lynpy

Hi
We came back from NS on Tues night but I'm still recovering from a 2 day return journey with no sleep and to find we'd been burgled! We spent the time when we should've been sleeping talking to the gendarme and then little rascals were found and all the kids Playstation and games returned. Oh what a day!

Anyway here's a summary of the RDA's, where we stayed, what we thought, where we went and some costs for anyone who's interested based on a family of 4. Kids 12 & 9.


Kentville/Wolfville
Stayed at Beechbreeze motel (small apt) with seaview at Grand Pre. Value for money & great if you have children.
We loved Wolfville - very pretty & beautiful buildings. New Minas is just a shopping centre ( loved the Dollar shops!). Kentville was a lot nicer than I expected - lots of new subdivisions around.
Kings County RDA - Madonna
Very helpful, and she will make sure you have everything as she seems to represent all the other RDA's at any immigration meetings. Once happy that OH was employable and had a skill she would have nominated us.

Truro

Stayed at the Irwin Lake Chalets. WOW! Only 8 mins from Truro and worth every extra minute. Again great value and great for families or just if you want a view!

We didn't fall for Truro as it's not exactly the prettiest of towns though some of the properties are beautiful, however there are some very nice areas on the outskirts with larger plots. Schools & clubs appear to be excellent, the arts & cultural scene is huge and there are jobs if you look. Every job centre we visited confirmed that only 20% of jobs are advertised. I was told I may need to network through schools, clubs or volunteering to find my ideal job - a bit harder for me than OH as I'm in admin.
Truro is in a great location if you need to commute - OH may need to travel to Halifax, North Shore, Moncton for gigs.

Colchester RDA - the ever helpful and lovely Margot.
She was pro-active and had already arranged to take us meet the director of the Cultural centre as OH is a musician/teacher. She was clued up on who we were from previous emails and had excellent advice re contacts. Again she will nominate us no problem.

New Glasgow
We went to visit for the day and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. There is also the benefit of the fab Melmerby beach just up the road. Visually we liked New Glasgow more than Truro and work wise it was better than Kentville. There are lots of business here - and we were told there were jobs to be had in IT & admin. They are also in desperate need of hospital staff.

Pictou RDA - Jana
We decided to meet with the RDA in case we were going to change our minds about location as we had never considered New Glasgow before. I think that's because they haven't put the same effort in to promoting the area as they've been concentrating on increasing business there. IMHO it's worth a look for anyone who doesn't need to commute to Halifax.

So what have we decided?
Well it's going to be Truro for us so now it's time to get on with the paperwork!

Some costs & places to visit:
Meal for 4 in a pub Grill - $60 (a main course and a few drinks)

Sugar Moon maple syrup farm - $7.99 for as many pancakes as you can eat & kids $4.99. We also got a tour by the owner and if it hadn't been the wettest greyest day in history we may well have gone on the walk through the forest!
Really lovely atmosphere.

Shubencadie Wildlife Park - A must if you have kids! Only $20 for a family

Discovery Centre, Halifax - Fab if it's raining and even if it's not! $28 family ticket.

Bowling Truro/New Minas/New Glasgow - $20 for one hour & 4 pairs of shoes.

Food shopping - Some stuff dearer than UK/France & some stuff cheaper especially steak!

Feeding the family - as a cheap alternative to eating out or if like us just because it's less hassle - the supermarkets like Sobeys have a hot take out bar in addition to the usual deli & sandwich stuff. We bought 10 pieces of fried chicken and a large box of wedges for less than $20 and it was actually a bit too much for us all to eat. Of course that was followed with a healthy portion of fruit & yoghurt:rifle:

Our opinion of Nova Scotians is that the majority of people are fab, friendly and willing to help in any way the can. People and especially drivers are far more courteous than the Europeans (especially the French!).


Hope I haven't bored anyone!

Lind

Erinbrooke

What an excellent synopsis!!!!

We are moving over to NS this year - we are currently awaiting the successful (hopefully) return of the LMO for my job offer.

We did pretty much the same tour that you have and found a beautiful home in Truro, but following a second recce, I decided it was just that bit too far to commute to Dartmouth, where my job is based - see my other thread 'Anyone commute from Truro to Halifax'.

