May 15, 2003

This week the children are having to cope without television - due to the usual kind of minor transgression that allows parents to impose discipline completely disproportionate to the crime! Anyway, as a result, every morning they've been having a lie in, or even doing creative things in the morning. The interesting thing is that I guess they're going to get very used to not having a TV on in the mornings or afternoons.

But all that MUST change...because next week we've got a visit from a researcher working for the BBC Holiday programme. A few weeks ago they asked for people to let them know if they were planning a gap year - and we did (although we're not really typical gap-year-ers). Apparently they did have lots of interest, but for some reason (can't think why?) we stood out.

So next Tuesday they're coming to visit, film a little bit of us (that'll be fine for the children and Sarah, but those of you who know me will be aware that I have "a face made for radio" - so I'll lurk in the background given the option!). We're not sure what it could lead to, but we'll see. It would certainly suprise a lot of people if we popped up on their TV screens!

Well, we've started to book some accommodation. Although we'd been excited by the SaltSpring Island Hostel, unfortunately the tipi and tree house reservations were grabbed right at the opening of the booking season, and we were too late to book!

However, instead we've found a lovely camping site Lakeside Gardens on a lake, where we can reach a lakefront (literally three feet out of the front door) cabana, big enough for all of us. It costs us $70 Canadian - which is about £30, which is expensive compared to what we may pay elsewhere, but it's worth it to start with a few relaxing days before we dive into the hurly burly of our Canada adventure. It's a 2 hour ferry from Tsawwassen (gulp, I've got no idea how to pronounce that!), which is a 1 hour bus from downtown Vancouver, so it'll be an adventure getting there.
But it looks lovely...

Well, as you'll have read, we decided to go for the Ixus 400. By looking around on the Internet I saved around £100 on the high street price, and order from Digital Camera Company - but then discovered I wouldn't get delivery until the end of May - and then not even guaranteed. Although they didn't tell me this, I saw that 2 days after I ordered their web site was quoting looong lead times for delivery. And when I called I got a complicated story about a worldwide shortage of 3&4MP chips, and how nobody had them.

So then I looked around again, and discovered that Amazon were selling them at a lower price, had a quicker delivery time, and threw in a free 64MB Compact Flash. And so, I cancelled my order and re-ordered with Amazon. That was yesterday, so now I'll wait to see what turns up - but I'm a lot more hopeful because Amazon have not let me down before.

This week has been *bliss* We have been away for a few days, to firstly see some of our friends Up North, and then to drop the children with my brother's family in Chester. Then we went to Birmingham for a few days, to stay in a hotel and just act like adults. It's also been the chance for Sarah to do her "big shop" - for the right clothes to wear at the right times, and all to be crush-proof, non-iron, and backpacking practical - three things that don't normally appear in Sarah's vocabulary.

And it was a success - Sarah has now got some good backpacking trousers (how did I manage to convince her that North Face was good for her to wear?), plus some tops (aha, although some came from 'sensible' brands, we did both end up getting some other stuff in Fat Face, which was incredibly comfortable to wear. Sarah has also got some practical shoes (again, something which is a miracle!). Anyway, we've now got all the clothes we're going to need, and have nearly got the girls kitted out (now that the postman has puffed up the drive with a HUGE Boden box.

We'd certainly recommend Birmingham for shopping - we'd not been there before, and it benefited from sunshine. We hit the shops, strolled the canals, and stopped every 10 minutes for a drink & snack.