steve666

Thought of that, there's a company who does 2 houses near us but he always arrives way later than we need him. I have to be out by 6.30am, he usually arrives around 10am. Another said he couldn't guarantee what time he would arrive and was charging over a thousand dollars. While I've got 2 young men living with me (no remarks) they can help shovel it for free.

We got $hit loads of it this Saturday, the worst snow storm so far this year, so the scare mongers are saying.

XCMTBer

I was in the lift at work at lunchtime - the scaremongering has truly started -

Bloke 1 - Were getting 30 on Saturday
Bloke 2 - i heard 50
Bloke 3 - i heard 70

I was tempted to chip in 1M 20c -

I am waxing the board for the weekend!

steve666

Oh, I was told 3 metres by 9 am Saturday than a further 12 Metres by lunchtime. Then frozen rain for 5 hours.

I haven't 'waxed' my board for 3 months.

geedee

1000 dollars!!! Mind you it looks like quite a long driveway. We've been really lucky with ours, especially as he's been run off his feet this year.

Accuweather has us down for 20 to 24 inches Saturday, The Weather Network says 20cm..... we'll see Saturday I suppose.

steve666

Thats a third of it, driveway I mean, the piles of snow on either side is covering the other 2. This is what it looks like in the summer. That's not me in the pic by the way, it's a realtor.

justdoit

Getting away from the snow thing, can I ask about everyones thoughts about organising a recce trip to the Ottawa area in June- ish..
Probably be flying into Toronto and spending some time with relatives in the GTA and visiting freinds in Kitchener.
Don't really know where to start planning this holiday/recce trip so I'm open to any suggestions of must sees,accomodation, best form of transport around the area etc, etc.
We are 2 adults & toddler & baby.
thank in advance

Coffeepot

Hi justdoit, we are going again in may, we found with our little boy car is the best for Ottawa and to see the area its not like driving in London its just a big town , Torronto thats another matter others will tell you about that i understand from google its 4-5 hours from Torronto to Ottawa,

We stayed at the Carlton suites good price nice and clean 2 bedrooms sitting dineing and kitchen with everything you will need for 2 littleones there is an indoor swimming pool complex thing as well lovely for relaxing, most places were within walking distance and streets are not too crowded for pushchairs etc,yours may be too young for most the things we did our son was just 6 when we went so did the dinasour museum and the science one thats probably good for your toddler lots to do there and huge old staem trains to climb on its a real hands on museum,
We went with Air Canada last year they were really good with kids, take lots for the plane for the toddler, we took mac lap top so he could watch some cartoons films etc. Ours are used to traveling so no problems, yours will hopefully sleep some of the way.

One place i would say to see is Gatineau park its fab have a look on the Ottawa web site theres always lots of festivals and things on the tulip festival is in May looking forward to that, hope that helps and good luck

justdoit

Thanks for the info Coffeepot, this is the sort of practical info I am after.

I'll check out the carlton and other stuff tonight if I get a minute.

What sort of neighbourhoods around Ottawa should I consider looking at? Or is this best left for a new posting?

Ta

clynnog

I agree with you on Gatineau Park...it is literally a 15 minute drive north of downtown Ottawa...great for cross country and downhill skiing, walks, hiking, cycling, inline skating etc. Lovely in the fall colours and a nice place in the summer for a swim.

The tulip festival seems to be losing its steam these days as I think the music component is being phased out and the festival is concentrating on the tulips themselves. The Bluesfest, Jazz Festival, Winterlude are all big annual festivals...Canada Day and St. Jean de Baptiste Festivals (QC thing) are also very big.

ex_REME

Hi justdoit
I'd also recommend the Les Suites hotel in Ottawa, if you are planning to stay for a while. Again you get separate bedrooms, dining area with full kitchen, washer and dryer. The hotel shares an indoor pool with the Novotel next door. Its very central and has a car park for about $7 per day I think. I would recommend a rental car (or van ie people carrier if the budget stretches to that) as it just gives the flexibility.

The only area that I have heard of with a few "difficulties" is Vanier BUT I know some folks who live in patches of Vanier that are very quiet, kid friendly to live, so beware that geographic names sometimes don't match with the rougher parts of town. There are a few recent posts about Ottawa, so check those.

Enjoy your visit! Come stay for good.
Ex

justdoit

Clynnog and Ex-REME,
Thanks for the info so far, at least I've got the accommodation sussed for Ottawa now. Looks like we would hire a people carrier as thats what we are used to over here.

Any suggestions for websites that rate or describe neighbourhoods/areas in Ottawa?

Thanks again

Coffeepot

Do you mean to live in or just visit ?
Really depends on your budget we drove around lots of neighborhoods when there, Manotick both old and new are really nice, also liked areas around stittsville and Kanata, we were looking for homes with about 1- 2 acres but still with houses around we have 3 dogs and a 7 year old so had to think about them plus of course the ice rink for winter for oh

i will PM you when i check out my note book, i kept a diary of all the places we visited so i would remember when we got back here what i thought of the areas, where is work going to be ?

justdoit

hi Coffeepot,
Looks like the Les Suites Hotel will suit our needs for the visiting accomodation.

As for where I could be working - dunno. I hope to look for a job as a Paramedic in Ottawa ems, so if I did get a job, the posting could be anywhere.

Our budget for housing would be roughly £225,000 maximum.

Thanks