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Started the course towards a second home back in Canada

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  1. #11

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    Some photos from October when I was back to coordinate with the contractor.


    The local pizza shop. What I found interesting was all the restaurants I went to in town (population 3000+ during summer tourist season, about 2300 permanent), they all had massive menus. Like 15 different mains, 10+ appetizers, etc. In Hong Kong you'd be hardpressed for the places to keep that diverse of a menu. And they all taste fresh not like they kept it in the fridge for the week. I guess it's easier to do when you're not paying through the nose for rent like in HK (*deep breath* ok no rants LOL)

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    LOL being a Chinese Canadian, I had to try out the local Chinese food. Pretty good, big portions and all tasted fresh; you can taste the freshness in the deep fried oil like it's not the same oil from two days ago and used to fry ten other types of food. Operated by Chinese, they spoke Cantonese but with an interesting accent not like mainland Guangdong Cantonese but maybe like third + generation North American Chinese. ROFL when I Facebook messaged someone in the community group about buying a used container, they messaged me back details and said "we look forward to your buffet on Thursday" assuming I was the guy running the Chinese restaurant and I had to politely remind him "I'm not THAT Chinese guy" LOL!

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  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Titus:
    Haha yes... a lot of friends told me that. To be honest I'm disappointed that those friends didn't know me well enough that I'm that kinda person to love the open space. I've known a few HK bankers who left their high paying jobs thinking they wanted to get away from HK.... 4 months in Richmond (a.... predominantly Chinese suburb of Vancouver), and they're having cabin fever wanting to sell everything again and come back to HK LOL To each their own; I grew up in Vancouver from 9 years old till just after university and even before that I was a "country boy" in Saikung LOL so I know what I'm getting into.

    I just went back again for 10 days to meet with a contractor to put in a 6" deep gravel driveway and clear a decent building site and gravel it up in October. Yes you're right it will take years to turn it into something nice, right now it's just a patch of dirt I suppose and give it one spring it nature will take it over again. LOL will share some photos in next post, I was planting some random beans and stuff that MIGHT survive winter (Clearwater for whatever reason gets 1 month shorter winters than the nearby areas, and my lot is facing south getting sun the whole day, the realtor was saying snow would probably have a hard time building up on my property), as I got up after a few hours of tilling and planting feeling like I've planted a farm, I looked around and I just did work on this tiny tiny little patch compared to all the land around me. Had to put down marker poles so I don't forget where the tiny patch of crops is when I come back next spring to check on it LOL probably all eaten by deers.

    My friend paid a local guy to go there regularly to keep the vegetation away from his cleared build site. Already got my flight and RV booked for my family next April. And also bought my first toy that I'll keep stored at my friend's place.... it should be fun to rip around the 50 football fields LOL

    And again, keeping my place in HK in case decades down the road my kids bemoan me for cutting off their choices to give HK/Asia a try. So the transition will be pretty gradual with summer and winter vacations there for the kids and hopefully make some friends. Neighbour already came by and they got two young kids too, very friendly people and place.
    Wow, Clearwater is far north. Looks like a fabulous area though. All play and nature. That quad looks awesome too. Smoke some bud and go riding, eh?

    The RV setup is an excellent idea. It's a fantastic way to scope out the area and to get a better feel for it over the years and see whether you want to settle there permanently one day. Just like in France there are towns in Canada I wouldn't want to stay in, where basically 4 families make up the entire town and they're all intermarried, and one will always be that outsider.
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  3. #13

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    Rooted By The River nursery. Went by to pick out some plants to grow around the build site to give the place some colour. Will be back next spring for more. My friend is looking into planting cedar and other higher value trees as investment. Black walnuts ordered from out east; they're the kind that your kids or even grandkids will love and remember to sweep your grave for when they sell it for tens of thousands of USD each in about 40 years LOL

    Another friendly local business owner. Chatted about keeping sheeps to naturally keep the wilderness at bay. Mentioned not goats though, goats will each everything including your crops. Sheeps are a bit nicer that they will trim your lawn to a nice length. Also learned that if I had bad sheep or goat meat, it's because it was slaughtered during the wrong time not because of its age. He did blind tasting at dinner with visitors from Europe and they never guessed the meat was from a very very old sheep because of the time of year it was slaughtered. Oh yea, rural living might not be for the vegan decaf guys who might get offended =P

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    You can see the property from the parking lot at the supermarket in town

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    The Painted Turtle restaurant at the core of the town. My realtor took me there and says that's the place that always seals the deal for his clients. He would drive them around town showing different properties and then drop them off at the lake by the restaurant. People always sit there, see the view or their kids might start playing in the water and they go OK, where do I sign. Says it's almost like cheating LOL I agree. In the summer time it can get up to 35+ degrees Celsius (but a dry heat) and the lake is full of swimmers and paddlers. They banned power boats a few years ago involving some local politics but before that they used to have jetskis on the lake.

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    Photo from my contractor a week ago when the logging company fulfilled their sales contract by burning off the "burn piles" which were left over branches and bits. Hard to tell from photos, but they're the size of small houses

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    Last edited by Titus; 22-11-2018 at 08:32 PM.
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  4. #14

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    Having a beer with the realtor, the contractor and my friend at the local watering hole. ROFL the bar is owned by a guy named Mohammad and they call him Moe. After a few beers they told me the joke where one of the many local waterfalls is called Moul Falls which sounds like "Moe falls" and "that's when Moe had one too many beers then Moul Falls" hahahahahahahaha.....

