Expat Canadians in Bermuda

Winding down..........

2009-06-20T16:12:00.006-04:00

The tall ship festival ended last week and it was spectacular. We were not able to watch the tall ships come into Hamilton on the Thursday due to commitments, but the parade of sail on the Monday was pretty impressive.

Our days in Bermuda are quickly coming to an end and while on the surface, this is the most beautiful island in the world and we are glad to have had the experience, we are VERY happy to move on and not have to deal with the racism and expat resentment that is so prevalent here. Its just getting worse as far as I can tell and its no wonder with the Premier constantly fueling the divide. This man turns EVERYTHING into a race issue, when 99% of the time, the issue or problem at hand has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with race. I don't know how Bermudians stand it but I guess its just so much a part of their everyday lives that they probably don't even realise that its not like this elsewhere. Personally, I think this country will always be divided as there seem to be a lot of folks like Dr. Brown in positions of power who continuously fan the flames and spread hatred. This is a country that really is just integrated from 9-5.

One great thing about leaving is now we feel free to express ourselves without fear the the work permit will be revoked and we will be being thrown off the island .
We have not said much on our blog about what its really like to live here as everyone who is a guest worker on this island knows that we are to be seen but not heard.

Bertha Lashes Bermuda (AKA Lost our Virginity today!)

2008-07-14T17:38:00.005-04:00

So after days of waiting for Bertha to arrive, she is finally here and we have lost our storm virginity. This is our first real experience of tropical storm/hurricane. I can only compare it to whiteout conditions in a blizzard for a couple hours except it is 75 degrees farenheit outside and instead of snow, its tons of rain and high wind whipping all around. Saw lots of tree branches and palm tree leaves all over the road on my way home from work and tons of bikes on their sides along Church street that had been knocked over by the winds but no real property damage. The worst is still supposed to be a bit later tonite and hopefully we don't lose our power. In the meantime, here is an extract from the Bermuda Sun website to update everyone on how things are going here. ( We are home and safe so not to worry!)

The days leading up to the storm truly were like the cliche of the calm before the storm. We had terrific weather all weekend and the only signs of the impending storm were the high seas and that the tree frogs stopped singing about 2 days ago. Our neighbours dog was acting a bit weird the last few days, constantly sniffing the air but other than that, nothing until early this morning when woke up to howling winds and torrential rain. Had hoped it was bad enough to get the day off work but called the emergency hotline and essentially was directed to go to work! (Did get to leave early though!) Here is an extract off the Bermuda Suns website of an article that was posted a few hours ago.

7/14/2008 4:09:00 PM
Causeway closes as storm lashes island
MONDAY JULY 14, 4.50pm:

The Causeway is closed and will remain shut to traffic until at least 7pm. The decision was announced at literally the last minute - 4.55pm - as commuters were already beginning to make their way home.

A brief statement from the Cabinet Office read: "In the interest of public safety, due to unexpected high winds associated with the Tropical Storm Bertha a decision has been made by Government to close the Causeway immediately for a period of about two hours.

"The public will be advised immediately once the Causeway opens which is expected to be around 7pm or thereafter - until the severe winds have abated.

"The Government apologises for any inconvenience causes."

The statement was received by the Bermuda Sun at 4.55pm, after repeated calls throughout the afternoon

The timing of the decision is likely to cause massive disruption to people living in the east end.

The storm had been tracked for almost a week and as early as 3.30pm today forecasters had upgraded its status to a hurricane watch.

Meanwhile thousands of homes were without power and all flights and ferries were cancelled as gusts of up to 65 knots hit the island.

The storm brought down power lines causing outages across the island.

At the height of the storm just after 3pm BELCO said up to 1,000 homes were without electricity an estimate which they later revised to more than 4,000.

And forecasters adjusted their analysis of the storm and issued a 'hurricane alert' saying that winds could vary between 45 and 65 knots.

Experts say it is a slow-moving weather system that could still become a hurricane. They anticipate the worst part of the storm could not be over till after 7pm tonight

BELCO's Linda Smith-Wilson said that more homes could be affected as the storm continued throughout the afternoon.

But she said work crews were out fixing the faults and at present the situation was 'manageable' and in most cases power was being restored within 90 minutes.

"Crews have been out since 12.43 am today. We can't really project how bad it is going to be until the winds die down but at the moment it looks manageable."

She said Mangrove Bay in Somerset, Happy Valley in Pembroke and Forest Hills in Warwick were the worst affected areas.

"There seem to be some areas that have gone off and back on again all day," she added.

"Some of it is lines coming down or branches hitting the lines and shorting them out."

Meanwhile all today's flights to and from Bermuda were cancelled.

The 6:20pm British Airways flight and 8:40pm American Airlines flight were cancelled late in the afternoon with the other 12 flights already cancelled in the morning.

All ferries had been cancelled but buses were still running.

Garbage collection was not completed today. The West route will be completed tomorrow with the East route postponed until Wednesday.

Quick Update& snapshots

2008-07-05T19:15:00.005-04:00

Not a lot of time for the blog these days as out enjoying the glorious weather. Ocean is so warm these days its like swimming in the bathtub and think the golf clubs will be put away after tomorrow until the end of September as we are having a hard time walking 18 holes in this humidity. Seems like most of the members gave up the sport back in June when the season officially ended on June 8th.

Gas prices have surpassed 8.00 a gallon ( 2.05 a litre) and the price of electricity continues to be amongst the highest in the world at over 21 cents per kilowatt hour before the fuel surcharge which brings the price up an additional 50+%. Still its a small price to pay for living in one of the most beautiful spots in the world.

Finally started to build a hurricane kit today as the locals think its going to be a very active season and Bertha might well be headed our way although its still too soon to tell what effect if any she will have on us late next week. We got off very lucky last year with no tropical storm or hurricane activity to speak of. Not likely to get that lucky two years in a row though based on what the Bermudians are saying, (Wit he kind of winter and spring we had plus the very hot conditions we are experiencing already this summer, everyone is saying that this is going to be a very active hurricane season.) Last years effort to build a hurricane kit was pretty weak as all we ended up buying was 6 litres of bottled water which we drank last fall. Today we bought a Coleman stove and a cooler so if nothing else,we can go camping during Cup Match. Camping in Bermuda is a hilarious sight to those of us who have actually camped in the wilds of Canada. Here in Bermuda it means pitching a tent on the side of the road across from the airport and bringing along every convenience known to man. I have seen pictures of tents decked out with a real dining room table, big screen TV.

We enjoyed another Canada Day celebration at Chaplins and watched fireworks last night from our balcony as the Americans celebrated the 4th of July.

Thought would share some snapshots that hubby has taken over the last couple weeks. We just got a great new Nikon DSL camera and have been taking tons of shots to try it out. The Newport to Bermuda race was at the end of June and we had a great time checking out all the yachts and enjoying the festivities.

Gas hits $7.72 a gallon on Island

2008-05-26T19:00:00.005-04:00

Extracted from the Royal Gazette (www.theroyalgazette.com)

By Tari Trott

The cost of a gallon of gas is nearing the $8 mark – as business leaders warn increases in oil costs will be passed onto the consumer. Oil prices have been rocketing with record prices being recorded, earlier this week the price of a barrel of oil reached $135. In Bermuda this week gasoline increased by 11.3 cents per litre, diesel by 10.7 cents per litre and kerosene by 9.5 cents per litre. As a result the maximum retail prices that can be displayed on the pumps for gasoline is $2.04 per litre ($7.72 a gallon in America), 196.90 cents per litre for diesel and 171.10 cents per litre for kerosene.

Chamber of Commerce President Mr. Phillip Barnett told The Royal Gazette: "Obviously the affect we will feel in Bermuda is going to be that much more profound. "This is Mr. Barnett added: "Our concern is the price will effect the cost of electricity. Segments like the water sports division will be very concerned because this will impact their profitability. "Also, our offshore charter fishermen will see a significant impact and I think we can only hope that the talk of (increasing fuel prices) and us being in a bubble and the prices will eventually decrease — there's some validity to that. Every person in Bermuda will be affected by this because fuel increases touch on everything because we ship virtually everything in."

Environmentalist Stuart Hayward, also the head of the Bermuda Environment and Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) cautioned that the fuel price rise might have an impact on visitors. He explained: "Given that many US residents are curbing their holiday travel (driving) due to rising gas prices, Bermuda may well find our potential visitors cutting back also — which, if so, would decrease incoming foreign exchange.

Our driving habits, particularly of larger two and four-wheeled vehicles at faster speeds, will increase our foreign expenditures (for vehicles, repair parts, and gas). So at the 'macro level' we have less money coming in combined with more money going out, with no increase in derived value to show for our trouble." And he predicted that residents are likely to resort to using their bicycles for transport as a cost-cutting measure.

According to the New York Times oil prices leapt above $135 a barrel in overnight trading on Thursday, a new record that underscored the growing pressures that runaway energy prices are placing on some of the biggest names in global industry. Prices fell back in the course of the day, the paper reported, closing at $130.81 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline prices are nearing $4 a gallon in the United States, partly as a result of a 39 percent rise in the price of New York oil futures since the start of the year. Prices have more than quadrupled since 2003.

American Airlines said on Wednesday that it would slash flights and begin charging passengers to check bags, part of a company effort to cut costs in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices. It is also charging $15 for the first piece of luggage, although that only affects internal flights.

Oil futures spent months dancing around the $100 a barrel. But in the last two months, prices have taken off, gaining nearly $20 a barrel in May alone.

Lousy Weather this week!

2008-05-17T19:17:00.004-04:00

Torrential downpour causes flooding misery
( Article is taken from the Bermuda Sun)
The island took a battering as torrential downpours caused flash flooding. The freak rain storm on Monday resulted in scores of reports of flooding to the emergency services. Motorcycles could be seen floating as water overflowed into people's homes and businesses. Six feet of water was also reported at a classroom in Warwick Academy. Severe flooding affected many of the island's roads with police advising motorists not to drive through areas where water had accumulated. Roads badly affected by flooding included Tee Street in Devonshire, Dundonald Street in Hamilton, and South Shore Road, near Demco florist in Devonshire. Parts of Harbour Road were closed to traffic in order to avoid people stalling their vehicles and causing further road congestion. And Woodlands Road was blocked off after a creek overflowed. This was the second torrential downpour in just a week after a severe thunder storm crossed the island last Tuesday evening.

Getting his feet wet: A motorist rolls up his pants and wades through the water to get to his car in Dutton Lane, near Bernard Park. *Photo by Mark Kennedy

Need a ride? Michael Cabral who works at Redlaser and a worker from COE, both located on Bakery Lane in Pembroke, used an inflatable boat to get to work. *Photo by Chris Ingham

Driving hazard: Driving around the island became difficult as several low lying areas, including roads near Butterfield and Vallis, were affected by flooding on Monday. *Photo by Mark Kennedy

While our friends in Calgary are basking in unseasonably warm weather especially for Victoria Day weekend when it almost always snows! [80 F/ 27C ] we have been having a ton of rain lately ( 281.7mm or just over 11 inches in the last month)

I am getting tired of this crazy weather we are having lately! Doesn't help that we have such a bad case of island fever right now but thankfully we are getting away next week and heading off to Boston for a big city hit. (Its been a bit over 3 months since I was last off and while we love living here for the most part, we always feel like we are ready to snap if we don't get out of here for at least a week every quarter.)

