M - long time no posting

Well some things have happened but it hasn't been terribly exciting since I last wrote. One highlight was Josh getting a job. He accepted the job offer I mentioned in the last post, so he has now been one whole week at Presslogic. We lucked out by starting one week before they were having their very belated Go Live/Xmas 2005 party. Thankfully they are not like IRD in that I get to go to these things too. The party consisted of Lazer tag with all the wives and kids joining in, which turned out to be a lot of fun, and Josh and I both won prizes. Josh for shooting the boss's kid the most times (he had played many times before and was much better than the rest of us) and me for getting the highest overall score in the third round. That makes me the only person to beat that kid!

Then the adults went out for dinner at a local casino. Very good crab and shrimp, I ate far too much! It's difficult to get used to coming home smelling of cigarettes again, I had to take a shower right away and out all my clothes through the wash.

Josh is finding the work environment very different, as they use a progamming methodology involving working in pairs in a single room which has a number of communal workstations. He has his own desk in an office, but is never there during the day and really only uses it for email. Part of the reason for taking this job is that Josh was keen to try this type of developing.

Getting our bed last week was very exciting after 3 and a bit months on a thermarest, but the bed we have is really awful. I can feel the springs in my back and I have a really hard time getting to sleep. Still no couch, but we are going to see a 2nd hand futon sofa later this week which will hopefully work out. I'm keen to get a futon one so that all the 100's of people who are going to visit us will have somewhere to sleep. (hint, hint!)

The weather has improved thankfully, a very respectable 23 degrees yesterday, and yesterday we got a fantastic view of the Rocky Mountains laid out to our west all glistening white in the sun. I can't wait to get out there...

M - About the Salmon...

My Mum tells me that her book of NZ nature says there is Chinook or Quinnat, Altlantic and Sockeye in NZ all introduced in 1868 but taking until 1921 to properly establish. Sockeye are landlocked by hydrodams on Waitaki River and Atlantic are confined to LakesTe Anau and Manapouri. Chinnook is most common in Waimakariri, Rakaia and Rangitata and Lower Waitaki. The chinnook come from the Sacramento River in California.

Mean while we have been very busy getting our house better set up. We now have a bed, which is a bit like sleeping on an enourmous jellyfish, and have scored heaps of kitchen stuff from a garage sale next door, the Salvation Army and the local Looney shop ($1). We have also invested in a new laptop and cable internet, so have been catching up with people on Skype.

Our living room furniture is still resticted to one chair and a TV cabinet, and without a car it might stay that way for a wee while yet.

Josh has been to a few interviews, and has one promosing offer which he is considering. Meanwhile I have been working, at Spirit West/Outdoor Approach but have just this moring told my employer that I don't really like it there and will be looking for a new job. There are so many oppotunities here at the moment, that it seems to present a great oppotunity to find a rewarding position.

After seemingly eternal sunshine, we are having a few days of rain, and it is snowing in the mountians. It is about 8 degrees outside, but doesn't really feel cold to me at all as there is no wind. The city could do with a bit of a wash.

M - Longterm campsite located

Looking for a place to live has been Josh's full time occupation since we landed in Calgary. We have looked at 1 bedroom flats, 'batchelor' units (studio apartments) and basement apartments, which are usually under a retired couple's house. For the last few days we have been staying in one of those basement apartments thanks to my new employer setting it up (thanks Steve!) Mostly all of these places have fallen into two categories, either nice but expensive and lots of competition to move in, or else grotty. Finally however we have found a compromise.

It is a basement apartment in the suburb of Ramsay, but the people upstairs are other renters not the owners, so it is more like living in an apartment building. Totally separate entrances make things a bit more private too. The layout is really weird, and not very space efficient, but as we have no furniture we're not super concerned about fitting everything in! Best of all we can move in tomorrow night which is when we have to be out of the other place. Plan B was to sleep in the shop! Oh and it's right near the zoo.

