I WANT TO MOVE TO CANADA!!!!!!!

[Green1]

something you west coasters can't afford to do with those $396,000 houses -

well... I'm not west coast, but even here in Calgary the average house price is up there... on the bright side... I could sell my house, pay off my mortgage, and still have enough money left over to buy 3 houses in Saskatchewan... (boy am I glad I bought before the prices skyrocketed!)

as for travelling... I definitely agree, Canada is a beautiful country, and I always enjoy driving across it, I have been from coast to coast, driven the whole way... BC many many times, out as far as Quebec quite a few, and out to the maritimes once... only place I haven't gone is north... and I still plan to do that (I've been to the BC-Yukon border, but never north of there) I want to see the tundra, (and Newfoundland, I just didn't have time when I was in the maritimes)

[Rusty]

Glad you made it there ok Bruce :P I wish I was there with you. Hope you enjoy your visit as much as I enjoyed my two visits there in 1998 and 2000 8)
Like you I would love to move over lock, stock and barrel :lol: (British saying)

Have a good visit...

[Adrock]

I sure did put Bruce to work while he was here. Pictures will say more than words, and anyone who is at the meet will get to see it in person.

Hope you had fun here Bruce, can't wait for the meet.

Thanks for the work and the driving lessons.

[mararmeisto]

Good to see that you made it over for a visit. I realise I'm a late-poster to this thread, but hopefully you're still monitoring it from time to time. Anyway, here's my two-pence...

Canada is big... REALLY big... so it's hard to answer what things are like "in Canada" because it varies from region to region. even one province will have huge extremes, BC alone is 925,186 km² compared to 244,101 km² for all of Great Britain

In fact, the province of British Columbia is bigger than ANY European country. ANY! Imagine that. Canada has half, even a third, of the population of some countries in Europe, but more than half our provinces are bigger than those countries.

As for ecological diversity, the only climate Canada does not have is full-on equatorial tropical rain forest: we have deserts, arctic, and everything else in between. Take your pick, we've got it. And a lot of that diversity, coincidentally, is in BC as well - everything except arctic I think.

[Green1]

Couple of geographic tidbits to toss to Brits:

Island of Great Britain:
(8th largest island in the world)
218,595 sq km
12,429 km of coastline
spans 10 degrees of latitude from north to south
spans under 10 degrees of longitude from east to west
highest point 1,343 m (Ben Nevis)
population: 60 million (2006 est.)

Canada
9,203,210 sq. km. (40 times bigger)
243,792 km of coastline (20 times longer)
spans 48 degrees of latitude from north to south
spans 90 degrees of longitude from east to west
highest point 5,959 m (Mount Logan)
population: 33 million
Trans-Canada Highway: 7,821 km in length

Canadian islands:
* Victoria Island
(9th largest island in the world)
217,290 sq km (about same size as GB) has 2 communities,
population about 1,700.
* Devon Island
(27th largest island in the world)
55,247 sq km (1/4 size of GB)
uninhabited

We have an island the same size as all of great britain, and it has less than two thousand people living on it!

[jrman]

Born and raised in BC and in my soul. Traveled the world, loved every moment, found wonderful peoples, cultures, experiences, but B.C. is home and there is no feeling better than a clear day flight down the Fraser Valley into YVR to remind me that this is where I was born, this is where I live, and this is where I will always want to be.
Peace to all.
Sean

[BCDelica]

Very nice, keep selling Bruce on Canada! He should also know there'll be plenty of Delica related income for his superior services here on the west coast (high Delica concentration).

Now if we could figure out how to sell his girlfriend on Canada, that could seal the deal?

Regards,
Kev

[jaggedfish]

Saw the video... formed MY OWN opinion... read "THE" opinion... read your response (and enjoyed it). That was not representative of what/who Canada is about. Canada is really an open-arms country (sometimes to a fault but that's not a rant for this forum). I grew up in Richmond here and come from British heritage. The last time I was back in the Old Country was to have been a permanent situation - I lasted a year. Canada... I speak for BC... offers a hell of a lot of opportunities from all aspects (recreation, lifestyle, employment, etc). I wouldn't leave it again. The cost-of-living here is much better, I feel, than Britain - us Westcoasters have a tendency to feel we are hard done by... but we're not.

A lot has been said about house prices here and I will add a brief 2 cents... If you are bringing $500k with you, you have no worries in my opinion. You are much further ahead than most already living here. My wife and I have done well in real estate investments here no matter what time we have purchased - some research and self-education and the right advice will go a long way. One good option is to have a home with one or more secondary suites to help with a mortgage if needed - the bank will consider up to 75% of rental income added to your employment income for your financial qualifications.

As far as immigration/emigration goes... depending on your qualifications and demand for your qualifications, the process can be quite quick as there are certain job markets that can bring employees from other countries due to a lack of expertise already here.

Our Westcoast lifestyle is amazing. The only difficulty is deciding what you want to do on your time off. There is so much out there that is minutes away and you could literally ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon if you so desired. It will be an adjustment for you in many ways... mostly good ones.

As far as "the strife" goes... bring 'er over, show 'er around, introduce 'er to us crazy canucks and I'm sure she will fall in love with the place. Only a plane ride from home.....

