After spending a good month and a half getting the house, and ourselves prepared for the winter season we decided it was time to do some exploring in our area. On a very cold, but sunny, January day we packed up Reddy the Van and drove the coastline to explore the beaches, lighthouse, and communities between Parrsboro and Advocate Harbour. Many of the establishments were closed for the winter but the sheer natural beauty of the area was mind-blowing. We spent time in Spencer's Island walking the beach and poking around the river. And then on to Advocate, stopping at the only store open to talk to some of the locals. It was a lovely day to poke around and look at the properties and things that are offered in that area.
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We had to make a run into Halifax for the night to drop off our fur nephew and run a couple of errands so we took the opportunity to check out the Discovery Centre on the waterfront of Halifax. This amazing 40,000 square foot, hands-on, interactive STEAM science centre opened its door in February of 2017 It houses 4 permanent galleries and a 6000 square foot roving exhibit hall which housed a Ripley's Believe it or Not display while we were there. The centre also houses a cafe on the children's floor which allows you to grab a cup of coffee while you allow the kids to run amok.
Each floor as a myriad of hands-on, interactive exhibits that create an environment of exploration for all ages. My sister Laurie, Will, and I found ourselves trying out just as many of the exhibits as Dylan. A few of the favourites that stick out were the wall of visual illusions, the amazing interactive wall depicting the water cycle, and the flight simulator which allowed you to fly over the Halifax region. The centre seemed like a compilation of a traditional children's museum and science centre as it really had something for everyone. We decided to take advantage of their rural membership (an offering I have never seen offered elsewhere) and we can now visit as much as we would like for a whole year. From February 14th-18th, 2019 the Fundy Shore came alive with the first annual Fundy Shore Winter Carnival. It was 4 solid days packed with activities designed to get everyone in the community out and enjoying all that our Canadian winters have to offer. Each day had something to offer - community breakfasts and lunches, kids' activities, snow people building, sledding, igloo construction, snowshoe hikes, craft/bake sale, pick-up hockey, sledge hockey, bingo, shuffle board, and public skating. We got out each day and participated in as much as we could. One of our families biggest commitments was to help with the glow in the dark ice igloo construction. Check out our separate blog post for the full description. We had freezing rain on top of snow right before the carnival - which turned the town into a sheet of ice. That didn't stop the festivities....the snow people creations ended up as snow block sculptures or designed with buttons on the ice, tug of war ended up on concrete so they didn't slip on the ice, sledding was extra fast as the hill had a coat of ice and we were able to play games like toboggan whiplash. It was a fantastic way to get the community excited about this cold winter weather.
As the temperatures stay well below freezing, and the penetrating winds create a wind chill that will freeze your nose hair within minutes, our family accepts the challenge to join a few dozen community members to build an epic ice igloo in the center of town for the upcoming Winter Carnival. The huge project was spearheaded by our friend Crystal who saw the idea from another town in Nova Scotia and knew that our little town of Parrsboro would appreciate this addition to our town square. Her perseverance and dedication to the project amazed us and we wanted to help alleviate some of the burden as it was a huge undertaking. To start with, about 700 two litre juice and milk jugs were collected from all around the community, including the 400 we acquired from the recycling depot an hour away and stuffed into Reddy (our little red travel van). Next step was to fill all those jugs with water and food coloring. To accomplish this task, the scouts, guides, and school kids were enlisted throughout the week to help out. The week leading up to the carnival had fluctuating temperatures so it would have been hard for the water to freeze solid outside. Luckily, Crystal's family owns a huge walk-in freezer that they use during the fishing season that had room for all the jugs. In the mean time, Crystal's husband kindly built a wooden frame to be used when constructing the igloo with the ice blocks. On February 11th, construction began. When we arrived downtown the task of opening all of the ice blocks had started. It was a frigged morning, so even with gloves on, opening the boxes was quite difficult. Soon the frame arrived and construction commenced. Because the days leading up to the construction brought freezing rain there wasn't much snow to work with, so we made a few runs to the arena to get buckets of snow that had come off the ice by the Zamboni. After experimenting with the best way to create the snow mortar (water, slush, snow) a method was found. The construction of the dome ended up taking 11.5 hours, two days, about a dozen people, 450 ice blocks and many frozen bodies. :) This was on top of the over 13 hours of prep time. Two flood lights were placed in the center and the dome was sealed (because it is unmanned it was thought to be safer to seal it so that kids don't play inside and possibly get hurt). The evening of the second day of work we all met back up for the official lighting. It was beautiful. AND - It was done and lit! Final work on the door was done as part of the Carnival itself - members of the town brought down the blocks they have frozen at home and helped finish the construction of the igloo.
