Golden, British Columbia, Canada
Click on the question below to see the exciting answer:
Q: Where on earth is Golden?
Q: Why does it have such a silly name?
Q: What's the weather like there?
Q: With all this global warming going on, what's the danger of flooding?
Q: Looks like it's in the middle of nowhere, is there much to do?
Q: Is there a National Park nearby?
Q: So how big is it?
Q: What is the time difference compared to the UK?
Q: How do you get there and what does it cost?
Q: Sounds like a great place, I'd like to live there. What are the property prices like?
Q: Is it true that people leave their houses unlocked over there?
Q: You mentioned skiing, is there a ski hill nearby?
Q: What do regular folk do for a living?
Q: Ian, what is it (again) you are going to do there?
Q: Why do a climbing gym?
Q: I have heard there are lots of bears in Canada, should I be scared?!
Q: What about other dangerous animals?
Q: What about cougars?
Q: So what is your house like?
Q: What does the town look like?
Q: Is there a website for Golden?
Q: What about Ali; does she have to go in to quarantine?
Q: What's happening to all your stuff?
Q: What about the rabbit?
Q: Are you going to keep the house or sell it?
Q: When are you expecting to be moving?
Q: What is Rachel going to do?
Q: What sort of truck will you buy?
It is on the Western side of Canada in the Rockies between Vancouver and Calgary. On the same latitude as Leatherhead some 4,447 miles (7158km) as the crow files (bearing 321 degrees):
| (Click on the images below to see them full-size) Western Canada: |
3d view of Golden | |
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Q: Why does it have such a silly name?
It was originally called Golden City which was a feeble attempt to out-do the nearby town of Silver City (so named because of silver mining). Eventually the City bit was dropped so now it's just plain old "Golden".
Q: What's the weather like there?
Generally they have colder winters but hotter summers.
Right now it is like this (don't forget they are 7 hours behind us):
Average stats can be found here: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/stats/pages/C01902.htm
January is a bit chilly but it's not bad, check out Yellowknife. With an average January temperature of -27C that's proper Canadian weather!
Q: With all this global warming going on, what's the danger of flooding?
A: None, it's 785 meters (2,575 feet) above sea level!
Q: Looks like it's in the middle of nowhere, is there much to do?
Yes, loads! Mostly outdoorsy stuff like hiking, climbing, camping, mountain biking, white-water rafting, skiing, snowmobiling etc.
The town is well serviced considering it size. It has 2 supermarkets, a B&Q type store and numerous other shops, bars and restaurants. There is also a cinema, sports hall, ice rink, skateboard park and soon a climbing gym :-)
If you want "proper" shopping, theatres and fancy restaurants then you'd better make the 2½ hour trip to Calgary!
Q: Is there a National Park nearby?
Golden is pretty much surrounded by National Parks (5 of them to be exact).
The most well known of the is Banff National Park. The town of Banff is about 1½ hour's drive east (back towards Calgary).
About 7,000 people.
Q: What is the time difference compared to the UK?
They are 7 hours behind the UK, the time zone is called "Mountain Time".
Q: How do you get there and what does it cost?
The quickest and cheapest way is to fly from Calgary. There are a number of cheap airlines and flights generally work out around £300 return. I have flown with 2 of them Thomas Cook (via Candian Affair) and Zoom, both were fine.
The flight times are about 9 hours there and 8½ back. Flights leave from a number of UK airports, but I generally use Gatwick (on one occasion it was cheaper to travel to Glasgow, stay in a B&B and fly from there!).
Once in Calgary hiring a car is best way to get to Golden, it isn't expensive and the drive is very straight forward. The drive takes about 3 hours from the airport and the views are spectacular.
Q: Sounds like a great place, I'd like to live there. What are the property prices like?
In a nutshell; a lot cheaper than the UK.
Check out the The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for Golden here
Q: Is it true that people leave their houses unlocked over there?
Yes, often. When we recently stayed with some friends for 10 days they didn't give us a key. They simply said that they never lock the house so we could just come and go as we liked.
Q: You mentioned skiing, is there a ski hill nearby?
Oh yes! Just tens minutes drive from the town centre: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Here's what Access Trips says:
Day 10
Some may say we've saved the best till last! We'll spend the final days of our Canada snowboard tour at Kicking Horse Resort enjoying the great terrain and high vertical that make this resort so famous. Voted # 1 North American ski resort for powder and #2 for steeps, Kicking Horse is a Mecca for powder lovers from around the world. Today you'll have the chance to explore the resort's world-renown bowls and steeps with our guides, perfecting your technique and challenging your performance. In the evening we'll head into downtown Golden for dinner at our favorite local restaurant.Or go to Lake Louise, with 4200 skiable acres it is one of the largest ski areas in North America and is about 40 minutes drive east of Golden.
