Purchasing a Car in Canada While On a Tourist Visa

A road trip in North America, sounds fantastic. The tall trees and the wide roads carved through the Canadian Rockies. The trees turning from green, through orange to red, as Fall passes into Winter. The white fields of stretching snow. Viewed from the vantage point of your very own vehicle.

There are other options, of course. Hire a camper, borrow a car, ride a bike - Trans-Canada on a bicycle, anyone? For our family, with the eight of us and all our gear, the best option was to buy a car, and drive across one of the longest countries in the world.

A car is big enough to fit us all in. It gives us options so we can see more places. It has 4WD for driving through mud and snow. It allows us to get to the ferry on Wolfe Island to go shopping.

But there are a few things to be wary of, despite car salesmen, when getting a Car in Canada.

Provinces of Mind

Every car in Canada requires insurance. In British Columbia you purchase insurance and pay for car registration through the one place. In Ontario, you must provide an insurance receipt when registering the car.

Laws vary between the Provinces in Canada. They can vary a lot, in British Columbia I showed my Australian Drivers Licence and registered the car. In Ontario they required me to cancel my Australia licence, be to granted an Ontario licence, to be able to register the car.

It is difficult to find the requirements for registering a vehicle. We didn’t know what they were, or would be. Stumbling through loop-holes taught us about it. So either try and research it, or stumble through the regulations - either way, if you understand that different provinces have different regulations you will be better off than we were.

British Columbia

Our car was obtained in BC. Our Aunty had organised a perfect vehicle for our travels, and despite the looks it is a magnificent steed.

We had winter tires fitted. A service and some important joints fixed and it was ready to be registered.

In British Columbia, the insurance company issues the licence plates, so it is a one stop shop.

No international license. No test. A drivers license, a passport, and address to register the car, and the important papers: payment receipt for the car’s purchase and the transfer papers. Make sure the transfer papers are in order, with the seller’s signature.

You are able to choose how much time to register and insure the car for. 3, 6 or 12 months. It is best to try and register it for the duration of your travels. If you are staying around British Columbia, and not planning to drive across the country, you can choose any period of time and simply renew it when needed.

To renew/extend the registration/insurance, you are required to:

1. Be physically in British Columbia;
2. For the car to be in British Columbia;
3. Have a British Columbia drivers license.

With your car registered, you could take a family trip to Alberta, and see Banff in the Fall. You could explore the mountains and pass back into British Columbia if needed to extend registration and insurance.

We found problems because: we were in another province; Our car was with us; We were not heading back to BC; We didn’t have a British Columbia driver license. It was the perfect storm, and we were unaware.

The insurance company would not renew or extend our insurance. In a panic, we had to find out how to navigate the Ontario car licence system.

Ontario ate my Australian License

Thinking it would be fine to change provinces, and just extend the insurance was my first mistake.

We drove across Canada. It is a long way. We had organised a rental property on Wolfe Island. It was marvellous. While over their our three months of registration ran out. So I called the company, and requested an extension. I didn't have a British Columbia license, and I was not in British Columbia and so we could not renew the insurance, or extend the registration.

The phone operators were matter-of-fact. Not in BC. No BC license. No insurance. No registration.

In a panic I called our [mechanic][http://www.randysislandmechanical.com/]. It was two days before Christmas and the registration payment was just-past due. Randy was too busy and suggested another place on the mainland.

The mechanics took the car between Christmas and New Years, organised the E-Test (Environment Test) and a Safety Test. Both the E-Test and the Safety Test are required before a car can be registered in Ontario.

They did both, between Christmas and New Years. Cost us CAN$800 for a new windshield, fixed rear brakes, a service, and the two tests.

With both of these pieces of paper, and a smile I walked into Service Ontario to register the car. That is when I first found out that I cannot register a car without an Ontario Drivers Licence. What is okay in one provence, is not okay in another.

Drive across town to visit the licensing place - yes, they on other sides of town.

At the licensing place I was told that I could not get an Ontario license without paperwork from Australia explaining my driving history. So I went home distraught, in our roadworthy, but soon-to-be-expired car, and sent off for the licensing information about my Australian driving history.

With three days to spare - the E-Test and Safety test have a motivational date placed on them - the paper arrived. Express posted from home. I took the paper into the licensing place, where they told me “If you want to get the Ontario license, we must take your Australian license, and we’ll send home to cancel it.”

I forfeited my Australian drivers license to get in Ontario drivers license. Considering we were planning on crossing borders, we thought it would be better to go through the hoops, rather than registering the car in a friend’s name, or selling it to use trains to get about.

Bears are Scary, but the Government can take your License

Registering a car in British Columbia is simple. The process is less straight forward in Ontario. Both were worth it for owning a car, and being able to get us all around.