This last week has seen some wicked "cold fronts" blow through here bringing the rain and high winds that are the after effects of the tornados in the states. Temperatures are still in the 70's but the winds have been gusting to gale force, so spring so far has been a pretty mixed bag.

A Bit of humour

2008-02-27T19:58:00.003-04:00

This originally appeared on the bermudasucks.com website which despite its name I refer to for tips on where to eat or shop (consumer reports section). I actually used it to do research on Bermuda before making the decision to come here as in amongst the venting and rants, there is some useful information. (The best source of comprehensive information for those of you who are looking at moving to Bermuda is bermuda-online.org)

Thought this was funny and since I have not posted anything for a while thought I would throw this out there - Intend to start posting more around the middle of March. Have just been too busy with work lately as we are currently very short staffed which is what reminded me about this item in the first place.

Bermuda Job Ads Translated

*Competitive Salary* - We remain competitive by paying less than our competitors.
*Join Our Fast Paced Company* - We have no time to train you.
*Casual Work Atmosphere" - We don't pay enough to expect that you will dress up.
*Must be Deadline Oriented* - You will be six months behind schedule on your first day.
*Some Overtime Required* - Some time each night, some time each weekend.
*Duties will Vary* - Anyone in the office can boss you around.
*Must have an Eye for Detail*- We have no quality control.
*Seeking Candidates with a Wide Variety of Experience*- You will need to replace three people who just left.
*Problem Solving Skills a Must* - You are walking into a company in perpetual chaos. Haven't heard a word from anyone out there. Your first task is to find out what is going on.
*Requires Team Leadership Skills* - You will have the responsibilities of a manager without the pay or respect.
*Good Communication Skills* - Management communicates poorly, so you have to figure out what they want and do it

Christmas in Bermuda

2007-12-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

Where did the summer go?

2007-10-16T18:16:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since we last wrote anything, due partly to just being outside so much all summer enjoying the great outdoors as well as to the fact that we were robbed while we were sleeping one night and were without a laptop or Internet connection (the thieves stole that too!)

Other than that awful experience which I never thought would ever happen (lived in a big city my whole life and never got robbed til we moved here) things are pretty much the same as usual.

We went off island in September for a couple weeks to England and Wales which was a great holiday, although a bit stressful for us as hubby drove and I did the navigating which as we all know is not one of my skills! England makes me crazy as you will see a sign for your intended destination and then you have to count where on the roundabout you are supposed to get off or my personal pet peeve is the sign says straight but you can never go straight as first you have to go around............ We put over a thousand miles on the car and saw a lot of the country.

Right now Bermuda is all excited over the PGA Grand Slam event that is taking place this week- thousands of spectators including us are headed to Mid Ocean Club to watch the winners of the majors although to every ones disappointment, Tiger Woods declined to participate this year and so Jim Furyk is here in his place. It will be a nice day of golf and also get to spend some time in our corporate hospitality tent which is always fun- free food and drinks and corporate gifts!.

Keeping this post short but will get back into posting on a regular basis including new photos etc. Might even post some video as the new computer has a lot of bells and whistles including a webcam/video camera built in so you never know what you might find next time you log on.

O Canada-Canada Day in Bermuda at Chaplins Beach

2007-07-07T18:46:00.001-04:00

More Summer fun

2007-07-07T18:18:00.000-04:00

We have been tremendously enjoying the summer so far. Gorgeous hot sunny days and all is quiet so far on the hurricane front. Spent Canada Day at Chaplins Bay- The Association of Canadians in Bermuda hold several events throughout the year and this one was a lot of fun- couple thousand Canucks showed up to party on the beach. The sound system was blaring out Canadian tunes, tug of war (East vs. West), barbeque and free drinks. Could not have asked for a nicer day although it was kind of weird to sing the national anthem while wearing a bathing suit! It will stand out as one of the more memorable Canada Days in recent memory. Check out the video of O Canada that I downloaded from YouTube as we did not bring our camera with us.

We went out on a dinner cruise the other night courtesy of work on the Lady Tamera. Every year they have an annual dinner and dancing cruise for 3 hours and about 250 people showed up for it.The food was pretty good considering it all had to be brought aboard just before the ship sailed. What made it even nicer was the fact that the following day the office was closed for Fourth of July ( not a holiday in Bermuda but the international companies close up for the day)so could stay out late and not have to worry about dragging my butt at work the next day.

Still have 2 more summer work related events to attend- the nice thing is that the company opens them up to your entire family to attend at no cost and they spare no expense to show everyone a really good time. Making plans to attend the Bermuda Music Festival later this fall - they announced the headliners today to include Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Natasha Bedingfeld. Also the PGA Grand Slam is coming here in October and we have tickets for that. Hoping that Tiger Woods ends up coming as would really like to see him in person.

Summers Here

2007-06-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

Well summer has definitely arrived here with hot humid days being the norm. We are having trouble adjusting to the humidity and its going to get a lot worse before the summer is out. I love the heat, the humidity not so much (although I must say that my skin has never been so nice in my whole life, that would be the upside of humidity!) Thank goodness for air conditioning and having a swimming pool. Nothing feels better than a quick dip in the pool to cool things off and not feel so sticky, especially after the walk home from the ferry. My summer routine seems to be to walk through the door,get out of my work clothes and within 5 minutes be splashing around in the pool to cool off.

It's also officially now hurricane season and while traditionally the most active month is September, we make sure to check the weather reports here everyday. When we talk to people who have lived here all their lives, they are very nonchalant about hurricanes- they even have hurricane parties! Maybe we will be able to be relaxed enough to go to one but I kind of doubt it!

Each week we add to to the hurricane survival kit ( bottled water, candles, canned food etc. Hopefully by the time a hurricane arrives we will have more than we need to cope with power outages and whatever else mother nature throws our way)

Although May 24 officially kicks off the summer season here, for me it just started on Friday as I have spent most of the last 12 weeks inside doing homework.I
( Actually it just feels that way as most of the time I actually was out on the deck Even had to drag the laptop along on my vacation as 50% of my mark comes from online participation in group casework. Wrote my exam on Thursday and this weekend has been all about relaxation.

Have done nothing but golf and hanging out at the beach this weekend. It was wonderful. I am taking a semester off so that can enjoy my first Bermuda summer- going to Harbor Nights, Destination Dockyard and Happy Hour Fridays at the Lemon Tree, Fairmont or the Botanical Gardens ( there are all kinds of happy hour Friday events but those ones are my favorites so far) Also planning to start golfing a bit more by getting in a few holes after work . The nice thing about being a member of a golf club is that if you only want to play a few holes you can and you don't feel guilty about walking off before you play 18. It is getting too hot to play and our club had its end of season cocktail and awards party at the beginning of the month. It seems odd that the official season is over as back in Canada its just starting to get underway but here it runs from September to the end of May. June,July and August hardly anyone plays ( although hubby is still playing 4 days a week, just starts his games earlier in the morning before it gets unbearable)

We had a nice week off island and went to Newport Rhode Island, Marthas Vineyard, Cape Cod, Cambridge and Boston. We drove from New York City and it was nice to be behind the wheel of a car doing 75 miles an hour on the interstate in a car that can actually climb hills! Would like to have had more time to spend in all the places we visited- we basically just got a taste of each and it was time to move on. Next vacation we are off to the UK for 2 weeks this September and hopefully there will be a business trip to get us off the island between now and then.

2007-04-14T18:42:00.000-04:00

Today we had the good fortune to go out on a charter trip aboard the Spirit of Bermuda( With the exception of 2 of the photos which are from the Bermuda Sloop website, the rest are shots we took today.

Normally Spirit is used as a training vessel for Bermuda youth and takes part in tall ship festivals and the like but once in a while they offer 3 hour sailing trips that the general public can go out on. She is a 112 foot sloop and one of the most gorgeous boats I have been on with teak and cedar everywhere. It is the most stable boat I have ever been on either including much larger cruise ships and we could not have asked for a more beautiful day. Sunny and windy- perfect conditions.

The training vessel is based on civilian Bermudian-type schooners built from 1810 to 1840. Bermudians, enslaved and free, built the schooners in the period spanning the Emancipation of Slavery in the British Empire (August 1, 1834). The original hull shape was adapted from fast dispatch / patrol vessels that ran from Bermuda northwest to Halifax and southwest to Jamaica to contain rebel colonies.

She made her maiden voyage September 30th and we were lucky enough to be able to attend the welcome ceremonies that day but never thought we would have the opportunity to go out sailing on her.)

Also wanted to upload some pictures from Good Friday which is the day Bermudians head out in droves to fly kites- the weather was poor so the skies were not as full as we had hoped they would be (traditional Bermuda kites are hand made with tissue paper as this incredible example from the Royal Gazette shows and so do not hold up to foul weather like the plastic kites from my childhood)

Horseshoe Bay is the place to be on Good Friday with live entertainment,tons of people and a festive atmosphere. We went to Riddells Bay Golf Club for our Good Friday celebrations which was a BBQ and kite flying, partly because we didn't know about the event at Horseshoe Beach til after we had bought our tickets for Riddells. We drove by Horseshoe on the way home and it was jam packed with people. Normally at this time of year the beaches are empty aside from the guest workers and tourists who go all year round. ( Bermudians don't go to the beach normally until Bermuda Day ( May 24th) and even though they go at Easter they do not swim in the ocean til it gets warmer out.

Whale Watching Trip

2007-04-03T18:23:00.000-04:00

We went whale watching off the south shore on Sunday and it was absolutely fabulous- even if we hadn't seen any whales,spending 6 hours on the ocean was a great way to spend the day. We came across 3 different pods of whales- one with three, the others were in pairs. Apparently more than 8,000 humpback whales make their way past Bermuda between March and April but unfortunately they do not seem to travel in packs and finding them seemed like it was going to be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. After about 3.5 hours we had our first sign of the elusive whales- the geyser like spray in the distance that comes from the blowhole. After we found the first pair, finding more of them was relatively easy. Taking good pictures of them was a whole other story. Between the rocking motion of the boat and the amazing speed that these whales move makes it pretty hard to capture good images, Thank goodness for digital as we had a ton of pictures that eneded up with just ocean or the sky, no sign of the whales we thought we were getting pictures of. They were quite playful and hung around the boat for quite some time. These things are huge- our boat was 50 feet long and these whales are between 40 and 45 feet long. We managed to get quite close on several occasions and it really was a thrill of a lifetime. We also saw our first signs of spring on the island which is the return of the longtail to Bermuda shores, turtles all over the place and the flying fish put on a pretty good show for most of the day as well.

