Goodbye Germany – Hello Canada
After a very “exciting” time just before departure we, along with our Land Rover, are finally in winter “wonder” land Canada!
Reykjavik Stopover
The weather changed drastically from calm and sunny the week before to gale force with gusts bordering on hurricane force winds, just in time for our departure. I am scared enough of flying on a normal day so this wasn’t helping things at all. The flight was quite bumpy and scary until we got above the storm and then it was clear flying all the way to Iceland. From the green spring like conditions of Germany back into a full snow covered glittering winter landscape and clear blue skies of Iceland. The views from the aircraft alone had already convinced us that this stopover was going to be just a first taste. We are definitely going to have to come back again, but next time for much longer. We booked our accommodations through Airbnb and really hit the jackpot. Our hosts were wonderfully nice folks who picked us, and all our baggage, up from the bus stop, gave us a little tour of the city, and pretty much made us feel welcome and at home in their house. We had fantastic (winter) weather for our stop over day, which made our Reykjavik excursion that much better.
Snowed-in in Nova Scotia!
The eastern part of Canada (the Maritimes) has seen the worst snows this year in over 30 years, so it wasn’t much of a surprise as we arrived in Halifax to see meter high mounds of snow. It hasn’t stopped yet either, when we got up this morning there was a new blanket of snow covering everything. At least Gary had fun using the snow blower.
After a cosy Easter (even though it looks and feels more like christmas) we went over to Halifax to pick up our Land Rover, with us arriving on Good Friday we had to wait until Tuesday before we could pick it up. We were a little bit nervous visiting Customs just in case they had any issues with the fact that Gary is Canadian, but our nerves were all for nothing. The customs officer was very friendly and helpful and the folks at the Halifax harbour were also very good. Thanks again to SeaBridge for organizing everything. From day one until we picked up our Land Rover we have felt very well taken care of, all of our questions were answered and we really feel like we got our moneys worth.
So we cleaned the fresh snow off our our Landy and drove it back to Gary’s parents house to bide our time (being royally spoiled) until we head off towards Newfoundland. Honestly, most of the folks we have told that Newfoundland is our next stop have laughed themselves silly at the prospect. Apparently Newfoundland has a LOT more snow than Nova Scotia, and we were even told that the ferry between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland got stuck in ice floes! Well if that happens again it should would be an interesting article for our blog…
Hi Frederike and Gary, today I took notice of both of you and your Land Rover at the Canadian Tire store in Dieppe. Me wife and I having being traveling around the world during our winters for the last 11 years (4/6 months), I first observed that you left your vehicle vulnerable. Frederike actually roll down her side window before joining to go shopping. Not a wise habit to have while traveling. After reviewing your blog you both seem to have done a great job at converting your Land Rover. Reading some of the obstacles you have been faced with, reminded me that while traveling in other countries these are all part of the adventure. Gary, since you’re from Canada, I’m sure you didn’t expect to have rules that could impede your trip. I’m glad you were able to overcome several issues that came up. I wish both of you a safe journey and keep sharing on your blog. God Speed!
Ray
Hi Ray!
Thanks for posting. It was quite an adventure in itself converting the Land Rover, and the trouble we faced getting to where we are make the rest of the trip even more precious.
We wouldn’t normally leave our vehicle unattended with a window down, even though Canadians are known for their hospitality around the world that would be inviting trouble. In this case our niece was hanging out in the back (don’t tell the police) we were on the way to the mall and she absolutely wanted to go for a drive even though it’s a two seater. It’s good to see the tinted windows doing their job ;-)
Maybe we will see you on the road along your travels, who knows how long our journey will last and where it will lead us. Save travels to you and your wife too.
Hey. Tolle erste Bilder, obwohl es noch gar nicht richtig los gegangen ist. Hier ist mittlerweile der Frühling angekommen. Viel Spass im Schnee.