We have arrived in Canada and all is well.  The move to Amsterdam Airport, the flight and the arrival in Calgary all went to plan.  As is typical of the Canadians, everybody was helpful and friendly which made the journey that much more civilised.

Our pick up was on time and we made our way to Amsterdam airport without encountering any “staus”.   Luckily, the minibus was big enough for our seven bags (not including hand luggage) and Ollies huge crate for the flight!

Jack Snoozing

Ollie Snoozing

Ollie was checked in and then taken away for loading 2 hours before the flight – we were confident that he would simply lie back and enjoy the ride.  By the time we had grabbed some lunch and made our way through security it was time to board.  We had row 1 seats in Club Class which gave us (Jack mainly) lots of room to spread out and no seat in front for Jack to practice his kicking skills on!  It all went really well, the service was brilliant and the food outstanding which says a lot for a charter airline.  Jack only slept for a short time on the flight but surprisingly after so little sleep, was very well behaved and made himself known to as many passengers as possible – many of whom wished him well when we got off the plane at Calgary.

Just before passport control at Calgary we were met by a BATUS representative who whisked us through security and customs making our whole arrival pretty pain free  there’s nothing worse than getting off a plane after a long flight and then having to stanf in a queue for an hour afterwards!   Jonathan showed his Canadian Citizenship card at immigration and was greeted with a “Welcome Home” and then asked if Jack was his son – “well that means he’s a Canadian too!”  It was only Lucille that had to get a 2 year visa to remain in the country.  On presentation of Ollies pet passport, we were all cleared through customs without any problems and on our way to the hotel.  There wasn’t much rest to be had though.  After deciding that staying awake was the best option, Jonathan picked up the truck he’d already bought and we took ourselves off for a drive around Calgary.  Jack promptly fell asleep in the truck and we were all in bed early that night.

The Truck and the Boys at Nose Hill Park

After waking at just about the crack of dawn on Sunday due to jetlag (4am) we were at a bit of a loose end but held on until breakfast started at 6:30.  After satisfying our aching bellies, we all made our way to Nose Hill park just outside the city for a beautiful 2 hour walk.  Being the highest piece of ground around Calgary, it gave us a great view of the city and the Rocky Mountains in the distance.  The result of which was a second brealfast at a Humpty’s restarurant just down the road, waffles, poached eggs and an omelets!  After some much needed retail therapy we made our way into the city in the afternoon for another walk, this time around Prince’s Island Park surrounded by the Bow River running through the city.

Lucille & Jack at Prince's Island

We were up early again on Monday morning (the time still began with a 4), had breakfast, walked Ollie and then made our way to Mountain Equipment Co-Op in the City which is a great outdoor shop – Lucille needed some shoes!  We also got an all terrain buggy/cycle trailer for Jack before heading to Ikea to pick up a bed for the little guy.

We then jumped in the (extremely tightly packed – inside and out) truck and made the journey to our Rocky Mountain hideaway in Fernie, British Columbia.  It took us about 3 hours to get there from Calgary – South of the city through cowboy country and then a right turn West through the Crowfoot pass and into the Rockies and Fernie.