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.