It was ther Night before Christmas

Well just wanted to say Merry Christmas from Canada.

We hope everyone is full of festive cheer, for Cath and I it is awesome to be with family over the Christmas especially with so many little ones. I can't believe that it is christmas eve already and that we have been away for four months. I just hope that Santa finds us in Saskatoon (well Langham)

Anyway enjoy the mince pies and the over indulgence

Christmas vacation

Well we have now well and truely left the cosmopolitan hub of FortLiard and have spent the last few days down in Edmonton Via an overnight in Fort St John. Today we are leaving for Saskatoon and a family Christmas which is really exciting.

Edmonton is a really nice place, but we have spent most of our time eating and shopping. If you ever go to Edmonton you have to head for Whyte Ave as it is by far the best place to shop, eat and drink.

Would like to give a big thanks to Colin and Christine for driving us down, and for Tamsyn for having us couchsurf for our entire stay.

A taste of Home

Well It's been a hectic couple of weeks leading up to Christmas but the hols are nearly upon us. We are getting into the Christmas sprite, Cath is playing the Piano for part of the schools Christmas concert, and I am going to be an elf and help Santa as he hands out the presents to the kids. OK so it means I have to wear a silly costume but on the plus side I do get to fly in a helicopter (another first off the list). In a few days time we are off to Saskatoon for a Christmas with my Cousin and her family which is really exciting, we are making a real journey of it with Overnight stays in Fort St John, Fort Nelson and some couch surfing in Edmonton.

Getting really cold now think it was like minus 32 today and is supposed to get a little colder for the weekend (not sure what the exact temperature was as I broke our thermometer last week), we have also had a pretty impressive amount of snow in the last few days, I will do my best to get some photos up in a couple of days or hopefully tomorrow. The really big news and the link to the title is that Cath and I have started our second job of House sitting, we are staying at my bosses house and looking after their 3 dogs for a couple of days, might seem like a bit of a chore but the dogs are awesome the house is amazing and I have just spent the evening watching Manchester United vs Arsenal, followed by Top Gear and the English Premier League review show whilst simultaneous drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey Tea Good old Blighty hey. I wonder if it is too much to hope that the sports channel that showed the above will also be showing the test match, now then I really would be in heaven.

Oh well hope everyone back home is having fun, apologies to my Mother, I will call soon promise!

Not a lot else to say really apart from everything here is really good, the place is awesome and the friends we have made are some of the most fantastic, helpful and generous people I/we have ever meet, so if any of them are reading this Thank you very much.

P.s  Most of the people I know back home are pretty cool as well I guess

Keep on keeping on

Update

So I came all this way to experience a really cold winter and in reality I could have just stayed at home. There are a few things that I have learnt about the cold so far, some of which you might be experiencing in the UK. Firstly anything under -10 is not really cold at all, it is suprising how long you can stand outside chatting in only a jumper at this temperature, at around -20 your nose sticks together when you sniff, at -26 I could not take my shoes off because my laces had frozen stiff, and anything below that and with wind chill is just stupuidly cold. One thing that is a little sad is that yoiu find it very difficult to make snowballs and snow men, the snow we have here is so powdery that it barely sticks together at all, still the Ice roads are opening up now so with my new found driving skills maybe I could do a spot of Ice trucking at the weekends.

Because I have seen how cold it is in the UK in my update tomorrow I will list the what to do in case you fall into a frozen river safety rules as published in last months local paper.

Anyway Cath and I are both well and happy, I have been working in the Pre school this week and will be there next week as well, and Cath is working on the schools Christmas production.

Hope everyone is well

Speak to you soon

The Good

Lots and Lots and Lots of and exciting things have been happening. I have twice been off hunting chickens (Grouse) and on both occasions I have been successful. At first you do or at least I did feel sad about killing a living creature, but if you eat meat then you have to accept where it comes from, and I can certainly say that these fellas had a much better life than any battery hen, or even farmed free range chicks out there. It would also seem that these chickens almost want to be shot, coming out on to the road and just sitting there if you miss, even if they do fly off into the bush, you only have to walk a few metres before you see them sitting there waiting on a branch. Once shot we usually thank the creator and clean them up in the trees discarding what we don’t eat for the scavengers. Last week we took a road trip with some friends to Fort St John some 600km away. It was a really good weekend, we shopped, went bowling (some crazy 5 pin bowling) and went out for Steak oh and Dairy Queen as well. We have also had Halloween which was pretty crazy I think we had nearly 50 kids come to our door, compared to England where nothing really happens anymore it was a lot of fun. Catherine has started knitting and beading and I have started to work 1 day a week at the Preschool. We have also rung the changes to the breakfast programme so that it actually happens before school rather than me having to interrupt the lessons to deliver muffins and oatmeal.

