The Annapolis Valley, Part 2

Hello, it's Suz (as if you might have been expecting someone else?).

Continuing along on the adventures in Annapolis Valley, on Tuesday May 18th we had a day of vocational visits. Bill Travis, my host, is the Executive Director of a company called Peopleworx, a non-profit employment organisation doing very similar work to what I do back home.



The day was amazing. I took nearly a whole notebook full of notes, as I attended meetings, interviewed Employment Counsellors and other staff and training members, and toured multiple facilities.

Everything I learned that day will have to go into a separate report, or I'd have to post pages of informtion here. Suffice to say, the whole day was brilliant and extremely educational and informative.

Here's a general run-down of my itinerary for the day:

• 8:30am - Attended staff meeting at Peopleworx and learned a lot about a pilot program they are initiating regarding employers in the community and regulating their HR strategies.
• 10am - Visited the local Salvation Army Kentville Corps where I was able to interview Major Ross Grandy for over an hour about poverty in the area and their work running a food bank in Kentville. I was also taken on a tour of the facilities.
• 11:30am - Visited the "Career Resource Centre" of Kings County, where I was taken on a tour by the manager, Mr Phil Long.
• 12pm - Attended a meeting with the Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce, and heard a presentation by their guest speaker Brian Rose, Vice President of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, titled "The Management Challenge of a Shrinking and Aging Labour Market" (very interesting!!)
• Also met with Mr Darren Sequueira who is the Development Officer at the Community Business Development Corporation (A similar program to Australia's NEIS - New Enterprise Incentive Scheme).
• 2pm - Returned to the Community Development Centre where I was able to sit-in on a training class for unemployed people and observe how it compared to the trining programs my company runs back home.
• 3:30pm - Met with Employment and Career Counsellor, Mr Patrick Brush, and "picked his brains" about everything and anything. I learned a great deal from him, and he ven took me on a tour of several near-by specialist employment facilities such as the Canadian Mental Health Association, Community Inc (employment services for persons with disabilities) and the Employment Support Transition Centre (for redundant workers en masse as a result of recent plant closures). At each of these places I had the opportunity to interview the staff there.
• 5:30pm - Toured the Annapolis Valley Work Centre with the Manager, Vickie Petrie, where I learned about practical training available to unemployed persons and what facilities were available to them at this site.

OH MY GOODNESS!! Can you see why my brain was full?! That was only one day, and the amount of information I packed into that one day was phenomenal. It was like my "ultimate" vocational visit, the whole purpose of why we're here in the first place! May it continue!!

That evening we were hosted by Rotarian Don Wells at his spectacular home over-looking the valley. Don had in the foyer of his home a tall carved Canadian Mounty, which we all took turns posing with for kicks:



The next morning on Wednesday May 19th, we started the morning early with a 7am breakfast meeting at the New Minas Sunrise Club. Here, somebody provided me with the loan of a french horn, and I was able to lead the club in the hearty rendition of "Oh Canada" and "Advance Australia Fair"!

The team with New Minas Sunrise President, Mr Adam Smith:


For the rest of the day, we were divided in our activities. Cate, Colin and David embarked on an ambitious hike to 'Cape Split' where they saw lots of wildlife and were treated to an amazing view at their destination.







Shannon and I opted for a less-exertive day, so we visited the very beautiful Acadian historical site at Grand Pre, had a cafe lunch and a bit of an afternoon snooze!

Grand Pre:


Shannon and I also came across some old railway tracks and Grand Pre, and had a bit of photography fun!









That evening we went to a "Pot Luck" dinner at the incredible mansion of Rotarians Joe and Susan Ueffing. We gave a really fun presentation that night, which was attended by members of several clubs including Kentville, Wolfville, and some old frinds from Halifax!

