10 year trip to St John's

 

10 years go we got married. So we thought it was time we deserved an adult holiday with no kids So we got up and were ready to drop the kids at school around 8:50, waiting for the teacher to come out, and then we were off. Grandma and grandpa are looking after the kids for a few days while we head off east - to St Johns Newfoundland - Mainly cos they have good pubs. How else do you expect us to celebrate?

​Getting through the airport was fine with no delays, and we got on the flight. We were told that we would get a free beer in a glass on the flight, and to our surprise, there actually was free beer in a glass! 

​There were loads of empty seats, but for some reason, Buffy made us sit in our assigned seats in row 31 instead of lounging out in all the nice empty places where we could have had lots of room.

​Anyway, we arrived at Montreal MET, a brand-new little airport with really comfy seats—though for some reason, they don't work because all the cables to recline are broke!. We found a couple of comfy ones and I'm sitting in one doing this now. Then we are having a kip cos we are here for 4 hours!

​There’s one place to eat called Café Dépôt, and it cost $38 for two sandwiches. They were OK, though. There is another place that's a normal airport store selling shit like pizza in a bag, as well as crisps, chips, and all the usual stuff. Overall, it’s a nice, brand-new little airport. Anyway we flew from there to St johns...

After getting off the plane in St. John's, at 1120pm, we decided to head straight to a pub.  We already knew Uber had surge pricing active, bringing the fare to around $50 or $60, so we went straight to the taxi rank, which offers a $35 fixed fee to get into town. When we got to the taxi stand, we told the driver we wanted to go to the Duke of Duckworth pub. He immediately gave me a smile and a fist bump. We hopped in, and he dropped us off right on the far side of the pub. We had drinks before midnight!!

We happened to stand next to two other people enjoying the night—a guy named Trevor and his partner, Isabelle. It turns out they had driven from Montreal over the last few days in a moving van with a trailer, hauling stuff for his boss, who is relocating out here. We stayed in the pub until 2:00 AM, then walked back in a light drizzle, which felt really nice. We found our hotel easily and were in a nice, comfy bed just after 2:00 AM.

We woke up around 7:00 AM but stayed in bed until about 10:30 local time. We thought we had missed breakfast, but when we went downstairs, all the food was still set out. We had some croissants, cereal, and coffee, and sat in the hotel's pleasant kitchen with the sliding doors open to the backyard. There was a nice, cool breeze blowing in.

Since it was pouring rain outside, we decided to head up to a museum called The Rooms, which is where we are now. It’s a pretty cool museum—the architecture is a bit like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in terms of its shapes, but there are lots of different exhibits to explore. Right now, some kids are playing musical instruments, including what looks like spoons. We also found a massive window with great views for photos, overlooking St. John's, the harbor, and the low, misty clouds, which look pretty spooky and cool.

After an afternoons kip to try and sleep off my bad back from the plane trip, we walked to Quidi Vidi for dinner. A cool little fishing town with one really posh restaurant and a really cool dive bar. The food was expensive but good - Cod tongue, the smallest pie you have ever seen and a good portion of Italian summat or other. Then we went to Lindas bar - The shittiest grottiest most wonderful homely pub you could imagine with a crazy crew of staff serving drinks from the fridges and just talking any old nonsense. It also has the silliest reviews on google!Sean, the main barman on this night was great - just a mellow chatty Irishman who obviously just wanders through life having fun and making friends. The bar is dingy and resembles a hoarders spare room with all kids of shit on display and covered in dust. It felt like home and chatting with old friends. We stayed far too long and only left because we thought we might not if we didnt  - if that makes sense. 

The next day we made breakfast and met some of the other guests including a couple from Sydney about 10km from Gareth and Traceys place! The hotel owner is a helicopter pilot and had a story for every occasion! Everywhere we went we were meeting people and just telling tales - It was excellent. 

Today we had a walk planned along the North Trail head and up to Signal Hill - It was also my 56th birthday! First stop of the day was at the supermarket to get painkillers for my back and then Buff gave me a massage to ease my crappy back before we headed off on the walk. 

It was a lovely sunny day and wandering along the cliffs chatting and enjoying the clean air and gorgeous views was a great way to get older! We stopped often to sit and chat and just enjoy being 'sans kids' - we did miss the kids a lot, but its so peaceful and easy to be away without them. 

After Signal Hill we continued along the track and found ourselves back in Quidi Vidi where we had some burgers for dinner before stumbling back into Lindas bar again for a few drinks.

Later in the evening we were back at the hotel and had a nice video call with the kids before heading back out into town to savour a couple more birthday drinks before bed! Happy birthday me. 