We have loads to look forward to in the coming weeks, especially our winter holiday where we are hoping to go to Edmonton for a few days before greyhounding it over to Langham for a family Christmas.

As for the weather we are yet to have a really big snowfall although the ground has been white since the end of October. The temperature is fluctuating wildly it is usually around -2 to -6 degrees C during the day but Thursday was -13 today (Saturday) was only -2 and by Wednesday it could be -25 or colder. One thing we did notice today was that the Liard river is now nearly completely iced over, on Thursday it was water and floating Ice but today there was barely any water to be seen and only the strange creaking sounds belied the moving water beneath.

Eveything else is going to plan, we have a busy week this week as it is national addictions week. We had a Sober walk yesterday and another today, and have activities on healthy eating and fitness. We still have no TV but have borrowed the Box set of Lost, HMMM Not convinced by it so far.

The Bad

Virtually all of our experiences here have been very positive and I will always think of these far more than any negatives that occur, but there are many difficulties in the area and mostly these are alcohol related. I have no intention of dwelling on these issues as this is a happy blog. Also despite the freezing temperatures there is no bloody snow accept the centimetre or so that has been on the ground since October.

and The Fort Liard

A little bit about the place, Fort Liard is positioned on the confluence of two rivers The Liard and the smaller Petiot River and has a population of just over 500. It was original settled as a trading post for fur traders. A small community grew up around the Catholic Church, but it has only been in the last 40 years that the Hamlet has taken its current form, as First nations began to settle more permanently into the hamlet. Most of the local people refer to Fort Liard as being in the tropical part of the Northwest Territories and generally receives warmer conditions than many other locations.  Still going to be -26 next week though!

Fort Laird is a mere 40km from the British Colombia boarder and the nearest large settlement Fort Nelson (pop5000ish) is 220km away and on the Alaskan Highway, this is where we do our food shopping when we get the chance of a lift. Going in the opposite direction is Fort Simpson (pop1000ish) which is around 31/2 hours away. Not sure that you can drive there at the moment as it requires crossing a river or maybe two and I think that the rivers are two icy for the boats but not icy enough to drive over.  The capital of the NT is Yellowknife which is around 8 hours away, and Edmonton I think is around 1500km.

In the Hamlet there are two shops (Northern and the general), a gas station, small motel, native craft shop and a takeaway burger Van. The Hamlet also has a recreational centre that has a large hall which is used for a youth centre most days and for most community events, it also has a swimming pool in the summer and a hockey rink in the winter. There is a school of around 100+ students and a pre-school, at the school there is also a large Gym where I run some of my evening activities such as Archery, Girls Soccer and Badminton. 

My First hunting trip

Preparing for Halloween

My outfit has been created and candy (sweets) and cookies have been made, just wanting for the hordes of kids to decend on Sunday. I always knew that Halloween was a big think in Canada but honestly it is as big if not bigger than Christmas around here. Some of the houses have been decorated for weeks and impressibly so.

The weather has been coldish with all days below freezing, yesterday the sun was out and down by the river, which is starting to freeze up the light was going crazy off the ice. I have seen the Northern Lights once and still looking forward to the BIG snow that will fall fairly soon I'm sure.

This weekend we have a halloween party for the kids on Saturday and the following weekend Cath and I are hoping to be off to Fort St Jojn on a little road trip with some friends.

I would also like to welcome my new Nephew in to the world, Nathan Watson was born on wednesday morning and weighed 6 pound something. So Congratuations to Rachel and Kelvin enjoy the sleepless nights.

Driving Lesson Number 1

On Saturday at the age of 30 i enjoyed my first every driving lesson, not in some rubbish fiesta driving round a lame empty car park, but in a huge ford 4x4 pick up, in the snow and Ice. I think i was pretty good, no damage done to the truck and no people or animals injuried in any way, I can honestly say I loved it, OK so it was am automatic but still it was a little scary. More so for the owner of the vehical when my first question in the hotseat was "OK which one's the brake".

Hopefully there will be more lessons in the future and I'm not quite a petrolhead just yet, but it was pretty cool. Also purchased a thermometer that i seem to be checking all the time -7 when i left for work at 8 this morning.

After Edmonton

Well Cath and I have just returned from taking some high school students to Edmonton, took us nearly 20 hours to get there on the Greyhound, but it was a really enjoyable and helped us to really get to know some of the students a lot better. The Conference itself could have been better especially if they had added a few more seminars on the sunday. West Edmonton mall was one of the main attractions and is I believe the largest mall in North America, within it's walls it contains a cinema, theme park, water park, paintballing and possibly some shops. I set as new record by only visiting 4 shops in two days.

