With the summer break almost upon us, and a visit from Gary and Catherine rounding up the Aussie contingent, we decided to throw a backyard barbie for a few of the local folk who have been really helpful to us during our first five months here in Canada.

After a fun morning on Centre Island, we caught the GO train back to Oakville with an hour or so to spare to get things ready before the crowds arrived. Gary and Catherine decided to stay in Toronto for a while longer just to look around a bit more, and they would return home a bit later once the party was in full swing. With a bit of time to kill, I thought I’d have a go at cooking a pavlova - a uniquely Aussie dish - so I downloaded a recipe from the web and had it mixed and made and bunged into the oven by the time the first few guests arrived.

We had a lovely afternoon, with a feed of beef, pork, chicken and salmon kebabs grilled on the barbie, potato bake, and a collection of salads and deserty things to round the meal off. Good tucker!

But we mainly wanted to take the opportunity to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has really gone out of their way to make us feel so welcomed into our new Canadian lifestyle.