chris dixons blog
Archive for October, 2008
Canada – Day 16
Oct 18th
Last day here in Alberta 
Most activities were winding down today. This morning we went for some last minute shopping at the Mill Woods town centre. We all enjoyed an ice cream, which was one last thing that we had not been able to do yet.
James tucks into an ice cream
Matthew enjoys an ice cream
The other thing that we did it to return the car that we had for two weeks
The chevy had served us extremely well for all this time and it was sat to see it back at the hire place.
However we went to Edmonton airport and picked up the new car that will take us back to Calgary tomorrow. It’s a Dodge Charger, and it looks (and drives) cool.
Dodge Charger - Front View
Dodge Charger - Drivers View
So the next time I blog we’ll be right back in the UK, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it all that much. It will be nice to see family and friends, but leaving the land of the free is a tough job…
Ah well. 3 hour drive, 8 hour flight plus check in etc. to look forward too tomorrow. See you all the other side of that, except if you’re Robin, Emma and family in which case see you all next year 
, well perhaps a bit longer, but I expect we’ll be back.
As a final act, here is a picture of all the gang!
Autumn, Emma A, Torburn, Trina, Robin, James, Emma, Matthew, Chris
Canada – Day 15
Oct 18th
Today we went to see Robin and Emma’s friends Cheryl and Brian, who own a large acreage outside edmonton. They have about 80 acres of land as well as three dogs, a large house, an iguana, several cats and two quad bikes. There were also several deer in various states of aliveness.
Elmo the Iiguanna
As soon as we entered the property we were welcomed and treated to a view of some newly killed beasties, in this case elk (a taster for later!)
Chris with some elk
We then (after a brief tour of the house), got busy with some quad biking activities across the land. It was such amazing fun. Robin rode the sports quad at first, but after some practice I got to have a go and so did Emma.
Emma drives the Quad
Chris on the Quad
After a while I got the hand of going fast. Here is a video of me shooting past Robin.
All the kids were also able to ride the quads in various configurations, including a trailer which was towed behind one of the quads. It really was quite something. Robin also had an interesting experience!
Whilst this was occurring, Cheryl and Brian were trying to prove that minute maid really could be made in a minute, however as the video proves, it’s not actually possible! Wait till I get home and post a video of making some cordial.
After this we settled down to a lovely meal of Elk and lots of other things.
Everyone ready to eat
After dinner the children had pony rides. It was a little dark so the video isn’t that great, but they all really enjoyed it. The pony was a little green, which I’m informed means that he’s not been ridden a lot, but he was very well behaved.
James sits on the fence
After all of this we enjoyed a total of 4 different deserts and we finally put the kids to bed at about 8:45pm!
It really was a lovely afternoon and evening and highlights how lovely all the people we have met have been.
Canada – Day 14
Oct 17th
Today we took a trip to Tellers world of science which is a science exhibition, IMAX theatre and many other things.
The first thing of note is an amazing contraption outside, which my picture does not do justice to. It has metal, golf and ping pong balls all in a constant motion of playing various musical instruments and it’s really clever. James and Matthew watched it for about 20 minutes in total and could have watched it a lot more and it didn’t even cost!
Strange contraption outside tellers world of science
Once inside we handed over the $12 entrance fee (children free) and started looking round the various gallery’s. The main gallery’s were on the subjects of “the human body”, “being green” and “police investigation”. We started in the being green bit, here are Emma and Matthew viewing a fish pond from underneath!
Emma and Matthew in a bubble
We were booked to see the 12:30pm IMAX film and so we had lunch a little early from the cafe in the place. We had hot dogs and some crisps, then we wandered a little more as we waited for the film to start. Here is Matthew enjoying a driving game.
Matthew at the wheel
We then enjoyed the IMAX film. It lasted about 40 minutes and James and Matthew were very well behaved and enjoyed it. It was about the Amazon and paralleled two characters, a traditional dweller in the high hills going down to look for new cures in the rainforest and a modern western medical biology type person looking for cures in the rainforest. It was (as always) quite a spectacle in IMAX vision, although I recall the screen a Bradford in the UK being bigger.
