Another year has passed and...

I still have not moved anywhere.

I set myself challenges for this year though. However I forgot about them so I will have a look through and see if I actually managed any of them.

• Work out different ways in which I will be able to make it across to Canada.

I have not done this

• Research how my partner will be able to get a job as a ranger and if there is anything else that he will need to get.

I have not done this.

• Find out any useful information about Canada such as Education system, health system, taxes, utilities, recycling schemes, public transport etc

I have found some websites but I have not spent much time actually reading them (I just found them)

• Find out what kinds of visas are available and how to apply for a permanent visa. 

I have not done this.

• Find out how self employment affects my chances of getting across.

I have not done this.

• Find out how I can continue to pay outstanding bills once I have moved across.

I have not done this.

• Find out how moving affects any long term insurance that I have got.

I have not done this.


LOL I have not done well at all with my list. Though in my defense I have not got any actual plans to move so I can very easily put off finding out things like that as they are not really needed. I am sure that once the time comes when I actually need to find it out I could get found out in a very short time.

I do think that for next years goals I need to set myself some relevant goals. I doubt that a move to Canada will be happening next year, however I would like to relocate to the north of Scotland. I think that while I need to include research about moving to Canada I should base the majority of it around moving within Scotland.

Happy Christmas

I have had a funky day here. Even though we have not had any snow today it has still been lovely to see the snow on the ground.

I think I have pretty much decided that I do not want to live in Australia.. I think I need to change the title of this blog to reflect that.

Right at this moment I am not really sure where I do want to live. I would still like to live in Canada, but I still so not know where about. Ideally I would go out there and take a road trip to gain some idea of what it is like there. Now I just need to work on making that happen.

Pendulum predictions

It has been a while since I did this.

This is what the pendulum says:

September goals

I think that when I get the chance this month I should look at how we are going to be able to move up north.

I need to find out the rental price of properties in various locations and the cost of hiring out a van to get stuff up there. We would have to rent it out for a few days so that we can get everything up (we will be limited to the size van that we will be able to take up and I know that we will not be able to fit it all in a large van)

Been ill

I set myself a goal for last month and I have still not done it.

I was lazy in July which was why I did nothing then but I was ill in August so that was why I have done it this month.

I think I am going to have to rename this Blog again though. I would like to include my hoped for move to the north. That is more achievable at the moment and it is something that we can do in the next two years. I am hoping that once my partner has finished college next year we can start planning to make the move. Ideally we would be making the move next summer when the younglings are off school.

Tarot reading

I decided to do a tarot reading and see what it would say about me moving to Canada. I did a four card reading (past, present, future, final outcome) and this is what the result was:

Past: Ten Of Wands

Carrying a heavy load. I need to take care that I do not take on more than I can handle. Spreading myself too thinly could lead to both an emotional and spiritual low.

Present: Ace of coins

Windfall and gain. Material gain, prosperity and growth. Contentment, happiness and achievement. I will achieve success both spiritually and materialistically as well as gaining satisfaction.

Future: Seven Of Cups

Too many roads to choose from can slow the journey. Imagination and creativity are gifts, but I need to take care not to be distracted from my destination. Success and love will be found if I choose the right path but should I choose the wrong path my dreams may not be realized. I must make sure that I am not aspiring after materialistic goals.


Final Outcome: Eight Of Wands

Travel, a speedy journey. Ideas that swiftly become reality. I will receive messages and news. This will be a time for action. I must be careful that I do not act in haste as I could end up regretting them.

I think that is an interesting reading and I think it will be interesting to see what happens. That is why I want to write it down so I can look back and see how accurate it was.

Useful links

I decided to have a look on the British Expats forum to see if there was anything useful.

I saw a couple of threads that could be useful. They were threads about what you like and dislike about Canada.

I think it would be good to gain insight about what people like and dislike about a country. I think it is a good way to gain some insight.

What do you like about living in Canada

What do you not like about living in Canada

Baie-Johan-Beetz

I found my map of Canada recently and I thought I would try asking my pendulum where I would move to.

After checking for a bit it said that I would move to a place called Baie-Johan-Beetz. I had a look on Wikipedia but sadly there is not a lot about it. There is a population of 95 so it is a pretty small place. I have looked at some pictures and it looks pretty. I am not sure what shops that are available, but there will be something but the houses look lovely.

This is the article:

Baie-Johan-Beetz

I did not find a Website for the town, but there is a tourist website that I found.

Seigneuriedutriton


When I went onto Google Earth this was all that I could find:

At least there were some pictures that I could look at. These are some of the pictures that I found:

Goal for this month

I managed to find some sites for last months challenge.