On the next day we had brekky and Buffy had then arranged a 2 hour photo tour of the town and Jelly Bean houses with a local photographer. It actually ended up being a 3 hour tour and was lovely to see another side of town and and hear stories about some of the locals and business people who are fighting over whether or not they can build what they want and who can do what  - Maurice our guide also showed us pretty much every house his ex girlfriends lived in!! Haaahaa. 

Guess what we did that night - Yep - a few more good pubs, chatting with locals and drinking local beers surrounded by the sound of traditional Irish music - Trad nights as they are called. First in a pirate themed dive bar and then in Erins pub where our mate Sean from Lindas bar was on stage later in the evening singing. It all started with a huge fish and chips at a local chippy though with gravy and dressing (which is actually stuffing that you put on your dinner - it was so much better than the posh food we had earlier in the week!)

For our last day we got a rental car and drove around to see the sights - First to Cape Spear - the most easterly point of North America and then to a few little bays and villages - Like Flat Rock where we sere surprised to see that Pope John Paul 2 visited a few years back!

It was a lovey day driving around but we couldnt end it any other way than back in a few pubs and another night chtting with new friends and enjoying proper good pub hospitality. 

Our last stop was back in the first pub we had visited The Duke of Duckworth and another fish chips gravy and dressing dinner before heading home to bed. 

On the last morning we grabbed some breakfast and were at the airport by 730am. Our flight took off at 845 and 3 flights and 12 hours later we were greeted by our two crazy kids who were waiting for us on the 'hug rug' at Winnipeg airport with their grandparents. 

It was a fantastic little trip and we got exactly what we wanted - peace and quiet with a whole bunch of eating and drinking and just the right amount of tourism. Roll on the next 10 years and the next trip.

Summer 2026...most of it

It’s been a proper circus round here lately. Between trying to sort a basement , keeping up with the kids' football nights, the weird weather, and trips to the lake, things have been a bit mental.

Since we got back from UK, Ollie has been growing plants - One from school and one from daycare. Unfortunately, one of them doesnt look lik eit is growing, but the other one os dooing great. Its a beanstalk and its almost ready for Jack to climb it an dgo up to find te ginats house! 

Hannah must have seen these and had them on the brain as when she came home form school today she told me she couldn't find the sock that she put in her school bag. I asked why the sock was in there and she explained that she had found a plant that she liked - a tiny one leafed thing - and dug it up to bring home to grow. The only thing she had to put it into was a sock, which was now somewhere in her schoolbag  - full of damp soil - and the tiny plant cowered in the centre. We gently removed it and it now sits on the counter next to Ollies plants - Lets hope it survives and grows!

Basement Bollocks

We explicitly timed the loudest, messiest part of the basement renovation to happen while we were away in the UK. It should’ve been all done and dusted by the time we got back, but instead, we walked in to find it looking like some kind of goop monster had shat a green glob all over the walls. Turned out to be the spray foam insulation—good gear, sure, but it was nowhere near finished.

After that, a couple of Ukrainians moved in under the guise of "drywallers" and treated us to a proper masterclass in bad time management. If I ever hear the phrase "just one more hour" again, I’ll probably cry. They said it at least four separate times, and that "one hour" actually took them four sodding days. To be fair to them, they eventually did a really bang-average job.

Once they finally fucked off, we took over and painted the whole lot in about two minutes, sticking some baseboard on for good measure. It’s now officially finished: fresh paint, light grey walls, and brand-new windows that were fitted a couple of weeks later.

Apart from the house drama, we’ve had nowt to do—except survive the Timbits football season. It's been six weeks of the kids either absolutely refusing to play or being completely mad about it.

Hannah is playing for the Emerald Eagles this year, rocking a bright green shirt. She alternates between wanting to kick the ball during drills (which she’s actually right good at) and doing handstands in goal while the other team bangs them in. Oh well, she's having a laugh!

Ollie stubbornly refused to play for the first two weeks. But after tag-along nights watching Hannah, he finally joined in with her lot before eventually moving over to the team we actually signed him up for. It took another two nights for him to actually play with his own team, but once he did, he went and bagged two hat tricks in his first two games! He puts absolutely everything he has into his kicks and the game, and he gets properly angry when he gets pushed off the ball. They're both doing great at football—honestly, I wish I had had the chance when i was a kid. .

When they aren't playing football, they are permanently attached to the monkey bars at the park, scaling trees, or wrecking the trampoline. I love seeing them just being kids, climbing and messing about together.

We did have to miss one night of football because Hannah finished her first year at Embers. We went along to the evening stage ceremony to see her collect her well-earned badges.

We’ve managed to get out to the lake a couple of times too. The weather has been hit-and-miss, but we did get to spend some quality time swimming. I also helped Jon and Susan fit a new dock ladder after the old one was smashed to pieces by the ice over the winter. Hannah claimed bragging rights and got the very first climb into the water, armed with her life jacket and a trusty pink pool noodle.