The Ueffing's home:


We were royally farewelled from the clubs that night, after a fantastic couple of days in the Valley. We were presented with fine gifts including pins, banners, flags and Nova Scotian wine. The president of Kentville Club, Rev. Dr. Randy Croszman, even inducted us into an old Nova Scotian fellowship tradition: The Nova Scotia Order of Good Cheer!! We shook on it, and have certificates to prove it, so it's official!

Me with Randy, the president of Kentville Club. The patient man who drove us round in a mini-van for 3 days, tolerated our behaviour, acted as official photographer, entertained with amusing anecdotes and made our trip to Annapolis Valley all the more memorable!


Goodbye Annapolis Valley! Next stop...Truro!

Suz

Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia!

It's Suz AGAIN!! (I'm pretty sure Im not the designated blogger, but somehow I seem to have nominated myself...).

Sunday 16th of May, we drove 6 hours from Sydney, Cape Breton, to the Annapolis Valley. I drove with Brian and Donna from the Valley, and we stopped on the way (at my request) for a McLobster!! No joke!



The Annapolis Valley is very beautiful. My hosts in Kentville were Bill and Annette Travis - wonderful people with terrific senses of humour and a lovely house who welcomed me in to their home and whom I am sorry to leave!

Bill and Annette Travis:


On Monday morning we met as a group and went to the Kentville Welcome Centre where we met the Warden of Kings County, Mr Fred Whalen and the Mayor of the town of Kentville, Mr David Corkum.

We then travelled on to one of my ighlights so far in this trip, the Oaklawn Park Zoo! We patted a black panther who purred at us like a kitten, lions, cougars, a black bear who ate jelly beans and subway mints out of our hands and a tiny baby monkey in baby's clothes!









After the zoo, we had lunch with the Middleton Rotary Club, and then drove with our long-suffering driver, Randy, down the coast to Port Royal at Annapolis Royal. called "The Habitation" it is a reconstruction of a small French compound built in 1605. Our guides were in traditional french costumes, and the history was fantastic!





After Port Royal, we drove to another historical site, Fort Anne, the site of early European colonisation in the 1600's and 1700's.

The team at Fort Anne:


The oldest building maintained by Parks Canada. Circa 1708. Gunpowder store room:


Shannon on a canon:


Colin down a well:


That evening, Shannon and I had the absolute privilege of being taken for a two hour horse ride in the Gaspereau Valley. We rode through amazing Canadian woodlands (saw bear footprints!!), rode to the top of a mountain and surveyed the incredible view from a meadow at the top. We returned home at dusk and I am SO glad we got to do that! There are pictures, but I dont have them yet. I'll post them when I do!

There are several more days in Annapolis Valley to tell you about, but it's 1am and I need to go to bed.

To be continued.....!



Suz

Sydney - Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Hi it's Suz again! just a quick blog on Sydney, because Cate covered it below. Only to say that I had a thoroughly enjoyable 3 days there, including the District 7820 Conference.

We arrived on the evening of May 13th, after a 6-7 hour drive North/East-ish from Halifax.

I stayed with Julianna and Bill Parsons in North Sydney, about 25 minutes drive from Sydney itself in their very cute little cottage. Julianna has a pet chinchilla - so cool!

Julianna & Bill:


The next morning we spent some time at the Conference, and then went on a tour to Louisbourg - an amazing historical site from the early 1700's. There was so much to see and photograph! I have many more photographs, but here are a few!







It was a relaxed and casual afternoon, spent checking out such Canadian joys as "WalMart" and other such tourist attractions!! One of our hosts, Clarke Paynter was nice enough to drive me around the bay to see the "Giant Fiddle", which I thought was pretty cool! The fiddle is practically a National instrument here, and Ive really really enjoyed hearing the local music! Its like Scottish traditional folk dancing music, really fast and "bouncy" and great to dance a jig to!





That night at the Conference dinner, we were entertained by Cape Breton's "Three Men in a Tub" - a local musical comedy group who had us in fits of laughter! Colin, david and I learned to play the Spoons (Newfoundland-style!!) and Colin and I showed the Canadians how to dance "Ocker" (dont ask!!)

