Advice, pre-paid credit/debit cards

We are wondering if anyone can help us on the question can you get pre-paid credit cards in Canada.  Chris and I have been trying to work out the best way for him to have access to money on the road other then cash all the time. 

At the moment we are using a World Traveller pre-paid credit card in the UK, this has been great as we dictate what goes on and how much we spend without getting into any debt.  We can use anywhere in the world but can only load from a UK account.  Once we are in Canada this is going to be awkward to do every-time. 

If we can get a card that can be used in Canada & the US from a Canadian or US run company that we can load while he is on the road means it keeps his running money seperate from our household money, also when he gets any re-reimbursements from work it can go straight back on the card....... logical thinking we thought but now just to find a company offering one!!

Any advice welcome :)

Useful Links

Hi everyone, Tina here,  since last October when we decided to make the big move to Canada I have been lucky enough to have people who have given me tips and websites to visit.  I thought I would add some to Chris's blog that I think are very useful to know about.  As and when I find more I will add along the way. Hope it all helps. 

Well we are now back in the UK.... jet-lagged but managing to stay awake for the time being.  Tina, Kane and myself loved Canada and Lethbridge.  We feel we can be very happy there and can't wait to start our new life.  We wish to thank everyone who has helped us so far on our journey. 

Before we left we visited a few more places, Kane's new school, Vulcan and Banff.  Kanes new school will be Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School, West Lethbridge.  They were great in making us and especially Kane feel very welcome. 

On our way to Banff we decided to stop at a small town called Vulcan.  We had seen this online.  To promote itself they took on the Star Trek theme due to their name.  There is a miniature Enterprise, Vulcan writing and a small space station which is the memorabilia shop.  All the locals get involved and many stars from the hit show have visited over the years.  There was one couple who married there and the ceremony was performed all in Vulcan  language!! We all got into the spirit of it and got dressed up for a photo!

 

We had heard about Banff from several people and decided it sounded worth the 4 hour drive. 

It was stunning.  We were surrounded by mountains and forest.  It was like being in a movie.  From every angle it was picture perfect.  We booked into a hotel for only $87, and the room was surprising great.  The view was wonderful. 

The down-town part of Banff is just shops and restaurants but well worth having a browse.  We picked up a few mementos.  We had a drive around the surrounding areas and came across some lovely little view points for the mountains.  There was one place to view the Hoodoos which are rock formations. 

We did not want to leave but now only have 5 more weeks to go until the final move.  We will be booking our flights for that tomorrow.  We have our leaving party all sorted and invites sent so it's just a case of  waiting for the weeks to pass and for our new life to begin.

Smashed Head-In Buffalo Jump

Today we decided to go to a place called the Smashed Head-In Buffalo Jump, and we are happy to say it was worth the drive.  Kane got in for free as under 7 and it then only cost $18 for Tina and myself. 

It is a national heritage site for the artifacts found relating to a site where natives herded the Buffalo over the cliff edge to their death.  The reason it is called Smashed Head In is because of a young brave native wanted to see what happened when the buffalo hit the ground.  But the herd was so large that the buffalo crashed him against the cliff face.  When the tribe found him his head was smashed in, hence the name now.

Inside there is plenty to see and learn, Kane loved the interactive videos and information screens. 

We walked outside to the jump point, the wind was so strong I had to hold onto Kane so he did

 not get blown away.   We also came across a Marmot sitting on a ledge just passing the time!

This is a buffalo skull painted with tribal patterns and a buffalo skin with details of events for one year, the natives used pictures to describe events.  The last entry being 'Buffalo no more'.

On the way back to Lethbridge we decided to take a drive to see where it took us.  We landed up on a secondary highway in the middle of a cattle drive.  There were approx 300 cattle in two cattle drives.  It was like being in a western movie!

Another busy day today we went and finalized all of the deals we got for the beds and furniture so Hoo ray in the new house we can now sit down and watch TV and then at the end of the night go to bed. We also went to see the principle for district 51 and introduced Kane, she was brilliant and after a nice long chat he was enrolled in his new school which we will go and visit on Thursday. Plus Tina took to the wheel and out  onto the open road (watch out Canada lol) for the first time she was a bit nervous at first but by the end she was a natural and a few more goes there will be no stopping her.

Today we have been furniture hunting and Tina's brain has been fried. All the stores have pretty much the same items but with different deals so we have been going back and forth trying to get the best deal. So tomorrow we will hopefully make some choices but i took a few photo on the way round.

And to finish off the day we had a little walk around Henderson park which was really nice with the sun out I'm getting into the laid back way of life here.

Today we had a day off and decided to be tourists . We have been told how beautiful Waterton Park was so we got up early and off we went.The views on the way there were breath taking ,the closer we got to the mountains the prettier it got.

When we got there we were starving so first stop was a big breakfast in the only cafe that was open. Then it was down to the lake and Tina saw this warning ,

and said "Are there bears here" "no" I said then we walked about 10 feet and found this foot print.

Then she was keeping one one the woods but we never saw a bear but we did see some deer.

Me and Kane had fun skimming stone into the lake.

We saw some drift wood which made a perfect seat for some more pics.

On the way out of the park and we saw this hotel which looked like it was plucked out of Switzerland.

But the views were great up there.

OK just a quick update the last few days have been a bit of a whirl wind we have looked at loads of houses  and have found one we really like so this is the one.

also a big thanks to Hans as he was such a big help showing us around and helping to set up the bank account which is another thing ticked off the checklist.

Well here we are landed in Calgary ready to start our recce and the rental guy said here you car oh no I thought how are we going to get everything in there,?? but than he said for a very small charge I can upgrade you to this.

So now you guessed it were in the bling mobil lol.

Well that's that I am sitting in the lounge and its empty the removals have now gone all boxed and packed on it's way to Canada. Now all we have to do is pack our suitcases ready to fly tomorrow for our recce trip.Tina will not know what to do with herself as all our belongings have gone and she has nothing to tidy but I'm sure she will find something.

To-day i got home and checked my Email and flashing at me was an email from Gennie and yes my LMO has finally arrived Hooray it official there's no turning back now CANADA HERE WE COME.So now it all systems go for the recce and the big house hunt.