My cell phone is ringing and I grab it just in time from the depths of my bag. My wife is sounding panicked on the other end and asks to speak with Lisa or Barry (Claire’s Cousin who were staying with) ‘straight away’. We had dropped Claire and our daughter off at her cousins house just ten minutes earlier to put Helena for her lunch time nap as we were heading to the shops. As the cell phone conversation unfolds we found out that their cat is holding Claire and Helena hostage downstairs at the house, hissing and making other noises which in cat language translates to “don’t even think about it missy” (I am sure this was the nice version of the translation). Lisa gave Claire instructions on how to pass the cat and we were on our way into the mall.

Approximately 15 minutes later the cat struck again and I got another call. This time they were cornered in the Kitchen by this viscious beast. Joking aside the night earlier the cat had made me jump as it hissed at me, it sounded somewhere between a fur ball, bad phlegm mixed with some serious attitude.

When we arrived home the cat had given up hope of her prey and had gone to sleep whilst my daughter was still wide awake. She was slowly becoming aware of the stark reality that the ‘kitty’ was not going to play ‘hug’ with  her.

Prior to the cat incident we had had a lovely morning. I welcomed a healthy breakfast which was refreshing after two days of fried grub to kick start the day. We had visited an English shop in town, and except for the UK ‘tourist tack’ like the UK flag printed underwear, they had lots of great food that reminded me of my youth. At the check out there was a discounted tray of products that would be going out of date soon. In there were two items that I thought were quite amusing, one was powdered ‘smash’ potato and the other was canned new potatoes; yum, nothing like fresh British food.

In the afternoon we got the wet tent out and hung it in the garden to dry. Guess what? It started to rain (too funny). We also bought a new camping stove. This one we could take to the beach back home or to the park, so I was happy to spend a little extra on this unexpected purchase.

Went to Lisa’s parents for dinner and ate sushi and pizza. Her dad who isn’t fully into the idea of eating raw fish described it as ‘fish bait’ which I thought was fantastic, one to remember for sure.

The evening ended with us hanging out and drinking tea. Today was more of a relaxing city shopping kind of a day, which I don’t mind doing but look forward to hitting the Provincial Parks again and also to go back to camping on Monday and being in nature. If you have read the previous posts you may be wondering if I have taken a short trip from reality especially after our many ‘successful’ recent camping experiences. I am feeling enthusiastic because we now have a new stove, the tent ‘will’ be dry and more than anything, it is scheduled for nice weather. We’ll see. Only time will tell.

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