Owning a vehicle comes with all kinds of costs. For me, most of them are unexpected - a breakdown, or replacing bits and pieces. I had never imagined that a cost would involve me cancelling my home license, that I had been tending to since I was 18. I lost a piece of me that day. But I took another step, as I became an international citizen.

Have you had any experience with registering cars in different countries? Were they like this?

Travel, and Rumours of Travel

Dear Adventurous Reader,

Today I talk abut Fear, Travel and Wars. I got an email that pointed out our future travel plans sound dangerous. I am not sure about that, but I appreciate how our plans could illicit those feelings, it is not stopping us from making plans. How can we travel when the world is in such turmoil?

The world is full of wars, and rumours of wars. The world is full of bad people doing bad things, looking to destroy all of civilisation with one foul swoop. The removal people from the face of the planet.

Except it is not “Full” of them.

The world has fights and skirmishes. We vilify regions because of what we hear on the news, amplifying our bad thoughts in the process. We get our opinions and make generalisations from small snippets of press, because when we look at a region in 5 minutes, we want to see the good and bad in a flash.

Travel forces us to look at a country differently. Rather than “Is it safe?” we ask, “Where can we safely visit?” In doing so, we can see places we want to go, and then see if it is safe to visit or a place we should avoid.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

We were in Canada and we were not attacked by bears. We are in America now, and I have not been shot, despite the massive gun violence issue in this country.

Fear is what we are sold when we watch the news. Our research tells us different things about different countries. While the News says “It is dangerous”, our research often says “It is dangerous, but you can avoid the danger these ways…” A healthy dose of fear is a great motivation for better research into our future travel plans.

We wouldn’t enter a country if we thought that our lives were at risk.

Where To Next?

People often ask us where we are going next, we have a vibe that we aren’t finished travelling just yet. If you’d like to know, we are thinking either Central America or Europe - either place seems to be calling our name, but we are not decided on either way just yet.

“They both sound dangerous.” A quote from my email this morning.

Danger, though, is a matter of research. It is easy to qualify a nation’s safety based on what we hear in the news, but it helps to zoom in, and find out more information. Lots of reading, and discussion helps us to make decisions on where to go.

Where Other People Have Walked Before…

In Canada, Gramps was a wonderful source of information on Mexico. We went over maps, laid out on the bench, and pointed at places of interest. Ways to get around. Things to be careful of. We discussed border crossings, local militia and how to travel the roads of Mexico.

We talked to our good friends about their experiences in Central America. They had travelled there with younger children and said “As long as you get far away from the border as quickly as possible, you’ll be fine.” There are problems with drugs close to the borders. We talked specifics of travelling the roads in our car, and we talked about great places to visit, and food to try.

Talks like this are helpful. They give us confidence to make decisions, but more than the confidence, they are where we find out small tips and tricks for travelling into a new country. By talking to people who have experienced the area, we can explore the country in words before by sight.

We hear the news, and watch the explosions, and write off travel to a country or region because of an attack in one place. Most countries are big places, and not representative of an area under attack.

Reading and Reading

Information, the more you have, the more informed the choices you make. Reading about an area give us confidence to travel. Where to visit, places to stay, how to camp. What to look out for. Where families stay. Regions that are good or bad.

The Australian government has Smartraveller as a source of information about the world. It is helpful in finding out about regions they recommend travelling to, health information about those regions and information that isn’t current affairs.

The Path Walked Before

We are a member of a families travel group on Facebook that has been an awesome resource. Reading news about families that are like us, asking questions, and reading over discussions, is a great way to become familiar with places to see and how safe it is in a country without being there.

We aren’t the first to travel to a country. We won’t be the last. We are just looking at how we should travel to have the best experience we can.

It is a Matter of Where You Place Risk

“On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” Chuck Palahniuk

We wouldn’t travel if we lived in fear. We are doing the best we can, with the information we have, to make travel plans into the future. Part of it is courage, but courage without a solid foundation is not courage.

If we made all out travel plans from the News and the media, we’d stay at home. Part of travelling is accepting that danger is always around us, and that by by accepting that, we can make decisions to keep us as safe as possible.

As Australians we understand that a small insect can harm, or kill someone. We know better than to run into long grass, on a hot day, just in case of finding snakes - and it is the same as travel. We don’t change into a new country unprepared and blindly hoping our safety will follow behind. Research and investigation - from many sources - before crossing a border make us feel a little safer in our decisions.

But, if the food is good enough, we’ll go just about anywhere.

25 Do's and Don'ts For Cycle Touring in Tasmania With Kids

Do be aware that many caravan park receptions close at 5 or 6pm, not 8pm like The Mainland.

Don't ride past too many play grounds without stopping. You need to keep your littlest travellers happy.

Do remember to look tired (not difficult) and smile sweetly at the caravan park receptionist. They quite likely will give you a discount price.

Don't miss stopping at the ice cream shop when you've just ridden up a big hill. The $36 will be worth it.

