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Well our journey really started in December 2007 when my husband was made redundant from his job of 19 years. This was a complete shock to us as we thought that he would be there for life. We had a skiing trip booked for that Christmas to British Columbia and we toyed with the idea of not going and save the spending money, but as we had already paid for the holiday we all decided to go as we didn't know when we would have the chance for a holiday again.
Well we went on the holiday and that is when our lives changed forever. We fell in love with the country and the people, not quite believing the genuine friendliness and warmth of the Canadian people. Whilst there we visited a property show that was being held in our hotel and couldn't quite believe the properties that they were advertising and even went to have a look at one we had seen.
Upon return from our break we got in touch with several people regarding immigration and jobs in the BC area. After many weeks of hearing nothing Adrian got himself another job and life seemed to settle down once more. The dream to move to Canada was still there but not as strong as it had been and we just decided we would see how his new job would go before we did anything further. Well he enjoyed his job and all was good but there was still this burning desire to do more with our lives and to give our 12 year old (as she was then) daughter Holly a better life.
In October 2008, whilst looking something up on the internet one night, Adrian discovered one of the Expo shows in Coventry, not too far from our Staffordshire home. On impulse, not like him at all, he booked us tickets for the show and off we went. Well Holly had a thoroughly enjoyable time collecting all the freebies and goodies that they give away. We wandered round aimlessly for about 1 hour looking at all that we could see on BC and the job boards etc when we came across a stand that was quite quiet and had some beautiful pictures up. At this stand we met a gentleman from Remax named Jerry Murphy and he introduced us to Nova Scotia. At first we were a bit hesitant and not sure but we then spoke with Orla Wilson from UK 2 Nova Scotia and left our details. We then returned home and put in the DVD we had got all about Nova Scotia and sat watching it with our mouths open not believing how wonderful the place looked. From that point on we were hooked and researched everything we could find on this wonderful place. We then started our tirade of emails to Mike and Orla and can only be thankful for their patience with us. They put us in touch with a chap who they knew had previously employed British motor technicians and was looking for another member of staff. After speaking to this gentleman for a couple of weeks by telephone we decided it was time to get out there and check it all out first hand.
We then decided it was time to put the house on the market, which was a very sad time and it was probably at this point that I started to question what we were doing. As we were going away for Christmas we decided to leave it until after the New Year and our board went up on 5 January 2009. When I drove up the street after the board went up I sat in the car and cried. Adrian never once experienced these feelings and at times not sure he understood exactly how I was feeling as he was so excited.
Our recci was booked for February 2009 and we stayed in a wonderful apartment that had been suggested to us by Mike and Orla. We had a great week, we looked at properties with Jerry Murphy and Adrian had his job interview, which I must say should have been about half an hour long but ended up being three and a half hours, but obviously worked because he was offered the job there and then. We even managed to cram in a few sightseeing trips and a good deal of driving during this time. Our only obstacle now was for us to sell the house and there hadn't been much interest at all due to the state of the property market. A few weeks after we returned home everything went mad and we had loads of viewings and ended up with two offers on the house. In the meantime Adrian's boss to be had sorted out the LMO for him and we had until the end of July to get out to Canada before it expired. We had all the usual hold ups with the house sale and things were beginning to look doubtful and we considered Adrian going out on his own and we would follow when everything was sorted. Luckily it didn't come to this as the house sale just suddenly went through very quickly and it was time to get our shippers in. That for me was a very emotional time seeing my wonderful house all empty and I sat on the windowsill on my own and sobbed for a good 20 minutes. We then stayed with Adrian's dad and his wife for 2 weeks so that Holly could finish school at the end of term and the beginning of the summer break.
Our flights were booked for 21 July 2009 and we were booked to stay at the Chocolate Lake hotel for 4 days but after that well we didn't really know where we were going to stay!!! During these first few days we so busy it was total madness. The following morning after we landed in Nova Scotia we met up with Mike and Orla and I'm sure we must have looked like rabbits in the headlights because so much was happening and we just couldn't take it all in. Mike and Orla were absolutely brilliant and just seemed to know exactly what we were feeling and thinking and put us at ease so quickly. If it wasn't for this first meeting I don't know how we would have coped and got so much stuff sorted out. We then met up with Jerry Murphy our real estate guy and we viewed property after property and I'm sure we drove him mad. Well it was Friday by now and we had nowhere to stay that night as we had checked out of our hotel. Thank goodness for Jerry who came to our rescue and put us in touch with a wonderful couple called Liz and Brian who occasionally rented out there basement. Well we stayed with them for 4 weeks and learnt so much from them during this time.
We eventually bought two cars and then found our perfect house, which we moved in to 2 weeks after putting in the offer. On the day we moved in to the house we drove up to Antigonish to collect our new family member, a goldendoodle puppy named Leo.
Well that is the story of our journey, and along the way there have been many ups and downs and it has been a complete rollercoaster ride but we are so glad we stuck with it and followed our dream as we would have always lived wondering what if. As I say to people, if we suddenly decide it's not for us any more then what have we lost and what have we gained. I know we will have gained far more than we would have lost as this is an absolutely wonderful place to live and every day that I get up and look out of the window and I have to pinch myself to just check it is all real. We are probably the least adventurous couple out there so it is completely mad that we have done such an awesome thing, but I would say to anyone who is thinking of doing something like this, go for it as it is the best thing that could have happened to us and when people ask if we have any regrets, our only regret is that we didn't do it earlier.
Good luck to all of you out there planning on moving to this wonderful country.
Lisa, Adrian and Holly Bolton (and Leo)
Previous client stories
The Witt's StoryThe Saunders' Story
The Carragher's Story