The Monday after Canada day they had their first work day. An early start for Christina, Emily, Rieka and Heather at Whitmore’s to help at morning milking, with Curtis. They headed back for a hearty breakfast at the Schultz’s house. Celine and Michael helped the Bromley’s at an EastGen show in Spencerville. Jr had a stressful morning “bedding cattle” and checking cows that were actually in the shed… Good job buddy!! At night they played games at the Austin’s, with some “minute to win it” games, which were a hit, and some great ideas to take home.
The next day they had a tour of Reuben Stone’s Hemp Farm and the Millar’s feed store. They had a small taste of a Sale Barn in Canada, which is very different from the ones at home for them, more of a personal feel with a smaller set up.
Followed by a day of sunbathing, zip lining and paddle boating at Logosland followed of course with ice-cream after.
On, Wednesday they visited around Ottawa in the daylight seeing all the main sights; Parliament Hill, the locks and a trip to the market to try their first ever Beaver Tails and a night out Crazy Horse! The next day farm tours in Quebec of Glad Crest Farms, which had an interesting use of a washing out system.
After a rest day to get ready for break week they headed for the Wilderness Tours, for a white water rafting experience. 5 out of 5 delegates that went rafting returned and only one raft flipped. An unforgettable experience it certainly was.
After little to no sleep, Sharon Ruitter kindly drove Johanna, Heather, Emily and Jr to Ottawa for our flight to Alberta. They spent a night in Calgary experiencing the Stampede, which was amazing. They would highly recommend it! They then hired a car and spent two nights in Banff visiting Lake Louise and the Hot Springs. They then headed North to Hinton and saw the Colombian Ice Fields, Sky Tram and swimming at Lake Annette. The last leg of their trip they had a night in Red Deer and another half night in Calgary before their flight back to Ontario.
Alberta was absolutely stunning and they urge anyone who has the chance to buy the ticket and go to do so!
Micheal’s break week:
He spent his break week at his host family. There was still a lot to do, so he helped out doing the concrete for their uncle’s new barn, as well as feeding the calves and milking. His host family took him to the local dairy farmer’s charity golf tournament. It was the first time he had played golf on a real course. On the same evening he tried water skiing on the Ottawa river. That was his first time water skiing too. He spent his weekend in Ottawa. Craig, his host family’s son took him around to see the most important sights and the best Canadian food spots. The great finale of his break week was having breakfast at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa. At midday he started his 11 hour trip to the next host family in Tilbury. He would like to say thank you to the Hadden Family for their awesome hospitality!
Rieka and Celine’s break week:
The courageous delegates (Rieka Janssen & Céline Fahrni) decided to go skydiving during break week and travel to New York City after that.
Phil English and Matt Smith were so nice to drive them from Renfrew county near to Niagara Falls. They spent one night there and on Monday they went skydiving at the Niagara skydive center. They both jumped in a tandem with a tandem master at the back. It was a huge surge of Adrenalin but they loved it! In the afternoon they still had enough free time, so Taylor Campbell and Sara Brian showed them Niagara falls. In the evening they took a bus and traveled through the night to New York City. On Tuesday morning they arrived there and went straight to their new home, which they had booked on the Air BNB website. Their first impression of New York City was amazing. They felt so tiny beside the huge buildings and skyscrapers. Over the next few days they visited the Empire State building, the Rocker Feller center, the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, they watched the musical “cats” in a Broadway show and did a lot of shopping at Times Square. On Sunday evening their bus left New York City and 19 hours later they arrived at their new host family in Essex-Kent county. It was a busy, but an amazing week which they will never forget!
Stay tuned to see how the rest of their trip goes….