On May 15th Cate and I took a bus ride to the spectacularly beautiful Baddeck (while the others had a sleep-in!). Baddeck is the home of Alexander Graham Bell, so we visited the AGB museum and enjoyed some quaint shopping and icecream!



That night was the BEST night for me! It started with the District Governor's Banquet at the Conference venue, followed by a performance by "Men of the Deeps" a men's choir made up of ex-coal miners.

After that, we returned to the hotel where most Rotarians were staying, where a traditional band had been organised to play for us. Much dancing and hilarity was had! I even got invited up by the band to play a song or two on bass guitar with them - so much fun!!!!!!



After that (sometime after midnight), we were hijacked by a combination of members of the band, and members of St Johns and Gander Rotary Clubs (Newfoundlanders!!), and forced to partake in the late night party scene in Sydney. Thats all Im saying, and Im posting no photos. Well, maybe one or two...!









Thats all. Other than to say that we presented bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning to meet our Rotarian drivers and drive 6 hours to the Annapolis Valley.

The story continues......

Sydney

Well we have all arrived safe and sound in Sydney- Sydney, Nova Scotia, that is.

We arrived in Sydney after 2 great days in Halifax, ready for the 7820 District Conference. It is being held at the Membertou Convention Centre, a facility built on land owned by First Nation people, the Mi’kmaq. The centre is majority government funded and has been built as a way of providing for indigenous communities and their people. The conference kicked off with supper and chances to mingle and chat with Rotarian’s from all over Atlantic Canada, the second largest district in the world, as well as meet some of our host families we’ll stay within the coming weeks.

We gave our presentation on Friday lunch time and you’ll all (or Y’all) be pleased to know it went off without a glitch and we received really positive feedback from everyone at the conference. We’re expecting to get some more in depth questions regarding Australia in the club presentations, but so far we’ve answered dozens of questions on politics, Australian aboriginals, kangaroos, sport, culture and general inquiries.
One of the biggest things we’ve noticed that differs from home is the shape of the houses over here- they are all two storey, rectangular and made of wood. There are no fences around yards at all and in outlying areas, such as Sydney, there are few plants or gardens. We’ve been told because of the severe weather and salty air, it’s hard to grow plants here.
Suz, Shannon and Colin paid a visit to a 17th century French fortress called Fort Louisbourg, which was fully reconstructed on top of original foundations. During peak tourist season, the site is much like the former Old Sydney Town in Australia and has actors dressed in period costume and re-enactments of day-to-day events in the 1700s.
Insert photo of town

Rotarians know how to entertain.
On Friday evening we had a formal, sit-down dinner with we Aussies front and centre for the performance of “4 Men in a Tub” a folk music and comedy act. They had us in stitches with their comedy skits and by the end of the night, we were all busting out our best jig. Suz, David, Shannon and Colin learnt to play the spoons.


Governor’s Ball

We’re off to the Governor’s Ball this evening, which will close the conference. We’ve been told it’s also a formal affair, and we’ll be entertained by Men of the Deep, a choral group of retired miners. It will conclude at 9.30pm, but we’ll all come back to our hotel, the Days Inn, for a Governor’s Reception, which will have folk music from the region. Lots of fiddles!

Halifax, Nova Scotia!

Hi it's Suz again!

We arrived in Halifax on Thusday 11/5/10 and were introduced to our host families. I'm staying with Dick and Maria Hodgson who live on a beautiful home on the waterfront!



Thursday night for me was spent at my first vocational visit, attending the Metro Non-Profit Housing Assiciation AGM, an organisation dealing with homlessness in Halifax. It was completely fascinating, and was enriched by a performance by the "Shining Lights Choir" - a choir made up of homeless people, and people in assisted affordable housing. Their energy and enthusism was fantastic and I really enjoyed their performance!