I think for this month I should keep looking as well as from time to time look on the forum to see if there are anything useful about moving to Canada.

Places to rent in the north

Here are some sites that I have found tonight which lists places to rent.

Nestoria

Zoopla

Hspc

Pastures new

Letting in Scotland

This months pendulum predictions

I did not do this last month but this is what the pendulum is predicting this month.

According to the pendulum I will be moving to Canada in 2015. I will however be moving to the north coast of Scotland in 2013 but while I will be staying in my current town until then I will be moving into a bigger home next year. It seems that all of my moves will be happening in odd years. But then again that seems appropriate for me.

June Goal

I think what I will do it just set myself the goal of doing what I should have done last month.

I will see what places there are to rent in the north of Scotland.

I think it would also be worth looking at rent on homes in Canada as well.

Goal for the month

I had forgotten to check out places to rent. I did have a look at places for sale. Sadly the house prices are still very expensive. I am not sure if I will ever be able to afford to buy a home.

I will have a look next month to see about renting. We will not be moving until my partner has finished college and found a job. I really hope that he is able to get a job up north.

Goal for the month

I will set myself a goal and see of I can manage it.

I need to check the prices of places in the north of Scotland to rent. I would love to move up north before going to Canada. This will be possible when my partner has finished college. I think that maybe it would be better going into private renting.

Useful links

I decided to see if I could find any useful links this month and I have not managed to get that done so I had a look tonight to see what I could find that would be useful.

Here is what I have found:

Best places to live in canada

Best places to live (full list)

It is not that much but it does take time looking through threads to find a link that could be usefu for me. At least I managed to find something.

Pendulum of the month

This is what the pendulum is saying this month.

The pendulum has said that we will be moving to Canada and that we will be moving in the next five years.

I just need to find out a way that it is going to become possible.

This month

i have got a lot of things on this month so I think the only thing that I could do that would not take up too much time would be to keep a look out on the forum that I go on and see if I can find any useful links.

Maybe see if there are any other places that I could look into moving to.

Challenges I had set

Oops I have not managed to get any of them done. I not only have had a lot to do this month but I had also forgotten about them. Ah well I will have to get them done when I get the chance.

A really useful link

I saw this posted the other day on the forum that I go on for looking for information about moving to Canada.

This lists the classifieds in each of the provinces. This will be very helpful when looking for a place to rent etc when we do move over.

kijiji, Canada's Free local classifieds

This month I will

See if I can find out how you actually apply to move to a country.

I have no idea what I need to do as any move that I have made has been within the British Isles and there was no paperwork required.

It will be interesting to find out what the process is. I wonder what can now be done online.

It is at times like this that I wish that there was the ten pound tickets still available. It would make the process so much easier (I really hate filling out paperwork and needing to prove various things)

I will definitely need the force with me when the time comes to sorting that out.

Darn damp weather

The weather just cannot stay similar here. We had a lot of snow here yesterday and that was great. Less than twenty four hours later it has gone.

It has been really damp and raining all day.

I think when I look for an area in Canada I would like to find one as dry as possible. I know that there will be dampness wherever I choose to go but as long as there is less damp. The cold weather I can manage but the damp weather feels so much worse than the cold does. I think I will have to look at a place that is a bit more inland as I think that places by the sea suffer more with dampness. I do not want to go too far from the sea. I will have to see what I can find out first.

Todays weather really did contribute to me feeling really down. I do wish the snow would have stayed longer as well. It was lovely walking in the snow yesterday.

Wonderful beach

I have discovered a wonderful beach in the north of Scotland. I have known for a while that the beaches in the north are stunning but seeing the pictures confirmed it. I really have to visit theses before I move to Canada. Hopefully when I get the chance to move to the highlands I will live near one of the many stunning beaches that I have seen.

I have got some pictures from a beach near Durness. Here is a link to the Wikipedia article:

Durness

This is Durness beach (I think I have fallen for this beach from the pictures alone, I have to go to this beach):

 

  

  

  

  

 

This is a couple of pictures of Durness:

  

  

 

Before the move to Canada...

Will come a move to the Highlands. That I do feel certain about.

My partner and I were talking about the course that he has nearly finished and the course he is planning on taking next year. He told me that he would like to move to the highlands once he has finished his courses. It should not be too difficult for him to get a job up there hopefully. It would have to be a permanent job though. He mentioned about being able to get year long contracts but I do not want to keep moving the younglings that often though.

I think what I could do would be move with him the first time, but if he needs gets a job elsewhere I will just stay put in that area (if we are happy there of course) It will be very challenging but it will just be one of those things that we will have to do.