This Friday being Good Friday is a holiday here with a twist. Everyone flies a kite and so we are going to go down to Horseshoe Bay where the skies will be full of color and also enjoy festivities including live bands and food. Before that we are going to a similar function at Riddells Bay ( kite flying and BBQ) so should have some neat pictures to share later in the week.

BLAST OF WINTER AND REALITY CHECK!

2007-03-08T18:45:00.000-04:00

Just got back from another business trip to NY and if I have my way I will never go again in the winter. Will do a conference call instead!

After thinking we were cold here when the temperature falls down into the mid 50's, I had a good reminder of how good we have it here and how there is no way in hell we will ever live anywhere but a warm climate. Landed in NY on Sunday and it was cold but not too windy, probably around 20 degrees F. Then Monday and Tuesday it was snowing and 1 degree F with the wind chill and it was bitterly cold. I think that because of the humidity 1 degree is a lot colder in NY than it ever was on the prairies. Of course, the winter coat I have now is not a real winter coat- I had gleefully donated all my winter clothes to the Salvation Army and the Women's Shelter. This ones more like something you would wear to go from the car to the house, looks pretty but with one button, shawl collar was not made to walk the streets of NY which is what we did on Monday and Tuesday. Our meetings were on Pine Street, Williams Street, Wall Street and Water Street, all of which are relatively close to each other but felt like they were miles apart as my ears turned purple and my coat kept flying open in the wind. Carrying my briefcase in one hand made it hard to hold the damn coat shut!

Enough about the weather- gotta tell you about the room I ended up with- the one time that hubby did not travel with me I ended up in the presidential suite on the 55th floor of the Hilton which overlooks ground zero and has also got incredible water views of the city- I could see the Statue of Liberty and all the ferries running back and forth as well. I did not bring my camera with me as it was just a business trip but went out and bought a disposable camera to take pictures of this suite as it was unbelievable- It is bigger than my condo and had a full kitchen with funky cappuccino machine, a dining room that seats 10 comfortably, a huge living room, 2 bathrooms, full bar, bedroom, 2 42 inch TVs, monster jacuzzi tub and on the list goes. If I actually ever develop the pictures I will post some here. I ended up in this room as when I went to check in, my room was not ready and it was after 5:00- Check in is supposed to be at 3:00. I was offered a non smoking room but declined as in NY there is no where else to smoke except your room. After I declined, next thing you know I am advised I have been upgraded and handed my keys. Not a word was said about the room and it wasn't til I got on the elevator that I realized I was going to the top floor. Stepped off the elevator and have my own personal security (actually its for the 4 suites on the floor) It was such a nice room that I ended up ordering room service one night as I thought the likelihood of ever being in such a nice room again is slim to none and having been dreaming of having a good steak order a 16 ounce sirloin steak which I ate every bite. I actually had serious thoughts about ordering a second one having decided that the problem with beef in Bermuda is not that it is US beef as this steak was fantastic! If it wasn't 11:00 at night I might have done it but it was time for a serious bubble bath in my six foot jacuzzi. Had some other fabulous meals while I was there- I think its hard to get a bad meal in NY.The first night I went out with one of my bosses for Chinese up on Lexington and 3rd- Shun Low or something like that- quite upscale for a Chinese restaurant and very tasty. Had a fabulous lunch at Harrys Cafe in the financial district and my appetizer of sirloin beef kabobs even came with its own little grill with hot charcoals.

Found a bit of time to shop on Tuesday afternoon- went up to West 34th which is where
Macys is but actually did most of my shopping at the boutique shops as while Macys has everything, its all organized by brand- If you don't know what brand you want its annoying!After living in Bermuda the choices seemed overwhelming too. I was on a mission to find pants that fit as I have lost a lot of weight and need a 4 or 6 depending on the cut with a 34 inseam and my favorite jeans have been discontinued- Macys used to sell them which is why I went there in the first place. Did find a few pairs that I liked at Ann Taylor, picked up a bunch of shoes at Century 21 and Steve Madden and then the other mission was to hit the drugstore- things like shampoo, vitamins, cosmetics etc. are all a fortune in BDA so its so much cheaper to buy them in the states, even after you add the 25% duty on top. (Example- Listerine Whitening is 14USD in Bermuda, at Duane Reids I picked up the large bottle for 5.40- after the duty its 6.75 which is still less than half price) I have to go back in May again for 4 days so hopefully will have more time to shop and it will be warm then too. Could have shopped more this trip but NY is a walking city and I am too wussy now to walk in the cold if I don't really have too! Had my Starbucks fix too while I was there. Did not think I had really missed it until I had my first cup of dark roast with my lemon pound cake- now that I am back I am dreaming of that and the steak I had the other day!-

Things back on island are same as usual- Hubby is so tanned already from golfing all the time-even with the crappy February we had he still went out in the rain and the high winds and now March is gorgeous weather so far.Not sure if I mentioned it before or not but Micheal Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones are members at our club. I have not seen them myself but hubby has run into Micheal a few times as he seems to like to tee off around the same time)

I am kinda pasty as I lost my tan around end mid January and every weekend in February it was rainy out- I only golfed once in February as I can only go on the weekends and we usually save golf for Sundays when everything else is closed

Hopefully I will soon be brown again myself although I start back to school next week so that means a lot of time on the computer. I wasn't too thrilled about having to enrol in a class already but its been a year since I registered in my last course and to keep my place in the MBA program I have to do at least one a year so this is the the one- it will end in mid June and then we will be off to Europe for a vacation. There was no way I was going to enrol in a class here over the summer as want to be outside all the time but if this class goes well, I might do a winter class and then only have 2 more to go after that!

We are going whale watching April 1st- the humpback whales start their migration mid March and it should be a nice day- the boat goes out at 10 and comes back around 5 so even if we don't see a lot of whales it will be a nice day on the water.

DOCKYARDS & DOLPHINS

2007-01-28T12:35:00.000-04:00

We went up to the Dockyards yesterday to have a bite to eat and decided to check out the Maritime Museum and the fort which is absolutely enormous and totally amazing. It was well worth the 10 bucks it cost to get in as in addition to the museum you get to see the Commissioners house (very grand!)and to see the dolphins at Dolphin Quest. While we were watching the dolphins, the trainer came out to chat and upon learning that we live here asked if I would be interested in doing some volunteer work over the next couple of months. Turns out 3 of the dolphins are pregnant and they need people to record anything and everything about how the pregnancy is coming along and then once the babies are born, to assist with the record keeping on how often they are nursing, how long etc. All volunteers will be called when the dolphins go into labour so that we can be there to watch them being born. (Apparently it takes about 2 hours to deliver a dolphin so the staff indicate they will call all the volunteers up and should have enough time to get there to watch.)

All of the dolphins are due in May. I will likely do a couple hours a week either after work or on the weekends as they need people to monitor the dolphins 24 hours a day. )

I of course think this is the coolest thing ever and quite possibly a once in a lifetime experience so I signed up on the spot. Certainly would not be able to do something like this living on the prairies! I was actually on a website the other day checking out all the different volunteer opportunities that exist here in Bermuda and was thinking of doing something at the aquarium as they need turtle scrubbers
(apparently sea turtles need to be scrubbed once a month!) as well as people to help feed the seals and that kind of thing which I might still sign up for once my time is over with the dolphins) One thing that I really like about Dolphin Quest here is that while they allow you to swim with the dolphins, you are not permitted to "ride them" like you are allowed to do at other dolphin attractions. The trainer indicated that the dorsal fin is all cartilage and they feel it would be like having a hundred people a day pulling on your ears- not very pleasant!

WINTER HAS ARRIVED

2007-01-26T18:08:00.000-04:00

[Darryls Wharf ( my ferry stop)- No ferry service today as sea is too rough!-picture is from the Royal Gazette]

Well we got our first real taste of Bermuda winter today and I have no idea how I made it through 42 Canadian winters as we are freezing here today.( We have even turned on the heat in our house for the first time as it is bone chilling damp between the wind and the rain. Its 52 degrees out and we are having storm force winds which makes it bloody cold!. The things you learn that you never needed to know. I never knew that storm force winds were more serious than gale force winds or that there are 12 levels of wind from level 1 to 12, 12 being hurricane force winds. Today we are at level 10 which means that the winds are in excess of 45 miles an hour and the seas are high(outside the reef the waves are about 28-30 feet high). At the dockyards they are experiencing hurricane force winds but apparently once you reach hurricane force there is another rating system that comes into play and these would be the low end of the hurricane scale)

They closed the causeway at noon due to the high winds and then about half an hour later the schools were closed as well. Ferries are not running due to the high seas and it was a bit scary for me, not having experienced such high winds before. I am sure to be petrified when hurricane season rolls around as I was nervous today wondering if the windows at the office were going to blow out! I almost got knocked over by a big gust of wind while I was waiting to cross the road and am now tucked away nice and safe at home. We are heading off to our golf club for a theme night tonight ( English pub night- pub grub, darts and trivia- hope its fun) so time to log off and get cleaned up to go.

Housing Prices in Bermuda

2007-01-10T18:36:00.000-04:00

I am so busy with year end right now that don't really have any time to post any updates, however I did find this article from todays Royal Gazette to be quite interesting on the price of housing here in Bermuda. Readers should note that the article is referring only to the price of housing for BERMUDIANS as foreigners are limited to purchasing homes in excess of 2 MILLION and must also pay a 22.5% stamp tax on the purchase price ( there are no recurring property taxes here, the stamp tax is a one time tax) so if you were able to buy a home for 2MM,it will cost you 2,450,000 before legal fees.