I realise that me being here is a truly life changing experience, but maybe not for me, but for my mother who has finally entered reality and with the us of my old laptop kindly given free of charge, she now has the world at her fingertips luckly she is a very slow typist at the moment.

If you are reading this HI MUM.

The weather now is pretty cold usually around -5 to -10 at night and then around 0 for most of the day, however today is the coldest we have had so far and i think it's still below freezing now, we are also forecast snow for the weekend and early part of the week.

Still very much enjoying it here and looking forward to the snow and skiing,
was planning to write all about the hamlet but have used up a lot of space already so will do that tomorrow.

Up the U's

Thanksgiving long weekend

Hello to all the followers of our blog, apologies for making Jamie do all the work on the previous posts but at last I will add something too.  All is going very well in Fort Liard, I feel very settled in my new home and everyone I have met has made me very welcome.  My main role so far has been supporting students in class with reading and maths, I have really enjoyed just being able to help out students without the usual burden of planning and assessment.  I'm sure though that by the end of the programme I will be keen to get back into the chemistry lab and have a full timetable of classes.  I've also been trying to develop my creative skills which is more of an uphill struggle!  We have been having a great time making pumpkins out of paper mache ready for halloween in the after school arts and crafts club.  I'm looking forward to making lots of christmas crafts with the students and hopefully being able to add some ideas from back home.  Last weekend a visiting artist called John Rombrough ran a workshop at the community centre, we tried out a few of his techniques but you can check out his website to see some awesome artwork.  As its thanksgiving weekend we are really looking forward to our roast turkey followed by pumpkin pie, I've always loved christmas dinner so much so why limit that to once a year.  Next weekend Jamie and I will be chaperones for a group of students at a conference in Edmonton, the bus journey is about 20 hours each way so I'm sure the next post will include all the exciting news from the big city. 

What I have learnt so far

Well September has nearly ended and after a little cold snap we are having a little heat wave, down to a T-shirt today with temperatures in the high teens. Still really enjoying it here, a few things are coming up. We are moving house after the weekend would have done it over the weekend but we are off to Fort St John (think it is about 6-8 hours away) They have a Tim Horton's and a Dairy Queen. I also managed to visit Nahanni and a big thanks for David for showing me around, just hope the clouds are a bit higher when we come over for some skiing.

I have learnt a few important things so far,
Firstly I love being in a country were Peanuts are not a catagory A banned substance and dressed up as the most evil edible delight in the world. I think the philosophy here is if you can eat it, you can sure as hell put a peanut in it, breakfast cereals, cake bars, chocolate, ice cream bread, everything.

Also Watching TV from america is hilarious you have no idea about how dangerous a watermelon is, if you can, check out Youtube and search amazing race - watermelon. How it did not knock her out I have no idea.

We have some live entertainment in the hamlet tonight a Musician from Yellowknife and an Artist as well. Hope Everyone in The UK is doing well.

Aaron Guess your next to hit the 30

First Snow

Just thought I would let everyone know that we had our first snowfall last night, not loads but a good amount when compared to the amount we usually get in the UK. Most of it has gone now and although the forecast suggest that they maybe a little more on the way it is not expected to stay as the weekend and early part of next week looks could possibly reaching the heady hights of 16.

At first i was really looking forward to winter, but it has just hit me that 5 or 6 months of winter and freezing conditions might get a little samey towards the end, oh well at lest it has made my finally to get round to ordering my winter gear.

1 Month in

Well here we are nearly 1 month in to our stay here, and what can I say everything is just great, Cath is doing some actual teaching this week by teaching geology to the high school students, The kids at Fort Liard have just enjoyed participating in Canada's first national sports day where I helped organize a scatterball compition annd Archery events, sometimes the turn out to these events is pretty poor but we managed to get a decent number and everyone really enjoyed it.

I guess the big news is that Cath and I got out of the Hamlet for a day last weekend when we were given a lift to Fort Nelson, after 3 weeks here it did seem a little strange sitting in a Boston Pizza, and then drinking gourmet coffee still you need a little treat after driving 400km to get some groceries. Next week I am hopefully taking a trip with the RCMP (mounties) to a place call nahanni biute (spelling?) which is a very small hamlet of only around 80 people, no idea how long it will take to get there but really looking forward to going, I think that the area will look so different travelling on the river.

Before we left we were apprehensive about coming here, and were given a lot of information, not negative as such but more just preparation of what could happen what it might be like, what I can say so far is that everything here has been so positive. We have really started to get to know the kids at school in the last couple of weeks (I'm now known as the 'muffin man"), and it is great bumping into them in the street, everyone hasd been very friendly and we are both just enjoying it here, the possibilities just seems endless.

