In the cottage and it's SNOWING!

Well our arrival in St John's was a bit wilder than anticipated! The Flight from Halifax was delayed 2 hours due to very high winds in St John's. We had boarded the little 50 seater plane and had just got comfy when the pilot suggested we de-plane and see if the winds abated. We really hoped we wouldn't have to spend the night at the airport as we had been up for about 20 hours at this point, but when we got back on the plane the pilot announced we were good to go.

250 mile an hour tail winds knocked half an hour off our journey and as we approached the airport our little plane was swinging from side to side in a rather alarming manner, the whole plane was holding its collective breath! But we landed very smoothly to a huge round of applause:)

We took a taxi to our accommodation for a week and when we arrived the taxi driver got out, gave me a hug and a kiss and said 'welcome to Newfoundland':) we had a very clean , cosy self contained flat which was part of a house. We abandoned trying to buy a car as getting insurance was too difficult so we spent the week exploring and shopping. New winter snow boots, gloves, hats and scarves were on the shopping list!

We met Dustin, the owner of the cottage we would be renting, when he invited us to join him and his wife for dinner at a lovely old pub in down-town St John's. They were a lovely couple and we had a fun evening as they welcomed us to Newfoundland. (they're a very friendly bunch here:)

Dunfield, our cottage extreme left, middle

Finally last Thursday, the big day arrived and we loaded the car and headed north to Dunfield which would be our new home until the beginning of March. The drive was about 300 kilometres most of it along the Trans Canada Highway, through stunningly beautiful scenery. All pine forests and frozen lakes, and hardly another car on the road!.

When we arrived at the cottage (key under the mat) it far surpassed our expectations, it was much better in real life than the web photos suggested and we thought it looked pretty good on line! The cottage is right on the water front, any closer and we'd have wet feet, so it's almost as good as being on a boat:) The cottage has been extended from it's original one bed 1930's summer home to a stunning 2 bed luxury accommodation. There are huge windows from both the ground and upper floors making the most of the views across the water. On a clear day we can almost see Ireland! We go to sleep each night to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore......

The village is tiny and only about 40 families live here, most of the young people have moved away to find work. Our biggest town is Clarenville an hours drive away and even the local small supermarket is a good 15 minutes drive away.

Dustin's Dad delivered a giant Christmas tree (it's artificial, but still the first tree we have had in many years) and it almost touches the ceiling. We had bought lights and decorations at the local dollar store and it looks lovely. We had a quiet day on Alan’s birthday with a celebratory drive into Clarenvillle and a huge lunch of fish and chips, OK we also did a bit of shopping, ice cream included, which kept well frozen in the boot on the drive home.

- 6C and I have to shovel snow!

We were invited to a carol service at the local church by Dustin's Dad and his wife where we met some of our neighbours and to top it all of it snowed properly today. We now have a good 6 inches plus, of pristine white powder everywhere. It's gorgeous! We walked back from the church making footprints in the snow and I even managed to lob a few snowballs in Alan's direction. I had the advantage as he had forgotten his gloves. Doh!

OOHH That was fun....!!!!

Our flights from London, England ( I have to say that now as there is a London in Canada) went well...until the last....
Pam got out of bed at 5:30am to get us to Heathrow  with time spare (thanks Pam) and 8 hrs later we were in Toronto. By the way Marmite is considered a liquid and Dee lost her entire supply at the security check. I lost my Swiss army knife that I accidentally left in my carry-on.

Another 2 hour flight and we are in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The planes kept on getting smaller and we finally ended up sitting in a 50 seat commuter aircraft for the final leg to St Johns, Newfoundland.  After a short delay the pilot tells us that the good news is that the extreme winds that had buffeted Nova Scotia had cleared but the bad news was that these winds had arrived in Newfoundland! Wind gusts were exceeding 100 km/hr (up to 160!!) and that he didn't consider it safe to attempt a landing in St John's. He announced a delay of 2 hrs to see what would happen. Nobody complained.

We all got off and went to Tim Hortons for a doughnut,and then remembered we didn't have any local money!  (I am sure you will read a little more about THs from Dee)

Bombardier CRJ 100/200 (our little plane)

Two hours later we are back on this little plane and the pilot announces that the wind in St John's was still as strong but the direction had changed to along the runway, so he would attempt a landing!!! I overheard one of the passengers comment that "he's an old guy and he's from St John's so if anyone can do it, he can". Hmmmm, hold tight.....  In the air he announced that the normal 1.5 hour flight wouldl only be about 1 hr as we had a 250km/hr tail wind.   As we approached, everyone took the instruction to put their seat belts on very seriously. Even the steward was seen hanging on firmly!  As we got close to the ground the plane was bouncing all over the place and pitching from side to side, but happily we touched down very gently to a cheer from all passengers. As we were leaving, the pilot was standing at the door with a smile on his face. We thanked him.

London

Ratty is now a distant memory (and hopefully long gone!) Sunflower is tucked up in her winter berth and we are about to commence phase 2 of our really big winter adventure...

Horse Guards parade in Oxford St.

Our trip to London went very smoothly; we flew Pegasus, the Turkish equivalent to Ryanair. We have been staying with a dear friend of ours who has moved into a gorgeous new flat in outer London, almost in the countryside. We rented a car for a week so we could do the rounds of our friends, and we also went into central London by public transport a few times. Our 3 weeks has gone very quickly, the highlight of which was celebrating the big 60^th birthday of the friend we are staying with.

Chef Pierre explaining the menu

This was done by a very elegant dinner party in the new flat, fully catered by a flamboyant Frenchman called Pierre. It was a lovely idea, as there was no work beforehand, no washing up and we didn't have to drive home:)

We have been eating out a lot, which although very nice, has played havoc with both our bank account and waistlines (such as they are!)

Now it is time to move on, again! On Thursday morning we fly to Newfoundland to begin the big Canadian adventure. Alan managed to buy a great ski jacket for a bargain price and I have dusted off the cobwebs and had my long winter coat cleaned. The weather forecast for our arrival is St John's is fog and 80 kilometre an hour winds! Hope the pilot can handle that!

The next update will be from the wilds of Newfoundland, or maybe the not so wilds of St John's. We are staying there for a week, as we are going to try to buy a car, as the cost of renting for 3 months is exorbitant!

There is a link to the cottage we will be staying at on the front page of the website if you fancy having a look.  www.sunflowercruising.com