you ask if a shop assistant is 'free' they query you and when Wayne asked about his CdoubleA (CAA which is like NRMA) card the woman thought he was talking a foreign language, which in a sense he was. Students 'write' exams they don't 'sit' for them, which actually makes more sense and 'folders' are 'binders'. There is also a clothing company called "ROOTS" and it is not unusual to see people wearing hats and sweaters with 'Roots' emblazoned across them. We, of course, thought this really funny and had to let people in on the joke. Again they had never heard our translation of 'roots'.

Next week is Spring break and while many Canadians are heading off to warmer climes we are going over to Montreal and Quebec City. We will post another installment when we return.

Andre, Lee and Niagara Falls

Lee and Chris outside Broadview Ave house

Friday the 15th Feb was a memorable day as Lee and Andre were married in Greensboro, North Carolina. They arrived in Woodstock at 2pm Sat 16th and we had a great day. Sun 17th we drove over to Niagara Falls which is about a 2 hour drive, at least it was that day as it was raining heavily and conditions were bad. It is simply an awesome sight even in the drizzling rain and misty conditions. The town itself is somewhat tacky with lots of amusement arcades, haunted houses and weird and wonderful museums. Nonetheless we had a memorable day and on the return trip we visited Costco for the first time. We don't have anything like it in Aussie -- we managed to spend a lot of money in a very short amount of time.

We were fortunate to actually arrive in one piece as there were over 200 accidents on the 400 network. We actually saw a truck on its roof as well as another 3 cars on the side of the road. As we got closer to Niagra, conditions improved which meant we were not driving in slush and ice. We will definitely be back for a week in summer.

Wayne, Lee and Chris at Niagara Falls

First Three Weeks

Chris and Wayne in Woodstock

We have been in Ontario now for 3 weeks. We arrived in Toronto on Jan 25th via Vancouver where we had an unpleasant encounter with immigration. Geri (Val's sister) and her husband Al collected us from the airport and showed us the house.

Sat was a late start, however, the beginning of some amazing winter weather. It began to snow and continued throughout the day. We toured Woodstock and located St. Mike's and St. Mary's and on Sunday, our community sponsors, Mike and Laurie Rishworth, also showed us the sights. We were treated to Tim Horton's coffee which many Canadians are addicted to and we discovered why as it is so much cheaper than Aussie coffee.

Monday was our first day of school and while I had exams, Wayne was thrown to the lions with 28 grade 8 students and not much idea of what to do. His week continued to get more stressful as mine offered endless time to get organised. Tuesday saw bus cancellations due to ice which means in the high school no students come. Friday we had a massive storm and all of the schools in the London Board were closed. The weather continued to entertain us and my second week was far from normal. Tuesday and Wednesday had bus cancellations due to fog and ice respectively so no school again. The locals say this winter has been particularly severe and cancellations most unusual. Greater Toronto area has seen heavy snowfalls which has disrupted traffic and caused countless accidents. We have only seen sunshine 3 days in the last 3 weeks so I can well understand the phenomenon of "cabin fever."

We have been treated like royalty by the Canadian people who have been so welcoming and helpful. Wayne loves playing the ignorant Aussie tourist, however, it has paid dividends. Shopping has been fun; groceries are generally cheaper and there is certainly more variety; clothing is also relatively cheaper and I have discovered that shampoo, cosmetics and skincare ranges are exactly the same as Aussie -- so no adjustments.

Ontario driving and insurance have proved to be nightmarish. We still do not have our car insurance sorted and if Wayne has to get his Ontario license immediately the procedures are illogical, almost nonsensical.

We have visited London (about 300,000 people) which is about 50 km away as well as Ingersoll (about 10,000). Many of the people we work with commute. Woodstock is a city of 35,000 and many think it is small and quiet. It is not small but it is quiet and the young people don't have a great deal to do apart from sport. St. Mary's is very involved with a variety of sports and the school spirit is strong.

Leaving soon

Hugh and Owen on New Years Day 2008

Wayne and I leave for Canada on 25th January 2008. We will be flying into Toronto in very chilly conditions, whereas our exchange partners will arrive for perhaps our hottest month. We are lucky enough to be able to meet them at the airport as they arrive on the morning that we leave. They have been wonderful to work with. They are Val and Paul Popovich and we would hope that all of our family and friends will make them welcome. As the time gets closer we get more excited. We will keep you posted after we arrive.