Travelled a looooooong way to meet the cousins I had been searching for since I can’t remember when……..and what a lovely bunch!

My grandmother sadly passed away in 1958 which withered the family correspondence with her brother Sydney who had emigrated to Canada.  However, when I was a teenager, great Uncle Syd and his second wife, Sonya, visited us in our little Woodgate world of Birkdale, Queensland, and the link was rekindled. Syd died in 1974 after a stroke.  My parents, Jack and Mary, visited Sonya in Canada and maintained annual Christmas card exchanges until Sonya passed away in 1991.

So……. many years later and after unsuccessful  family history research attempts to find out more about his life and family in Canada, his grand daughter Carol connected me via ancestry.com and yesterday we finally met in person!  Carol, husband Aaron and son Cameron took us to the graveside which they had previously located and arranged for the headstone to be found.  A lovely first activity in our stay with them.

Then it was on to the University of British Columbia and the wonderful Museum of Anthropology…even had a small display of Central Australian Aboriginal artefacts.  Massive totem poles and amazing First Nations exhibits….though Carol wasn’t impressed with the coffee.

Then to meet the rest of the family and a Canadian bbq…….and we were given a fun gift of Gary the Moose, wine and some amazing Purdy’s chocolates.  Life is grand!  Loads of food, the amazing raspberry brie and Aaron’s maple chips smoked salmon.  Oh my!  What a welcome!