Arrived!
 

We made it to Halifax! Actually got here 3 weeks ago but haven't had much internet access - I've been going insane! But got hooked up yesterday, along with phone and cable, woo hoo! Now I can catch up on my daytime soaps (stopped watching General Hospital 8 years ago but sure I can still follow it ;) ) heh.

We are settling in - London seems such a long time ago! Have been busy shopping to fill up our new house and am sick of it! Never ever thought I'd say it!

Anyhow, just wanted to say hi to everyone!

Charmaine

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Hi Charmaine,
well done finally here. Meet up soon, call you tomorrow.

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Hi Charmaine
Congratulations on your arrival - you can't have been far behind us (7th Dec). Know how you feel about the amount of shopping!
Look forward to meeting you sometime.

Deborah

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Hi Charmaine
It's great to hear you made it! Good luck with the retail therapy!
Hope Anglo Pacific treated you well. What a great community starting to happen here in NS!

All the best
Orla

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Good to hear you're settling in. I'm looking to go to Halifax later this year once passport comes back this month.

I'm interested to know how your landing experiece was and also what you did about travel / medical insurance (if you don't mind sharing this)?.

best wishes

RJH

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Congrats on your arrival. I'm guessing your landing experience (if you were coming from UK via AC) was actually in St. John's NL?

There certainly seems to be a flourishing British Expats community in Nova Scotia. I reckon there is a reasonable chance we'll be joining it as I have applied for a couple of positions in Halifax recently. I do hear from friends there who were back in NL for Christmas that the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp is stocking an even larger range of imported British beer than last time I was there. Reason to move initself IMHO! :beer: :D

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Atlantic Xpat...don't tell me you are giving up on Newfie....I hear it is a grand place! As for more British Beer in NSLC, well I understand it doesn't taste the same....no atmosphere with it! Good luck with getting the positions in Halifax though!
Charmaine, welcome glad you made it in one piece...Not much snow for all the new PR's yet but don't think we won't get any....its early days yet!

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Thanks for the welcomes everyone! Good to be 'home' though I keep calling London home - guess I'll get used to this one day.

I entered as a returning resident in St John's but there wasn't anything to do so my experience probably isn't that helpful - though the people there were very helpful making sure our cats and luggage made it all back on the plane! My husband landed in Halifax in October and that was really straightforward as well - just a long line-up ahead of us. We flew Zoom then so didn't stop in NFLD.

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Welcome to N.S. from us as well.
We've been here 10 weeks now and its been quite hectic.Family joined us for christmas (or Holidays as they say over here), havn't found alot of time to get on the internet,too many things to do getting settled in.We need to look for work soon,thats a drag.Hope you had a good christmas. Tony.

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Congratulations Charmaine!!!
Speak soon!
Michelle

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Welcome to Canada - glad to hear you got here safely and in one piece!

Don't knock shopping - I have to drive 2.5 hours to get to any shops (except v. expensive IGA which is just down the road)!!!!

TrishB

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Hello everyone, we have just found this website. We have been in Canada for 2 years now. 1 year in "Winterpeg" and then moved out here to beautiful Nova Scotia!
We are loving it here, enjoying Peggy's Cove and Queensland Beach and the many other beaches around here.

Do you have regular meet ups?


:cool: :)

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Hi V&M,

are you in downtown Halifax? We live in Fall river, there are a good few brits in this area, but we don't have brit get togethers, that's not why we came to Canada, (can't speak for anyone else). But am happy to meet new people brit or canadian. We have lived here now 6 months and loving it. Our 5 year old son has really settled in to way of life here, which makes us as parents very happy to see. Do you have any children? How do you find living in NS?

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Hi,
We are actually living in the Tantallon area. We really like it here.

We have noticed recently the amount of British that are moving here, it's deffinatley a better lifestyle, or we find anyway.

We don't have any children yet, but this is a good place to bring up children.

It was a tough decision to move to Canada, but we have no regrets. We spent our first year in Winnipeg, MB. We fell in love with Nova Scotia though and decided to move out here in January 2005. We made the journey by car (5 days), Canada is an amazing place and was quite an experience seeing each province. We have travelled across Canada from the Rockies to the East Coast, and hope to make it to BC for a trip some time.

How do you find life here in Nova Scotia? :)

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How would you compare BC with NS? I'd be interested to know how you rate both places and why you chose NS. We've travelled quite a lot around BC but are off to check out the opposition NS this spring. We feel we have to give it a "look-see" as it looks beautiful in the photos, is closer to the UK, houses are cheaper, still gets snow etc. The mountain lifestyle or the sea? Which to choose?! The time clock is ticking, and we have a finite amount of time/money to explore regions. I get nervous when I talk to people in general they have heard of BC and say "wow I'd love to live there" but of NS they say "Nova Where?" or "It rains a lot" or "you'll get bitten to death by the mozzies etc".

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Charmaine,

Congrats on your arrival in Canada! Glad it all seems to have gone well. Did you spend Christmas in Halifax? I was just wondering about you saying you entered as a returning resident... do I need to tell someone that that is what I am doing when I get to customs? Do I need to fill in any forms or do I just show my passport and smile nicely? We are going to be arriving in Canada at the end of April, beginning of May all going well with everything getting sold etc. on this end. Very exciting times ahead and I wish you all the best! :beer: happy new year!!

Fiona :)

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Hi Fiona

For a returning resident I just told them at passport control and that's it - I think they asked how long I was gone for but nothing really. Though you still have to do the goods to follow and goods accompanying lists for customs! But it was all really straightforward with no problems. Getting excited about your move? Bet it'll come in no time now - time does fly!!

Charmaine

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Where are you living now?
We came here as we enjoy the slower pace of life, to get out of the rat race.
It depends on what you like to where you would prefer to live. BC gets the same or more rain than we do in NS. Last year NS was the warmest province over a 1 year period.
As for mozzies, not many but the black flies can be nasty. We were in Manitoba for a year and the mozzies are very blood thirsty there.(Unbelievable, they will bite through clothing!)
There is money in BC for sure, but expect to $500,000 for a house you could get for $200,000 here. Places like Bedford you won't get much value for money but the subdivisions within 20-40 mins from Halifax you will get a good sized 4 bed/2 bath home with acreage for approx. $210,000.
What sort of lifestyle are you looking for?
We can give our view on what we think of the provinces we have visited.
Hope this helps.

V&M :)

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Hi V&M. We are looking for a picturesque quiet rural area but not too far from amenities, e.g. shops and vets. In an ideal world we would have a mountains (or at least hills) or sea view and a small acreage. Main wage earner will work from home and I would like P/T work in science/environmental type field or will run own business, so area is flexible. We currently live on edge of small rural town and have good views from our house so not willing to trade down on the picturesque bit ;).

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Try looking along the South Shore....Bridgewater, Liverpool, or points in between. Lunenburg is also very nice. I am abit partial to the South Shore since that is where we live!

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The south shore is first on our list of places to visit. Any recommendations for B&B? Anyone used Lunenburg Inn?

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I can't say that I have stayed there, cause I live here. But I have heard it is really nice and it is central. What are you looking to see on the south shore? What types of places are you interested in? do you have kids that will be attending school that may influence your decision where you want to live. Are you looking for a lively place or somewhere quiet? You can always PM me.

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If you are looking for a plot with views there are some new homes being built off Island view drive along the Hwy3, St margaret's Bay, the lots there have the most incredible view of the whole bay, and are probably 10-15 mins from the main highway 103 into Halifax, so is about 25 mins into the city.
Only problem with the South Shore is the coastal fog mid-summer. We found that most mornings in June it is foggy but usually clears up by afternoon.

We've been told the valley is a good area to live also, very pretty and they don't get any fog there at all.

Lunenburg is nice but very expensive. Expect prices are higher due to amount of tourists visiting.

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Thanks V&M. I'm making a note of all these places so I don't forget when we visit.

Corky - Thanks for your info too. Tried to PM you again but you've filled up your mailbox and it's not accepting any more mails :)