031 JULY - Happy Canada Day!

"Canada is the essence of not being. Not English, not American, it is the mathematic of not being. And a subtle flavour - we're more like celery as a flavour." -  Mike Myers

Song of the day:
"O Canada!, .... Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,"
- Canadian Anthem

My Canadian Family in Vancouver.

Happy Canada Day! My auntie and uncle Van Zuijlekom left Holland to live in Canada before I was born. They would sometimes come back for a visit and later some of my cousins even came over to stay with family. In 1977, I was lucky to join my grandmother (oma) on one of your regular trips to her daughter and grandchildren. I have great memories of this time, I got to explore parts of Vancouver and the surrounding area - before going on our big trip around the USA.



In 1981, my parents decided they wanted to see it all for themselves. So I got to go back to my Canadian family and enjoy the beauty of the country once more. I thought I would end up in Canada one day, I loved the nature and the fact that it was so close to the USA to visit Disneyland etc. But my first wife didn't like the idea of living so close to America. She was thinking of Australia, but in the end we settled on New Zealand.

In 1981 we all got into a moterhome and traveled from Vancouver through the USA.

 
I have since been back to America a few times, but never returned to Canada. Later in life there were plans of once doing an Alaskan cruise and combining it with a trip to Canada. But, after our trip in 2017 to Florida, we decided to put a hold on travel. Flying just isn't much fun anymore - everything is so crowded ... there's enough nature to enjoy right here in New Zealand and sometimes it even reminds me of the time spend in Canada! In the mean time I will just enjoy Canada through movies and comics. The Canadian flag is still my favourite flag of the whole world!