I can’t believe how quickly three years has gone. When we first moved to Canada in June, 2009, it felt as if we would be here forever. But now June, 2012, has nearly arrived and we will be returning to England as our three years are up writes Shropshire expat Becky Lawrence.

Living in another country has been a wonderful experience and we have truly made the most of it.

Not only have we travelled widely across Canada and America but we have also made Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, our home and become part of the community. We have many friends here, who we are very sad to leave.

We have got used to the winters, where the word ‘freezing’ doesn’t even cover how you feel on a day when the thermometer reads -40 degrees Celsius. But we love the fact that even on the coldest day, it is nearly always sunny, and + 30 degrees Celsius temperatures in the summer mean constant trips to the park, camping and eating every meal outside.

Moose Jaw is an extremely welcoming community and there are many things I will miss, such as walks in Wakamow Valley near the city centre as well as in Buffalo Pound, a beautiful nature area on the city outskirts, trips to Java Express, an atmospheric coffee shop, and most of all, the friendly people.

A few weeks after we first moved here, I remember bumping into someone I had previously met in the supermarket and decided that was a sign we were settling in and getting to know people. It obviously takes time to get used to a new community but it was a surprisingly short period for Moose Jaw to feel like home.

I will also miss the fact that drivers go out of their way to stop to allow a pedestrian to cross the road yet rarely let other motorists out, that a traffic jam means there are more than two cars in front of you, that there are so many trails around the city to go running and biking on and the many festivals organized in the summer, such as the Saskatchewan Festival of Words and the Motif Multicultural Festival.

During our three years, we have been on many trips. I won’t go into them all but just relive some of the highlights.

We were able to travel to the Rocky Mountains many times, both in the summer as well as in the winter for skiing. The fact that this amazing playground was only an eight hour drive away meant we were always longing to return. I must be turning Canadian as I can say the words ‘only an eight hour drive’ without flinching. That’s even a short journey. Our longest continuous drive was probably an 11 hour trip to Rapid City in South Dakota, where we went camping and visited sights including Mt Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Another highlight was a camping trip to Prince Albert National Park, about four hours north of Moose Jaw. Here we canoed across Lake Kingsmere to visit conservationist Grey Owl’s cabin and camp in the back country. We also saw our first bear, heard wolves howling at night, and spotted Canada’s national symbol, the beaver.

Montreal and Quebec City were also great to see. Both cities were such a contrast to other places we had visited in Canada and it was a chance to practice my French again and enjoy some deliciously European meals.

Vancouver Island was also a magical place to visit and should definitely be on the itinerary for anyone visiting western Canada. While many people just visit Victoria, it’s worth venturing out to see other parts of the island. We particularly enjoyed driving to Tofino along the Pacific Rim National Park, which is breathtakingly beautiful. During our stay, we kayaked on the extremely calm water to Meares Island, where you can spot a wide variety of wildlife, and also went whale watching. We were able to witness a mother and baby humpback whale just playing in the sea.

As Canada is so close to America, we hopped across the border many times. As well as exciting trips to New York, Vegas and San Francisco, we also managed a huge road trip where we drove a total of 4,735 km.

Our journey took us from Moose Jaw to Golden, B.C, Penticton, B.C. and Vancouver, B.C. before we crossed the border to Seattle, where we enjoyed exploring Pike Place Market. We then went onto Portland, Oregon, which has the most amazing book shop in the world called Powells, Coeur D’Alene in Idaho, where we relaxed by the lake, named “one of the five most beautiful alpine lakes in the world” by National Geographic Magazine, before arriving in Bozeman, Montana, where we stayed at a wolf sanctuary.

It was a wonderful experience as we were able to (carefully) stroke the wolves, which are looked after by the owners of the bed and breakfast. Our trip then continued to Yellowstone National Park, which is one of the most awe-inspiring places I have ever visited. There is so much to see and around every corner is a breathtaking waterfall, geyser or panoramic view. Our trip ended in Cody, Wyoming, where we really got into the western way of life by attending a rodeo.

Obviously we have not spent the entire three years travelling around North America. We have enjoyed many activities closer to home in Moose Jaw, such as day trips to Lake Diefenbaker, Regina and Saskatoon as well as just hanging out with our friends with a barbecue on the deck.

We will certainly leave Canada with many happy memories and a longing to return – there’s still so much to see in this huge country. We will also return with a little more than we came with.

Our son was born here in February and will always be able to call Moose Jaw his home. While we’ll be taking our little Canadian back to Britain, we’ll be sure to tell him all about the country of his birth and he’ll soon be singing the national anthem O Canada.

I’m sure a trip to Moose Jaw will be on his list of places to visit when he grows up.

Read more of Becky's blog