Reflecting back on our snow birding season

We're now back home in Niagara Falls, Canada, after our most recent snow birding season. This was an adventurous one for us; our plans leaving home were for Hawaii, then Australia. Our schedule was not fully booked, so we left with some uncertainties, or some opportunities for adventure, depending on your outlook.

We travelled 135 days, from December 8, 2016 to April 21, 2017. What did we accomplish in that time?

House sits	6	102 nights
Pets cared for	7	4 dogs, 2 cats, 1 fish
Countries visited	3	USA, Australia, Fiji
Flights	12	Airlines: Air Canada, United, Hawaiian, Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin, Fiji, Southwestern … and the best? Qantas, by far!
Cruises	2	14 nights – Hawaii & Fiji
Hotels	7	12 nights
Car rentals	1	10 days
Coach transfer	1	3 hours
Cars loaned *	4	Proton, Ford, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet

* This information is added for Greg's fellow GM retirees. They will likely laugh at him for having driven a Ford. However, they'll be reassured to know that it did break down, but Greg was able to do the repairs and have it on the road again for the homeowners, who were very grateful.


In keeping with the name of the blog, we also need to report on our sheep activities.

As you might guess, this photo was taken in Fiji. The red reindeer 'imposter' was one of two given to Greg when shopping at an airport store. I'm guessing it was after Christmas and time to turn over stock. One of these was donated in Australia, and the other in Fiji.

In the photo above, the sheep on the left is Kiki, adopted in Waikiki, Hawaii. The one on the right is Sal, adopted from a Salvos store (Salvation Army) in Australia. All three of these were left with the church in Fiji, to be given to children where they found a need.

Greg adopted five sheep in our travels. Two were tiny ones, originally sold as baby rattles. One stayed with a dog at our Hawaii sit, as the little dog there just loved it. The other (named Wiggles, but that's a long story) rattled away on my backpack throughout the trip and actually returned with me. He's now happily settled with the other sheep still in our home (seen in the photo below, at the front, 3rd from the left).

The last adoption was Antonia, on the left at the back in this photo (black snout). She was adopted in Phoenix, Arizona, and named after the cashier who checked her out, talking to her all the time, holding her for a while, and carefully placing her in a separate bag. We assured her she'd go to a good home, and Greg decided to name the sheep after her.

I'll end this journey with some photos taken of flowers that were in the gardens of our hotel in Fiji.

Having returned to Niagara, we're now seeing spring bulbs and magnolia trees in bloom. Nature at its best.