We then went on to the human body exhibit which was good. There were some interesting jars on the shelf!
Jar of Poo?
Emma, the great eating machine
The final exhibit was to highlight how the police solve crimes. There was a crime scene, which featured the kidnapping of a famous (I assume in Canada) dog. You then had to gather evidence, visit the lab and then charge a suspect. It was really quite good and I can imagine that for older children would be really captivating. There was also a police bike to sit on!
Emma on the cop bike!
Finally we went to a kids area which had giant lego, trains, water, a puppet theatre and lots of other great kids things. Emma tried to build a giant house and was frustrated when the kids knocked it down, and James really loved the giant piano, which also made drum sounds.
Emma's brick creation, prior to destruction at the hand of children.
Finally after another look at the amazing machine it was back to base, via Starbucks and to settle down to supper (tea in the UK!), a film and more of the excellent company.
I really do love it out here…
Canada – Day 13
Oct 16th
First thing today the girls enjoyed some Pilates whilst Chris entertained the children.
The girls perform some Pilates in the lounge area
Today we celebrated with that greatest of family events, a fine meal.
The venue? New Asian Village, which serves a huge variety of Indian cuisine at knock down prices.
We opted for the buffet menu which costs about $12 per person for as much as you can eat (and believe me a few of us can eat quite a bit). You get a little booth to eat in and we gave the boys sandwiches and they sat with us.
Family meal at the Asian Village
There was a wide selection of food for eating and everyone left very full up.
After eating we decided to go down town and Emma (A) kindly decided to accompany us.
We started with a trip to the top of the “Pink Palace” or Canada place as the Canadians call it. This is where all the government types work.
16 floors of the Canada Place building
The lift was amazing and very fast and James loved whizzing up and down it. The video shows the speed of the lift, note the lady (Emma A) sitting on the bench as she disappears from view.
Emma was so exhausted from the afternoons activities that she fell asleep on the couch before tea.
Emma sleeps of the afternoons entertainment
After tea Robin and myself went to the “Oasis” event at church, which is an hour long session of worship / prayer and it was very nice. Chatted to a few people at church and then came home to write this!
Canada – Day 12
Oct 15th
A visit to Edmonton’s Valley Zoo was the order of the day today.
The zoo was only $6 for adults and $4.50 for children as it was out of season, so good value. You had to pay at the zoo office which would mean that in theory you could stroll round all day for free, but we were honest! It was not a patch on UK zoos, but it was still a good 1/2 day out. Here are some photo highlights of the animals we saw. We also saw the elephant being taken for a walk round the zoo, which was a little unusual and perhaps a little unsettling!
Emma and Matthew at the Zoo
Snowy Owl at Zoo
Nubian Goat at the Zoo
We had lunch at the zoo and then came back via WalMart.
In the evening the Emma’s did some shopping at a massive charity shop called Good Will and purchased some dressing up suits 
for Matthew and James. They then went to Winners and Zellers where some nice boots were purchased.
When they returned Robin and Chris nipped out and bought 2 x 8GB pen drives for 20 pounds UK, check it out!
Canada – Day 11
Oct 14th
Thanksgiving today, which means a massive eat with lots of turkey, sweet potato etc.
The table was set with tablecloth and full candles and napkins and so the scene was set.
Thanksgiving table layout
The turkey had been defrosting for a good 48 hours and so was cooked and seasoned. Here is a pic of Robin cutting it up.
Robin prepares the turkey
The meal was fantastic, we all said something that we were giving thanks for and Trina has a whole book full written as well as a turkey with coloured feathers she had made, it was quite something.
Here is a picture of us all (except Robin) round the table.
Everyone enjoying the meal
After dinner the cat frosty was given the remains of the turkey to eat which he really enjoyed.
Frosty enjoys the turkey
Everyone was feeling the effects of the meal and wanting to sleep, but there was only one who did!
Frosty sleeps the meal off
Matthew ate a considerable amount today, including pancakes, cerial and toast before almost everything at lunch. Here he is enjoying himself.
Matthew eats lots of food
After lunch we all decided that a nice scenic walk would help to digest dinner so we had a trip to valley park. We walked by the river and then played in the play park which the kids really enjoyed.