In other news we spent 6 hours yesterday at the Market Mall shopping for interview clothes for Josh. It as painful for all involved, but he now has a very swish get up, who can imagine him with new shoes, dress pants, crisp shirt and even a tie? I hardly recognised him in the shop, even the wild beard shown in the previous post has been all neatly trimmed.

Calgary has way too many shopping malls, and big box retail is out of control. We visited a couple more today as we began getting stuff to set up our new home. We came to Calgary because we were tired of camping, but it will be thermarests on the floor at least to begin with. At least we won't have to pack up each morning.

J - Some recent photos

Fish wheel. Catches salmon while you sleep :)

Merewyn makes a break for the US border near Haines.

Mereywn has an ear ache in Valdez.

Valdez Alaska home port of the Exxon Valdez. Cloudy/Rainy. Perpetually.

Peter Pan salmon cannery, Valdez.

Merewyn the pannier fairy searches for goodies.


I land a coho salmon from Jeff Kellys boat in Sitka. Meanwhile Jeff is landing the same salmon on the other side of the boat. A 1/2 hour fishing line fiasco ensues...

Merewyn on Beaver Lake, Sitka Alaska.

Sarah, myself and Lynn. Family friends from Sitka.

Sitka sound.

M - Legally and gainfully employed

The remainder of our time in Sitka passed by in a whirlwind. We did go fishing and caught a very respectable Coho salmon (which reminds me can someone who knows what species of salmon we have in NZ please leave a comment about that?) and even saw a couple more puffins too. We also caught up with Lynne Chassin, another family friend of the Groom's and Josh was going to give her a ride on the back of his bike but before we knew it time was up and we were heading for the ferry terminal.

Unfortunately with all the excitement, we clear forgot that we were supposed to have got proof of funds to show Canadian customs that we have access to NZ $4000 in order to have our working visa's processed...

So another couple of boring days on the ferry and we get off at Prince Rupert, BC and line up to present ourselves at customs, and it was at that moment that I remembered we were supposed to have got the paperwork. There was no other option but to hope that they somehow let us through, so we presented our letters and gave the poor border patrol lady quite a headace. Normally people in our situation would be sent back over the border, but Prince Rupert is a 6 hour ferry ride from that imaginary line in the sea. After phone calls to superiors and various questions about how much money we did have, and what jobs we were intending to get we were issued visitors permits and allowed in, but no working visa. Perhaps we might be able to sort it out at an inland office they suggested.

A three day ride to Calgary was mostly uneventful. Once in town we spent a frustrating day walking all over the place trying to find an ATM which would give us an account balance, and find the Customs and Immigration Office. When we finally did find the office it had closed a half hour earlier - at 3pm! The nice lady at the call centre suggested that if we printed out a statement from our internet banking then that might be sufficient but she couldn't say for sure, but that we would have to present at a port of entry, no inland office could help us.

There is only one thing for it, and we start riding south towards Carway, the border with Montana. We really didn't want to have to do this for a few reasons, my bike has a very worn rear tyre, which wouldn't be so bad but it has worn quite unevenly. Josh's bike has been developing a problem with one of the front brake disks for a while now, which is becomming quite bad. Add to that his fork seals which have leaked on and off throughout the trip have now totally C**ped themselves and the fork oil is leaking all over the front brake assembly. Luckily both problems are on the same side so there is at least one functioning disk on the other side!

Nasty sidewinds and the annoyance at having to make the trip are allayed slightly by the nice campground we discover in Nanton. It has grass (!) and fresh water (!!) and for a loonie you can even get a hot shower (this is just a bonus really) . A loonie is $1, it has a piture of a bird called a loon on it. $2 is called a toonie (ofcourse). Anyway the campground was so nice we stayed there both ways.

Just showing up at the border wasn't enough, we had to go out through USA customs, and then back in again. Josh was holding his breath to see if they honored my visa... but sure enough two fingerprints and $6 later we did a U-ie and rode right back into Canada.

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT THEY NEVER EVEN ASKED FOR PROOF OF FUNDS!!!!!!

Grrrr. Josh wanted to show it to them anyhow! To top all that off I started my new job today, on time and completly legit.

Our new mission is finding somewhere to live.