Good evening, morning or whatever it may be wherever you are! Here in sunny Canada (no sarcasm in that at all however it might sound, it is actually a very sunny warm day in my part of Canadia), here in lovely Canada it is early evening on a Camille day off. I have spent the afternoon sitting by the dock at work reading a book of Canadian Short Stories and basking in the sun and mild breeze ruffling across the water. I was about to get up and go when a group of the kids came down for a swim in the frigid waters and greeted me with a "Gooday Mate!" in their best pommie accents. I was then harassed to stay and help one of the non-swimmers study for his drivers licence. I'm not sure that he grasped that we may have different road rules in Australia, let alone the bizarre idea that we drive on the 'wrong' side of the road!



So, I have arrived safe and sound in Canada and only slightly traumatised by leaving my adopted home and loves in Guernsey. It was pretty awful leaving London and I spent my first few days in Toronto a bit bewildered by the bizarre move of mine. I kept wondering why, exactly, I had decided to do this?
Underlying the anxst, however, was some kind of determination to give this a good chance and a real curiosity about being involved in the amazing Canadian outdoor way of life. And so I arrived at the dusty, boarded up South River railway station and was met by my new boss Steve. For the rest of that first day I was reeling with the newness and alieness of it all, but warmed by the genuine interest and welcome offered by all the staff I met.



Since then it really han't taken long to settle into the way of life of 'Dare.' Of course my sense of belonging owes a lot to the fact that I've been pissed on quite a few occasions with a number of staff and I have, of course, successfully downed my Initiation Drink and not disgraced myself by vomitting, passing out etc. etc. We Aussies are well 'ard!

To truly settle into this place I am going to need a vehicle as South River is 22km of dirt road away, even though I have been shuttled to and fro on numerous oocasions by my new mates here. I've found a place to live by a lake in town with a few other instructors and am now searching for a Chevy truck to own, just because it sounds cool!
My job is going brilliantly. I've just completed eight days of training and a few shadow shifts which have been exciting experiences of discovery. I'm working with the Custody kids here at Dare and the program is so structured and supported that it feels like there is a huge capability to effect change. The kids themselves are very engaging and fascinated by my foreigness (which makes a change from being one of a hundred thousand Aussies in Britain). It's funny to converse with the kids about who has an accent, just how big the spiders in Australia are and how tragic it is that Steve Irwin died. Actually, the day that he died I was talking to a few kids and when I was asked if I knew Steve, I told them that funnily enough, my Mum and Dad live next door to him and are currently looking after the kids while Terri takes care of funeral arrangements. I then left them gawping and meandered to my training session where the lesson was on the trusting relationship between staff and clientele. Oh well...
The current fascination of the kids is trying to decide whether or not I am lying to them about the fact that Australia doesn't have running water or taps. One of their arguments was that we had the Olympic Games so we MUST have had running water for that!



So my work here is quite engrossing and makes me lose track of days, time, news and the world outside Dare. We don't have regualr shifts, our timetable changes each month. Basically I do 24 hr shifts that begin at midday. I might work a while and then have a week off. I'll do a couple of trips a month (7-10 days long)which over summer were canoe trips through Algonquin Park but are now hiking as the water is getting cold. The leaves are all turning and its absolutely beautiful at the moment. We're in, I have been told, for a long and hard winter. Not one person, in all the tales of cold and freezing conditions, has said, "Actually Camille, it's not that bad." I think it gets pretty bloody cold here. During staff training we had huge sessions on hypothermia and frost bite and how to organise your sleeping conditions for campiong out in the snow. Here's what we should have for winter sleeping -
Ground sheet
Blue Insumat (those thin foam ones)
Thermarest
Bivi Sack (like a swag made out of tent material or gortex)
Thin sleeping bag, three seasons one, to absorb moisture
Winter Sleeping bag rated to at least negative thirty
A thermal/fleece bag liner
Thermal underwear for you, accessorised with a couple of Tooques (Canadian for Beanie) and wool socks.

I almost passed out when I was infomred of all this. I've had a few people in tears of laughter at the shock on my face during sessions like this and one of my managers has said that she loves when I ask questions cause she can never tell what they might be about. I think that was after I queried what on earth she meant about plugging your car in during winter. Apparently they have to do that to stop everything freezing. It's crazy, I tell you! Do you know they even wear balaclavas for warmth? I thought they were invented for robbers.

Anyway, things are going really well here for me, besides my bewilderment and near fainting when anyone discusses winter. I reckon I'm up for the challenge of it all. I'm surrounded by some amazing people who are already offering me the lend of their equipment and advice. It feels good to be here, you know? I don't know what the next year will hold or what will happen next, but for now I am truly happy to be here and embraced by this stimulating community (and I don't mean that sexually).

Righto, thanks for listening and I'll be in touch.
Lots of love,
Camille

Comments

Isa said…
Makes winter in canberra sound like a walk in the park...

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