Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11771019)

Valletta, of course, which has 2957 hours per year.

Originally Posted by Simon Legree (Post 11771031)

Or where I am headed tomorrow until April, Yuma, AZ, the sunniest place of all. Don't know how many hours but about 360 days a year ! :thumbup:

Originally Posted by Pizzawheel (Post 11771667)

Where is this smell? Is it that I live so close to the lake that I've grown used to it? Also, salt water up the nose. Freshwater is GREAT.

Originally Posted by Gozit (Post 11771225)

Yeah you're right there, London (ON) has 286 sunlight days / year on average, Malta has 300.

Maybe its just nostalgia/the "high" you get from being on vacation or whatever, but I always find the sun more intense and present there vs here, always chalked it up to distance from the equator. (Canada very far away, Malta fairly close) (ie, I can walk around without sunglasses if I have to in ON, while in MLT I am shielding my eyes :lol:)

Personally here I find a good number of the days are gray and gloomy than not, but I would find that in the Maltese winter, too. But then you're talking about it being 15c there and -15 here, which helps. ;)

The "a bit smelly" kills it for me every single time. I can't stand that awful smell.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11771588)

Self. North Shore. 2005. We camped on the beach. The shoreline is less crowded than that of Erie or Ontario. It's attractive in a Group of Seven kind of way; rocks, evergreen trees, nice sunrises and sunsets. It's cold and there's a lot of snow. Retired people are stacked in disused mines and gravel pits at Kirkland Lake, their presence with their Buicks and Caddy's combined with the many abandoned farms, give the area an end-of-the-world feeling.I'd say it's Chernobylesque.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11771675)

If you sail on Lake Ontario or Lake Erie in fog you know when you are getting too close to shore because of the sound of the dead fish slapping on the hull. It's a personal thing, of course, but I find rotting fish pong a bit. The sewage outlet aslo has an odour I find unattractive though, I suppose, to a gong farmer it's the smell of money. I'm glad it's all spring flowers to your nose.

Originally Posted by Pizzawheel (Post 11771714)

OK. My bar for bad water is based on Lagos lagoon/ five cowrie creek. So as long as they're aren't human bodies decomposing or bags of surgical sharps floating by I'm pretty cool with it.

Originally Posted by Pizzawheel (Post 11771714)

The city core of Toronto- which we have debated here a lot- is definitely not sprawling car suburbs. If you live in the 905 you've paid your money and made your choice. Montreal is even more European.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11771751)

Originally Posted by bgpz (Post 11771810)

Oddly enough, we discovered an amazing Mexican place in Simcoe at the weekend (Amiga's) - hardly the most obvious place I'd expect to find a gem like that.

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11771835)

The Mexican restaurant in Simcoe is likely as a result of a lot of migrant farm workers from Mexico in that area involved in fruit, ginseng and tobacco crops.

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11771835)

The Mexican restaurant in Simcoe is likely as a result of a lot of migrant farm workers from Mexico in that area involved in fruit, ginseng and tobacco crops.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11771751)

Rarely enough that it doesn't much matter . . .Not liking Canadians isn't a barrier to life in southern Ontario.

Originally Posted by Oink (Post 11771904)

Oh and for you pervs, this is a fish bonker.

http://s18.postimg.org/mm4ubyex5/fishbonker.jpg

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 11771811)

the problem was that a large section of the Administration was born in situ, which meant that the whole organization was terminally dysfunctional.

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11771990)

Where do Ontarians go for their hols (considering the 'prohibitive' cost) ?

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11771990)

Where do Ontarians go for their hols (considering the 'prohibitive' cost) ?

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11772028)

Cradles go to the 'cottage' 'up north' 'myrtle', Florida, all inclusive bubble vacations in Cuba or the Dominican Republic. Those with less $ often go camping or find a friend or relative with a cottage. Using up the meager vacation rations does not seem to be a big priority for many old stock Canadians.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11772049)

Sadly, this is spot on. There's even a competitive aspect to cottaging, who's is bigger, who has the better boat, who's on the more prestigious lake.

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11772028)

Cradles go to the 'cottage' 'up north' 'myrtle', Florida, all inclusive bubble vacations in Cuba or the Dominican Republic. Those with less $ often go camping or find a friend or relative with a cottage. Using up the meager vacation rations does not seem to be a big priority for many old stock Canadians.