On Friday morning the tem went on a guided our of "Pier 21" in Halifax, Canada's immigratio museum. 1 million people immigrated to Canada between 1928 and 1971, and 1 in 5 Canadians has a connection to an immigrant from that period. Immigrants included: French, Hungarians, Jewish, Estonians, Ukranians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Swedish and English war children.



Our tour guide was an immigrant himself and was able to share personal stories and show us his original paperwork and passport.

Of particular note was an immigrant vessel called “The Walnut” from 1948. The Walnut was built to carry 40 passengers, yet it carried 347 people into Canada on a 4 week voyage with only 2 toilets and 2 wash basins.

This picture demonstrates the size of The Walnut compared to typical immigration vessels.



After the tour of Pier 21, we visited Halifax Citadel, located in the middle of the city, high up on a hill. It as used by the British Army in the 1700's and 1800's.



We went inside the actual barracks and learned abbout a solidier's way of life during that time, and the significance of their uniforms. I even go to try one on!



Shannon with soldier:


Cate (very enthusiastic!!) with soldier:


Colin with soldier:


After touring the Citadel, we went on to do our first presentation at Halifax Northwest Club, and then spen the afternoon individually on vocational visits. Mine were FANTASTIC (thankyou Dick Hodgson!). I interviewed Claudia Jahn for over an hour, she's the Program Director of Halifax's "Community Action on Homelessness". I learned all about the challenges in Halifax regarding accommodation, employment and other community services. I learned about Canada's welfare system - who is eligible and what sort of income assistance is available.

I also interviewed Carol Charlebois from MNPHA - Metro Non Profit Housing Association, and toured a new affordable housing unit complex:



Suz

NEW YORK! NEW YORK!!!

NEW YORK!!!!!!!!



We had 3 amazing days in New York! I know New York's not the focal point of this trip, but it would be shameful not to acknowledge that the stop-over we enjoyed was sensational!! I mean, have a look at this city!!!





We've spent a great deal of time in Times Square, there's just so much to see and do!! We've been there during the day, and during the night, and it was buzzing at all times! Shannon and I were excited to get our photo taken with some NYPD! We tried to convince them that they should just save time by arresting Colin now...





At midnight on Sunday 9th May we escalated to the top of the Empire State Building for a birds-eye night time view of the city! It was nothing shot of spectacular! (And FREEZING nd so windy we nearly blew right off the edge!)





We went to the site of 9/11 - "Ground Zero". Whereas the site wasnt much to look at (still just a construction site), we visited the memorial and museum there, and it was very humbling to be standing in the same place that it all happened.

We took a long stroll through Central Park, which is really very beautiful, and ended up at the Museum of Natural History, where personally I really enjoyed seeing all the real dinosaur skeletons! Amazing!!

Central Park:


Museum of Natural History:


We took a bus tour thrugh the CBD in a double-decker open-topped bus. We visited Macy's Department Store and had all-American coffee in Starbucks! We've walked for many kilometres throughout the city, been to the "drug store" and eaten bagels with cream cheese for breakfast! Below are some random happy-snaps of good times!

On the tour bus:


Cate is overly-enthusiastic about everthing at all times!


Cate, David and myself in Times Square at night:


Colin and myself at Newark airport:


David and myself enjoying everything!


Oh, and to quote David: "This is everything that is wrong with American food"!! yes we actually ate this, and yes it is every bit as yellow (or even yellower!) than it looks!!


One of the highlights for me was visiting the Hard Rock Cafe!!! It's my new favorite place on Earth! Ive ben to Hard Rock before, but this one in New York is huge, and had SO MUCH AAZING STUFF!! I think I stopped breathing a couple of times...

So there's heaps more, but it's 4:20am right now (not doing so well with the body clock!) so I should try to get some sleep!!

The next blog will be from CANADA!!!!!!!!

- Suz