That’s All Folks

The past two years have gone very quickly and we still can’t quite believe that we are writing this final Canadian post from the UK. Perhaps it will sink in once the jetlag fades.

Our last week was pretty busy. Rosie still had to do a few days work as well as clearing our apartment ready to hand the keys over before our flight. After arriving in Canada with two big backpacks and two small backpacks, we had managed to accumulate a whole apartment’s worth of stuff. After lots of selling, donating and some binning (sorry planet!) we got back down to the two big backpacks and two small backpacks… and one giant suitcase and a guitar. Some arguments were had over what was necessary to pack. E.g. like many others during the pandemic, we have loved making sourdough, so Rosie was sure to dehydrate and pack our sourdough starter (split from Hannah’s original one) to take home… Spoiler alert: we made it through security/customs with no questions asked.

Although we could have spent all week cleaning, we did make the most of some lovely sunny (but chilly) days. At the weekend, we persuaded a group of friends to have a farewell BBQ on the beach. It looked warm, but it was not. We were the only ones dining alfresco. We forgot to take a group photo, but there is a shot of four of us trying to warm up with a game of petanque.

On Monday evening, we went to the Cypress Nordic area for some last cross-country skiing. This was the first time we had gone just the two of us and Ollie made Rosie cry by trying to do a run that was far too steep. She hasn’t cried cross country skiing with others, so it is clearly all Ollie’s fault.

Tuesday was Ollie’s 31st birthday. We started the day with a free breakfast (free for Ollie at least) at Denny’s. Then, while Rosie went back to work, Ollie did some outdoor climbing with Thom at Lighthouse Park. Their fingers were pretty sore after.

Wednesday was full of cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, then saying goodbye to our car and the friends we sold it to. It snowed overnight, so Thursday morning was very pretty. It had all melted by the afternoon when we went for a final walk to say goodbye to the sea wall and for a last lunch with Thom and Hannah before our flight. Thom gave us a miniature model of the barge that he had 3D printed! We love this gift, along with a print of a map of the North Shore mountains which some other friends gave us. An update on the barge: as you can see it is still there. It is looking like it will have to be dismantled and removed in pieces. Hopefully someone will remember to send us updates on any barge action now that we are not there to see it.

Our flight home left Vancouver at 6pm on Thursday 24th Feb, took 9.5 hours and landed in the UK on Friday at about 11.30am (which was 3.30 am for us… I’m sure you know how jetlag works). Everything went smoothly and we were very grateful to be collected and driven back to Ollie’s parents when we landed. We didn’t get much sleep on the flight and are now currently struggling to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime in our new timezone (we aren’t apologising for any spelling or grammar errors).

Thank you everyone for reading and leaving us comments, it has really helped us stay connected to everyone back home. Once we get settled and have some more free time, we have vague plans to make a book of the posts (including the comments) as a reminder of our two years in Canada.

Now, after a week seeing family, we will be off to try and find somewhere to live in Glasgow. Rosie has been working remotely for a space company there and is excited to get back into an office. We will continue to camp, walk, cycle, climb, sail and drink beer/whiskey. Perhaps our Rollie Followers will be lucky and get an occasional update (mountain photos mandatory), even if we don’t manage every week.

That’s all folks!