CANADIAN HOLIDAY PETER, BARBARA & ALLY GIDDY JANUARY 2008.

Peter, Barbara & Ally: Canadian Holiday: January 2008.

26th December 2007: Boxing Day. That evening Cathy and Saul dropped us off at the Cape Town airport and we flew to London. The following morning a friend and work colleague of Stefan, Reinard, collected us from the airport. We had a really interesting chat on the way to Jacqui’s house. Reinard told me all about their photographic business, photo-video, and about his own life in London. It makes a huge difference to be met at the airport rather than having to take the underground especially if you have a pile of luggage to cart along.


Reinard is married to Lisa who is the sister of Clinton Van Buuren. Some of the Port Elizabeth people may remember Clinton. Clinton is an Old Grey boy who made quite an impression when he played rugby for Grey about 6 years ago.

We spent two days at Jacqui’s house. They have bought a flat in the East of London. The East side of London is where Afrikaans South Africans tend to live, while many of the English Speaking South Africans tend to migrate to the West of London. That afternoon Barbara, Ally, Jacqui, Michael, Emily and I had a walk in the Epping Forrest. I will recommend some kind of exercise as soon as possible after Jet Travel. This helped us to get our circulation going again and we had two good days with Jacqui.

Emily is now two years old and a real delight. Jacqui is devoted to this child and they have rarely been separated in the two years. Jacqui is pregnant and is due to have a girl in May 2008. Michael was in the process of buying a Sony LCD flat screen TV. We did quite a bit of searching from shop to shop for a good product at a good price. Within the Sony brand we found a selection and the choice was not easy. Finally Michael made his choice after we had left for Canada. Being in the retail trade I enjoy this kind of comparative shopping. I also enjoy wandering through supermarkets. Both in London and in Calgary I was fascinated by the different selection on offer.

We left for Canada on the 29th of December and flew Air Canada from Heathrow to Calgary. It was a strange flight as we left at 10.00am, Flew for 9 hours and arrived in Calgary at Midday. We had flown Northwards from London until we reached the southern tip of Greenland. At this time it was as dark as midnight outside. We then flew south East and back into the light. We landed in Calgary and were quickly cleared through customs and were met by Dawn, Richard, Tracey, Asher, Cale and Raylene. They had come in three cars and I drove with Raylene.

They took us to Tracey’s house. This house is South West of Calgary near to a village called Priddis. The house is on a small holding. They were in the process of completing renovations and we were the first to sleep in a new room that they had built. Dawn and Richard have moved into the basement where they have a very comfortable flat with a stunning south facing view. Our room faced south west and we had a view of the Rockies covered in snow. We would get both Morning and Evening sunshine.

New Years Eve was an interesting experience. I had developed a sore in my mouth and needed to purchase some anti-biotics. In PE I would have walked over to the local pharmacy which is run by a running friend and he would have assisted me in an emergency case. No such luck in Calgary. We visited a local clinic where we were informed that the wait would be 5 hours to see a doctor who would then prescribe the Muti and then I would have to find a pharmacist who would open for us. I decided to follow a remedy offered by one of our family: wash your mouth out in salt water. I did this a few times and took a few “Panado” and was soon fit to enjoy the evening.

New years evening was spent at Raylene and Steven’s home where they served us a delicious combination of sushi, sea foods and a variety of salads. All washed down with some ice wine. Steven runs a business that offers energy savings consultations. He has two smaller operations doing air conditioning installations as well as cabinet fittings. At one time we visited his offices and then met up for lunch at a Japanese restaurant.

The weather was good for us. Temperatures would be between an early morning -30 degrees Centigrade to about -5 degrees in the middle of the day. The houses have central heating and the sun is low on the horizon. So a house that has south facing windows can become quite hot during the day. The days were clear and we were able to ski on a number of occasions.

The first time we attempted skiing we drove to the Rockies to a ski resort called Kananaskis. Ally & I hired skis and all the equipment. We spent about three hours finding our feet. Ally was able to take a ski lesson with a young man called Adam. The class for adults would have been too late and I had to muddle through on my own. I had skied once before when I was about 16 when my parents had taken us to a ski resort in Switzerland called Wengen.

We stayed on what I refer to as the Nursery slopes but is known to Canadians as the Bunny Slopes. They have a kind of Travelator (Called the Magic Carpet) similar to those found in airports that take you up the gentle slope. You stand on the carpet with your skis attached and slide off as you reach the top. This was good practice for both of us and we were quite exhausted when we finished this session.

What I found to be a particularly good experience was being on the same level as Ally. It was not as though I was an experienced coach or was better at skiing through experience. We had started off at the same level and were progressing together. Our next attempt at skiing was to be at the Canadian Olympic Park (COP). This was specially built for the Winter Olympics of 1999.

Ally & I again hired all the equipment needed and off we headed for the Bunny Slopes again. At this venue there are a variety of Magic carpets from the very basic to a little more adventurous. After a while I decided to be even more daredevil and took the chair lift up to the top. As I headed up I think that I realised that I had made a mistake. But when I reached to top I was certain that this was actually beyond my novice capabilities. The slope was quite steep and there were a number of experienced skiers whizzing down with confidence.

Anyway there was only one thing to do and that was to try to make my way down without breaking my neck. I decided the way to go would be to Zig and Zag from side to side rather than zoom headlong down with no way of stopping. This worked quite well as I managed a few Zig and Zags without incident. However after about four of these I was heading in a Zig direction when a snowboarder decided to stop in front of me. I am quite sure that a skilful skier would have been able to avoid a collision but BANG I collided with this young boy.