Article published Jan 10, 2007
HOUSING
Average cost of houses hits $1.6m
Middle income Bermudians turning more to condominiums – which average $900,000
The average price of a stand-alone Bermuda home soared to $1.6 million in 2006.
That translates into a 30-year mortgage of more than $11,400 a month at current interest rates – assuming the buyer has paid out a five percent deposit of $80,000.
The revelation came in end-of-year commentaries from two of the Island’s leading realtors, Coldwell Banker Bermuda Realty and Rego Sotheby’s International Realty.
And the $1.6 million figure was based on completed transactions recorded through the first 11 months of last year.
Better news for buyers is that the inventory of properties for sale is at an all-time high, giving home seekers a greater choice and shifting the market in the purchaser’s favour.
While the escalating price of free-standing homes is moving them further out of the reach of middle-income Bermudians, realtors say locals are showing increasing interest in condominiums as a more affordable option for a home.
Coldwell Banker’s “2006 Year End In Review”, written by agency manager Susan Thompson, concludes that prices of all types of property remained little changed in 2006. “The average condo will cost you just under $900,000, about the same as 2005,” Ms Thompson wrote.
“To purchase a single family home you will need approximately $1,325,000, depending on location, acreage, condition, etc., with little to no change from the previous year.
“Approximately a quarter/third acre of land will command $525,000 and up, once again with little change from 2005.”
Becky Paris, a sales associate at Rego Sotheby’s, writing in Island Property News, stated: “In the period of January to the end of November 2006, there were 291 (property) transactions recorded at the Registry General’s office, with a figure of almost $344 million traded.
“The average price of a free-standing home soared to $1.6 million and remains out of reach for many; consequently real estate was a hot topic at the sustainable development talks that dominated the media.”
St. George’s had the highest average property price of $1,492,203, said Coldwell Banker, adding the inclusion of Tucker’s Town – the Island’s “Billionaire’s Row” – skewed the figures for that parish.
In fact, a Tucker’s Town house known as Frick’s Point was the highest-priced property to be sold in 2006, at around $20 million.
Coldwell added that Sandys was by far the most affordable parish, with an average selling price for all properties of $728,333, while Hamilton Parish came a distant second at $902,110 and Warwick third at $952,370.
Apart from a significant slowdown in transactions during the second quarter, and then a rise in activity over the following three months, 2006 had been very much “business as usual” Ms Thompson concluded.
“The most noticeable change was more choices for the buying public and more flexibility by the sellers,” she added.
“Our forecast for 2007 would be an increased interest in real estate, particularly in the buoyant luxury market, continued purchase by multiple family members for investment and an ongoing trend towards buying condominiums, which Bermudians now seem to embrace.”
Ms Paris expressed Rego’s outlook for the year ahead: “With money still to be made in property, we are likely to witness the Planning Department working at full steam to deal with more applications to subdivide, build, go up and go out.
“The market seems to have shifted in favour of the purchaser so expect a better value to price ratio.”
Although not all property transactions for 2006 have yet been recorded in the Government archives, Coldwell Banker estimated that the total of closed deals would be down by around ten percent.

WHAT IT WOULD COST YOU
All figures based on a 95 percent mortgage, at an 8.25 percent interest rate and a 30-year amortisation period.
Property price Deposit (5%) Total borrowed Payment
Average price of a free-standing home in 2006
$1.6 million $80,000 $1,520,000 $11,419.25/month
Coldwell Banker’s estimated average price of a single family home
$1.32 million $66,250 $1,258,750 $9,456/month
Average price of a condominium
$900,000 $45,000 $855,000 $6,423.33/month

(Mortgage figures calculated by Butterfield Bank online mortagage calculator)

NEW YEARS DAY

2007-01-01T17:23:00.000-04:00

Well it just doesn't get any better than this! The first day of the year was spent at the ocean and playing a round of golf! The weather was outstanding- it looked like it might be a day for long pants and long sleeves when we ventured out today but by the second hole, the sun came out,the cotton sweater came off and it ended up being a gorgeous, warm afternoon for golf.

This was my second round at our new club and only my third round ever but I did see some improvement in my game and loved being out on the course. Many of the holes overlook the ocean and even those that don't are gorgeous- palm trees, cactus, tons of flowers and beautiful homes line the course. Its nice having a membership as we don't have to schlep our clubs back and forth when we play and the people are quite friendly. Its not snooty like I imagine some golf clubs would be and they have a lot of social events in addition to the golf so I think we will end up spending quite a bit of time there. One of the benefits of joining Riddells is their affiliation with the Fairmont Hotels. We get discounts at all the Fairmont restaurants and bars as well as the use of their private beach and the pool at the Southampton and Hamilton Princess. We have our own pool where we live but sometimes its nice to go to the private beach as they have the nice loungers and umbrellas plus facilities which a lot of the public beaches here do not have. I also like the spa discounts and am planning a spa day as soon as year end is over at the office.

Christmas and New Years were pretty quiet for us and it seems like everyone has gone off island for the holidays. Traffic has been really light with school out and not a lot of people working last week so it was a really easy commute last week- even on the bus it was only a 15 minute ride into town last week instead of the usual half hour. Spent Christmas Day at the beach as is tradition here in Bermuda, although we went to our favorite beach Chaplins Bay which is relatively deserted, especially as on XMAS Day all the Bermudians head to Elbow Beach. We could not believe how many people were headed there- cars and bikes were parked all up and down south shore road and southcote road and there were thousands of people there with champagne and picnic baskets. Even our little beach was busy (usually we have it all to ourselves) There was quite a bit of action at Horseshoe Beach too although only the tourists and expats seem to actually go swimming at this time of year. Boxing Day we wound up at the Dockyards on an errand to pick up our house sign and had lunch in Somerset at the Country Squire. We are on a mission to find the best pubs in Bermuda and have been to a number of them. So far Northrock Brewery is the best pub that we have found and while the food at the Country Squire was good,the atmosphere reminded me of being at a Nascar event- the owners love car racing and every surface is plastered with race car memorabilia- nothing wrong with it, just like my pubs to be more charming.

The rest of the holiday weekend we have been out exploring our little island. We still have not seen all of it which is hard to believe but there are tons of little side streets with charming names like Sleepy Hollow Drive or Happytalk Lane and so each weekend we just go off and drive around to check them all out. We went out to Spanish Point and the Ferrylands this weekend- the Ferrylands have some of the most amazing homes we have seen outside of Tuckers Town and each one seems more incredible than the last. Because it was so quiet in town this weekend, we even went into Hamilton for a couple of hours and had lunch at the Hog Penny which is still my favorite place to eat in Hamilton. They have the best Bermuda Onion Soup and their ribs are pretty good too. Didn't do any shopping except to go to Miles to pick up our NY dinner. We decided to stay in this new years and heard that we could get grain fed beef at Miles, Well they had it but its very pricey (Everything is very pricey at Miles-it would be like the difference between shopping at Superstore and Sunterra market. We paid 38.00 USD for 2 steaks (about a pound of beef in all) and sadly,they did not live up to our expectations, there is something about Alberta beef that no other beef compares to. We thought it was the difference between grain fed and corn fed but this beef was mushy too and it was organic American beef. Now we are thinking it must be the aging process that Alberta beef goes through. We are officially done with steak unless its from Alberta. We sure do miss the Cattle Baron!

We have a post Christmas party to attend Jan 12th which is being put on by the executive search firm that brought me to Bermuda. Won't know anyone but my recruiter at that event but its at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club and looks like its going to be a nice event, and the Just for Laughs festival is coming to Bermuda that weekend as well so looking forward to that. Always wanted to go to that when we lived in Canada and never did. Should be a fun night. Think the next two weeks will be quite busy at work with year end activities going into full swing tomorrow. Thats it for this update. Hope everyone has a prosperous, healthy and happy new year!!!

CHRISTMAS BOAT PARADE

2006-12-10T11:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the Christmas Boat Parade- I had been looking forward to seeing this event for OVER A YEAR as we were sure that we would be living on the rock at this time last year and I had heard it was an experience that should not be missed. Was it worth the wait? Sort of.....

There are estimated to be around 5,000 private boats here on the island and while the event hosts tried their best to get 100 boats to enter,there were only 53 entrants in this years parade including the Spirit of Bermuda who led things off. It takes a lot of time and effort to do up the boats and so while the parade lacked a large number of participants, those who did enter their boats did an amazing job, although there were one or two boats that we had no idea what they were supposed to be. (A for effort though- while unidentifiable,they were colorful and sparked people's imaginations as we tried to figure out what it was supposed represent.) As there is no newspaper here on Sundays I don't know how many people actually showed up to watch but there were estimates that the crowd would number 20,000 which is basically a third of the population. Certainly felt like a lot of people, especially at this time of year,as it is generally very quiet all over the island with cruise ship season having ended and very few tourists in general. [Most tourists to Bermuda come in the summer although I personally think this time of year has the nicest weather- still warm and sunny enough to spend the day at the beach with very little humidity or enjoy a round of golf without needing 10 gallons of water to cope with the heat)

Pitts Bay Road, Front Street and Harbor Road(Paget)were the best vantage points from which to watch although I expect that the views from Cavendish Heights or Bostock Hill would have been quite spectacular too. When we got to town about an hour before the parade was to start there were already tons of people camped out on their lawn chairs with takeout for dinner all along the parade route. (You can tell the parade pros from the novices like us- They have their blankets, fold out tables and chairs and have brought dinner along with them, while we just came as we were and wrongly assumed that there would be street vendors to get munchies and drinks from.) The best place to watch is from the Hamilton Princess as that is the start and finish line but we went to Albouys Point and had front row seats on the dock. It was the first really cool evening we have had since we arrived with the temperature at parade time hovering around 60 degrees and we must be acclimatized to living here now as we both wore turtleneck sweaters, jeans and jackets.(Mind you, the Onions(Bermudians) are even more bundled up in their parkas and toques although I do confess that I even wore gloves as it was chilly.) We watched most of the parade from this vantage point and while it was a perfect place to sit and watch, the crowd at Albouys Point was rather quiet and subdued. After watching 75% of the parade from Albouys we wandered further up Front Street as we were looking for a coffee to take off some of the chill and found a more festive atmosphere (seems like Albouys is more where the families hung out so maybe next time we will pick a different vantage point). I think next year we will just walk down to Harbour Road and watch from there as the boats come right by both sides of the harbour or check out the action at the Princess. The parade lasted about 2 hours( the boats went up and down the harbor twice) and ended with a huge display of fireworks which lasted about 15 minutes.

Never did find that cup of coffee-! I keep forgetting that Hamilton shuts down at 5:00 even on Saturdays and so the few coffee shops that they have here were not open unless you count the Tigermart at the Esso station on Richmond Road ! We came home after the parade and had coffee at home although it sounds like the Tigermart may have been a busy place as we met some American tourists today who ended up there for a cuppa joe after the parade last night.]I actually eat at the Tigermart quite often. Believe it or not the Esso station makes some of the best muffins and scones and they are hot out of the oven when I stop in on my way to work. They also make pizza and sandwiches, etc so its not as odd as it sounds to end up at the gas station- the food and coffee are quite good, but if you want ambiance, best to go elsewhere.

(Just so you don't think Hamilton is a ghost town at night, its not- Restaurants and bars are open in the evenings, its just the shops that close up which includes the coffee shops- if there are any open at night I have not found them yet and normally its not a big deal as mainly I only go to Hamilton to work )

On another note we had a Tsunami scare yesterday. Bermuda really is another world and while I knew that we had to worry about Hurricanes and the odd tornado, never thought we even got tidal waves here. This one turned out to be a false alarm but caused quite a stir. If you want to view the article go to bermudasun.org and click on the headline" Panic grips island over tidal wave rumour" or check out the Monday edition of the Royal Gazette

Funny thing is we never knew a thing about it until today- we were up on the east end yesterday at St. Davids and St. Georges and by the time we came back everything was back to normal. We have had some very funky lightening storms here a few nights ago and it was like nothing we have ever seen before. Instead of coming down like daggers,it was like someone turned on and off the lights every few seconds lighting up the entire sky. The thunder was bizarre too as it was just a continuous. We were joking that this is the Bermuda triangle weather and wondered if any ships or planes went missing.The waves were very high and the sea was grey and angry looking on Friday but Saturday it was back to its beautiful shades of turquoise and seemed pretty calm. Bizzare!

