The Path to Acclimatisation

We knew that we had a lot to do once we got to Canada, I mean, we had an entire life to set up from scratch which was terrifying and electrifying now that we were finally here, but we always promised ourselves that when we arrived, we would take the first couple of weeks easy. We would use the time to relax, be tourists, soak it all in and adjust to our surroundings before throwing ourselves into the huge list of things to do when you immigrate to a new country.

If you fall, I will be there. -The Floor

It was an excellent job that we allowed ourselves this time because the jet lag totally sucked balls! We had both travelled from NZ to the UK and back again multiple times and yes, we did experience jet lag but for some reason flying from NZ to Canada hit us like a ton of bricks. For those of you who have had jet lag before your experience may have been different but for us it came in stages.

Stage 1 – The mid-afternoon snooze’s which would normally hit at about 3pm. We would find ourselves nodding off no matter where we were, we had no control over it. We could be in a supermarket getting our groceries when the sudden burning need to climb into the trolley for a cat nap like an over tired toddler would overtake us.

Stage 2 – The evening fatigue strikes at about 8pm where our eyes were so dry, sore, gritty, and bloodshot that we felt like we had either been lost in the Gobi Desert for a year or on a month-long tequila bender, and our limbs ceased to work in any coordinated fashion requiring a herculean effort to get to bed without walking into or tripping over something.

Stage 3 – The midnight zoomies, this is the worst and the best (worst because you desperately need the sleep, best because it can be so productive) of all the stages! Having drifted off into the sleep of the dead as soon as our head hit the pillow, we were then given a sleep teaser for a few hours before waking up for no damn reason feeling like someone has given us a shot of crack cocaine!

This is where we counted a thousand sheep, gave ourselves a headache and a hundred new crow’s feet from scrunching our eyes so hard in an effort to get back to sleep, we punched our pillows mercilessly before throwing in the towel and getting out of bed, we started making to do lists, we did some art, we did laundry that didn’t need laundering, we ironed everything in our suitcase…. again, we cleaned the bathroom, we read, and ate cheese and crackers because we were ravenous from all that nocturnal activity.

Before we knew it, the sun would rise, and we were left feeling exhausted struggling to stay awake knowing we had a full day ahead of us. This must be what it felt like to be one of the undead!

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.

The jet lag plagued us for weeks, it did not help that we were country folk staying in a big city (a bit like Babe a pig in the city). Having lived for 8 years with nothing but the noises of the Morepork chattering in the treetops, the pitter patter of Possum feet on the decking or the odd doodle-dooing from one of our cockerel’s (obviously with a broken watch) peppering the silence of the night the sounds of cars speeding down the road, sirens wailing, and the artificial light form the streetlamps were a real shock, it all seemed so loud, hectic, and bright! Not in a bad way, simply different and it would take time to get used to.

We were staying in a place called Nepean which is approximately twenty minutes (by car and almost three hours walking as we would discover) out of Ottawa City in the Province of Ontario, Nepean was a hub of supermarkets, retail stores, restaurants, and fast-food outlets and conveniently a British store which was located but a five-minute walk from our apartment.

It was nice to have so much on our doorstep and was one of the things we most enjoyed especially as in NZ we would have to travel at least 30 minutes to get to the nearest dairy (convenience store) which was a real bugger if you ran out of milk.

We did so much walking, but we did have the time, we certainly needed the exercise and relished every moment that our feet would crunch satisfyingly with every step and our eyes would water at the brilliance of the snow-covered ground. It would be a while before we would be in the position to buy a vehicle, we still had to convert our savings in NZ as soon as the exchange rate was favourable, open a Canadian bank account and transfer the money over, for now we were living solely off the Canadian cash we had brought out with us.  

No matter the weather or the temperature (sometimes temperatures of -29 degrees in the evening) we walked. We walked to the shops daily even if it were just for milk, we walked to coffee shops and watched the world go by, some evenings we would walk to restaurants and eateries.

But we got the most joy from walking around the snowy trails located just a five-minute walk from our apartment. We were so lucky to have the hustle and bustle of the shops and the tranquillity and beauty of the trails on our doorstep, and we were not going to let it go to waste.

Stepping onto the trails and into the forest was like stepping into another world, the city noise would vanish, it would just be us and nature, blankets of snow, crisp frigid air and sepia toned scenery for miles and miles. Sometimes we would walk in companionable silence (the jet lag made it difficult to string a sentence together, although this was normal for Martin), other times we would plan and discuss the future, each experience different.

A walk into nature, walks the soul back home 

We did have to be careful though, this was not NZ where there were no predators, we did have to keep our wits about us, there were animals on the trails that would see us as a tasty snack, like the big bad wolf …. Okay maybe not wolves in Nepean but the small bad Coyote!

We were a little surprised at the number of signs warning of Coyotes around the trails in the area, we have all seen the Wily Coyote cartoons with the pesky Coyote dropping anvils or blowing stuff up with TNT before gapping it with nothing but a “Beep Beep” well this is not usual Coyote behaviour (What a surprise right? Illusions shattered).

Although it was rare for a Coyote to attack people you still had to be wary particularly if you had small children (or adult children AKA husbands) or dogs. One warning sign that we saw listed in its safety instructions – Do not lay down and play dead in front of a Coyote. I mean duh! Why would you lay down and present yourself as an all you can eat buffet? That is just ridiculous, but we know it is only on the sign because some lunatic has done it.

For all the walking we did we never came across a Coyote (or lion, tiger, or bear oh my!), and for all the walking we did we still could not get to sleep at night, but the beauty of those first few weeks was that we were not ruled by time (we had plenty of it on our hands), schedules, lists or meetings although that was to come. For now, we could sleep when we were tired, eat when we were hungry, drink when we were thirsty, watch movies and read books to our hearts content, this was what it finally felt like to let it all go and relax.