How many of you remember Flat Stanley from elementary school? WELL, he came to visit us from Utah in Nova Scotia. To those of you who have no clue what I am talking about - Flat Stanley was a children's book written in 1964 by Jeff Brown about a little boy who was flattened by a bulletin board and his parents mailed him to visit his friend in California. In 1995 a teacher from London, Ontario saw an educational opportunity to recreate this in his classroom. Each student in the class makes their own "flat Stanley" and mails it to a friend or family member anywhere in the world. The recipient then takes Stanley on adventures that are iconic to the area in which they live. They then mail him back to his owner with a story and photo of the adventure they had together. The class then shares the stories of what their Stanleys did throughout the world. What a fantastic lesson in geography, literature, art, and even math.
One of Dylan's close friends, Three, sent us Stanley from Utah and boy did he have an adventure with us. He got to experience the life in Nova Scotia with which we have fallen in love, including fishing boats, lobster pots, native history, Tim Hortons, and board games. A lovely, sunny, yet cold and windy, winter day called for a walk in a new area. This beautiful bird sanctuary, on the outskirts of Amherst, is a lovely area for a stroll in the woods. Although the paths were iced over, we could tell that the area was full of groomed trails weaving through the woods, leading to a pond or two. On our walk down we passed a couple carrying skates and we were later followed by two gentleman carrying hockey gear - obviously, it is a popular spot for skating. The biggest draw for us was the fact that the birds in the area will actually interact with people. Dylan has worked very hard all winter to have the chickadees at our house land on her, but to no avail. It only took about 3 minutes after arriving to have the first chickadee to land on her hands, and soon after on her head. She was in her glory.
We were lucky enough to spend the afternoon on a lovely family farm on Saturday afternoon. The Baker/Beeler family were offering sleigh rides on their new family farm between Amherst and Parrsboro for the weekend. Their Belgian horse team worked beautifully together and Earle was an amazing driver, deftly manoeuvring around 90 degree turns through the forest. I had been in contact with Rebecca for many months as she helped me get situated in the area and provided valuable information on areas of the province fit for homesteading in NS and local hits. It was lovely to be able to meet face to face, see their lovely property, and meet their fur family.
Watch our video of the ride on our YouTube channel We discovered another treasure of a museum while spending a few days in Halifax this week. This modestly-sized museum packs in a wide variety of Nova Scotia history, highlights some of the unique aspects of the province, and gives the younger visitors an appropriate amount of hands on experiences to give them a well-rounded visit as well. Not only do they have artifacts, but they also have an armful of live animals with which visitors can interact. The current roving exhibit is titled, Dinosaurs Unearthed - a whole exhibit hall dedicated to animatroic dinosaurs, with artifacts and signage mixed in. It was a great balance of entertainment and education. Dylan's favorite permanent exhibit was a research ship that was set up so that patrons could drive, monitor the fish, and observe what was happening on board via screen monitors. She spent a good hour on that ship and still wasn't ready to leave it.
They also had a fantastic exhibit highlighting Sable Island, the crescent shaped, sandy island 190 miles southeast of Halifax. In 2013 this island was given the status of National Reserve due to a rich and diverse history of habitation dating back to the early 1500's. The island is a mere 12 square miles but is home to population of about 500 feral horses and the only structure is a weather station. It has very strict and expensive visitation regulations (a dream of mine) which helps keep the natural beauty of the island. There was also a lovely exhibit dedicated to the animals of the province with numerous taxidermy mammals and birds. A small room of the geological make-up of the province was also a hit for my sister and I. We enjoyed seeing that the area in which we are currently living may be the richest area of the province, geologically speaking. The last hall had a wall showing the history of the native people here in Nova Scotia and the other half was filled with a dozen or so live animals found in the province (mostly reptile and amphibian). Gus the tortoise was the biggest hit as he was out having a walk in the museum while we were there. This relatively small natural history museum was a lovely way to spend an afternoon in the city and gave us a taste of many aspects of the provinces history. While there, we decided to invest in the Nova Scotia Museum pass, which offers us entrance to 29 museums throughout the province. New goal - visit all 29 this year. |
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |