After being back in the Untidy Kingdom for a few years we're now considering what out next move might be {thought of Ireland etc}, but for one reason and another after considerations to Nova Scotia {from whence we came} and BC we are considering life on The Rock.

Any of you guys lived there, or come from there ? at least it's the shortest hop across the pond...

Canada Bob.

The problem will be work. Housing is cheap, people are friendly, the place looks great, kids don't have to eat vegetables because there aren't any. But the economy was logging and fishing and they've cut down the trees and caught the fish; what would you do for a job?

Thanks for the above, work aint a problem, took early retirement, the friendly folks are a bonus, I've spent some time there. As an added bonus our kid is 34 and we don't have to provide him anything these days :-)

The things that attract me are the fishing and the sailing, and the stark beauty of the place...

Canada Bob.

I live here and married a Newfoundlander. Its a wonderful place if you like the starker side of beautiful, great people, fresh air (usually delivered at a brisk pace and laced with fog ) and the sailing is truly world class IMHO. (Very comparable to the West Coast of Scotland.)

What else do you want to know?

Been to Newfoundland just the once, a few days in Saint John, and really liked the place...

Hope you picked up on the deliberate mistake :-) ey b'ye :-)

Other than that I've sailed through the Belle Isle straights a few times, and been amazed at the magnificence of those remote places.

Looking at buying something in St John's but not sure where the place to be is, or where to avoid ? I'd appreciate your thoughts on that, what's the Clovelly something or other area like ? is it too close to the airport ? is Conception Bay South too far away from downtown {the wife don't drive}, and I doubt she ever will... Took her to the Tesco Supermarket car park last Sunday morning, to give her a bit of a lesson...

All was going well, we'd got the engine running, and then I said "let the clutch out"... and she opens the door !!! that was enough for me :-)

Canada Bob.

Yes 'by New Brunswick has Saint John, Newfoundland has St. John's.
There are some amazing places accessable only by boat. e.g. resettled communities/fishing camps. Even sailing for the day on Conception Bay (where my father in law has his yot) is mindblowingly beautiful.

St Johns has its nice areas and its crappy areas. Clovelly trails is a more upmarket subdivision in the north/east of the city. Some nice old properties downtown if victorian splendor is your thing. Would be an advantage to a non-driving missus. Other area of growth is around the airport - Airport Heights which is a big subdivision. Torbay is an up and coming area to the North of St Johns but gets all the fog/rain/snow.

Outside St Johns you have the towns of Paradise and Mount Pearl. Paradise ranges from subdivision hell to country lots of an acre or more. Da Pearl is all subdivisions albeit with a range of properties from low rent to $500k+. Conception Bay South is a string of communities stretching out from Paradise to Holyrood. Nicer parts (IMHO) are Topsail and Chamberlains. I technically live in Paradise but actually closer to Topsail. CBS enjoys a more favourable climate than St Johns, particularly the East end. e.g. it is usually sunny here when its foggy on the East Coast.

CBS (Depending where you live) is a 15-30 min drive into St Johns. I commute this everyday and its nothign compared to my UK commute. Bizarrely enough St Johns folk (or townies) seem to think its another planet. Once you get out beyond the overpass (e.g. the TCH) you are around the bay. 'Around the bay' stretches from the overpass to the West Coast of the Island!

Practically if your missus doesnt drive and you dont do everythign together she might feel a little isolated in CBS. Although in our area at least there are lots of walking trails etc. Driving here is easy compared to UK so mebbe worth some lessons/encouragement if you do come over!

HTH,

AX

Just teasin yer with the Saint John thing, I remember when Price Wingnut was over a few years ago and he fecked it up :-) and a loud groan was heard in the ranks of the minnions :-)

Regarding that Clovelly Trails area, it's less than arf a mile from the airport, and I know it aint Heathrow, but I just wondered if the noise might be a problem there...

There's a house that I've seen on the MLS.ca site that looks quite decent, and another one in downtown 58 Queen Street, but from the listing it doesn't seem to have a garage.

The thing about Clovelly Trails is... I'm told it's on a bus route into town, and the wife likes to shop {you know how they are}, and even though I'd take her she just wants to do her own thing... so the bus sort of gives her independence...

Other than Clovelly I'm told that King Billy {close by} is also a decent place, again on a bus route.

I'll have to take a look at CBS as the boating and the view from there must be well worth it, is there a bus into town from there though ?

Other than that, I drive a Saab 9-3 TDi it gets me >60 MPG on the Motorway over here, and I'm impressed with it, is anyone other than VW selling diesel cars in Canada yet ?

Canada Bob, {Wigin Bob at the moment, but not for long if that offer we have in on the house in Clovelly is accepted, should know by Monday.

Canada Bob.........couldn't you just imagine yourself living in a place called Hearts Ease......sounds so peaceful!
I have friends that live in Richmond Hill and they tell me it is a great subdivision and close to bus route and shopping areas. They have just recently moved there from Dartmouth and are still trying to understand the lingo! They being Scottish youthink they wouldn't have a hard time eh!

Hello Corky...

Blue noser are ya :-) lived there for 15 years, moved from Sorel PQ to Portland Mistakes in 1990, then up to Castlewood Drive in Colby, then Eastern Passage {near Hartlen Point golf course}, and lastly Shore Drive in Bedford, far as I'm concerned Nova Scotia is one of the best places in the World to live, for a Million reasons, but I never plough the same field twice, so a move to The Rock is on the cards...

Richmond Hill hey ??? haven't seen that one, aint there a Richmond Hill near Toron'o ???

Far as the lingo is concerned I've spent some time fishin and drinking with Jimmy Flynn, and I think both of us understood what we were on about :-) so I should be OK if we do finish up on The Rock.

Haven't spent more than a few days in St John's but what I've seen of the Rock {and the folks} impresses me, can't say it would be the right place for everyone, I'm early retired, so I don't need a job, but the fishing and sailing around there is second to none. Sailed the Belle Isle straight a few times, seen the icebergs in June, and the whales etc, and the stark beauty of the place, so it will do for me...

If things go to plan we should be there within the next 4-6 weeks...

Canada Bob.

I came from Longueuil PQ to alsorts of places in Ontario before finding our little cornor of the world here.
Jimmy Flynn...well if you understood him you will be aok in Newfie! I think he also lived out Eastern Passage way as well. It seems to me I saw his face on the front page of Frank this week....I should have paid more attention to it.
Yes Richmond Hill is north of TO..but the Richmond Hill in Newfie is just a subdivision.
I am on the South Shore between bridgewater and Liverpool, on Molega Lake

As a matter of interest...Bobby Curtola (remember him) lives in Liverpool and has bought a large lot of land on the Mersey River and is building Condos...he loves the South Shore after playing at the Astor Theater he decided to settle there.

PQ hey Corky, we lived in Tracy/Sorel for 2 years, enjoyed it there, even picked up a fair bit of French {working in the ship yard in Sorel, on the Canadian Patrol Frigates being built between Sorel & Lauzon}.

Fact is, even with a Lancashire accent the I picked French up so well that the lads in the yard used to say "we never heard anyone speak French like you" ! {what a compliment} !!!

Molega Lake ? don't know it, how's that after 15 years in Nova Scotia !
I know Bridgewater, but never got as far as Liverpool...

Known Jimmy almost since we moved to Nova Scotia, he lives just past Laurencetown Beach {sp ?} just past that bridge where Porters Lake goes into the ocean... Jimmy has a place in NB too, a farm he bought for next to nothing about 6 years ago, just a bit of a retreat for him there.

Didn't Bobby start out with Jimmy ? but I hear they went their own way {in more ways than one} a fair while ago...

Don't tell me Jimmy is in trouble with Frank Magazine, they also slaughtered another mate of mine {Dick Murtha} a couple of months ago, easy to score points when folks have difficult times, but I know what Dick did in Vietnam, and no one talks or credits him with any of that...

What's Jimmy been up to then ???

Canada Bob.