Oh hai there visa!

So I may have just experienced the most life changing weekend of my life so far.
I'm moving to Canada in just over 3 weeks!

Here's how the last week panned out:

Recently people who had already booked flights had started to fly to Canada without their visas, intending to enter as visitors and then return to the border to activate the work permit once it was issued. However many were being told on arrival to immigration that their visa was on the system, and it was issued to them on the spot and off they went into Canada with a shiny new work permit. So it transpires peoples visas have been issued and just not sent to them!

Last Sunday (April 14th) we hit the CIC's self imposed 6 week deadline, at which point we said we'd go nuts in trying to contact them and find out just what the hell was going on. Luckily we had some time off work (for our 3 year anniversary!) so we spent a day doing research. A young woman mentioned on an online group that we're part of that they were beginning to respond to emails, so you can request information on your visa and they do get back to you. So we sent emails out to both the Canadian and London offices, and spent a few hours trying to call the CIC in Canada (lord knows how much that cost :S) but we made little progress.

So we sat back and waited. I enjoyed a few days to myself. I got my first tattoo (I'm so far loving it, and considering getting a small one for each country we visit, maybe this time next year I'll get a maple leaf!)

Then Friday morning I woke up and checked our emails:

Your application has been approved. Due to technical issues, your original letter of introduction was not sent out.

A new LOI was sent out today and should be available in your MyCIC account.

And there they were! It turns out we were both issued our LOI's (above listed as POE Introduction Letter) on 17th March. So the last month it's been approved, but they just hadn't informed us.

So Friday was spent dancing round the house in excitement (on my part anyway!) we contacted STA travel and booked an appointment with them, and spent the evening checking out flight prices. The following day we went to the STA office in Cambridge, and within an hour booked our flights for the 15th May. (Return flights with flexi tickets, which means we can change the return dates 3 times if we so wish!) Which gives us a little over 3 weeks before we go! I can't believe its happening so quickly.

Yesterday we booked up our insurance for the year. Today I handed in my resignation, and am sorting out my bank accounts. Things to do this week includes booking up accommodation for the first few weeks, writing a Canadian resume and planning leaving do's (one for family and one for friends.) After that it's researching areas we want to live in, jobs and notifying Student Loans and HMRC we're leaving the country. Then we should be good to go! Pretty simple really!

The Canada 'Bucket List'

So I haven't posted anything Canada related in awhile. Mostly because all this waiting around for the damn CIC to sort out themselves out (where's my visa?) means that not much has changed.

Therefore, instead of worrying about visas, money, insurance, flight prices going up and quitting work and finding a new job and a place to live, today I'm going to focus on the fun bits.

So I give you, in no particular order, the stuff I want to do while I'm away! (No doubt this list will grow and change considerably as time goes by!)

• Make a gazillion new friends and acquaintances.
• See some ice hockey.
• See something at/take part in an event at Vancouver's Film Festival.
• Go to the beach!! I can't remember the last time I went to a beach, and I will quite frankly behave like a 5 year old.
• Join a Canadian gym - at home I've been weight training with Kettlebells for a few years now. Obviously I'm not going to take my bells over with me (it would take up my entire weight allocation for a start) so a gym is a must. I've never set foot in any gym ever, so this in itself will be an experience. My new goal - pullups!
• Go mountain biking, cycle in Stanley Park and on the sea wall.
• Go hiking.
• Visit Capilan Suspension Bridge Park.
• Grouse Mountain - I'm considering paragliding!
• Visit Victoria/Vancouver Island
• Bard on the Beach - Yes you read it correctly, Vancouver has its own Shakespeare festival *squeee* I simply must attend, hurry up visa, I want to book early bird tickets!
• Toronto - I have family on the East Coast USA, so hopefully will be able to head to the east side and see them again and show Ian Niagara Falls (I went back in 2004 with my family.)

  

  Niagra Falls - Boxing Day 2004

• Seattle - I've watched way too much Grey's Anatomy to not make a trip here at least once. (Could also be combined with the next point)
• Visit Pacific Raceway - Kent, WA. As a massive drag racing fan, (and seeing as I'm missing the European Main Event and Finals AND our families 10 year drag racing anniversary :( *epic sad face*) it would be an amazing experience to see some NHRA racing, if I can afford it and figure out how to get to the track!
• Snowboarding. I've got to try my hand at winter sports, its in the mountains for crying out loud, I can't not! I'm pretty sure I'll end up looking like Bambi, but it's something I've got to attempt.
• Banff - just look at it!
•  Visit Harrison Hot Springs! Potentially try my hand at kayaking, canoeing, parasailing or windsurfing!

As you can tell I've got the adventure bug! No doubt this list will get huge as Canada gets closer. The more research I do, the more I find! I'll try and keep on top of the list and keep you up to date with additions. Also, if anyone has any recommendations of other things to include, get in touch!

The Canadian Visa, the story so far!

I've heard a lot about getting into Canada, I spent a good portion of Autumn 2012 reading and researching the hell out of everything IEC related so that when the time came and this years quota opened I'd have an easy, no stress process, I was going to sit back, relax and wait for a visa to drop into my inbox. No such luck!

