Runnin' Back to Saskatoon

One of several bridges in Saskatoon:View of the same South Saskatchewan River from my parents' former farm (about 1 hour north of Saskatoon):Church at Historic Batoche, just a few miles from the old family farm:

Five years since our last visit, we finally made a return trip to my hometown of Saskatoon. The last time was the occasion of my Mom's 80th birthday in 2005. I have seen my family since then (lest you think I am a really bad daughter/sister), but at other family celebrations, just not in Saskatoon. I enjoyed seeing the old haunts and I think my kids got a kick out of seeing where I grew up. Ted kept busy kibitzing with my family and, of course, washing any and all cars around especially our own :)

At one time, all nine members of our family lived in a big house on a leafy street near the university. At this point there is only my Mom, now in a retirement residence, my brother Jim's two adult children (Laura and Jim Jr.), and another one of my brothers (Bob) and his family still residing in Saskatoon. Brother Bob and his wife Mary-Jane are now empty-nesters with daughter Portia at McGill and son JP on his own but still in town. JP has lost the fabulous dreadlocks he sported throughout high school and looks so handsome and grown-up I would not have recognized him.

A couple of times I snuck away from all the family action to see a few old high school and university friends. We all congratulated ourselves on how little we have changed and how great we all still look, ha, ha. Well what are friends for, if not to prop up your ego?

Saskatoon itself just keeps looking better and better. The crown jewel of this city of about 200,000 is the mighty Saskatchewan River that runs through it, the parkland and trails alongside the river, as well as the many bridges that span it. We shopped at the expanded Farmer's Market, went for scenic bike rides along the river (an even better ride, I will admit, than Ottawa's canal bike paths), and saw all the new shops and restaurants in the growing downtown and Broadway areas. But mostly we hung out at Bob & MJ's place, the kids swimming in their backyard pool and visiting with their Nana, aunts, uncles and cousins.

My Mom's new seniors' home is quite lovely and it was reassuring to see that she has made several good friends. We all felt Grandpa George's absence, though, and can hardly comprehend that is already five months since he passed away.

Homeschooling, believe it or not, has continued - aren't we the cruel parents? We took a trip to historic Batoche to learn all about the North-West Rebellion of 1885 - or should I say, the North-West Resistance of 1885. Very interesting that people in Saskatchewan refer to the incidents associated with Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont as an armed "resistance" whereas in Ontario it is still called a "rebellion". A matter of perspective. Louis Riel is regarded as a hero of the Metis people for standing up to the indifferent government in Ottawa; he was hanged for treason, though. That sentiment of westerners disliking Ottawa still exists to some degree. Chatting with staff at Batoche, they would always ask, where are you visiting from? Ottawa, I would say apologetically, but I'm actually from Saskatoon.

A big highlight for me was travelling just a few more miles to the north-west of Batoche to once more see the farm my parents owned until the mid-1990s. This was a beautiful chunk of land that my Dad loved and spent every spare minute at, even though we never lived there. We ran into the man who now owns it with his brothers. This man, Raymond, was kind enough to spend a couple of hours with us, showing all the things I remembered - such as the huge buffalo pit we used to climb down - and all the things that have changed and developed with the new owners. A lake my Dad created (long story involving dynamite to blow up beaver dams plus many earth-movers) now has many homes and cottages on its shores. Just before he died in 1989, my Dad had carved up a section of land around the lake into cottage lots. Seeing actual homes and cottages surrounding this lake was amazing to me. As kids we swam in it. We skated on it. And now a small community lives by it. Weird.