Here is a picture of Matthew and James in the leaves.
James and Matthew in the leaves at Valley Park
And here is a video of James running down a hill.
We’ve also planned our remaining days, which are going to be busy, and we’ve also sorted out a hire car to get us back to Calgary on Sunday.
Canada – Day 10
Oct 13th
The best day (for me) so far by a long way, and bordering on one of the best days of my life!
7:45am start with a journey to church and some planning for the Service followed by a cracking worship service. Everything seemed to go really well and people said that the worship sounded great so I was well pleased. The set list was:
1) Praise is Rising
2) We stand and lift up our hands
3) Strength will rise
4) Give thanks to the Lord (forever)
5) Blessed be your name
6) Your blood speaks a better word
7) I stand amazed
Lord let your glory fall.
The worship team @ Calvary October 12th 10:45am
Worship in progress!
Then after a dinner of chilli which was very nice indeed, we got off flying. The weather was fine this time with only high level clouds and plenty of blue sky. Robin rents an aircraft from Cooking Lake Aviation Academy at Cooking Lake airfield and although we were hoping for a glass cockpit aircraft we had a modern Cessna 172SP.
C-GUTC at Cooking Lake
Robin had planned the flight which was a cross country lasting over two hours of flying time. We were going from Cooking Lake to Two Hills and then to Villeneuve, before returning to Cooking Lake, hopefully before sunset. We’d calculated the fuel load required and all the timings however the last person to use the aircraft had left 23 USG of fuel in one tank and 13 USG in the other, which made things a little unbalanced and meant that we had to balance it up during flight!
After a nice takeoff from Cooking Lake we flew the first leg to Two Hills, where a lady in the purple car was waiting with a flute which Robin was purchasing. The lady seemed very impressed when we turned up in a plane! $50 changed hands and we had a look round the airfield (or rather took a leak by the side of the building!). There was no aircraft there at all so we took off for the next leg of the journey.
Cockpit shot of plane
Robin plays flute at Two Hills
View on departure from Two Hills
We took off and flew over to Villeneuve. Villeneuve is a controlled airport and getting to it requires flying through controlled airspace so Robin was little nervous about flying in there. We flew over some magnificent scenery including the Elk Island national park which we had to overfly at at lest 4500 feet so as not to disturb the elk. We also flew over some restricted airspace, which Robin was worried about and so flew quickly out of, however after checking later it turns out that you can fly over the restricted airspace as long as the air traffic control clears you (which they had done).
I got to fly the plane whilst Robin looked at the maps and charts and was able to keep it steady and level at 4500 feet and maintain a heading, which I guess it not bad for a first time not on the simulator.
We were cleared into Villeneuve straight in, and when contacting the tower they asked what our intentions were and we asked to visit the tower. The tower controllers were happy to let us into the tower and so we had a tour of the tower and it was really interesting. I left my camera in the plane, and so no pictures of that.
After about 30 mins at Villeneuve, we departed with the sun setting on the final bit of our route, back to Cooking Lake. We flew over the city of Edmonton and got some nice shots of the city. More flying for me, including a take off from Villeneuve! Finally a landing at sunset over cooking lake, and the chap from the flying club had waited to put the plane in the hanger.
Edmonton from the air!
It was amazing and it’s seriously increased my appetite for learning to fly and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to control it! I can just imaging Robin and me flying all over Canada and it would be mega!
The two Emmas went shopping at WalMart and played with the kids. One highlight was that they went digging for worms, and at one point James said “Mummy, I wish you were a worm so that you could get eaten up and then God would make me a new mummy”. He was needless to say put to the naughty step!
PS I also met a chap with 6 fingers today… Happy, Happy days…
Canada – Day 9
Oct 12th
Saturday today and a clear blue sky. Cold at -2 degrees with a frost everywhere. This morning I went with Robin to church for a practice with the worship band. It went very well and I’m sure that it will be good on Sunday. Robin was drumming which was like old times and things rocked out nicely.