[ryderguy]

I think its funny how all the pictures show Vancouver being all sunny, haha. This person wants to move to Vancouver you should give them a better picture than this. Maybe some great shots of rain, lots and lots and lots of rain. Not bad if you are an active person as most Delica owners are I am sure, but if you hate rain and dark days then Vancouver is not for you. Take a look towards the interior of BC, Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, now these are wicked cool places that have the best mtn biking, best skiing, best hiking, best camping, fishing, etc. etc.,and best house prices. Hope you find this helpful.
ciao!

[jrman]

Yes, the West Coast is in fact a rain forest. That is an undeniable fact. But, we do get much less rain than most people think. We get the majority of our rain between October and April - and surprisingly little rain May through Sep. Hell, most years we don't see a drop in August & September and my grass is a lovely shade of brown for 3 months of the year..(I hate mowing it anyway). And in the end, it's the rain that makes the place so amazingly beautiful so let it pour. There are not too many cities in the world where I can leave my office in the downtown core at 5:30pm and be doing my first run down Grouse Mountain looking out over the lights of the city at 6:30pm and go hiking a couple of days later with a light windbreaker on in the month of January. Or how about riding out my back door up to Fromme or Seymour to do some world class mountain bike trails virtually 12 months out of the year (with a little snow riding in there to be sure). Not sure I'd agree that the interior can match the concentration or quality of trails on the "shore" much less the climate for year round sports. I could go on and on with examples like this - and true, there are a few times a year when the rain can get anyone down....but most people find them manageable, otherwise it wouldn't be the attraction it is for so many.

Now..if a person is into sledding, outdoor ice hockey, ice fishing, or pretty much anything else with the word "ice" in it - then you're right....the coast sucks for that by comparison....mostly.

But, hey - to each their own, and I do know people who have left for "different" (not better) weather....and some have been very happy.
Just one guys opinion.

[Mystery Machine]

Hey Guys,

Remember me??

As any of you lot who browse the UK forum will know, I think and talk about you guys all the time! I thought it was about time I pulled my finger out my ar$e and got posting on here again! Yep - you got it....the retarded englishman is back with a grin and a fist full of stories to tell!

Where do I begin??

Firstly a big apology to all those I didn't get through to on my MAMMOTH telephoning session a few months back! It was good to speak to Adrock, Josh, Mitch's g/friend, Surferboy's g/friend, Kuan and the others, but I'm gutted I never got to speak to the rest of you (it wasn't for the want of trying though!)

My brain is still coming to terms with the new business I started back in July....being self employed is certainly an interesting concept for someone who's been conditioned by 'empolyment' all his working life - but all decisions made since returning from my trip to CA seem to have been influenced by my new-found approach to life that I gained from being around you guys and your rather nice country!

You all taught me a lot about how to live life and that is exactly what I have been doing since I got back from BC....and now I look around and see a mirror of my old self trapped in the faces of the people around me living the 'norm' that I used to! For that I thank and salute you all!

Some of you will be glad to know that the Mud Monkey is alive & well, on the road now and making a bit of a name for iteslf already! The Mystery Machine is taking a bit of a back seat at present but will have a good ol' dose of TLC when the weather breaks and I can get it all ship shape again! It doesn't need much more that a proper deep clean inside & out, some cutting back on the alloys, a service and the 'wet foot well' issue sorting, but time and weather aren't really its friend at the moment....

My plans to move over to Canada are still there, but will probably be in a few years while I try and get the business up & running well. I am confident of the place I would like to move to but I'm planning on coming back over for a month or more to have an even better look around. I hope to make it sometime this year possibly and will try and take in a bit more of BC (Josh/James, is that invite still there??) Making it more of a road trip up to Smithers while still covering old ground to see those people who made me so welcome last time.....

I'll be swamping the 'Members Rides' section with updates of the Mud Monkey project and I'll also be dominating the 'Trips & Photos' section with all the things I have been doing with my time since returning from seeing you guys!

I may even find a few moments to add a few technical answers and tips - but I must say.....you guys have really come on a long way since I was last actively on here. Keep up the good work guys and I'll see you around,

Bruce of Englandshire

[39Ronin]

Welcome back BRUCE!

[Mystery Machine]

Welcome back BRUCE!

Hey Neil,

How's things? Did your wife tell you that I'd called? I hope she did?

Thanks again for the great adventure - I hope the Deli, the Jeep and the rest of the fleet are doing well?

Hows the Fuso project coming on? Kitted out yet? I want it finished by the time I'm out there next.....I might want to borrow it off you for a bit of a road trip through BC.

Regards fom the UK,

Bruce.

[mararmeisto]

Welcome back, and good points on the "why would I need an inclinometer" post.

BTW, what are the pitch/roll limitations (sorry, that's the Navy-speak) for these vehicles? Someone just asked me the "do they rollover like an North American SUV" question.

[Green1]

pitch I would have no idea... but roll, we've seen people at over 40degrees (which I wouldn't personally want to try!)

As for do they roll over, YES. someone on here posted about having done so, and I've seen several pictures of Delicas on their sides. mainly not from side slopes, but from sudden high speed maneovering (same problem that gets most NA SUVs) I personally think these are more stable than a north american SUV, but even a low and wide sports car will roll in the right conditions, let alone a narrow vehicle that is almost 7' tall!