Have seen a number of houses nearer and more commutable, but have decided to wait until we have the cash from our house sale in our hand before putting any more offers in.

Good luck with the paperwork!!!

nikki dreaming

Hi Lynda,

Sorry to hear of your nightmare back home, I can't imagine getting back to that:curse:, we are still catching up sleep wise!!!

It sounds as if your trip went really well and you have made some really good contacts.

Good luck with everything, keep us posted! We will be doing all the forms at the same time by the looks of it.

lynpy

Thanks Erinbrooke
I agree it's a bit far to go every day to Halifax/Dartmouth from Truro though my OH would be happy to do it for gigs. Also he loves Canadian radio and has been in his element listening to the rock chanels so he'll happily drive up and down the highway whilst dodging the potholes
Good luck with your house sale

Hi Nikki !
I really wish I had got my days right and met you guys. So much for 'my proven organisation skills' that's in my resume

254

Rally interesting to hear about another NS recce! What a horrible thing to get back to though

Good luck with your CI application... keep us all updated!

NovaGirl

Hi Lynpy

I knew you were going to get alot covered on this trip but i didn't realise quite how much you'd get done.

I am glad you have a clearer picture of NS & in particular, the Truro area.

Speak to you soon!

NovaGirl

Cookie

Glad you had a great reccie. You certainly covered a few areas.

I live up in New Glasgow so am pleased to hear that you were pleasantly surprised - it's often missed out when people travel up this way as they head up to Pictou or over to PEI. I think it's a lovely town and there is certainly a great community spirit here and a lovely local beach.

Nikki and family were here last week too and we had the opportunity to meet with them and drive them around New Glasgow. Unfortunately we did not go to our local beach at Melberby as it was raining quite heavily (shame), so I have attached a couple of summer spring pics and a winter pic for anyone wanting to see it.

If I had know you were also visiting here I would have been more than happy to meet up and say hello. Maybe next time, eh?

Good luck with your paperwork

lynpy

Thanks we may well take you up on your kind offer, especially as OH may be commuting to New Glasgow a couple of days a week when we get over.

I agree that New Glasgow is missed in favour of Pictou. Personally Pictou didn't do anything for us, especially the view!!! You're right your local beach is fab and thanks for sharing your pics. Not sure whether I want to comment on the winter one
Anyway I wish I knew how to add my photos of the same beach taken on a particularly blustery day, but it did look stunning! How lucky you are to have that on your doorstep.

Anyway it's been a close call between New Glasgow and Truro. However Truro has won with us only on it's location and for it's huge arts & music culture.

nikki dreaming

Would have been great to have met you too, if you are over in England/Bournemouth way let me know and you can come over!

lynpy

thanks for the invite and if you're ever in western France, likewise!

Actually the New Forest was high on our list of where to live in the UK if we were to move back - but it was so expensive but so pretty! Can't believe you'd want to move from there.

Paradisefound

Fantastic report Lind and great to see you approached Pictou County RDA. I know immigration is not at the top of their agenda, so nice to see that they were helpful.

Sorry we all missed you guys at the Sunmerc, maybe next time.

Biiba

Hi Lynpy

Sounds like you had a fabulous trip! Thanks for all the info

Good luck with your journey.....

Homegrown

Always interesting to read a visitors opinion of NS. I'd like to comment on one thing though. I've noticed a lot of the people considering moving here are
choosing towns that are fair distances from Halifax when they will in fact be working in Halifax. The real estate may be cheaper but what you save on housing you will spend on gasoline commuting to your job. If you live in Truro and work in Halifax you had better budget $500.00 per month for gasoline.
We're at $1.35 per litre now and it looks like $1.50 this summer. And then there's furnace oil. A 1000 sq. ft. bungalow will cost in excess of $2000.00
per year to heat, and that cost will rise along with gasoline. Be mindfull of the consequences.

j42

wow you did fit a lot in,sorry you were burgled
Nice to meet you and hope all goes well for you

lynpy

That's a valid point Homegrown, for anyone with those intentions. Luckily my OH only anticipates going once or twice a week through the summer season