Do take plenty of snacks with you on riding days. Hungry cyclists are unhappy cyclists.

Don't forget to sample every ice cream flavour available before making your final choice. You want to be sure you choose your favourite.

Do leave plenty of time for picking blackberries. Particularly in February. The state is covered in them.

Don't forget to roll up your food panniers properly before storing them in the vestibule of your tent. You don't want the possums to break in during the night and try to steal your food.

Do take plenty of snap lock bags. They will be useful for everything from butter to washing liquid, and mobile phone protection to accidents in undies. And blackberries, for later.

Don't forget to always zip up the screen on your tent. It would be most unfortunate for a white tail spider to creep into your sleeping bag and bite you on your ankle while you sleep.

Do be sure to check your shorts for scorpions if you happen to leave them overnight in the vestibule of your tent. That could turn nasty.

Do buy lunch at bakeries sometimes. Think of it as "petrol" money if you are having trouble getting out of motorist mode.

When visiting Sheffield, don't forget to go to the fudge shop. It might be expensive but it will be just what you need at the top of a long hill.

Do keep your camera handy at all times. You never know just when the scenery will turn from lovely to stunning and you'll want to take a picture as soon as possible.

Don't forget to swim at every opportunity. You never know when the nice warm weather will turn cold.

Don't leave your bike trailer open at night when camping in the bush. There will be possum poo inside in the morning.

Do allow the children to collect feathers. They are lighter and more packable than rocks.

Don't leave the five year old in the trailer with the two year old for too long. He will teach her all his worst words; "Bum head", "Butt head", "Stupidest", and so on.

Do stop by Port Sorell Lions Caravan Park. At $20 a night it's hard to beat. Kids stay free!

Do take notice of what the Asian kids are cooking for their dinners. They may inspire some new recipes.

Do give your left-overs from tea to some foreign fruit picker kids. It will make their day.

Don't listen to car drivers tell you about the hills. They rarely know what they're talking about, or they remember the road is more downhill than it actually is.

Do talk to other cyclists. They are very interesting and will tell you lots of helpful things.

Do keep in mind that all hills (eventually) will have a top. At some stage you will get to roll down the other side.

Do start up conversation with people at the playground. They might just invite you to stay a night at their house. And cook you an awesome tea!

Scenic Railway to Kuranda

Dear Adventurous Reader,

An old railway runs from Cairns up into the mountains beyond. A railway constructed by the labor of many men, facing hardship and death everyday. Today we took the easy path and paid money for the train ride to the small town of Kuranda.

We love trains and railways. All of us like old railways with a story to tell, especially one of hard work, of toil and men of the past shaping a peaceful path through a treacherous mountain. Before the steam engine could make the journey, men went before to forge the path. Pick axes and dynamite used to blast and hack their way through the difficult terrain.

Today engineering is a different feat, we have made it easier for ourselves. In the days of old paths were created on the sweat and shoulders of people who would dare to prove what seemed impassable was not.

There are 15 tunnels hewn from the mountain side, the longest 490 meters. There are many bridges spanning gaps small to large. One bridge is built on one of the two switch backs where you can see the engines pulling up front and the last carriage following behind.

The train slows down on one switchback as it passes a large waterfall. People move from one side of the train to the other, making sure to take a photo or to store an image in their mind. The rain from a few nights ago not going to waste with the magnificent scenery.

The Kuranda Scenic Railway has a video that displays photos at opportune story moments, telling us the tale of the railway's creation. It is neither loud or annoying, often times the children's excited voices drown out the words it speaks to us. It tells tales of wonder and explains magnificent views.

Tourist Town in the Mountains

We pull into Kuranda. The station is surrounded by wonderful green trees and large flowers. There are some steps leading toward the town which we follow.

Kuranda reminds us if Sorento, across the bay from where we live. The prices at the shops also remind is of Sorento. The town seems to run on the tourist dollars that arrive, there are many indigenous, new-age and specialty stores along the street, all catering to the whim of someone looking for a bargain or for a memory.

We walked into the rock candy store, just standing inside that place made your teeth start to decay. There were so many colours and flavours of rock candy to choose from, with a video to demonstrate how it was made. We put that on the list of places to visit on the journey back towards the train.

We ate a cheap lunch of Nutella on bread. We took a brief stroll though the rainforest before rushing back towards the train for the ride home. We spent more time sitting on the train than wandering the streets of Kuranda, although if we had more time we would have walked the rainforest instead of finding shops to take our money.

Down Again

Back down the mountain, making the slow trip with the train again. The same video played but reversed the explanation points. The boys hopped between seats trying to find the best view as the train slowed at important sections, once again. Adeline had the afternoon sleep she had been fighting since lunch.

Kuranda Scenic Railway was a slow ride through some beautiful scenery. We loved the idea of seeing that part of the world by train, in old style carriages, going slowly up the mountain to see the views of Cairns and the forests below.