Diary

We were flying business class thanks to buy one get one free offer! We have decided to splash out because of the occasion but were obviously trying to make out that we flew like that all the time. We have managed to get seats in the lid of the plane, so we settled down to enjoy champagne cocktails and to see if we could spot anybody famous.

We did manage to see the young star of a popular TV show. He wasn't bothering to pretend that he travelled like that all the time, as he was busy taking photos of the seat with his mobile phone.

Three films and too many cocktails later we landed at Vancouver airport, and the next job was to go through customs. The online forums had been full of advice on the best way to do this as had friends who had emigrated a few years ago. The general consensus seemed to be that you needed to have a comprehensive list of all your worldly belongings, including serial numbers. This had taken days to compile, and had been incredibly tedious.

We spent some considerable time hanging around trying to find someone to show a wonderful list to, but nobody was interested and just waved us through. Relieved, but feeling slightly unsure we went to check into our hotel.

The next day we had to open a bank account, which was an interesting experience as we had no address. The nice lady at the bank allowed us to use the banks address until we got one of our own. Then it was time to go car shopping.

A couple of test drives later, and the husband was anxious to do the deal as quickly as possible so he could play with his nice new toy. The negotiations began. This involved me becoming adept at kicking his ankles every time he looked willing to accept their new price. Eventually everybody was reasonably satisfied and the deal was struck.

A day later we were travelling to Vancouver Island to try and find somewhere to live and new job for me…