Hopefully he will be able to get a permanent job somewhere in the far north.

We both really, really do need to pass our driving tests. I am looking forward to moving though. I think I will have to get some pictures of the highlands to print out. 

Here is a map of the highlands and the lowlands. I did not realize ho far up the lowlands actually went.

The best thing about the move is that at least I know that my partner wants the move as much as I do.

Interesting articles

I saw these articles and I thought they would be interesting. they are not moving to Canada but dealing with things that are associated with any big move.

Family:

Helping aging parents
Parenting a parent from afar

Careers:

Teaching English as a foreign language
Volunteering

Finance:

Basic financial awareness
Making the most from the exchange rate
Exchange rates and transferring funds guide
UK debt and moving abroad

Moving:

Telling friends and family
Getting a work visa
Phases of emigrating


And just for fun, here is a recipe for mince pies:

Mince pie recipe

Bus and train services

After much looking around I have managed to find a site that will provide information about the bus services that are available in Antigonish. From Antigonish I will be able to get to New Glasgow and to Halifax. I will also be able to get to Truro from there as well. There looks like there are frequent services as well to these areas and it does not take too long to get there. I think this is good news.

Sadly though Pictou is not mentioned on the list, hopefully if I did chose to move there I would either be driving or there will be a bus route available. I am sure I saw something mentioned about betting a bus service up and running. I find it sad that a town is cut off from the bus services, but I suppose in a country that has come to depend on the car so much that this is one of those things that happen. I think things will start changing again once people are persuaded to leave the car at home.

This is the link for the bus company:

Acadian bus

There is a rail servive available, but the only place that I would be able to get it from would be Truro (At least it would not be a problem to get a bus to there from Antigonish) :

Via rail Canada

I know it is not going to happen but if I were to move out before I got a drivers license then the place that I would move to out of Antigonish and Pictou would be Antigonish just because of the public transport issues.

Vegetarian food

While looking on the forums about moving to Canada (I check there to see if there is anything helpful for me) when someone posted about getting vegetarian food.

I had not thought about it, so it was interesting to see the replies. There were some links to the types of vegetarian food available out there. At least there is something available. I think I need to work on some vegetarian recipes that do not reply on TVP.

Here are some links to vegetarian food that is available in Canada:

yves veggie
Gardein

A useful article

Something that I had not thought about was transporting electrical goods when moving to Canada.

Here is a useful article about moving electrical goods:

Compatability of Goods

I think for a lot of things it will just be worth not taking them across and getting replacement items there. I did know a Finnish guy a few years ago and he told me that he just sold everything that he had and just moved with the clothes that were on his back.

I very much doubt that I will do anything as drastic as that, but there is definitely an advantage to traveling as lightly as possible.

Real estate website

I have been looking on a forum a few times recently to check if there is anything that would be helpful for me.

I saw this website posted and I thought it was really useful. It will mean that if I want to look at a certain area I can check out the prices of houses to rent and buy. when I had a look at Port Cartier there seemed to be quite a fluctuation in prices but the good thing was that the lowest priced house would actually be possible for me to buy (it was 42,900 CAD)

It would be good to eventually own my own home. I was never bothered about owing my own home but now I think I am ready to do so now.

Realtor

Time for the pendulum...

To come out again.

I think it would be fun to ask question to my pendulum to see what the answers will be. Also to see if they change over time. It is hard to know at the moment if the answers that I am getting are accurate answers or just what I want it to say.

When I asked the pendulum if I will move to Canada it said yes. It said that I will move to Canada in 2015. It also said that I will live in Québec. 


I asked if I will live in the highlands before I move to Canada and it said yes.


Only time will tell whether I am being told what I want to hear or this will actually be what will happen. Though if I am going to move to Québec in 2015 at least I have got time to learn French to a good standard.

Reasons for moving

I have been thinking for the last few days.

I have been thinking about the reasons why I would like to move to Canada. It has also got me thinking about whether or not I can get this a lot closer to where I live at the moment.

I am not dismissing the idea of moving but I think I should have other options. Like would a move to Europe be better. What is northern Europe like. The enviroment looks very much like Canada. There is another option of Northern Scotland. This would be very much different to where we are living at the moment, but it would be a lot more atainable for us. We would be able to move a lot quicker.

I mentioned it to my partner today and he would be happy to move to the north of Scotland. There are also a lot of Islnads in the north that I know he would be interested in moving to. Though I have been told that it is hard to get settled into these communities. I have been thinking of keeping to the mainland instead.