Originally Posted by bats (Post 11772145)

Trailers, don't forget trailer parks. Those who can't afford a cottage get a trailer. Bizarrely often only a few miles from where they live.

Originally Posted by Partially discharged (Post 11772143)

There are a number who try and be weekend farmers in Prince Edward County or between Orangeville and Collingwood.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11772157)

That's us, innit? Nags and dogs, shifting earth about, planting stuff, fixing fences, feeding the chickens. I wouldn't call it a holiday.

Originally Posted by bats (Post 11772180)

I wouldn't call the whole owning a cottage thing a holiday let alone adding in livestock and land. The prospect of maintaing two houses is bad enough to me. Maybe the trailer trash have the right idea.

The farmers I know don't seem to do any actual farming, you know ploughing and suchlike. They do some planning, some accounts, and then head off to their day jobs while employing others to do the hands on stuff. Have you considered staff? Or is that where Novo is now, living in your chicken shed and broadcasting seed?

Originally Posted by bats (Post 11772180)

The farmers I know don't seem to do any actual farming, you know ploughing and suchlike. They do some planning, some accounts, and then head off to their day jobs while employing others to do the hands on stuff.

Originally Posted by Novocastrian (Post 11772182)

Broadcasting seed comes naturally, but not in dbd33's shed.

(wot about them Blue Jays?)

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11772205)

That's not what I see around here. Farmers with a few hundred acres and perhaps 100 cows do almost everything themselves and have day jobs; service manager at TSC, roads supervisor for the county, lecturer at Guelph, car assembler at Honda. If the nature of the farm is too hands on for the person with the farm skills to have another job, a boarding barn for example, then the other partner typically has a job and works on the farm. A real farm though isn't a discretionary purchase like a cottage, with very few exceptions, you're born to the farm or you're not.

Originally Posted by bats (Post 11772210)

Interesting, of course I probably never meet the farmers who do farm work rather than those who employ because the farm working farmers would be working on the farm and not working with me. If you see what I mean.

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11772213)

I do but they might fall off their tractory things and need their bits pictured.

Originally Posted by not2old (Post 11771095)

Since you have started many threads with lots of posts & questions on life & things in Canada

What are the top 5 things you dislike about life in Sydney NSW, Australia, that makes you want to leave it to move to another country?

Exclude the adventure or giving the kids a better view of the world, or trying to find a place that you think may be better than OZ, NZ, UK?

Exclude the comparison of building structures or any comparison to Canada, OZ, NZ or the UK

And why do you think Canada would give you what you want in life?
.

Originally Posted by Pine Cone (Post 11772219)

I don't know whether or not Canada would give us more of what we want in life. I'm still trying to figure out whether it's worth getting a work transfer there and giving it a shot.

But here goes. My top 5 things in no particular order that I dislike about Sydney/NSW:

1. It's too hot. Temperatures into the high 30's are OK, even with the high humidity we can deal with it. Weeks of 40+ weather is just too damn hot. When it was 45 degrees last summer it was like stepping out into a hot oven outside and I don't like worrying about the 'extreme' bushfire risk. The fires have started already this spring and the weather is still only in the 30's.
Two members of my family suffer considerably in the heat, and positively thrive in cold weather. I believe we'd be able to adapt better to very cold weather than very hot.
Our worst case for heat (30-35 ) seems to be your best case. As far as the cold goes, wrap up well and it's totally bearable. It's driving in snow that stresses me but apart from that I don't have an issue with winter or summer. Sounds like you won't either.

2. Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Toronto is expensive but just doesn't compare to how expensive it is in Sydney. Housing here, especially for a larger than average family, is astronomically expensive. We don't want to buy into this market long term and live a life funded on debt. The cost of living is also very high and yes, property taxes are very high here too. We want to live somewhere that will allow us and our children to build ourselves some long term security, rather than spend the next 20 odd years being crippled by a mortgage taking up 50% of our income, thereby limiting our ability to afford other enjoyable activities.
make sure you are comparing apples with apples. Areas of Ontario are very affordable but Toronto itself can be very pricey. I have no idea about Sydney so, assuming it is more expensive, or if you don't need to live right in Toronto then that's another plus in favour of Ontario.