Skis snowboard and people went flying. I collected my right shoulder on the hard snow and while the snowboarder was quickly up and off, it took me quite a while before I could compose myself and headed downhill again. I finally reached the bottom where Barbara & Dawn were waiting. I was quite shaken but nothing a hot chocolate could not cure.

I did not venture up the chair lift again that day but after four hours of skiing was very glad to head off home. For me it is the tension in the leg muscles and generally the work required that exhausted me. Ally was by now making real progress and would take the magic carpet up and zoom down, coming to a skilful stop at the start of the magic carpet.

The next time we went to the COP it was the turn of Dawn and Barbara to try skiing. They had decided to try cross country. The boots and skis are quite different as are the skills required. They took a lesson and Barbara was soon able to control the skis and have a fall-free down hill run. It looked quite fun but was also exhausting. Barbara had a final down section that the instructor took them down but was unable to stop herself and came to an undignified and painful stop on her rear end.

Our final attempt at skiing was back at the Kananaskis ski resort. Ally & I again hired all the necessary equipment but this time I took a helmet as well as I was determined to venture up the chair lift and up to the more daring slopes. After a short while on the bunny slopes I managed to convince Ally to come with me and the two of us ventured over to the Bronze Slopes. For many skiers this would be too tame but for us it looked just right.

We lined up for the lift and when it came to our turn we took off with a bit of a jerk and I gave Ally a knock on the head. Soon we were way above the skiers below. Mark and Cale had also decided to use this ski lift. They were on snowboards and it would be Cale’s first time up to this height. As we reached the top both Ally & I tried to ski off but ended up in a heap of skis and limbs. Falling down with skis on is most undignified and I was happy when I was offered a hand up and we were able to recover some of our composure.

Now I don’t want to make out that this would qualify for a Sylvester Stallone movie but the descent looked quite scary as we started down. But after a bit of a shaky start we started the Zigging and Zagging and made our way safely to the bottom. And were elated! We took up our position in the queue for the chair lift again and off we went. This time we were ready when we reached the top and alighted gracefully as we skied off. We were soon whizzing down as though we were used to this and not two Hill Billies from sunny South Africa. After the first two times we began to develop confidence and went up and down again a number of times before we realised that this was really tiring and headed back to the café for a drink.

I was extatic at how Ally had grasped the basic skill so quickly and was also happy with my own progress. We had planned to have one more attempt but time ran out and we determined that we would do some skiing as soon as an opportunity presented itself again.

While we were in Canada it was my 57th birthday. That evening my family took us out for supper where we had a delightful evening and as excellent meal. They presented me with a book voucher for a shop called Chapters where we would sit in the mornings and enjoy a Starbucks coffee and browse through the shop.

With this voucher I was able to purchase: a book telling the story of a man tried for teaching evolution in the “Bible Belt of America; a book telling the inside story of Michael Schumacher; another one called from Lance to Landis. After reading this book I am totally convinced that both these riders used performance enhancing dope while cycling I bought a fascinating novel telling the story of a Palestinian in Bethlehem. I bought two “books on Disc” and finally I bought two fiction novels. I had a huge amount of fun choosing the books and being assisted by the store staff.

We spent an evening at the Calgary Zoo. This was not to see any animals but so see the “Zoo Lights”. The Calgary Zoo decorates the pathways, trees and various exhibits with the most amazing Christmas lights and people come from all over to see this spectacle. Another tourist destination was the Science Centre. We enjoyed experimenting with the interactive exhibits.

One evening we went to watch Asher and Cale as they attempted to take part in the Ice Hockey. As you are aware this is one of the major sports of Canada. The Canadian children grow up skating and were quite a way ahead of the two South African Children. Nevertheless our two brave nephews acquitted themselves quite well and were keen to go again after their first try out. Standing out in the snow it was freezing for us adults and we had to take it in turns to be supporters while the others would thaw out indoors.

We were able to buy a second-hand pair of skates and Ally did some ice skating with Asher and Cale at the local rink in Priddis. While they were skating we visited the little library there. What really fascinated me was the way that Dawn took out a couple of books. There were no people in attendance. The Library operates on trust; you are expected to return books when finished and donate books as often as you can.

Living in Canada is a very ordered life. They do not have the pressing issues and problems that we have. People obey traffic laws. The police do not have the volume or complexity of crime & investigations that we have. When people do break the law there are consequences and there is enforcement. We examined a police vehicle which had an on-board computer that was linked to police headquarters and provided a complete history of previous offenders or of any vehicle on the road.

We saw little or no evidence of security. Homes open to the street without walls, spikes or electric barricades. Generally we found the Canadian people to be very friendly. But our family tells us that this is superficial and Canadians rarely visit or invite friends to their homes. There is a large South African community in Calgary.

Ally had been doing a lot of swim training before we left and so as often as we could we would get down to the YMCA gym where we would spend as much time as we could both swimming and running. The gym has a runner’s track where you can do a kilometre in 8 laps.

Canada operates a vast Volunteer system. People volunteer for all kinds of work. There are sections of highways that are regularly cleaned by a local school or other organisation. When we arrived at Calgary airport we were welcomed by a lady in a smart red Mounties outfit. She was a volunteer. At the Gym the reception clerks were volunteers. Many of the people we encountered at the Zoo were volunteers.

Our return trip consisted of a 9 hour flight to London, a day with Jacqui in London, a 12 hour flight to Cape Town and the day with Nicci & family in CT. then the following morning we left CT at 02.00am and had an 8 hour drive home. Barbara & Ally slept most of the way and I was able to listen to one of the books on disk that I had purchased.