Originally Posted by mariabc

Was it always your plan to return here to Canada when you'd had your fill of 'home' ?

Originally Posted by TrishP

You just described Ottawa!!

Originally Posted by europlatus

We're currently a block away from Moss Street market and I'm afraid to say that it's a bit of a foodie mecca, but this neighbourhood is still fantastic. We'll be very sorry to leave it. Spring comes early, summers are long and sunny, and the beach is never far away. Victoria itself is a lovely city as you know and in many ways it really is a wonderful place to live. But after 12 years, it still doesn't feel like home for me. i really miss the history of England and being so close to Europe. We feel very isolated out here and it takes many hours on a plane to go anywhere with any kind of a different culture. But then I'm English still at heart and I don't think it's any surprise that you miss the place you spent most of your life. The interesting test will be in a few years when my Canadian wife really misses here.

Originally Posted by Bevm

Yes, I know that area and the Moss Street Market. When I mentioned foodie I wasn't just meaning locally -- I love being able to get great veg and bread at a market -- but nationally and the media.

But yes, we came back to the UK for history and ease of getting around. We've basically decided we've done most of the history and travel we want, and we're ready to putter quietly by the sea. Having our family in Canada and little family here is a factor. I hope your wife loves it here. Where are you planning to settle?

Originally Posted by europlatus

And good luck with house prices, they've gone crazy here.

Originally Posted by Bevm

I suppose that comes from the anniversaries of WWI (ongoing) and Waterloo and Magna Carta in '15. I don't mind it as I like history. Watching the London Olympics was great, too. I don't know whether Canada has caught up, but being able to switch screens and watch some of the minor sports was lovely. I was recovering from an op at the time, so watched a lot of it. The NHS has been brilliant for us, but then the Canadian system was always good when we needed it.

For us, deciding to move back has been difficult because it's 50/50, but also peaches and potatoes. Complete differences in the plusses and minuses, and one person's plus is another's minus! We'd never return to anywhere in Canada east of the Rockies because of the winters. We did those winters for many years, and never again. We live in Devon for a reason.

We'll miss the history in England, and the variety as well as the European travel, but we've been doing less and less of both. I think we overindulged to begin with. Driving in most of England is no fun at all, but we used to zip up and down the motorways pretty regularly. Now the car stays in the drive. Canada is so different in that respect. We drove across the country twice, and in most places the Trans Canada hwy is empty. In Victoria outside of rush hour it's pretty tranquil.

We didn't have a home town to return to. We see quite a bit of old friends, but they're scattered around. Not many family left, and again, scattered. We still have a lot of close friends in Victoria, all nearby.

I'll miss BBC TV, though the big programmes will make their way over eventually.

As I said, I think we're just getting old and want a quiet life.

Originally Posted by Irish Guinness

Good luck with your return to Canada.I know what you mean about a slower pace of life. When I do get home for holidays I really have to brave myself when I get into all that traffic. Living in sleepy Adelaide is such a contrast.

Originally Posted by Bevm

Yes, I think English people just accept it as the way things are, and the crush has crept up on them over decades, so they haven't really noticed. But it is a difference to many places in "the colonies." So people thinking of moving back have to be aware of that.

It varies tremendously by place, of course. Huge parts of Canada are uninhabited and uninhabitable, but parts between Toronto and Montreal are much more tightly packed. But the pop density overall is 4 per sq mile,

The density for England is about 500 per sq mile, and I'd guess that a lot of that is in the south and around major cities. It always surprises and pleases me how much open land has been preserved.

The countryside is also accessible here, with the system of public footpaths. In Canada, a lot of the open spaces are wilderness and even where the weather is pleasant there are few paths outside of the more used parts of national and provincial parks. Agricultural land is usually private. I know people who walk and exercise along roads in rural areas because there's nowhere else they can go.

Originally Posted by Bevm

It always surprises and pleases me how much open land has been preserved.

The countryside is also accessible here, with the system of public footpaths. In Canada, a lot of the open spaces are wilderness and even where the weather is pleasant there are few paths outside of the more used parts of national and provincial parks. Agricultural land is usually private. I know people who walk and exercise along roads in rural areas because there's nowhere else they can go.

Originally Posted by europlatus

This is very true. There is so much more space here in Canada, but a lot of it is simply inaccessible. It's much harder to just go for "a walk in the countryside" here and if you do get out into the forests and mountains, you have to be prepared for all the dangers it brings. That said, the scenery is spectacular and there is a lot more unspoilt, virgin land here.

When I go back to England, I too am always pleasantly surprised how easy it is to feel like you are not living on a cramped island. It is of course cramped, but there is still lots of countryside and rural areas where population density doesn't feel like a problem at all. You just have to move away from the urban areas to find these places. I've also learned to appreciate the rolling hills and how easy it is to get panoramic views. The tall redwood forests of BC are well preserved and majestic, but you can walk for days in them and never get a view because it's basically just wilderness. It sounds strange to say, but the deforestation that has happened in the UK over hundreds of years has not all been negative, certainly from the point of view of ramblers at least!

Originally Posted by TrishP

You hit the nail on the head with this post! So much of Canada is inaccessible and I really miss the freedom to roam and have a view - Scottish right to roam laws are very different from England, giving walkers the right to walk anywhere, as long as they don't cause damage or disruption to wildlife or livestock. Here, if you are lucky enough to find a path, you have to be wary of bears and the mosquitoes drive you crazy within 5 minutes. I have tried to describe to my Canadian husband what mountaineering in Scotland is like, walking for days and perhaps only seeing 1 or 2 other people.

Originally Posted by Bevm

Fortunately, or maybe not, we've never been keen on exploring wild places, especially mountainous ones. We do like beaches, preferably without many people around, and they are more common in Canada. Mostly on the coasts, of course, but one does come across lakes with small beaches and hardly anyone around.

Don't you find the wilder places in Canada pretty deserted -- apart from the mosquitos and black fly? I suppose not in the major parks close to cities.