Some time last week i walked to the top of a small gravel pit where you get great views of the mountains to the north, and wow it was some view nothing but trees for hundreds of km, any of my friends reading this from the UK, if you have a spare 10 months coming out here is highly recommended.

The Hamlet

View down rhe main road

Down by the River

The Confluence of the Pettitot and Liard rivers

Local wildlife

Buffalo by the airstrip

Our House and future house (left)

Fort Liard Update

Thanks to eveyone who has logged on, it's so nice to hear from you all. To the other volunteers I look forward to checking out your blogs, Colleen i have tried to look at yours but i think that i need to be invitited. Out of interest is anyone else off to Edminton for Dream catchers in October.

Everyday Catherine brings in her laptop to add some photos but has promised me just know that she will do it today. We are both doing well we seem to have 2 days of blistering sun and then a day of torrential rain, the mornings are getting cold and much darker, so looking forward to the snow. I have some wheels now as a friend has given me his 'old' bike which is like the most amazing bike i have ever had the fortune to ride.

Work at the moment is going well I'm turning into a real Nigella, making french toast, pancakes, muffins, flapjack, Granola although i think i'm starting to get a little carried away for the local palate with my porridge creations. Starting the sports this week with Soccer (how it pains me to call the beautiful game soccer), Archery and badminton. As soon as we figure out how to attach the canoes to the the trucks then we will hopefully be off paddling as well.

It really is so beautiful here, the prople at work have been awesome and the locals very friendly. the Kids are pretty cool as well, but i'm getting fed up of constantly being thrashed at table football by one particular child, with the current score being 20-3.

One Week In

One week in and although the weather is sunny and hot, the trees are losing there leaves and winter looks like it is on it's way. Think we are in for a hell of a shock when it comes.

Work is going well Catherine is settling in well at school, I have been running the breakfast programme and will start the sports programme in the next few weeks, made 200 hundred muffins the other day, and bacon and eggs for nearly 100 today (learning on your feet truely is the way to go). When winter kicks in it looks like i will be helping out with cross country skiing and the biathlon, plus a little snowboarding on the side.

Beautiful place, i think cath and i will be reallly happy here. Will defo get out and take some pics to add on here asap, now we just need some people to read it. Please if you come on here then add a comment it would be great to here from some people.

Arriving in Fort Liard

Well we got her and to be fair it is pretty awesome, having drinks with Christine and Colin bit of chai tea and guacamole so maybe not what we first thought it would be like.

Being rude to my host right now so will leave it there

Arrived happy, safe and leg in pretty good health

Jamie

Yellowknife

While we have plenty of internet time we will post as much as we possibly can

Travelling was tiring but fairly uneventful, as Catherine said we passed through immigration without any major problems, although they did have me down originally as an amusement park attendent on my Visa!

Arriving in Yellowknife after a tubulent plane journey which made eating my mushroom omelette a little difficult we found quite a strange town, a decent size surrounded by lakes, we had our first signs of the drinking problems as Cath saw some lady pull a vodka bottle out of her bra before taking a swig and passing it around, and worst of all no Tim Horton's although there was evidence of discarded cups that suggested his pressence town.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Fort Liard via Fort Simpson to finally find out what our temporary home will be like, as for tonight i think we are just going to chill out, might walk to the Great Slave lake or just get some sleep.

The Bad
Major groin problems after plane journey's so now finding hard to walk any great distance without the pain being too much to bear.

The Good
Caribou meatloaf on the resturants menu.

The Fort Liard
Still unknown.

Hopefully we will start adding some photo's soon.

Jamie

Visa success

Hello all, have made it to Calgary and through immigration so all is fine so far.  Temperatures here are lovely and warm.  Going to be stopping at Yellowknife tomorrow night so pretty excited about visiting another city.  Battery is going to run out soon so best go.

The Final night in the UK

For those who don't know or don't know us Cath and I (Jamie) are off to work in Canada, up in the Northwest territories. We have left our safe jobs on the Isle of Wight and are heading off to Fort Liard to face whatever comes our way.

Our last night has been spent packing, watching Gillet soccer special (jamie) and visiting family (cath) we have mostly finished packing and are just looking forward to heading off tomorrow at 4.30PM

Having only got married on Saturday everything has been a little hectic but we are really looking forward to our trip, we plan to spend 10 months working in Canada with hopefully a little holiday at the end.

This Blog is designed to let people we know keep up to date with our adventure with hopefully loads of amazing pictures, it will also help those who follow in our footsteps working in Fort Liard or other locations in the North of Canada. It will feature the Good, The Bad and lots about Fort Liard.

A special mention to all our friends and Family and especially to my old crew of 5JW back at Downside Middle School