Or Panorama; about 1 hour south of Golden.
Or just head out in to the back-country with a snowmobile if you are feeling really adventurous.
Q: What do regular folk do for a living?
The main employers in the town are:
Canadian Pacific Railway (aka CPR), they have a large depot on the outskirts
LP Engineered Wood Products, they take trees and convert them to plywood and other building materials.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort "the ski hill"
The numerous restaurants and hotels at the edge of town catering for the Trans Canada Highway users.
Q: Ian, what is it (again) you are going to do there?
Well, I'm going to set up and run and indoor climbing gym, something like this, but look more like this:
Despite being loaded I still need to work :-( and it was an idea that I have been considering for over a year now. The original plan was to get the permanent residency, move to Golden then look at business options. This all fell apart when it looked like the residency was going to take over 3 years.
The Canadian authorities had quoted 18 months to grant residency but on checking the times a year after the application had been in they were quoting 39 months! That was December last year so instead of waiting another 2 years we opted for a fast-track option which should reduce that to around 6 months. This speedy approach involves setting up a business in Canada and meeting criteria such as a minimum investment and employing 2 people within 2 years of start up.
The business application was submitted in February 2006 and was approved in the middle of July 2006, so about 5 months.
Q: I have heard there are lots of bears in Canada, should I be scared?!
There are a lot of bears in the areas around Golden. In fact, there are a lot in western Canada! Black bears are much more numerous than grizzlies but both are potentially dangerous.
The good news is that bears are scared of people and will withdraw from an area if they hear or smell us. A dangerous bears is:
A mother with cubs - NEVER get yourself between them or you probably will be attacked.
A startled bear - normally walking and talking is enough for a bear to hear us coming and scarper. Mountain bikers however travel fast a quietly so they should be careful when rounding blind bends.
A bear that is "habituated" i.e. used to humans. Black bears that lose their fear of people and start coming in to contact with us are killed. Grizzlies don't seem to become habituated very often and when they are they will generally be captured and transported to a remote area.
Q: What about other dangerous animals?
All large wild animals are potentially dangerous, even friendly plant eaters such as deer, elk, moose etc. Just keep you distance, especially during the rutting/mating season.
These are very rare creatures, however if one decides to make a meal of you there is very little you can do about it. The chances are it will stalk you for some time and attack from behind. There are cougar attacks but they are very rare.
Q: So what is your house like?
It's very nice, quite big (5 bedrooms, 2 living rooms and entertainment "den" in the basement :-) and looks like this:
| Front of the house | Back garden | |
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A view from the back garden |
The main living room |
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Q: What does the town look like?
| A birds eye view of the town from Mount 7 | The house from Mount 7 | |
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The neighbourhood (ski area in the distance) |
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Downtown |
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Q: Is there a website for Golden?
Yes, check these out:
Q: What about Ali; does she have to go in to quarantine?
| Don't worry, she is coming along too! Taking a dog to Canada
is pretty straight-forward it is bringing them back that is the issue because
the UK is rabies free. Fortunately she has a pet-passport, has been chipped
and rabies inoculated. She is now free to travel in both directions whenever
she fancies it! Here she is in action when we were there last year: |
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Q: What's happening to all your stuff?
Most of it is being shipped. You can get a 20ft container from your house in the UK to an address in Canada for about £4,000. We're taking a certain amount of furniture, all personal stuff, some electrical stuff and my motorbike!
A lot of electrical stuff won't work so in Canada so it's being flogged off. Check here to see what's for sale at the moment.
The cars will need to go too, i.e. the Fiat Coupe and Nissan Primera, both are P-regs.
He's staying, interested?
Q: Are you going to keep the house or sell it?
It's will be sold! I need the equity for business, besides what would be the point?
Q: When are you expecting to be moving?
The current expectation is around about the end of September 2006.
Q: What is Rachel going to do?
Well, we're not sure yet. Initially she'll probably lend a hand getting the business up and running. After that we'll probably get a job at the Roadhouse bar in town :-)
Q: What sort of truck will you buy?
I'm not sure yet, either a Dodge Ram or a Ford F-150 like the one I hired a couple of years back:
A very practical little run-around and very handy for the shops :-)
Any more questions? Send them to me and if they're not too rude or silly I'll post the answers!:
