Who are... The Hedleys? sg ‘Lex Hedley is a professional wildlife artist. Sandra Hedley is . a new speech therapist for School District 88. Their dauighter Rachel (five years old) _ isa kindergarten student at Kiti K’shan. School. Their dog,- Jessie, stayed home, in New . Zealand. by Betty Barton. The Hedley family arrived ‘in Terrace in late November from Te Awamutu (which means ‘end of the river’ in the Maori language), near Hamilton, New Zealand (on the north island). The Hedleys had long con- templated a move to Canada. Then it just fell into their laps when Sandra got a phone call of- fering her a job as speech therapist on a two-year contract with School. District 88 in Ter- race.. The Hedleys had located Terrace on a map, but had no other clues about their destina- tion until they arrived here by plane. ; They spent their first month in Terrace at the Rainbow Motel on Highway 16 West. “The owners were marvellous and ~ really made us feel at home,”’ says Sandra. She started her work in School District 88 in _ Terrace less than 24 hours after arriving here. Special Services coordinator Andrew Scruton ‘lent her his car to get to work that first morning. Sandra remembers being terrified, driv- ing on the ‘‘wrong side of the road’’. Lex says he still has to clear his mind completely, of everything but driving, when he’s at the wheel of their car. Lex and Sandra bought a car shortly after settling here. They said even that was a new ex- perience, because they weren’t familiar with North American sales tactics. Andrew Scruton advised silently from the sidelines, with hand gestures and facial expressions. Lex says so many of the driv- ing rules are different than in New Zealand. Intersections are the worst. Occasionally, when turning a corner, they find themselves facing on-coming traffic. Other drivers seem quite understanding and just wave ‘and smile sympathetically, _ Four-way stops were ' unknown to them and. they are surprised that they are allowed to turn right on a red light at in- _tersections, Sandra is impressed at how polite drivers are to pedestrians. ‘‘Pedestrians have _ rights!’? They're. not at all con- - cerned about Rachel crossing - the ‘street to. school, because they’ve seen local drivers — courteously stop for children. -They are slightly concerned, . though, at how unaware of the road rules children seem to be. In New Zealand, all children are put through a road. safety course, even before they enter . ‘kindergarten. Rachel, age 5, is experiencing, | Canadian school life at: kinder- - garten in Kiti K’shan ‘Primary School, within walking distance of the Hedley’s home in Terrace. She was. already enrolled in ‘many people don’t understand ‘his broad New Zealand accent. ‘Their first morning in Terrace, | ae a Grade 1 or. new, entrance’? New Zealand. Children there at. tend kindergarten at age four . and then go into_the regular school system at age five. Rachel already sounds quite Canadian: And Lex says when she has a school friend over, he © can’t tell who is who by their ac- cents. Lex finds it frustrating that he and daughter Rachel, went to McDonald’s for breakfast. It. was the only familiar-looking place in our -unfamiliar town. When he asked for a hamburger, he got an apple turnover! He also finds that when introducing himself, people don’t hear his name property. He’s been called _ everything from ‘‘Legs’’ to. “Lakes” to ‘‘Leeks’’.. Lex | thinks his accent is becoming: more Canadian, but people are still having difficulty. Sandra says she found it dif- . ficult when she first arrived, not having Canadian credit cards. “Until. you have your plastic, youre not a person,”’ she jokes. Another frustration Lex has felt is with our coin money. Because our nickels.are larger than our dimes, he spends more . time counting out change than it is worth. He’s found it easier to give only paper money and get change back. By the end of the day, he’s loaded down with coins. Lex Hedley, born in Whangarei, New Zealand, is rec- ognized as one of New Zealand’s major wildlife artists. He has done rehabilitation work and trained falcons, written exten- sively on birds of prey and has worked professionally as an ar- tist for six or seven years, although he has painted all his adult life. Lex sketches all his works. - Then he paints the ones that he is most pleased with. His most common medium is water color, Lex used to be a primary school principal. When he felt the need for a change, he took up painting professionally. Dur- ing his time as a professional ar- tist in New Zealand, he exhibited ‘his work through galleries throughout the country, had limited edition prints’ for sale and sold original art work to col- lectors. During their time in Canada, Lex will find a publisher here © ‘and possibly one in the U.S. through whom to market his — works to a-much larger market population than N.Z.’s three’ - million residents. He has begun studies and drawings of Cana- dian wildlife in this area, and recently finished his first pain- ting of a Canadian mallard duck. The. Hedleys had their first view of our north coast from a- Farwest bus when they. were at- tempting a trip to Edmonton at Christmas by: airplane.. While everyone else .was complaining “about the delay in their travels, the Hedleys were thrilled by the “scenery and by seeing Prince fe Mince Sandra, Lex and Rachel Hedley’ arrived in Terrace recently from New Zealand to take up a new life in Canada. School District 88 brought Sandra here, Lex came to paint the wildlife and Rachel spends her Gays at Kiti K’Shan school. Rupert for the first time. _ f TERRACE CENTENNIAL LIONS” mare | Fresh Shrimp — $3.00-per p But they’re being careful. “The | : Limited Quantity . 4 ea ae se the enone Saturday, February 24 | starting at 10:00 a.m. Beside Petro Canada on Lakelse Avenue one,” explains Sandra. ‘“‘We'’re here, and Canada is - our new country, at-least for a while. Or maybe forever,” adds Lex. | lrotem service , (N & J Service Centre Ltd.)