The adventures of a South African family living in Canada
There is nothing nicer with a cup of tea or coffee than a good old fashioned rusk, which is obviously something we don’t get very easily here in Canada unless you go to the South African shop or, of course, bake your own. The ones at the South African shop are usually Ouma rusks, which... Continue Reading →
Hi, we’re Ivor and Catherine, the authors of Cape Town to Calgary. We've loved sharing our journey with you thus far, and have decided to add a new section to the blog called Expat Stories where we can share lots more perspectives on life in Canada from other expats. As an introduction to this new... Continue Reading →
Below is a break down of the cost of living in Calgary. Everyone has a different perspective of the cost of living in the city based on their own budget and lifestyle, and this is based on our own experiences as a South African family of four living in Calgary. It should give you a... Continue Reading →
Although it's been quite an adjustment moving from sunny South Africa to chilly Canada, we have really embraced our new surroundings and the new experiences of living in a snowy winter climate. We've certainly not let the cold stop us and have had so much fun getting out and about as a family. The kids... Continue Reading →
Downtown Calgary is a great place to explore and we've really enjoyed catching public transport into town on a regular basis. The downtown core is clean and modern, and we feel really safe walking the streets and hopping on and off the trains. The C Train runs through the city centre and there is a... Continue Reading →
When you arrive in Canada as a new immigrant there is so much admin that needs to be sorted out, and it can be quite overwhelming in such a strange city where you don’t know how things work and where to go. But we can honestly say that getting our admin done has generally been... Continue Reading →
After a week of crazy admin and running around trying to get everything sorted for our new lives in Calgary, we decided to take some family time out and take a drive to Banff and Lake Louise. Lake Louise is about a two-hour drive from Calgary off the Trans-Canada highway, and we left early in... Continue Reading →
This week marks eight weeks since we touched down in Calgary and we’ve been wanting to write this post for ages, but we’ve been so busy doing admin, exploring and having fun, that we just haven’t had the chance. It’s been quite an incredible adventure so far and we’ve had so much fun exploring our... Continue Reading →
This week we said a sad farewell to all our special people and our beautiful Cape to finally begin the long journey to Calgary. It’s been a crazy, busy, emotional, stressful, but exciting, time. We have had a good life in South Africa and we know that we are giving up a lot for the... Continue Reading →
Canada is such a huge country and there is such a great variety of options when it comes to deciding where to live. We’re fortunate to have permanent residence without being tied to a provincial nomination, and we therefore have the choice of living pretty much anywhere we want in this great country. We’ve spent... Continue Reading →
Cape Town to Calgary 