This year they decided to shake up the system, and long story short, it's been a stressful and confusing time
all round, and for many has placed them in an uncertain position. For the first time, the IEC have decided to do away with paper based applications and do everything online. So far, so simple. I spent the whole of  December checking the website daily...and then well into January. Then joy of joys, on the 17th they announced that the applications would most definitely, absolutely 100% open before February. Great!

January 29th rolls around and the Irish applications opened. I think the IEC seriously underestimated how many people would be waiting to apply (considering they were already a month late opening you'd think they'd realise people would be clamoring to get them!) All 6000+ visas went in an unprecedented 3 days. The February deadline came and went for the UK visas with no information, other than the fact that our visas would now be released in 3 batches to spread the work, and then for a frustrating 2 weeks we had nothing..

14th February - Valentines Day (thanks for that one IEC) the first 1000 visas are released at 5pm. I quite literally ran home. Created our accounts, uploaded everything they needed and dashed through the questions, then pressed send. Then I did my boyfriend Ian's. They were both completed and sent by 6:30, (which was good timing, as all of them had gone by 8) sat back and waited for the confirmation emails. Mine came through 10 minutes later, and it was perfect, happy days! An hour and a half later Ian's came through. I checked the message.

Afghanistan.
I mistakenly listed my boyfriends country of residence as Afghanistan.
Oh hell.

I cried, then calmed down and messaged the IEC, then cried again. Then I had to tell Ian I'd stuffed up his application (lots more tears on my part, not the best valentine's night I must say) but he was very gallant about it. We decided to continue with our applications as normal, and to keep messaging the IEC to rectify it. So we paid the high commission (they made that rather complicated as well!) had our payment verified, and then got our conditional letters of acceptance. Ian's still had Afghanistan on it. *sigh*  We had no idea if we should continue with Stage 2, or if the CIC would not accept the letter with an incorrect address, or if we should start again in the next round...so we messaged the IEC again, and again we waited. After 2 weeks of impatience, worrying and continuous checking of his Kompass account, he got a replacement conditional letter, with the United Kingdom as his country. Happy tears!

From then on it's been smoother. We completed Stage 2 and sent that off at the beginning of March. (We sat and did that together, and double checked everything!) And now, we wait... we're on day 12. Fingers crossed for everyone that they start trickling through.

I must say, despite the stress of rushing and making such an stupid mistake, I'm very glad we got in on Round 1. The dates for Rounds 2 + 3 were announced ahead of them opening, which meant everyone knew when to be online, the system crashed a heck of a lot as people tried to get on, making it difficult to know what was happening. Round 3's quota (with +2000 places) was filled in 20 minutes, and a lot of people from Round 3 are still unsure as to whether they have got onto the program, or even the waiting list. I really do feel for them, those few uncertain weeks where I was unsure if I'd ruined all our plans was hell. Good luck to everyone still waiting.

2013, the year of making stuff happen.

 The boyfriend and I have always agreed that we'd go traveling, but following uni we were pretty broke and had minimal work experience, so it was into the 9-5 grind for us. I graduated from uni nearly three years ago, and have spent the last 2 and a half years working in a quiet office in a quiet town, and doing not much else.

So now we have some experience and funds, it's definitely time for our travel plans to start coming together! We both have the travel bug, and with international Work Holiday programs only lasting till your 30-35 years old (depending on the country) the time to go is definitely now. There are so many areas of the world I'd love to see, I need to get out there and start enjoying it all!

So, the plan...
Our first stop is going to be Canada. We're aiming for Vancouver at the beginning of May (visa dependent, more on that beauty later!) which sounds oddly not far away. After all the talking, reading and researching, the sudden realisation that in 8-9 weeks you hope to actually be there is quite intimidating! The visa will be valid for a year from the day we enter the country, but we have no idea if we'll end up staying the full term. I'm hoping if we stay till at least December we'll have enough money to make a visit home for Christmas! We're not going to plan too much ahead, we're going to fly out there with a few weeks accommodation booked up, then look for somewhere more permanent to rent and start the job hunt, so it's pretty uncertain where we will end up. Though I'm sure I'll look into areas before we go, to check out which districts might appeal to us the most. When it comes to traveling, I'm notorious for planning.

I'd love to experience as much as possible out there, I made a news years resolution of sorts to make 2013 an exciting year. I want to look back and see all the things that excited, challenged and taught me something new. So far, I've abseiled down the side of Battersea Power Station (which produced the blog name, and yes it's also got a World of Warcraft reference.) I'm getting a tattoo soon, and then its the Canada adventure! Things I'd like to do once we're out there includes trying my hand at snowboarding, joining a gym, seeing the Rocky Mountains, visiting Seattle (there's some potential to see some NHRA drag racing there in August!) and taking in as much of Canadian life as possible. I should probably warn you I might end up talking about food a lot!

Long term plans...you can get 2 IEC (International Experience Canada) visas, perhaps if we love it we'll attempt to get a second next year. Right now the plans are loose. After Canada, I'd love to see New Zealand, and then perhaps Australia. I'd love to see parts of Asia as well, but as they don't have work programs, that might have to be more short term. We've also talked about countries in Europe, on a holiday to Stockholm last year we fell in love with Sweden, so who knows where this first step will lead!