-------- Forwarded Message --------

Sub= ject:	Hello from our new home
Dat= e:	Sun, 25 Oct 2015 09:05:45 -0600
Fro= m:	jovanponoka@gmail.com
To:=	Mat Bourgois <marthabourgois@optusnet.com.au&= gt;

Dear Mattie   (and Marjolein=C2=85 please forward as I do not =
have her email address anymore due to all the changes is moving)

We are finally settled in Gibsons, BC after two months of very busy and o=
ften stressful times. The handover of our business went smoothly (we work=
ed hard to make it so). We moved into one of our suites at The Crossing o=
n August 12, the day after the movers picked up our household goods) to l=
et the new couple move into the main house along with their goods on the =
13th. Then we spent the next 10 days showing them the details of the work=
 involved in running the business. We had a great Handover party in our c=
ampground (see picture below) to introduce the new owners to our friends =
and neighbours. It turned out to be such a beautiful day, it will remain =
in our memories for some time.

On the 24th of August we set off at 5 am in our Mazda 3 with the back of =
the car almost completely occupied by a double dog cage, for our two cats=
=2E Most of our belongings required a new Thule ski box on the top. We sp=
ent three days getting to British Columbia with the first stop in Banff t=
o see Eric one more time. He was a great help in getting us packed the fi=
rst week i August. Then the next two days took us to Gibsons, a town/area=
 of about 40,000 running among the BC coast north of Vancouver. It requir=
es a ferry to get there, to cross a deep inlet.
However, one can get from the airport in downtown Vancouver to the ferry =
terminal in 40 minutes by sky train and bus service. The ferry ride is 40=
 minutes across, so the big city of Vancouver is really easy to get to. I=
n fact, some people commute daily by ferry to work in Vancouver. We feel =
happy to be in a less busy, and beautifully situated town, with access to=
 busy Vancouver when we wish without requiring driving to get there.

We had to be in Gibsons a week before possession date to do a walk throug=
h of the property. We were delighted with our little house (1380 sq ft on=
 two floors) especially since we made choices about some features (siding=
, kitchen layout, paint and flooring) from a distance by email while it w=
as being built April to August. The house was most affordable (as long as=
 we did not make changes in the basic plan) and in a new development with=
 geothermal heating throughout the development. That =C2=91green=C2=92 as=
pect really appealed to us as well as the size and layout of the house. W=
e did need to downsize (Ken wouldn=C2=92t part with most of his books how=
ever) but found the two stories provides the privacy and separation of fu=
nctions good. It can also accommodate our family when they visit. In fact=
, Olaf was here on a short visit after running some environmental meeting=
s in Vancouver two weeks ago. Eric and his family come through this area =
every summer to visit his wife=C2=92s family=C2=92s up the coast on=20
their cottage. My sister Sophia and her husband regularly travel to Vanco=
uver, so all in all, we might see more of our family living here than we =
ever did in Saskatchewan (which people tend to fly over on their way east=
 to Toronto or west to Vancouver!)

We had some difficulties with our movers, which delayed our goods for sev=
eral weeks which really caused a lot of stress and took a while to recove=
r from. However now we feel settled and can start exploring the area furt=
her. There is an easy 30 walk to the seashore (the older portion of Gibso=
ns is along the bay) which we do almost daily through lovely forest paths=
=2E We have also bought a kayak (a german made Klepper, which we had when=
 first married) and intend to start new in relearning our boating skills =
and navigating around ocean waters rather than lakes and rivers. We are l=
ucky to be in good health and fit enough to do so.=20

Please note my new email address Mattie, and pass along to Marjolein so t=
hat we can reconnect. Our address is      774 Wright Road, Gibsons, BC   =
V0N 1V7

I hope and trust all is well with both of you. Thanks for your emails and=
 photos=C2=85 I chuckled over the one called =C2=91kleine wuffje=C2=92. W=
e do shrink as we age.=20

Much love   from   Joke