Jackson is enjoying Uncle Bob & Auntie MJ's pool and perfecting his dive:

Uncle Bob instructing Jackson in the ways of chopping kindling for an outdoor fire we had one night:

Sharing brunch with my Mom at her new place (Mary-Jane's Mom joined us as well):

Playing ping pong with Nana at the retirement residence:

The kids loved it when Uncle Bob took each of them for a spin in this little convertible that was his gift to Auntie MJ:

Nephew JP with his girlfriend Ashley:

My niece Laura & her partner Rob, expecting this December:

The church at the historic village of Batoche:

Hard to see but Jackson is holding Flat Stanley here. He's getting a little embarrassed about the whole Flat Stanley thing now and is trying to hold him inconspicuously- alas, we may have to put FS to rest soon :)

Bullet holes in the rectory (from General Middleton's gatling gun):

Cemetary at Batoche (Louis Riel was buried in Regina, however, where he was hanged):

Jackson in front of Gabriel Dumont's memorial stone at Batoche:

Sign at one of the entrances to my parents' former farm:

My Mom and Raymond sharing a beer at the old family farm (now his property):

Chante Lake - I had to agree when Raymond said to me "your dad was 20 years ahead of his time". It was rewarding to see the lake so high and fresh and even stocked with fish:

Homes and cottages dotting Chante Lake:

Ted talking to Raymond. This is the spot on the farm where my parents dreamed of building a retirement house - amazing views of the South Saskatchewan River and on the edge of an historic buffalo pit:

Our trusty Saturn Vue has good high clearance to drive the farm fields:

Time to keep driving. Maybe next time I won't wait so long to run back to Saskatoon.

Kia Ora from New Zealand

Auckland skyline:
Hello from New Zealand! In Maori, hello is kia ora. We arrived here last Monday without much of a plan, other than to tour the North Island. I had toured the South Island many years before, and although it is stunning, the landscape is very similar to parts of western Canada. We were undecided about our route right up until the day we left Sydney and then we heard of flooding and terrible weather in the south so that sealed it. No regrets; the North Island is beautiful.

We set up another Servas homestay for Auckland. We were lucky to be received by a cool couple, Katherine & Andrew, and their two daughters Emma and Melissa. Katherine & Andrew are both professional musicians and lead a busy, creative existence. It was fun to be a part of their world for two days. Katherine, who plays cello in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, has been in rehearsals for a production of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Too bad we would not be in town long enough to attend a performance. On the plus side, we did get to see Andrew teach a clarinet lesson and both kids got a chance to try their hand on Katherine's cello.

In Auckland, we learned about Maori culture and volcanoes at the Auckland Museum. The boys were especially fascinated by the exhibit on volcanoes. According to the exhibit, New Zealand straddles two great tectonic plates and is a real volcanic hotspot. The last major volcanic disaster was in 1886 when Mount Tarawera erupted; about 120 people were killed. It seems it is only a matter of time until another eruption occurs (hopefully not in our lifetime).

Another cool place we explored was the North Head Historic Reserve in the Devonport region of Auckland. North Head was a significant historical coastal defence site, set up in the 1800s when fears of a Russian invasion began to take root in New Zealand. It has amazing views over the Haurakai Gulf to the Auckland skyline. We were able to explore the many tunnels in the mountain and the "gun batteries".

Here are a few photos, including some of our action-packed last day in Sydney when we visited the Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, and the Sydney Tower.

Our last night camping . . . Flat Stanley will miss sleeping in the "penthouse":

Rex, the large saltwater croc who lives at Sydney Wildlife World:

Sharks swimming overhead at the Sydney Aquarium:

Our Servas hosts in Auckland, Katherine & Andrew:

Katherine gave both boys an impromptu cello lesson:

Maori art on display at Auckland Museum:

Boys and guns - the military site of North Head in Auckland:

One of the tunnel entrances at North Head:

As you can imagine, we are eating lots of kiwi these days:

After Auckland, we passed through the small village of Matamata. Why Matamata of all places, you ask? Because it's an incredibly important part of Middle Earth of course! Matamata is the actual Hobbiton (The Shire) you see in the Lord of the Rings movies. As I sit here writing this, Jackson is asleep but Ted & Mitchell are raptly watching LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings. I will have to ask our resident major LOTR fan to write about our tour of Hobbiton the other day (that would be Mitchell of course).

