Praeludio

Before we left Barnhartvale, we had the pleasure of meeting Frank (the teacher with whom Jen is exchanging), his wife Alison, and their two children Liam (5) and Phoebe (16 months).  We spent a wonderful day with them, and since Liam had never seen snow before and there was a mild spell on they day they arrived (26 January), the first priority was to build a snowman.  Their blog at http://www.frankandalison.blogspot.com, which inspired us to start this one, has a picture of that magnificent sculpture.

On Thursday, 27 Jan 2011, after months of preparation, we finally departed with the maximum allowed quantity of luggage (and slightly more, with a little grace from Air Canada).  Short hop to Vancouver, where Jen's brothers Nick and Tim and their respective partners Annette and Garth met us at the airport to eat and drink awhile, and then a delightful 15-hour flight to Sydney in which the first 1/3 of the flight featured an extraordinary amount of strong turbulence.  It was of course already Saturday in Oz when we arrived.  We picked up the rental car and beamed on down the wrong side of the road to Queanbeyan, the suburb of Canberra in which Alison and Frank's beautiful and spacious home is located.

We were met by Nancy and Ray, who had the keys to the house, on the edge of town.  They are good friends of Alison and Frank, and Nancy is Canadian.  They showed us around a bit, and have been most charming company whenever we get together or talk on the phone.  With their help, we did a bit of shopping for essentials, had fish and chips for supper, somehow managed to stay up until dark, and then had a good night's sleep.