Rob – Reaping Rewards Again!!

So this isn’t really a blog about Australia, but it is connected to our life here since our recent trip to Canada came about because of my research. Lucky for me, the university sponsored me to spend two weeks in Halifax to work alongside a researcher I am collaborating with at Mount Saint Vincent University. Lucky for Rob, the university sponsored me to spend…You get the point. Here is the pic he sent me of his fabulous lunch while I ate a pre-made store bought salad at work.

 

 

He even managed a brief trip to Ontario to catch up with friends and family while I flew back home to work, fully reaping the rewards of my research trip! Oh, and just to rub it in, Rob continued to reap rewards on the trip home…a whole row all to himself!

 

From a work perspective, this trip to Halifax was super exciting for me. Not only did it mean that I was finally able to meet my research partner in person, but it meant two whole weeks focusing on nothing but research! We spent those two weeks establishing procedures for filming speakers for an emotion project we’re working on, and I spent time training her research students in video and audio editing. We also managed to plan out a grant application, and work toward finalising two papers – a very productive two weeks!

 

In between my research commitments, Rob and I spent some time exploring the areas around Halifax (with Morgan Freeman giving us directions on the GPS, something that made me laugh every time!). We have been to Halifax before, but both times were a quick fly in-fly out for weddings so we didn’t actually get to do much while we were there. I had forgotten how beautiful and quaint the east coast of Canada is. How can you resist these gorgeous views? As usual, Rob got to do a lot more exploring so photo credits mostly go to him.

Movie of surf

 

And with all Rob’s leisure time, he’s even started a new hobby.

 

While we both enjoyed seeing the fall colours and especially indulging in Caesers………….

 

 

there were a lot of things we realised we didn’t miss about Canada. I think I nearly choked on my first sip of Tim’s coffee (my one and only Tim’s the whole trip!). We both also noticed the constant urgency of everything. People just always seemed so inpatient and in such a rush, something we don’t really experience here. And I was desperate to spend more time outdoors. It snowed on our third day there and if it wasn’t snowing, it was windy, raining and cold so we were indoors for most of our two weeks. The short getaway we’d planned to Cape Breton had to be cancelled because the weather was so terrible!

 

I feel lucky that we can travel back to Canada to visit, and certainly miss seeing family and friends regularly, but this recent trip back made us both appreciate, all over again, the beautiful life we have here.