One thing that I could do would be to relocate within Scotland before moving across to Canada. While it has been good living in this town, I am getting ready to move somewhere else.

Somewhere not too far away from Inverness would be good or there is a town in the very north which I think looks lovely. It is called Thurso and for a northern Scottish town it has a good population.

Thurso

Here are some pictures of Thurso:

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Pictures of Antigonish and Pictou

I have not had the chance to look though the articles and the websites of the towns yet but I have had a look at some pictures of the two towns.

They both look very funky and they are both close to the sea. Though Pictou is closer to the sea than Antigonish, it is not that Antigonish is far away either (well within walking distance). Thankfully the towns are not that far apart so I could always visit them when I get an opportunity to get across to Canada.

Pictures of Antigonish:

 

  

  

  

 

Pictures of Pictou:

 

  

  

  

 

Comparing Antigonish and Pictou

Here are the official websites for Pictou and Antigonish:

Pictou
Antigonish

At least the main advantage of these websites is that they are in English, and while I would love to be able to speak French and understand written French. I sadly cannot do that at the moment.

I think I am most drawn to Nova Scotia at the moment. I think that is partly due to the Scottish influence there. I do still love lots of aspects of Scotland so it will be great to still have the connection to what I see as my home country. It will also be great for my younglings to have a connection to the country that they were born in and are being raised in.

I know that I do not want to live in Halifax as I am not interested in living in a city. However it will be good not too far away from it so that we are able to visit it. I did check and it looks pretty easy to get there from both Pictou and Antigonish. Antigonish has an advantage as there are buses that have services to Halifax.

I think what I am going to have to do is have a look at the information for both of the towns and work from there which one seems to be the best place to start out (there is always the possibility of moving within Canada once we have moved across)

Other places to investigate

I have been thinking that while I am struggling to find out about Port-Cartier, I would also have a look at some areas that I can find some information about.

They are areas that I had already thought about. The first one is Pictou and the second one is Antigonish. I did find a problem with Pictou when I looked at it a while ago. I found out that there is no public transport available. I will not dismiss it though as at some point I could well take my driving test, so that would no longer be a problem.

Here is the Wikipedia articles on them.

Pictou
Antigonish

There is something good about the both of them. I have got a soft spot for Pictou as that was the first place that I looked when I thought about moving across.

Photographs of Port-Cartier

I thought I would have a look and see if I could get some pictures of Port-Cartier. This is what I have got so far.

The pictures that I have seen so far look funky and of course there is beautiful scenery. I know that you cannot judge a place by pictures alone, but I think it is nice to see them as well as trying to find out as much information as possible about. Sadly though I am not sure that I will be able to find out much as there is not a lot on Wikipedia and their Website is only in French.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the pin fell on...

Port-Cartier.

Well I did not really use a pin, I used my finger I did not want to put lots of holes in my map) It took a few attempts before I got this as many times I was putting my fingers on mountains. I am all for getting back to nature, but I think that is taking it a bit far. In the end what I had to do was find the nearest town to my finger.

I will now have to find out what I can about Port-Cartier.

This is the Wikipedia article about it (sadly that is not that helpful)

Port-Cartier

This is the towns website. It will be interesting finding my way around this, as it is in French.

Ville de Port-Cartier

This is what it looks like on Google earth:

Stick a pin in the map

I wonder if this would be a good way of deciding a place to move to. I could then look at it on Google earth and find out information on Wikipedia. If it does not seem suitable I could always start from the beginning with a pin. It could be fun and I have got a big enough map to work. I do think that I will be keeping in the more southern areas of Canada. The wild north is truly stunning but even that is too wild for me.

Having said that, I really hope that I get the opportunity to visit them in either the spring or summer. Though there is a point where you get so far up north that there is not really a spring as such, rather than it getting less wild before it gets hot.

I have enjoyed looking at Google earth though. I think it is a great way of looking at how a place looks like from above. I know that you cannot judge a place from this but it nice seeing it. I love looking at maps so this is just wonderful for me. For me it is the ultimate map.

Even more links

I decided to use Google today to find some more links and I have got some for information on the education system, the health system, recycling and emigrating as a self employed person.

Education system:

Education in Canada

Health system:

Canadian health system

Recycling:

Recycling in Canada

Self employed emigrating:

Emigrating as a self employed person

Yet more links

I am on a useful link hunt and I have managed to find quite a few of them so far.

I have not included the link to Wikipedia's article about Canada. I think it would be useful to learn more about the country that I would like to move to.

Canada

This next link contains figures about crime in Canada. I should not be put off by this and I must remember that figures do not really represent what it is really like but it might come in useful.