ANSWER TO BURNING QUESTION.....

2006-11-29T18:16:00.000-04:00

I have received a few emails asking about the Web Cam link and how to use it- first off I should tell you that as we are on Atlantic time there may be a significant time difference (Example- it is pitch black here now at 6:00 pm so if you click on the webcam at night during this time of year, there is not much to see!)

Every email I have had so far on the webcam says "I don't see a thing- there must be something wrong!"
Actually there is nothing wrong, its just in ID10T error! and you just have to do a few things to activate it.

First you would click on the control icon across the top. Then go over to the left hand side and click on View size- I usually select 640x480 but choose whatever size works best for you. The arrows are to move around. The other drop down menu below that usually comes up as blank but if you select it there are a number of locations to select- IE: Airport, Gibbs Hill lighthouse etc. Pick one and VOILA- live shots of Bermuda!

Enjoy!

THANKSGIVING DAY..

2006-11-23T19:47:00.000-04:00

Well today was American Thanksgiving and I had the day off. Its a funny day for a holiday but I'm not complaining as its always nice to sleep in and just let the day unfold. In Canada Thanksgiving is always on a Monday so we always had a long weekend and I think if we were in the states that they turn it into a four day weekend.

They do not observe Thanksgiving here in Bermuda but because I work for an American company we get today off as well as the fourth of July so it was a good day to go to town as everything was open,unlike official holidays when NOTHING is open. It was pretty quiet which was great- not too many tourists around this week- I think the cruise ship season is pretty much over and with all the exempt companies off today it was nice to walk around without tripping all over tons of people.

It was a day of giving thanks as WE BOUGHT A CAR!! Its a sign of how much our lives have changed that we are actually excited to be the PROUD owners of a 2006 KIA Picanto! (We would not have been caught dead in a car like this in Canada but the prices are obscene here and we actually bought this car at an estate sale for a very good price.) It only has 420 K on it so it has not even been broken in yet and we get it Friday so this weekened will see us exploring parts of the island we have not yet seen yet. The photo is off the net but the one we bought is "Diamond Blue" which is sort of a blue/grey color. When we first saw it I had doubts that there would be enough headroom but it is surprisingly roomy and as it is a Class A car, it is the cheapest to license- you pay an annual fee based on how long the car is- for this car, our annual license fee is 276.00- the bigger the car, the more it costs and some cars are over 1400 a year for PLATES- we are not talking insurance here! It has air, JVC stereo system and has airbags and ABS(you need that here as the roads get slick when it rains- I always thought it was just necessary for driving in snow and ice!) The estate sales are held here weekly by the Good Riddance Girl and so we also picked up some nice furniture. Just have to arrange for delivery of that and we are pretty much all set up with everything we need.( Emoo is great for stuff too and we have picked up a few things off that site too)

We have changed our minds regarding the golf course we are going to join- Initially we were going to join Belmont Hills but Riddells Bay has a more flexible arrangement for guest workers in that they offer a 3 year membership which if we end up staying longer than that we can covert to a full membership. None of the other clubs currently offer term memberships and as these are not equity memberships it makes more sense to go this route. One of the nice things too about Riddells is their affiliation with the Fairmont Southampton- We will have privileges at their course as well as full use of their beach club and discounts at the restaurants and spa.

Once the car is transferred, the rest of the furniture is delivered and the golf club membership is approved we are totally set!

HOME SWEET HOME

2006-11-18T13:40:00.000-04:00

Well, we have been in our new home for a few weeks now and the first 10 days were a bit of a challenge as our stuff was sitting on the docks. Even though our landlady left us dishes,cutlery and linens, we had very limited cooking abilities as she left a very small frying pan so could only make one burger at a time kind of thing. We did not have any pots or pans so could not really use the oven or stove until our stuff arrived. We had some TV Dinners and microwaveable kraft dinner( surprisingly tasty!) November 9th the truck pulled up with all our goodies. It was like Christmas as we had not seen our stuff since July and were not even sure what we brought with us! I was so worried about my tea set being in pieces ( I inherited it from my mom and it is irreplaceable) so that was the first box I opened and BIG SIGH of relief- it was in perfect condition. Actually everything was, even the lightbulbs, all our artwork and my crystal animals are all OK.

Now that we have unpacked it all, we realize we need a few things like bookcases and some display cabinets or the like. We have lots of storage space but the one thing this place does not have is any shelving or counterspace although there is tons in the kitchen. (Like we need that!) My bathroom is tiny and there is no counterspace at all: just a pedestal sink, no medicine cabinet or anything and so its been fun doing my hair and makeup- no where to store the stuff and no where to put it while trying to get ready,although I must say it is nice to have my hair dryer back.

Gorhams(one of the hardware stores- sort of Bermuda's answer to Canadian Tire but on a smaller scale)has all kinds of storage solutions and I saw 2 things there last week that I may get- one is a vanity on a pole kind of thing- it has a place to store your hairdryer, a little round makeup table that wraps around the pole [it kind of reminds me of old fashioned floor lamp], a mirror and it stands about 6 feet high. The other thing is a storage unit that goes over the toilet and is about the same height with shelves to put towels etc. I had sold my vanity set because I didn't think we would have room for it here but we do have the room in the second bedroom which is going to end up being an office for the most part. Right now its just a place to put everything that needs to go on a shelf or in a display case! We had to throw out all our hangars that we brought as for the most part they were wire and you cannot use them here as they rust. Has to be plastic or wood and even plastic hangars cost an arm and a leg here! Basically a buck a piece for crappy ones and they go up quite a bit from there,especially the pant and skirt hangars. We also learned why every closet in the house has a light-I thought it was to see what was in there but they are not walk-ins so it seemed kind of silly. Apparently you are supposed to leave them on all the time as it helps keep down the mold and mildew. Today I learned how quickly things get mildewed or moldy (not sure which but my green suede jacket is now pinkish so tomorrow its time to go buy the closet heater- from normal to moldy in 10 days- I still cannot believe it. I never heard of closet heaters before but apparently we really need them.( Fortunately that particular jacket is machine washable suede but it remains to be seen if you can actually get that crap off!
Probably going to be very sorry I kept my suede and leather stuff as the rest of it is not machine washable.) Other things we have learned: You have to turn your dark stuff inside out so it doesn't fade because of the light being on all the time. We have a great book that is basically a survival guide for living here -Its called Tea With Tracey and its full of great information- Who knew you would have to put cork behind all your artwork so it doesn't get moldy? Or that you have to buy closet heaters (in addition to leaving the lights on) I never knew half the stuff we are using here even existed- Here its all about dehumidifying, in Calgary it was the opposite- trying to put enough moisture in the air. ( On the plus side I have not had to moisturize 2x a day to keep my skin nice, I don't moisturize at all anymore)

Then there are all the tips one must know to keep your home bug free- all the drains in the sinks and tub need to be kept closed or you get disgusting centipedes and the biggest F"ing spiders I have ever seen. My love affair with Bermuda went down a notch the day that I saw my first cockroach in the kitchen. After I finished freaking out, the can of Baygone came out and as I had no idea where the little bastard went, I sprayed everywhere. Apparently this stuff is toxic to bugs and people and is to be used sparingly (As my hairdress says- these guys can survive nuclear reactions but they cannot survive Baygone so it has to be pretty harmful.) We also hear that windex is a good bug killer and to get rid of ants we just put pennies down and they run like hell. Everything goes in the fridge and I mean everything. No food goes in the cupboards unless you want to have an infestation of something and every crumb is picked up or swept away the second it hits the ground. I am afraid to take out the garbage at night as we have a central place to put it and I have visions of bugs everywhere in the little garbage room, although I must admit that have never seen any in it during the day.

We still do not have a car and hopefully that will change very soon. Friends of ours have a car and so they are nice enough to come pick us up to go out to dinner and the like. I am sure if we had asked they would have driven us to town the day we got our ironging board but we took the bus in and cabbed it back. There is nothing quite so frustrating as going to the hardware store in town (Hamilton) and buying an ironing board, garbage cans and the like and then having to schlep it for blocks until you find a taxi to take it all home. Even grocery shopping is a pain in the ass- you only buy 2 bags worth of stuff at a time as it is a hilly walk back to our house. Last weekend was Rememberance Day so nothing was open on Saturday and nothing is ever open on Sundsays. I had Monday off in lieu so we went to the car dealership and it was closed then too- they observed Rememberance Day on both the actual day and the Monday so we will try again next weekend unless we find something on emoo before that. Today we actually decided that since we needed beer, wine and diet coke in addition to food, that we would do a big shop and take a cab home. We had about 8 bags for 300 bucks and there is no fresh fruit or vegetables to be found in that. I broke down and brought some fresh fruit recently and paid 5 bucks for a handful of grapes. I would not mind paying the high prices if the quality was decent but by the time the stuff gets here, gets through customs, off the docks and into the store its awful (moldy, mushy or both) We are now just buying canned or frozen fruit which I don't much care for but at least its fruit. Cannot seem to find fresh carrots here at all and usually get my veggies when we eat out.

We were off island this week in New York and we were actually supposed to be in Boston too but our flight was cancelled twice on Thursday night so there was no point going Friday as my meetings there were in the morning and I would have missed them. We had planned to come home on Sunday but came back last night instead as dealing with the wonderful staff at Delta was a nightmare- Surly, growly customer service agents who don't seem to know how to rebook a reservation ( Our flight back to Bermuda was on American Airlines and their service is far superior.)

This was one of those times I was glad that I was on company business as our room for the extra night in New York was $555.56 US. As the IROP was weather Delta didn't do anything for us and all the hotels near JFK were sold out. We ended up checking back into the same hotel we had checked out of earlier in the day (Same rate per night for the previous couple of days- I keep thinking of my WestJet days whenever I travel for business and wonder how much more could be added to the bottom line if we actually had to stay in reasonably priced accomodations.) While we never made it to Boston, our luggage is still there. When the flight was cancelled, we went to the baggage claim area and were told it would be 4 hours before the bags were off the plane due to all the other cancellations and that we could just come back in the morning and get them. Well we did and they were not there! Today we were expecting them on the 12:30 flight from Boston to Bermuda but they were not on it- apparently whoever did our claim file did not finish the file so the message to retrieve the bags never went though- maybe tomorrow... I sure hope they arrive as we did some shopping and all our new clothes and drugstore stuff is in those bags. ( I love Century 21!!!) I paid the duty on everything so hopefully we will see it all again someday.