Halong Bay

We arrived in Hanoi last Monday for only a couple of days before departing again for a 3-day tour of nearby Halong Bay. We're back in Hanoi now but more on that later. Halong Bay, in the Gulf of Tonkin off the east coast of Vietnam, is spectacularly beautiful and in 1994 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Vietnamese legend has it that Halong Bay was formed years ago, when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders. Their gods sent dragons to help protect the land and the dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets that are today scattered throughout the bay, and they joined together to form an inpenetrable wall against the invaders. Whatever the origins, Halong Bay is an incredible site with over 2000 limestone karsts or cliffs rising out of the turquoise sea. There are many caves you can kayak through and some secluded islands to explore. Our own pictures really don't do it justice, as the days we were there were quite cloudy and overcast (the drawback of being here in their winter). Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of us in our first kayak voyage - too busy enjoying the view I guess!

Our boat, the "Asia Cruise". Sleeping on this "junk" as they call it was very soothing, similar to the rolling motion of our recent train sleeps:
Halong Bay from a lookout point at Sung Sot cave:

Incredible sunset our first night on the boat:

For a Communist country, Vietnam is rampant with capitalists. Vendors have dogged our every step ever since Ho Chi Minh City and even on the water in the middle of Halong Bay, here come ladies selling everything from toothpaste to Oreo cookies. They live nearby in floating villages:

A couple of times, the sun peeked out for us and we glimpsed the emerald waters the brochures all show:

Ted & Jackson on deck - another body of water to add to his list:

This enterprising woman has made a business of selling seashells. One of the good things about travelling with only one backpack each is that we cannot be tempted into buying each and every souvenir that comes our way:

Mitchell gets his first ever foot massage. This is the best $2 a person can spend, trust me. Jackson is still holding firm to his hands-off policy and refuses to consider having any type of massage. As a side note, one thing that has surprised us is all the attention that Jackson constantly gets. Yes, he's little and cute and, with fair hair and blue eyes, he's a bit of a curiosity here. But he is well and truly sick of strangers pinching his cheeks, giving him a playful poke in the tummy, rubbing his back, or tousling his hair. On the one hand, you can't really tell your child that it's OK for strangers to touch you, but on the other hand we are trying to discourage him from being rude about it. It's a bit of a fine line . . .

Flat Stanley tells us this was his first time to Halong Bay:

One thing Jackson never tires of is swimming. This water was pretty cold (beach on Monkey Island) but no deterrant to this fish-boy:

We stopped on Cat Ba Island and went for a long cycle through their National Park, full of beautiful coastline, mangrove forests, and little fishing villages:

We also spent one night in a bungalow on Monkey Island, so named for the animal life found here:

These actually turned out to be very aggressive monkeys. One chased after Mitchell and almost grabbed him by the ankle before our guide beat it off with a stick:

We met a lot of great people on this cruise trip. This is Benni from Brazil, and Jackson quickly attached himself to him explaining one of his best buddies from back home is also from Brazil:

A home in the floating village:

Other people we met included a couple from England who wrote at least 3 pages of notes for us on Thailand and Australia, where they had recently been. We met an older Chinese couple who have lived in the US for the last 30 years. He speaks Mandarin, Russian, Japanese and Spanish as well as fluent English. Amazingly brilliant man. We also met a couple (guy from Ireland, girl from Japan) and he was learning Japanese from her. There were also two girls from Sweden, a girl from Indonesia, and another guy from Germany. We all stayed at the same set of bungalows at Monkey Island and the language we could all communicate in was, of course, English. I often think how fortunate we are to have English as our native tongue. English is truly the dominant language of the world, the lingua franca of travel as well as business. We could not have done this trip if we did not speak English. I think the boys are realizing this is not something to take for granted. Hearing all the different languages, and seeing the motivation in which people strive to acquire English (and other tongues) is hopefully making an impression on them.