3. Limited access to the natural environment. We thrive on a reasonably outdoorsy, but not hardcore extreme sports, lifestyle. Sydney as a city is a really quite beautiful, as are the Blue Mountains and the coastline. But we can't get out and enjoy the outdoors in a relaxing manner anywhere much as we'd like. Partly because it's too hot for half the year and the UV levels are so very high - annoying I have a weird allergic reaction to sunlight (apparently common in people from Scandinavian countries) which is much worse here. But also because you have to be on your guard (especially with children) all of the time for venomous spiders, snakes, sharks, jellyfish, stone fish, bull ants etc etc. Even spending time in your garden or on kids play equipment in parks means you have to watch out for funnel web spiders and redbacks. We do the best we can. My kids are in Scouts so we do get out with leaders who are highly trained in bushcraft. Canada seems to offer different opportunities to get out and about, which may be more suited to our lifestyle so that is a big draw for us.
Puts the odd mosquito into perspective

4. Isolation! Being down here on the lower Pacific Rim in Sydney is quite distancing from much the world. Cities are very insular here and it takes too long to get to many other places. I know Canada can be parochial too, but it's worse here in terms of job/career for my husband, whose job as a consultant requires travelling around for work. Being on the North American continent would provide many more opportunites for work, conferences etc, which he currently misses out on, without us having to actually live in the US.
Also I dislike being quite so far away from ageing relatives and not being able to see them for years at a time. It would almost be quicker to fly to Europe from Toronto that it would be flying across Australia to Perth. It would be nice to be able to visit friends and family in the UK without having to spend 2 plane rides and 30+ hours in the air and waiting around at airports in order to do so.
we live about 30 mins from Toronto airport, my parents are less than that from Manchester. Even allowing for wait time at the airport, I can be with them in approx 10 hours door to door.

5. Bureaucracy here is annoying. Australia has a this international image of a carefree lifestyle of barbies on the beach, wandering around in flip-flops and shorts. This was true 30 years ago, but now there is so much red tape and so many rules than peoples lives are effectively micro-managed and it's almost suffocating. NSW is worse than other states though. It's not the 'cotton wool' culture that exists in the UK which I am talking about. It's a different sort of annoying, and I'm having a hard time trying to put it into words. But I'll give you a couple of example. I have bright kids. Imagine my shock at being told I need 'approval' from the NSW Board of Studies to teach one of my kids some high school maths/algebra because it's not on the specfied curriculum for the child's particular year level, even though said child is several years ahead in maths and is excelling at it. Or the fact that it's actually illegal to keep my dinky child in a booster seat in a vehicle because they happen to be over the age 7 age limit, even though they are still way too small to use an adult seatbelt safely and there are no 'Australian approved' child restraints for kids of their age.
I'm sure Ontario has just as many annoyances though - just different ones.
I have nothing to add to this, except to say that your last sentence is likely very true

Originally Posted by dbd33 (Post 11772049)

Sadly, this is spot on. There's even a competitive aspect to cottaging, who's is bigger, who has the better boat, who's on the more prestigious lake.

Originally Posted by I am I said (Post 11772417)

My British experience equivalent of you being perplexed by cottages/nearby caravans is the sea side. I was amazed to see families blue with the cold huddled behind a windbreak [even in August] next to the sea.
In case it is not obvious, I am a Canadian living in the UK. I mostly lurk on this forum and have done so for years, regularly musing over going 'home'. But, then I think of the price of wine and cheese, the thick people, the dreadful weather and the mosquitos....

Originally Posted by Pine Cone (Post 11772219)

I don't know whether or not Canada would give us more of what we want in life. I'm still trying to figure out whether it's worth getting a work transfer there and giving it a shot.

But here goes. My top 5 things in no particular order that I dislike about Sydney/NSW:

es.

Originally Posted by Pine Cone (Post 11772219)

3. Limited access to the natural environment. We thrive on a reasonably outdoorsy, but not hardcore extreme sports, lifestyle. Sydney as a city is a really quite beautiful, as are the Blue Mountains and the coastline. But we can't get out and enjoy the outdoors in a relaxing manner anywhere much as we'd like.

Originally Posted by Shard (Post 11772430)

Many expats in Canada often overlook the benefits of living next to the USA