We did mangage to have some fun in between work while we were in New York and went to see Spamalot. It was hilarious! I am NOT a Monty Python fan but I loved it. We had the most amazing meal in Little Italy at a place called Grotto Azurra. It was the best meal I have had in a long time- we both had the fixed price menu so we were not expecting the portions to be so big- For 19.00 you get to choose a pasta dish and an entree- I had baked ziti and a skirt steak (still not sure what cut that is- going to have to look that up but it was excellent) Hubby had spagetti and meatballs and chicken parmesana and we both had the BEST cannollis we have ever had. We recently had some in Bermuda and until we discovered this place in New York, those were the best but now the ones at Portofino rank in as number 2.
Also went to Stage Door Deli again as they have outstanding corned beef sandwiches. Had some nice business lunches too but cannot remember the names- lots of great restuarants in the financial district.

Thats it for this update- we are heading off to the beach for some rays. New York was grey and gloomy the whole time we were there so need to spend some time in the sun.

MOVING DAY IS FAST APPROACHING

2006-10-29T09:06:00.000-04:00

Today was an exciting day for us- We got the keys to our condo and can start moving in (all our worldly goods that are on island amount to 6 pieces of luggage) so we will hop into a cab Monday and finally be in our own place !

We are staying at the corporate apartment til then as our new TV and the cable guy are not coming til Tuesday so we figured we might as well enjoy the amenities here til then plus our landlady is doing some finishing touches like resealing the hardwood floors and repainting today. Then thankfully no more moving for at least 3 years as that is how long our lease is. I had arranged for our goods to arrive on the 30th as I knew it would take only a day or two to clear customs but what I did not know was that it will take up to another 3 weeks for the stevedores to strip the container and then our crate gets delivered to us. So moving day will actually take place in 2 parts and its part 2 that I am really looking forward to. I cannot wait to be reunited with my blowdryer and my favorite pillow! Its been so long since we have seen our stuff that it will be a big surprise to see what we actually kept. Our landlady is a real doll and has left us with additional things to tide us over til our crate arrives including a coffee pot, dishes, pots and pans and the like. I am hoping that I actually kept a warm jacket of some kind as I am back in New York and Boston from the 14th-19th and its going to feel cold after being here. We are still wandering around in short sleeve shirts and shorts although its a lot cooler than it was as we are now sitting in the mid-high 70's.

It was a different kind of moving day for us too as my hubby passed his road test so we can buy a car and move ourselves around in our own time, instead of waiting for the bus, ferry or taxi to come. YAY!!! I decided to wait as I am too freaked out to drive here at the moment -my learners permit is good for 6 months so I have time to overcome my fears.

I am still having trouble with knowing what side of the road I should be walking, never mind driving on, on so for now the world is a safer place. Don't like those frikken roundabouts either and probably the thing that freaks me out the most is the bikes overtaking on both sides of the car and the narrowness of the roads as my depth perception is very poor. We have narrowed down our desired car to a Nissan March which looks a lot like a VW Beetle, a Dhiatsu Terios or a Suzuki Ignis (Both little SUV's) but that may change as we have not actually been in them yet and how much headroom we have remains to be seen. There are a lot of nice Peugot models here but think they are going to be way too small with the roof up (Peugot 206cc and Peugot 306 cc) and I really like the Rover MGTF but again think headroom is going to be an issue. We are going to the dealer next week and the choice will boil down to what we fit in! We also need a point of reference for pricing as there are tons of used cars for sale here but the prices are all over the place, so we figured lets get pricing on the new models and decide from there.

We went to the Crystal Caves (www.crystalcaves.bm) Photo above is of some people we met there.

Check out their website as our pictures did not do them any justice and they are absolutely spectacular. These caves are millions of years old and have amazing formations of stalacmites and stalagtites made of limestone. It takes 100 years for 1 inch to form so when you see the size of these things you can't help but be overwhelmed with how old they are. Two young boys discovered them by accident back in the 20's. They were playing cricket and lost their ball down a hole. They wanted the ball back so got a rope and a flashlight and eventually descended more than 120 feet into the ground.

We have also been checking out more of the beaches- there are tons of them but we decided to do Horseshoe Bay as its Bermuda's most famous and most photographed beach. It is famous for its pink sand and its as fine as baby powder. This is one of the more touristy beaches we have been too but it was gorgous and we had a nice day there

Going golfing tomorrow on the executive par 3 course at the Fairmont Southampton- I got a set of clubs today and want to try my hand on one of the easier courses here before I try out Belmont. There is a huge second hand market here due to the comings and goings of all the expats so I got a nice set of ladies clubs and a bag pretty cheap.

As I sit writing this, night has fallen and the whistling frogs have begun to sing. They will sing all night long and they are very loud especially when you realize that they are about the size of a thumbprint. Its like an orchestra playing all night long, although for some reason they don't sing once the temperature falls below 70- so far it has still been in the 70's at night so we have always been serenaded since we arrived.Unlike most amphibians, the Whistling Frog doesn't lay its eggs in ponds, choosing instead the small pockets of water that are trapped at the base of such large-leafed plants as the banana. These moisture-loving amphibians seek out damp spots under stones or in plant debris to avoid water loss through their porous skin during the heat of the day. I have never seen the little guys but they have little round pads on their feet instead of webs as they are tree climbers, not swimmers. What I have seen both dead and alive is the giant toad which is also known as spring chicken in some countries. They are the most frequent road kill I have seen here so far and while they are big and ugly, they were brought to Bermuda to control the cockroaches so I am glad that they are here.

ALMOST LEGAL......

2006-10-16T09:04:00.000-04:00

Almost legal for us to drive here. We both got our learners permits on Thursday (YAY!!!) I was really nervous even though I studied hard for this test-the first question threw me a bit as the terminology on some of the questions is very British so it took a minute to figure out what the question meant in English ( I see JP cringing over that comment!) Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to flunk after having your first learners permit almost 30 years ago? Thankfully we can now move on to the driving lessons next week- Hopefully by the time we move, we will have wheels. You really do not need them but its just more convenient especiallyfor doing things like groceries. Now that we are in a condo and have full facilities at our disposal we are buying groceries in small amounts as walking home with a lot of bags in the heat is not much fun and if its raining like it was this past week, you only have one free hand as the other one you need for the umbrella. We had some bizarre weather Thursday and Friday with a big front that blew in and apparently there was a tornado watch or warning on Friday morning. There was some pretty wicked thunder and lightening and then just after lunch it turned into a Bermudaful day. (Hot and sunny) One thing that I really like here is that even when it is raining its still hot out, the temperature doesn't seem to change at all, its just wet!

We moved again yesterday to the executive apartment that the company owns for a 2 week stay until our home is ready Nov 1st. For the first time in months we have a real place to stay that has furniture other than a bed to sit on!. It is really close to the office so I can sleep in for the next two weeks til 7:30, get cleaned up and still be at work by 8:00 ( I can see the office out the window, although its down the hill about 2 blocks) Its a pretty nice condo and has all the bells and whistles you would expect a place to have- All the latest gizmos and appliances and is quite nicely furnished. There is a convection oven and convection microwave too but I have no idea how to use them- good thing that I don't do the cooking because I have no idea where to start. We had a few blonde/senior moments yesterday when we wanted to go out and could not for the life of either of us figure out how to lock the freakin door!. We gave up and left the place unlocked and finally figured it out this morning. You wouldn't think that you would need an instruction manual to close the doors but you do! Then it took the 2 of us to figure out how to work the remote control for the airconditioners. Maybe we were just having a bad day but it was ludicrous how long that took! This place normally sits empty about 3 weeks out of 4 as it is only used by my big boss from London and he just left and won't be back til after we take possession of our condo. (For the total rent we are going to pay over the terms of the lease, you would have thought we were buying it and not renting it as the rent will cost more than what we paid for our condo in Calgary)

We picked up our wireless home phone and wireless internet device so even though we are not in our home yet, our home phone is working already-its like a cell phone in some respects as if the battery is charged you can take it anywhere on the island and it would work but its as big as a normal house phone with a stand so not a cell phone substitute. The internet device is pretty cool- its something called EVDO and its basically a USB key - install the software on your computer and hit connect and voila- internet connection without cables, phones etc. It was the quickest way for us to get the internet and the wireless phone was our first choice because we did not have to go with the Bermuda telephone company- it takes weeks or months from what we are told to get a home phone line with BTC- the wireless home phone is with cellularone and all you do is take it out of the box, plug it in and you are can make phone calls. I am looking into something called SKYPE for long distance over the internet as my neice in Taiwan uses it and calls Canada for 2 cents a minute but my brother just told me about it yesterday so have to do some research- I have no idea how it works but it sounds pretty cool.

This weekend we went to the King Edward VII Gold Cup which is a sailing competition and got to check out the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club- its normally closed to the public but they opened it up for this event which lasted all week. They had a variety of matches and the finals were today. We were surprised that there were very few specatators for the finals, especially as Bermuda made it to the finals but there were only a handful of people there today. There were quite a few boats out on the water watching the event but still it seemed that the only people who were watching knew the competitors. (Sailors from all over the world compete in this event.) It was a beautiful day and even when there are no events like this taking place, we can sit down by the harbour for hours and just look out to sea. Haven't been to the beach for about two weeks as we have been too busy but think we will go next weekend and we will be going to the caves too. I am still looking at getting tickets to the grillin and chillin event at the aquarium for later in the month but am still trying to justify the price of tickets for that.

We went up to Blu's the other day at Belmont Hills Golf course. We have decided that this is the club we are going to join and it is gorgeous! The course is in immaculate condition and the restaurant (Blu's) was excellent. We had a table with an ocean view and ate dinner while the sun was setting. I can definitely see us spending a lot of time there, whether it be to eat, golf or just go for a drink there.

BACK TO WORK I GO

2006-10-09T09:03:00.000-04:00

Reality set back in at 6:30 Monday morning when the alarm clock went off and I had to go to work- I wish that I had won the lotto 6-49 before we left Canada as I really have enjoyed not working and could live the life of Riley for a very long time and not be bored, however I guess that its time to start earning a paycheque again! To live the life of Riley here in Bermuda, one definitely requires a good source of cash inflow every now and then.

First day was the usual blurr of meeting a lot of new people and not being able to remember more than 25% of their names. I have been immersed in a low cost culture for so many years now that it is such a novelty to me: Every morning I come to work and have a newspaper waiting on my desk, 2 on Fridays as the Mid Ocean News only comes out once a week. Then there is free coffee and juice all day (starbucks coffee beans!) and free soft drinks as well. They probably feed us too but I just have not found out about that yet. I am sure that my colleagues think I am a bit strange as I was all excited to get NEW stuff for my office. They take it for granted but it is such a change not to get hand me down office equipment. My first day I got my blackberry, a brand new printer in my office, new laptop, new adding machine, new hole punch etc. It felt like Christmas!!

My days start late here, largely due to us being on Atlantic time here and needing to be in touch with NY and Boston as well as London and Dublin during business hours so we work from 8:45 to 4:45 with an hour for lunch. I get in around 8:00 to beat the traffic and am really enjoying my ferry rides. I may start working out before work starts as we have a gym onsite(free!) and showers so could get a quick workout in. Right now I am just doing a lot of walking as my exercise.

