  OK... So everything was going fine up here in Montreal...that was until last night. Marc and I were driving back from the apartment in Montreal, after a 3 hour trip through what must have been the biggest IKEA store in the northern hemisphere -- (we`d been shopping for furniture for the apartment. ) Anyway, the roads here yesterday were an absolute nightmare. There`d been an ice storm, so it was basically impossible to brake effectively, as the car just kept sliding on the road. And the whole day I`d just been on edge everytime we got in the car. So it gets to about 11.30 pm, we`re heading down the highway after dropping off Marc`s friend off at her house. The whole trip I was really nervous, just because there was so much snow and ice on the highway. To make matters worse it was still raining ice while we were driving....so visibility was pretty low as well.
We were about 20 minutes from Marc`s Mum`s house, and I`d just started to relax talking to Marc about the apartment and what sort of job I`d start looking for...when the worst possible thing happened. The back tyre on the van we were driving (like a Toyota Tarago van) blew. So we went into an uncontrollable spin at 100 kilometres an hour...fishtailing down the highway. We then slid across the medium strip seperating the two directions of the highway, straight through all the snow that has built up there, and right into the path of the traffic travelling in the opposite direction. (the average speed of the traffic is about 120 km/h) By this stage I`m screaming at Marc, s**t, s**t we`re in the path of the oncoming traffic...DRIVE DRIVE. So Marc`s jammed the exalerator down, and we`ve skidded back into the medium strip and into the snow.
Not a moment too soon either, because no sooner had we done so than about 10 semi trailers all flew past all speeding...and there`s no way they would have been able to stop on the ice. So we just sat there, panting, silent. I didn`t no whether to laugh or cry or what to do. There were two police cars up the road patrolling the area. (Apparently the conditions were so bad that there`d already been 6 car accidents that night..just on a single stretch of the highway) So the policeman shouted something out on his loud speaker to us in French.
And soon a tow truck came and towed as back out of the snow back onto the highway. So we paid him the hefty 60 dollar fee for his 20 seconds of work and started to drive again. However... what we failed to realise was that the back tyre had actually blown. Marc still hadn`t figured our why he`d lost control. After all we were doing the speed limit, and by all accounts driving fairly carefully. So Marc still couldn`t control the car when we tried to start driving it again. By this stage, the highway police who`d been trailing us again told us to pull over. This time they called a proper tow truck. 20 minutes later the vans winched up on the back of this massive truck and he tows us to the nearest truck stop. Next problem. Neither Marc or I has ever changed a tire on a car before -- let alone on a bloddy 8 person van.
For a start we couldn`t even find the tyre. Oh yes, and did I mention that it`s -10 degrees outside and still snowing. No I don`t think I did...Ok so its -10 degrees, snowing, we`ve just both narrowly escaped death by a matter of minutes, its now 1 am in the morning, we can`t find the tire...and between the two of us we only have one pair of gloves to keep our hands from freezing.
We eventually figured out that the spare tire on these type of vans is kept underneath the car. So Marc had to get down on his back (in the freezing snow) slide under the car and losen the hinge so we could get it out. It took us an hour to change the tire ..not because we couldn`t figure out how to do it. But because all the bolts on the rim were frozen. Not to mention the fact that our hands were red raw from the cold. Anyway, finally the tow truck man came back and helped us out a little by jacking the car up more with his truck...which made things heaps easier.
But needless to say by the time I got home I was in a pretty bad state of shock. I know it doesn`t sound that bad in an email...but I can assure you the highways in this city are absolutely treacherous. And it didn`t take long for it to kick in just exactly how close a call we`d actually had. Anyway, by 4am, we`d both managed a hot shower and a chance to calm down.
I gave Mum a call back in Melbourne, to tell her what had just happened. I think i scared the s**t out of her, because she had to go to the bathroom twice while we were on the phone. (sorry Mum. ) Anyway, that`s all I can write for now. But Marc is putting together a little photo presentation with some photos and the like -- which I will send through in a couple of hours or so. That`s the latest from here though. I CHEATED DEATH!!! HAHA...But it damn damn scary and i don`t ever want to drive again. Miss you all heaps. Sorry I`m taking so long to reply to all the individual emails. Will be in touch again soon. Love James 