Crime in Canada

There are a few articles about education in Canada.

Education in Canada

Here are some tips for help in choosing where to live in Canada

Where to live in Canada

This is a useful section which features articles about the lifestyles of each of the provences. It could be useful when chosing an area to live.

Canadian Lifestyle

I of course will keep looking. Then after I have got enough links then I will have the big task of printing off and reading my way through the information.

Some more useful links

Well at the moment I am really inspired to find the sources of information that I need. I may not have the time to read it but at least I will have the informations ready for when I do.

Removal companies:

Brytor international
White & company

Tips on seeking employment:

Job hunting instructions
The Canadadian job market is different

Information about being a park ranger:

Parks Canada
Careers in the federal public service
Public service comission

That should do for now. I am gong to have to do more searching for the rest of the information that I need. Thank goodness for the Internet for being able to provide so much information and provide it for free.

I really do hope that my partner changes his mind about Canada. It will make things so much easier, though I bet he is thinking the same thing about me.

An interesting conversation

I have just been talking with my partner about the things about Australia that were putting me off and he told me that he thinks is it funny that I yearn for colder countries and he years for hotter countries.

He did however say that he does prefer the wildlife of the northern regions and that is a big plus as he is training to be a ranger.

I just need to find an area in Canada that is not deathly cold. I have been monitoring the temperatures in some areas and Nova Scotia does not seem to get that cold.

Hopefully we will be able to work something out.

Another useful website

I have found another useful website (and I have discovered how to attach a link properly)

This is a website giving information on Canadian law. It covers all provences and territories.

Canadian law

Another thing that I have decided is that I really am not that fussed about moving to Australia. I would love to visit there but I am not sure about the idea of living there. It was something that I saw which confirmed my feeling that it is a country that is sadly too isolated.

If my partner insists on moving there and will not hear anything about moving to Canada then I will move there and see how it goes. I do not know a lot about Australia at all so what I think about the place could be wrong.

But until that happens I will keep working away and finding a way to make it work. I know this will sound bad but I do hope that my partner changes his mind. It will be possible to visit Australia from Canada and we will hopefully be able to stay with his relatives, which will help a lot.

Another link and a blog

I have been looking at some of my old posts that I made on the British expats site. I found a useful link and through the articles section I found a blog about moving to Canada and in that blog there is a link to their blog.

This is a quick guide to Canadian Immegration:

Guide to Canadian Immigration

This is about opportunities to move to New Brunswick:

Opportunities in New Brunswick

This is a link to Jan and Eam's blog:

Jan and Eam's Blog

I think it will be interesting seeing what their experience was like and what it is like for them settling in. I know that things will not be the same for me, but it would be good for me to see as many different experiences as possible so that I am mentally prepared for what could happen.

Useful websites

I have found some websites that should be able to help me find any information that I need to help me in my quest to move to Canada.

This is the Canadian immigration website, there seems to be a lot of useful information there that will hopefully help us.

Official Canadian website

This is a website for British people planning on moving abroad. There is useful information there as well as a forum. The forum is a good place to ask questions and get answers from people who have been through the process of moving themselves. It is also good for seeing what other peoples experiences of moving has been and see what difficulties that they have faced.

British expats

Though I must confess that I am bit nervous about checking the first site for information in case I find out that it is going to be impossible for us to be able to move across. I would like to think that I am going to make this possible by hard word and tenacity. Though I do need to look at that at some point so that I know of any possible problems and work out a way to get around them.

I now have a map of Canada

I ordered a map of Canada the other day and it arrived today. I love looking at maps and this is a huge map. I think I will have to get the map in book form so it will make it a little bit easier to look through. The map I have got is huge.

It is funky though and it will just be good to look at. It might even help us settle on an area that we can move to as we are not sure where we want to move to.

Challenges for 2010

It is that time of the year when I like to set challenges. I have been getting better and I have been achieving them, rather than setting them and then forgetting about them.

So here are my challenges for 2010:

1. Work out different ways in which I will be able to make it across to Canada.
2. Research how my partner will be able to get a job as a ranger and if there is anything else that he will need to get.
3. Find out any useful information about Canada such as Education system, health system, taxes, utilities, recycling schemes, public transport etc
4. Find out what kinds of visas are available and how to apply for a permanent visa.
5. find out how self employment affects my chances of getting across.
6. Find out how I can continue to pay outstanding bills once I have moved across.
7. Find out how moving affects any long term insurance that I have got.
   

I think that should be enough to keep me busy. I know that we will not be leaving until my partner has finished his college courses but it will be good to be prepared so that when he has finished there will not be as much time before we then leave.