We are getting very anxious to move to our new digs and have started to buy a few things we will need to tide us over until our stuff arrives. (Sheets, towels, a few dishes and things like that.) We shipped all that kind of stuff but it won't be here before Nov 1st . We are actually moving again next Saturday for 2 weeks to an apartment as my employer has an apartment that the execs use when the come to town and it will be vacant until the World Rugby Classic in November. This will be our 3rd place to stay since we got here but it will be the best place of them all as it will be just like having a home- living room, kitchen, etc. Hotels are great for a while but we have been living in them since July 18th and have had enough for a while.

This week was a quiet week as far as exploring goes. Hubby has been out doing a lot of exploring but after almost getting creamed a few times out walking we are taking it easy today and just hanging by the pool. (Lots of places there are no sidewalks and a lot of blind corners and the roads are very narrow.) He has found himself pressed up against a wall trying to make himself very small with trucks coming within an inch of clipping him and we are starting to understand why we never see anyone going for walks here, except on the railway trail ( kind of like the bike paths in Calgary)

Friday night we went out for a steak and I don't think I will be having another one anytime soon. It was cooked fine, good angus beef that was seasoned great but the texture is kinda mushy, not like Alberta beef. At 35 bucks for a steak I really wanted to enjoy it more- There is a place that specializes in steaks here so may give it another try sometime but I suspect it will likely be the same texture unless they buy it from a different supplier. (Its all imported from the states and I am told its because they corn feed their cattle, while Alberta beef is grain fed. It makes a difference as the beef here has the texture of TUNA- YUCK!) Saturday was just running a bunch of errands in Hamilton and today we are taking it easy and just hanging by the pool. When we first arrived we were trying to cram it all in at once, the way you do when you are on vacation and now we feel like we have all the time in the world to see everything so we will let it all unfold gradually.

Next week we are writing our learners permits (Thursday afternoon) and so we are both studying for that as the rules here are different and somethings are just new to us like round abouts and learning what the different signs all mean. I am sure that we will both get a learners permit but think that only one of us will end up passing the road test (not me!) If we get our learners we can book driving lessons- We have been told that if you don't book them and call for an appointment for a road test that it will take 6 or more months before an appointment is available, but if you do take them (even just 1) you can get a road test appointment the next day! As you cannot rent a car here, you have to pay to use an instructors car for your road test (60 bucks) plus the lessons are 50 bucks each per person. Will keep you posted on the success or failure of that!

Not much more to tell this week- just settling into a bit of a routine and enjoying the fabulous weather and scenery. We got tickets to see Beauty and the Beast which will be playing here for 2 weeks and are also getting tickets to the World Rugby Classic in November. There is a big sailing regatta OCtober 16-23 so we are definitely going to check that out and there is also a culinary festival here and I want to get tickets for that (www.bermudagourmetgetaway.com) Its full of celebrity chefs and great eats. The event I want to go to is called grillin and chillin and it is being held at the acquarium. There is a ton of stuff to do here so its going to be great checking it all out.

ONE MORE MONTH IN HOTELS....

2006-10-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

November 1st is moving day! We found a really cute condo in Paget which seems to have two of everything. It's a 2 storey, 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, 2 patios (one off the master bedroom, the other off the living room). We have air conditioning in every room with reverse heat for the winter???

It is in immaculate condition as our landllord has been living in til now and is moving to a new house. Its like a showhome and has great hardwood floors, wooden blinds and is very tastefully decorated and has tons of closet space. The rooms are all a nice size too. The landlord was initially planning to sell all the furniture giving us first dibs on it, and now has graciously decided to leave it all and rent to us our new place fully furnished, at no additional charge which is terrific. We also have a swimming pool and all appliances including a washer and dryer. I can hardly wait to do laundry at home again- we have been going to laundramats since July and/or doing laundry in the bathtub. We also have an assessment number so when one or both of us get our drivers license we can buy a car. (Only allowed one car per household and that is only if the landlord allows you to use the assessment number) We have heard rumours that the government is planning to ban the sale of used cars so we want to get our license fast and buy used while we can. There is a huge second hand market for everything here as people come and go all the time when their work permits expire so you can get anything you want in almost new condition for a lot less than buying new. Cars especially are expensive here with the 25% import duty on them and most used cars do not have a lot of miles on them as its an island, 21 square miles. Really you don't even need a vehicle here for the most part but we plan to use it mostly on the weekend to explore.

Scooter is out of the question for us, due to the large number of accidents we have seen and /or heard about through people we have met. We are old and our bones don't heal as quick! Scooters are great but the people driving them here are darting in and out all the time to get out of the traffic jams and even driving a car is going to be a wild experience watching out for the scooters all the time. Before we arrived we were sure that we would get one but now neither of us really wants to take our lives into our hands. When you are stuck in traffic and moving at a snails pace or not moving at all, I can understand why they do it but its annoying and dangerous. We may rent a scooter ( don't need a license to rent one, only to buy one as the rentals are 50CC, the ones you buy are up to 125cc) Another reason its scary- all the new residents and all the tourists who have never driven on the left before are let loose on the streets of Bermuda without licenses- just have to be over 18 I think and you need not have a valid license from the country you came from.

We will be going for our learners permit in another 2 weeks or so and then not sure how long it will take to do our driving lessons and get booked in for the road test. First we have to get a doctor to certify that we are healthy enough to drive. Even if I pass my test I am taking the ferry to work- it is 1KM walk from our new home to Darryls Wharf where I will catch the ferry. A pass that is good for unlimited ferry and bus rides is 55.00 per month and new residents who are working get a three month pass for free by showing your work permit and applying for it down at the Ferry Terminal. (3 months pass is normally 135.00) Right now where we are staying I have a bus stop right out the front door so its the bus in the morning and take the ferry home. ( Its about a 15 minute walk to the ferry from here and if its really hot, I plan to take the bus so I still look half assed fresh when I get to work! Also there are not a lot of sidewalks to walk on and if its dark I may get creamed) With the bus I have maybe 2 blocks to the office. Traffic is horrendous here in the morning and afternoon rush hour. I still can't believe it but its true- I am told that if I leave for work anytime after 8:00 I might not get there for 8:45 and I am less than 10K from Hamilton- probably more like 6 or 7K. I catch the bus at 7:30 and when I arrive in Hamilton 20 minutes later, go to my favorite coffee place, have breakfast and read the paper before heading to the office. Rush hour here looks like rush hour in any major centre, maybe worse and one thing I have noticed and its the same in Calgary is that every one who is in a car is by themselves- no one seems to car pool which adds to the congestion. By leaving earlier I get there faster and still have time to relax.

Once we get moved in and our stuff arrives by ship we will post some pictures of the new digs.

SPIRIT OF BERMUDA

2006-10-01T08:54:00.000-04:00

Today the Spirit of Bermuda sloop arrived home to Bermuda from its maiden voyage.

It was quite the event down at Point Pleasant Park full of dignitaries, live bands and speeches. Tons of people showed up to watch her arrive and take part in all the festivities.It was a spectacular sight to see the sloop enter Hamilton Harbour with a flotilla of escorts ranging from tiny little boats that the kids learn to sail in to some pretty amazing yachts. The coolest part for me ,was the tug boat with the hose spray creating an archway for the Sloop. ( Very much like when the 200's were retired at WestJet and the fire department came out with the hose, only this is in the sea instead of on land).

All the ships in the harbour sounded their horns in welcome and I just kept thinking how lucky we are to be living here and being able to take part in stuff like this.

FIRST TRIP TO THE GROCERY STORE.......

2006-09-26T08:52:00.000-04:00

All along I have known that fruit and veggies were really expensive here and thought I was well prepared for it. After all, I checked out all the prices in the supermarkets here when I came for my interview. I have been reading the paper on-line and check in regularly with Bermuda-online.org which has the latest cost of living data. Thing is its one thing to know how much its going to cost but another thing completely when you actually really want to buy the stuff and have to pay for it. Some examples of prices I saw today- of course all are quoted to you in USD.

Strawberries- 1 pound = 12.99
Peaches- $3.25 per peach
Bananas 1.39 a pound ( that was at the cheaper supermarket)

Green peppers 11.99 a pound

Iceberg lettuce 6.00 a pound ( not sure about that one, might have been less)

Apparently apples were on sale today as you could get 6 apples for 5.69- normally they go for 1.50 each.

Bread- A loaf of bread runs between 2.85-6 bucks.

There were some bargains in other areas like Presidents Choice diet coke for 6 bucks a case vs 12 for a case for Diet Coke- its really weird to see Presidents Choice brands here but they are definitely less. Bought some PC "Woolite" to do some laundry in the tub- It was 6.71 Vs 9.75 for Woolite. Bleach (small, small container) was 3.79- the big jugs are over 11 bucks. Some things like cheese and coldcuts are actually cheaper here and today we just went to get a few things to eat in the room as we are sick of eating out.

PINCH ME- WE ARE FINALLY HERE!!!

2006-09-24T08:50:00.000-04:00

At long last we have arrived to our island paradise and things could not possibly be any better. The people are fabulous and welcoming, we are staying in some pretty nice digs until we find our own accomodation and we are behaving like tourists seeing all the sights. We keep forgetting we get to stay for the next few years and have to stop buying Bermuda souveniers! Of course we realize that we are in the honeymoon stage here where everything is new and thrilling but I can't even begin to tell you how great a lifestyle change this is for us. We are spending so much more time out of doors and walking our butts off exploring these beautiful Bermuda islands.

Everything has been going very smoothly. now that we have arrived. Even our initial entry into the country- We had heard horror stories about how much time it would take to get through immigration as first time residents and had pretty much resigned ourselves to spending 6 hours at the airport- Well, including paying duty on our goods that we brought with us, we were in and out in about an hour and both the immigration and customs officials were friendly and helpful. We were met at the aiport by a welcoming committee of my new coworkers and whisked away to a nice dinner to get acquainted. They are a great bunch of people ( To my former colleagues who might be reading this: Of course they are not anywhere near as nice as you guys.......)

Since we arrived we have been doing a lot of sightseeing, going to all the places you never would bother with when you live somewhere a long time. We have been to St. Georges on the east end of the island where we watched a re-enactment of old time punishment for gossiping- the dunking stool if you are a gossip or a nag. For the men, there was the whipping pole if you were a drunkard or for worse crimes, the stocks and pillory. St Georges is a UNESCO World Heritage site that was established in 1612- it has some amazing architecture and if you like history this place has it. It is the oldest continually inhabited English settlement in the New World with twisting alleys and colonial buildings. There are old fortresses and cannons everywhere. One of the most beautiful beaches we have ever seen (so far) is on St Georges Island, called Tobacco Bay Beach- The town square has cobblestone streets and lots of cute little shops.