Here is a picture of the sound and video desk, which does look important and impressive, however in reality it’s a bit unreliable! One things that I should mention is that everything is massively affected by static here. I get shocks every time I get out of the car, shocks on play slides, shocks when walking around. This really affects the electronic equipment so that many times things just don’t work, or crackle or are unreliable. Anyhow, we had some real problems setting up. This is one of the reasons that the church is planning to go-to a fully digital system in the next year.
Sound and Video Desk @ Calvery Church
Anyhow, we had a great practice. Shelly and Kevin were the other two musicians any they were really good.
Worship band practice
When we got home from church at about 12:30pm we had to decide on a BBQ or a trip to Millennium Place. It was a close call, but given the still cold outside temperatures, we decided on Millennium place, and to sweeten the deal we threw in a McDonalads.
As it’s Canada, the land of the free, we got the McDonalds and then ate it in the car.
Land of the free!
The Millennium place is a fantastic venue. It’s kind of like Salt Ayre, but with a really amazing swimming pool and lots of other things. The pool has a wave machine, slides, toys, whirlpool, hot tub etc. etc. We stayed for about 1.5 hours until we were all wrinkly, the boys having a really good time. They have life vests for all kids to wear, which is a really good idea. They have hoops on the back so that if they get into trouble they can be pulled out. We should have that in the UK!
After swimming and a play in the indoor play area we went ice skating, which was great fun. James was not all that keen and only managed a few minutes on the ice, but Matthew got driven round in a buggy on skis which he seems to enjoy. My emma was loving it and manged to do some backwards skating!
Family on the ice
Towards the end of the ice skating the main rink was closed and an Ice Hockey team came to practice which was very impressive. Those guys (possibly girls, but I’m not sure) are amazing and move so incredibly on the ice.
After getting home and putting the kids to bed we had a Chinese take-away and watched a film.
A really nice relaxing day…
Canada – Day 8
Oct 10th
Day of relaxation today.
Robin and myself tried to go flying today. We had a 3 hour cross country planned, but by the time we got the plane out and fuelled and messed up adding some oil to it the cloud base was about 700 feet and too low to fly. It did look at one point like it might pick up, but no dice… so we’ve rescheduled to Sunday afternoon, so hopefully the weather will pick up for then.
Still, we came home and played on flight sim. Not the real thing but there we go.
Emma and Emma went shopping and bought some tops and some toys for James and Matthew.
Children playing now, so all peaceful. James seems much better today.
James plays in the basement
Now, as it’s a quiet news day here is some guitar porn for woodsy and martin…
Chris playes a Taylor 714-CE limited edition
This is a guitar that is selling for $3000 canadian, about 1500 squids in the UK. A chap that’s buying it will be playing it at church on Sunday so we’ll get to hear it live.
And Martin, I’ll take some pictures of the sound desk on Sunday. They are getting a new one which has 16 channel monitor mix for each musician so they can adjust things themselves. See here
About 4K UK for the whole system we reckon, so get saving!
Deep inside the guitar (oh er)
Canada – Day 7
Oct 10th
Today was a day of rest, with the kids being a bit tired from all their Rocky activities. So we chilled out and then went out to the “town centre” which was an interesting concept, as it was actually a shopping mall! Robin confessed that he also missed it when they first came here, although it is labelled “town centre” which is a bit bizarre.
We made our own dinner and cooked some chocolate brownies from a kit with the boys.
James has a cold and was suffering a bit, but we got him some medicine and all seems to be settling down a bit.
In the afternoon we went to a local park to play.
Crawford Plains Park
This evening I visited another first. A dive through bank! Check it out, it’s what the uk is missing. We were able to deposit a cheque without even leaving the car as the pic proves.
CIBC, the drive through bank.
Following this we went to Church and I got a view of Robins office, which is mega and contains numerous electronic items and a really amazing keyboard (well for 500$)..
Check out the panoramic pic (click it) to see it in all it’s glory.
Robins Office (panoramic, click)
And some exciting news (for me) is that I’ll be leading worship on Sunday, as the chap who was down to lead is ill. Robin is drumming, and tonight we sorted out the song list and a band, so it’s massive happy days.
Now to watch a film and eat snacks… I could get used to this.
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