We had Father's Day at the lake too this week , and the kids treated me and Grandpa to some cool presents and a massive poster they’d made themselves.

Once we hauled ourselves back home, we headed straight down into the newly finished basement to open a few more bits. Ollie bought me a pretty cool Nerf gun, and Hannah got me an awesome camo zip-up hoodie lined with fleece—definitely saving that one for the freezing winter school runs!

One of the other big jobs we had planned for the spring was the front yard. We hired a bloke to lay down fresh sod around the front tree, which came with the joy of having to water the bloody stuff twice a day for three solid weeks. That would’ve been impossible if it wasn't for a kindly mate who popped round while we were at the lake (cheers, Mia!) and the massive storms we’ve had.

We’ve had a few spectacular summer storms that kept the grass thoroughly soaked. They also prompted loads of tornado warnings. There were actually two proper tornadoes a few miles south of the city, but everything with us was fine—except for the rain leaking straight into the porch. It left the wood absolutely sodden, with water dripping right through our white-painted wood ceiling panels and straight down the brickwork. Just another job added to the list.

The kids didn't care about the chaotic weather, though. We all piled outside into the rain when we could to play football "tops off" and got absolutely drenched. It was cracking. Hannah grabbed her unicorn umbrella to dance on the front deck and be a right toolbag— she absolutely loves the rain.

So, between a finished basement, a grand weekend at the lake, and a solid Father's Day, it's a busy life. It's loud, it's chaotic, and I now have to go figure out how to stop my porch from turning into an indoor swimming pool.

Everything above was written soooooooooooooooooooooooo long ago! Summers over here are crazy and I DO MEAN LITERALLY. The klds go fucken nuts - like some weird switch in their heads is turned on about a week into the summer holidays and they go insane. Weird breakdowns over random things - I actually had Hannah screaming or grunting at me for an hour one evening for no reason -I asked her to use words but she was incapable at the time  -I never did find out what the issue was. 

Ollie is the same, for no reason he will refuse to do stuff or just plain ignore us. Then they do the usual fight over nothing - One of them will find a stick or a long forgotten leaf or even a book or long forgotten scrap of paper. They maybe even have the audacity to look at the other one or maybe even MAKE. A NOISE.  and then they are off - one will scream at the other and then the scream will be returned and we then try to reason with them whilst trying to stay calm for the 8th or 9th tome in a day. 

Then we will either split them up or they resolve the issue and they are besties again - this could last 2 seconds or 2 days - who fucking knows! Buffy and I are studying ways to calm anger and discipline without murder. I know anyone out there who has kids and managed to make them into adults will recognise everything I an saying - Its not all unicorns and rainbows, diggers and trucks - Having kids is absolutely the greatest thing ever and also teh worst at the same time. I have so much respect for my mum and dad now after just 6 and 8 years of these two eejits - my mum and dad had to deal with me AND two other crazy brothers - I know discipline was a littel harder back then, but it must have driven them crazy at times. Respect MJ and Alma!

Anyhoo - life in generally reasonable - I am actually writing this during a week 'home alone' - No the did not get on a plane and suddenly forget about me - The Buff and the kids are at the cabin for a week, but I an on call for work, so need to be in the city. It does give me a chance to deep clean eth house, paint the shed, clean the car, do some maintenance on the house and sleep 4 hours a night - Its been good and they are home again in 3 days. Sounds like they had fin though - The kids spending the weekend with Grandma while Buff took her dad Jon to a small music festival - everyone has had a little break and its only 3 weeks till we go back to school and a routine! Ollie is going in to full time school and grade 1, while Hannah is moving in to grade 3 (Actually a greade3 grade 4 split class, cos she's smart as fuck!) 

There's only a few more weeks of sunny weather and only 3 more weeks till the kids go back to school -Honestly 10 weeks off in summer is too much - I wish we had the UK school timetable - 6 weeks in summer and more time throughout the year. I actually asked for a few days off this summer to help Buff with the the kids and my boss gave me 5 bereavement days! hahaha  - so 5 wednesdays throughout the summer I have a day off for a death in the family - but I just look after the kids! hahaha - I am so glad that my bosses t work are so great - We have spent a lot of time chatting about soccer/football this year and they even offered me an extra day off to watch the England semi final in the world cup!

 

Here's a few more pics and stuff from our busy summer - including world cup games on TV in the garden, Hannah's birthday and trips out including camping at Rubber ducky, folk fest, swim lessons - which they both passed, my leg and foot swelling up after wasp stings, tinkertown and cartown, BKKLday and more!