Another day we spent on the west end of the island at the Dockyards (Somerset parish- Sandys which is prounounced Sands)- its a 20 minute ferry ride or an hour on the bus ( Yes to my amazement it really does take an hour to get to the other end of the island due to the 21 mile per hour speed limit and the narrow, narrow roads. ) We have not yet gotten up the courage to rent a moped, having seen several car vs.moped accidents the last few days. It seems like you are really taking your life into your hands on a moped here and I think I will stick to the ferry for now ! The Royal Naval Dockyards is another area frequented mostly by tourists it seems, although there is a good pub there that the locals frequent as well as the tourists called The Frog and Onion - it is owned by a Frenchman (the frog) and an Onion ( Bermudian). This is another place steeped in history- its a former naval base that commenced construction in 1810, built primarily by British convicts (nearly 10,000 of them were sent to Bermduda to construct the naval base over a period of almost 50 years). Today its a shopping area for tourists as well as the home of Dolphin Quest where you can swim with the dolphins or go snorkeling at the Bermuda Snorkel Park which is pretty cool as the park sits beneath towering fortress walls and the water contains a few cannons that apparently were shoved over the ramparts when they were found to be defective. (Plus all the amazing fish like butterfly fish, coral chopping fish and turquoise wrasses!)

Hamilton is where we are currently based out of and where I will be working but we are not sure where we want to live. The rental agent taking us around is showing us all the different parishes and hopefully we will find something that meets all the items on our "wish list". Hamilton is a nice town, day time the population is in the thousands- this is where all the insurance companies and commerce is done. It overflows with cruise ship passengers during the week as well for days at a time until the end of October when the cruising season is over. Only about 1,100 people actually live in Hamilton so after five its like a ghost town almost. Its a really pretty city, lots of parks and charming buildings. We went to our first Harbour Night on Wednesday- the shops stay open late ( normally the close at 5 or 5:30 during the week, closed on Sundays) . Front Street is blocked off to all vehicle traffic- its kind of like the Lilac Festival with live bands, artisans selling their wares, all kinds of street food and was a lot of fun.) That goes from spring to the end of tourist season too.

Of course bargain queen that I am, I am already learning the ropes- today we spent the day at the beach at the Southampton Princess - I had been there before and knew that if I ordered lunch at the beach bar from the bartender that it was twice the price of getting off my bar stool, walking 20 feet and ordering it at the lunch counter and then bringing it back to my bar stool to eat (saved 12 bucks!) Eating out is pretty expensive here in general so if you can save a few bucks....... We are still experiencing sticker shock even though we were expecting it, it makes you think twice about what you are going to order for dinner. They have a lot of happy hour fridays here at the pubs and hotels with half price drinks and free appetizers at a lot of them, so those are a lot of fun and attract tons of people.- Free food- Count me in!

Examples of some prices so far- Add 15% tip that is automatic to all prices( you have to pay the tip whether the service is awful or excellent) So far we have seen a mixture of both although overall its been not too bad.

Diet coke- $ 3.50 is the best price so far in a pub, no refills to as high as $5.00. Beer is not too bad- between 6- 6.50 for a pint of Guiness or Samual Adams, Dark and Stormy is around 6 bucks too. (Rum and Ginger Beer- the national drink of Bermuda along with a rum swizzle.) Coffee is another story- Paying anywhere from 3.50-5.50 for a large coffee ( just a regular cuppa joe, nothing fancy at a coffee shop, about the same in a restaurant although sometimes you get refills, sometime you don't)- You see a theme here- its expensive for my bad habits, reasonable for my hubby!

Burgers seem to run anywhere from 12 and up, fish and chips about 15 bucks, house salad $8-12 depending on where you go. Lasagna- 15.95-18.95, steak sandwich starts at 20 and up. Keep in mind that we have been eating in pubs so far, no fancy restaurants where you can add a few bucks or more to those prices. Mostly eating fish so far as a lot of it is local and very fresh. ( Learning to like fish- had something called a Bonita or maybe its a bonito fish the other day- it was actually very tasty but its not all the cheap either) Breakfast has been running about 15 bucks which is not too bad. I haven't seen a steak dinner under $33 yet and actually have not had any beef or chicken yet,(usually around 25 bucks for a chicken meal) although I had some amazing lasagna the other day and cannolli for dessert that was better than any I have had anywhere else in my travels. One thing I will say though is that we haven't had a bad meal yet and the portions are very large so you do get pretty good value for the price.

What else can I tell you at this early stage- we love it, the weather has been outstanding- every day is a carbon copy of the day before as far as the weather goes and we were fortunate enough to miss Hurricane Florence and barely felt the effects of Helene as she went by the other day. Its around 82 in the day time and goes down to about 76 at night- not much difference between them. The golf courses are in excellent shape and as I write this I have just come home from the beach and am waiting for my hubby to come home from the golf course where he is thinking of getting a membership. No immediate plans to get a moped or a car- the public transit system here is fantastic and you can take both the bus and ferry for 55.00 a month and that gets you anywhere you want to go - I love taking the ferry. We have so many things we want to see and do - we are going to explore all the parishes and see what each has to offer, we plan to spend a lot of time on the railway trail, which is a walking path that goes from one end of the island to the other, the aquarium, the caves and of course do a lot of sailing and golfing. We have a couple guides for exploring the island and hope to have a blast.

GETTING CLOSER..........

2006-08-10T08:39:00.000-04:00

We are getting closer to arrival in Bermuda. Having quit my job and sold pretty much all our worldly possessions, we are now down to the finish line or the start line depending on how you look at this! We just spent the last two weeks in Jamaica for a well earnedvacation whose primary purpose was to help us become acclimatized to the heat and humidity as well as to de-stress. We also got the best tans we have ever had in our lives -we are SO BROWN!This was the first time in years that we have been able to take two consecutive weeks off from work to just chill- it was so nice to realize that it was month-end and I was NOT drafting financial statements for the first time in my career. I did have a fleeting moment while I was lying on the beach drinking my strawberry daquiri when I was wondering how Karen was making out for her first solo month end but it passed quickly and I have no doubt she came threw with flying colors!) We went to Sandals Ochos Rios and it was FANTASTIC! We have done the gamut of all inclusive vacations over the years but Sandals does it BEST!

If we ever do another one it would be at another Sandals as we have been ruined for any other resort. Imagine an all inclusive where the meals are actually something to look forward to because the food is outstanding, where all your watersports are included with no limitations, (even waterskiing at Dunns River), free golf and golf lessons (unlimited), free DIVING (2 dives a day, all equipment included at no additional charge)- it truly is the ultra all inclusive and deal finder that I am, it was relatively inexpensive and well worth even twice the price. Even the spa, which is extra was reasonably priced and I loved my hot stone massage and manicure and pedicure. It was so much nicer than Oasis or Eveline Charles. Some snapshots are uploaded- we took tons of pictures but have not yet downloaded most of them so these are but a glimpse- there is one of me as I have to show off my tan!)We had a big scare the day our house sale was supposed to close as at the last minute the buyers were ready to walk away from the deal. In the end it all worked out but the two weeks before we left were madness with selling the car (the day before we left!,the rest of our furniture, packing and cleaning and fighting with the lawyers over the sale agreement! - I thought we were going to both have heart attacks- by the time we left for Jamaica we sure needed some R&R.

So what about Bermuda you ask? We were supposed to fly there today, however, those who know the story o this point in time will not be surprised to hear that Yes, there is another!%$@## delay and so instead of boarding a flight to Bermuda at 8:05 this morning, we boarded a shuttle bus that took us to Enterprise Rent a Car just a few minutes away from YYZ and as I write this, I am sitting in a lovely hotel room called the Fireside Inn in Kingston, Ontario instead of my guesthouse in Bermuda. We have been informed (last night when we landed in Toronto if you can believe it) that it will be a week from Friday before all the paperwork is resolved so we are touring around Ontario for a day or two. Big plans like doing laundry, catching up on email and paying some bills. After that is all looked after, we are likely going to do another shorter vacation for a week as it is cheaper to leave Canada while we wait........... I now have free internet access so my next plan of action after I update this blog is to scour the web looking for deals to somewhere.(The resort in Jamaica did not have cheap internet access which is normally not a concern as I have never in my life taken my laptop with me when I travelled, but being homeless I did not have a lot of choice and also needed to stay in touch with Bermuda) My new employer keeps telling me not to worry about these delays, they are going to look after me once we arrive...reimbursing us for our additional expenses, having me on salary even though am not yet working (downside is that until we get there, cannot access our Bermuda bank account as we have to pickup our debit cards in person at the Bank of Bermuda - cannot even do online transfers without having the debit card numbers and so we are laying out cash, trusting that when we arrive all will be well.

STILL NOT THERE YET!

2006-04-15T08:37:00.000-04:00

It has been one gong show after another with immigration but it looks like in the end that it will work out for the better! After waiting for months to hear about my work permit, we got the sad news that it was declined early in the new year. Immigration felt the job should have gone to a local candidate. The employer did not want to hire this person and re advertised the job, so I reapplied and once again was successful in landing it. Having been disappointed once already with the immigration authorities we were not nearly as excited as when I got the offer the first time. In the meantime while I was waiting to hear if I would land the job for a second time, I had been interviewing with other Bermuda employers and as luck would have it, ended up with the original job offer and a far superior offer within days of each other. The new job which I have accepted is with a very reputable insurance firm that is considered a good corporate citizen and they assure me that they have a very good relationship with the immigration folks and that there will be no issues such as I encountered my first go round. They wanted to fast track this application however, due to our previous experience we were very hesitant to do so- We do not want to end up selling everything we own and leaving a great job when it’s still not a sure thing in our minds until that little permit is in our hot little hands .

They say everything happens for a reason and while we certainly did not understand it at the time, the way things have turned out we couldn't be happier. I will be in a job that will fully utilize my education and experience, rather than being slightly underemployed in the other job (but we would be in Bermuda which was the primary goal so that was not a big issue) working for an employer that has outstanding benefits. If all goes according to schedule we will be out of here by the end of May at which time we will start posting on the adventure of living in Bermuda

NOT QUITE EXPATS YET

2005-10-25T08:31:00.000-04:00

As I write this first posting, we have not yet arrived in Bermuda nor do we know exactly when we will arrive. We are still waiting for immigration to approve BW's work permit which was filed for on August 23rd with the exception of the police clearances which were sent mid September. We are finding the wait to be interminably long as its getting cold here in Calgary and we were really hoping to have received word two weeks ago! Once we get word, we still have to give notice at our jobs and then we are outta here!

Varying accounts we have read and people we have talked to indicate the process can take anywhere from four weeks to several months, with the average time being in the neighbourhood of three months so we are keeping our fingers crossed that its sooner than later.

In the meantime (and very useful in making our decision to move) we continue to do our homework by using the fabulous website www.bermuda-online.org which has the most comprehensive information I have ever seen on anything and everything anyone could ever want to know about living in Bermuda, cost of living, how to get a drivers license, fees for car registration, culture etc. We have been looking at all the websites for realtors and rental agents which we found in the Bermuda yellow pages- this is probably the best online phone directory we have seen as it has website addresses in it. We are also visiting emoo.com to search out potential apartments for rent, used cars and the like and reading the local papers on line.