    (Drink local, support #MCGA LOL)

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    Speaking of waterfalls, so Clearwater is the gateway to Wells Gray Park; home to Helmcken Falls which is the 4th tallest waterfall in Canada. Drone photo of it doesn't do justice as it's dry season. In the spring time snow melt, the ground rumbles under your feet from the viewpoint

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    On the road into Helmcken Falls
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    Glass of wine after a long day of planting and planning with my friend
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  5. #15

    I was just checking out those Provincial Parks on Google before you posted that. I would so get a canoe there and just explore all the time.

    Sun Peaks is nearby as well. A nice area.

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  6. #16

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    One of my neighbours has been using my land as an exercise area with their horse! LOL not really mind but when I live there permanently she better pick up the crap LOL Horse keeping is a common thing in the town. Lots of posh Vancouverites use Clearwater as a summer home and keep a hobby farm with horses

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    Think those were bear paw prints. My friend saw 5 deers on the property in the morning so yes wildlife definitely active in the area. My property is far enough away and rural-zoned so I can shoot and hunt on it as I please (with license and tags of course). My dad will probably go there sometime next year with his hunting buddies.

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    The logging company was nice enough to leave my friend with a swimming pool on his lot LOL

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    Me the wanna be farmer. We walked literally 45 minutes and didn't cover half the property. Mind you the terrain isn't like paved cement so we were walking at a slow pace.

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    The maindriveway at around the halfway point where it'll be split with my friend

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  7. #17

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    Some glamour shots of the area

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    Drone footage:







    LOL my friend was cutting some trees himself with an electric chainsaw, the space was so big I can barely hear his chainsaw from my side of the property

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  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    I was just checking out those Provincial Parks on Google before you posted that. I would so get a canoe there and just explore all the time.

    Sun Peaks is nearby as well. A nice area.
    Yes I'm going to fill my storage container up pretty quickly LOL yep Sun Peaks for their resorts and Kamloops decently sized at 90,000 people

    Indeed, the area has a few ski hills and there's a local Clearwarter Ski Club that maintains the trails. They even got a free warm up cabin for people to use during winter. Best thing is.... the property is 2kms from the end of the road where the cabin and local ski and mountain bike trails begin:

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  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    Wow, Clearwater is far north. Looks like a fabulous area though. All play and nature. That quad looks awesome too. Smoke some bud and go riding, eh?

    The RV setup is an excellent idea. It's a fantastic way to scope out the area and to get a better feel for it over the years and see whether you want to settle there permanently one day. Just like in France there are towns in Canada I wouldn't want to stay in, where basically 4 families make up the entire town and they're all intermarried, and one will always be that outsider.
    Yea it's enough north to get more snow but not TOO far north like Prince George or Fort Saint John.

    Hahaha.... the one and only licensed legal bud store in British Columbia is in Kamloops, 45 minutes drive away =)

    And I looked on my property zoning, RL-1: allowable - marijuana farm LOL!

    True, that's what I was watching out for too when I was looking around... don't want TOO small of a town... I figured I was onto something good there when the realtor went to my university in Vancouver while growing up grade 1-12 in Clearwater. Then he went on to play in the NHL before semi retiring and became a realtor in town. So small town but decently worldly people
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  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Titus:
    Hahaha indeed! Well, they're 5 and 2 right now so hopefully by the time they're old enough to moan, they're just fighting for the keys to the pick up or the side by side quad haha

    Yea I have a HK friend too who bought a place in France, how do you find the locals though? A few other friends decided in the end to buy places in Italy because..... ok don't shoot the messenger, they said Italians seems to welcome foreigners whereas French..... but then can't generalize I have a few great French friends I made in Hong Kong and they are the warmest people I know inviting my family over for dinners and baking and cooking with us. BUT, that is what I heard... seems your area is friendly, is it the northern parts of France?
    We are in the centre of France, Creuse department. Lots of pine plantations and lakes. We've found the locals to be very welcoming, we visit the village mayor every trip, have the council round for apero once a year, go to the village piss-up, and every summer go to a dinner in the next village over where the 1st course is served at 8 and the last course at 2am and the wine flows too freely. As long as you make an effort to speak french I find the locals are very welcoming, and in many conversations after the effort has been noticed they then make their own effort to speak some English. Many expats take on falling-down houses that the locals won't touch, so it is revitalising the area. To be honest, the ones I avoid are the retired British, they are like a pack of vipers.

    On your security concerns, we had that, it's awful sitting half a world away and not knowing what's going on, relying on friends to check once in a while. I put in a z-wave smart home system that has removed all the sleepless nights when a storm hits or the fair arrives. We can even remotely turn the central heating boiler on. It uses a 4g router, so no telephone wires required, and will run for several hours in a power cut with a UPS (but you could run it on solar, we are going to go that route). The individual sensors are all battery powered. I also have some security cameras, with floodlights and siren that run on their own solar panels. Even if it all gets nicked, you have their faces on a cloud server.
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