M:

Me again. Anne has taken the lead for the last few days. Today's picture is "No-longer -headless Buck" settling in for Halloween.

We leave Canada this afternoon for Malta, and as Anne has said, the goodbyes never get any easier. Every time we visit here we are challenged to reflect on the mysteries of family and friendship. In a very real sense we always feel at home here, and its something that goes well beyond my Canadian passport. It is the warmth and affection of both sets of uncles and cousins (of all degrees). Beyond the superficial differences of customs and weather and the like, there is a bond of common heritage, and we have been blessed to be able to maintain and strengthen the links across the miles and across the years. Let's hope we can keep it up and extend it. We live in hope of seeing some of the Canadians in Australia in coming years. Our Long Service and the nature of our work has made it possible to travel in these years. Perhaps the Canadian pensions and comparatively early retirement will mean that in later years we'll see reciprocal traffic!

Yesterday was a mixed bag. We took the bus into downtown London to do a few errands and to meet up with Am and George. (Interesting that we have become more familiar with public transport in various North American cities than we are with Sydney's!). One of our stops was Novack's, an outdoor store where we did our equipping for the European leg of our 1984 marathon tour. It is still there as the photos show.

Somehow or other I have pulled a muscle in my chest, which has led to the discovery of the wonderful powers of strong Ibuprofin in the form of Motrin tablets, so we bought some in town to keep me going. OK while the effect lasts, not so ok as it wears off! Managed to get a hair cut from a young Palestinian hairdresser who was born in Canada, left at 2, and returned at 16. Nearly as mixed up as me.

Amadea works at Bell (27 years!) so we met up across the road at Fitz Ray's where George joined us for lunch. We spent the time catching up on the 15 or so years since Anne had seen them. The big news is the fact that they are caring for their grand-children at present, which has radically altered their life-style! (A:George's son Jordan has five year old twins Alexis and Chelsea, and the twins and their mum Nikki live with Am and George. Jordan lives elsewhere.) The fact that they have stepped in comes as no surprise given their generous nature.

Bought some Aussie wine at the LCBO for dinner. The licensing laws here mean that wine and spirits are bought at the Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario stores (closed on Sunday) and local beers are bought at the Beer Store (often known as the In and Out because of their design - and mostly closed on Sunday). Having a drink here calls for some careful planning!

Bussed back, dealt with some emails, had another lovely dinner including prime rib done on a barbecue rotisserie, and then we were joined by Alex and Mary B where old times were again the subject of conversation. Another difficult farewell!

We spoke to Beth on Skype. The fridge had taken a back seat to a difficult work situation. She is being well assisted by Marthese - thanks Tez!

Took more drugs and off to bed. When we woke, there was an update from Beth which looked more promising.

Cecilia and Tim had organised to be around for the morning, so every variety of food appeared for breakfast. Too tempting to refuse! Eating, washing clothes, packing, and updating the blog are taking up our time at present. (More very sad farewells- oh why do we keep doing this to ourselves?) We'll finish this off somewhere where we get internet access on the trip from London(ON) to Toronto to London (UK) to Rome, to Catania to Malta.

A: Finishing this off in our magnificent Valletta flat which has views of the Grand Harbour and which has such blinding sunlight coming in that we have had to shut the shutters again! No internet access en route.