Day 2 - Lunenburg, The Ovens & Church Point!

We awoke this morning knowing that we’d be traveling to Lunenburg via taxi (due to drivers’ bus hours); the girls were surprised to see a stretch limo pull up as one of our vehicles!  We drew names and the lucky girls to ride in the limo were: Julia, Patrycja, Jorja, Kaylee, Gillian G., Ryleigh, Moira, Zoee, Alex & Madison! 

Arriving in Lunenburg was a delight!  The Bluenose II staff were looking forward to welcoming us on board for pictures with the captain and the boat prior to their first charter for the day.  What an experience just to stand on board and see the finished wood and the care that has been put into making this lifelike replica of “Canada’s favourite boat” a beauty.  

We then proceeded into the Fisheries Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to view a movie in their theatre about the Bluenose’s champion history.  Once again, the staff seemed excited to have us; the girls were commenting that “we’re famous and we should travel together in a large group all the time!”  After the movie, they took us outside to lead a hands-on demonstration of a launching of the tall ship.  Anjou christened the boat with champagne Moira & Zoee were on hand to protect the boat from crashing into the rocks, Ella, Ryleigh, Sophia & Madison were in charge of hammering to lift the boat, and Tia’s job was to release the catches underneath the boat.  If it had of been “real life”, she would have been left laying underneath the boat as it left it’s cradle and slid into the ocean!  Following the demo, they took us on a tour of a schooner the Theresa E. Connor and played some games with us showing us the Bluenose’s winning history (including the real cups she won!).  Our tour guide, Lisa, was amazing she was not only a descendant of a fisherman but had previously been a chef on one herself!  It was really amazing to see the ice hold, the tiny spaces where fishermen slept, the nautical signaling flags (which represent alphabet letters to spell words) and experience the life of a fisherman.

After our time in Lunenburg, we drove to Ovens Natural Park.  There we learned of the Ovens’ history stemming back to a goldrush in 1861.  The sea cave walk was ~3km and followed the coast allowing us multiple opportunities to get close or step inside the caves.  The overall favourites were the “Cannon Cave” and “Thunder Caves” which with the right combinations of water and air sounded like canons being fired or rumblings of thunder.  On our way back, we had the pleasure of viewing the Bluenose out to sail at sea!

We had a lengthy drive to Yarmouth this afternoon where we shared everyone’s blog comments from post #1 and finished watching the Anne of Green Gables movie that we started so long ago at one of our trip planning meetings!  We are pleased to let you know that they were very well received; I think Tia’s “won the day” and had everyone singing multiple times.  We leaders also enjoyed the nicknames!  Lol.

Finally, this evening, we had a unique opportunity to experience the life of an Acadian while on a guided night hike in Church Point.  We learned of the lives of Joseph Dugas and Marie Robichaud; two Acadian people who lived secretively off the land when all of the Acadians were persecuted and deported.  They lived without many possesions and none of our modern day conveniences.  Our tour guide, Paul Lalonde, took us on a journey down the beach and through the forest experiencing our surroundings using our five senses without the use of artificial light.  At the end, he then linked the stories of Joseph and Marie’s struggles to our experiences of the land and fear (of the dark) that we’d experienced on the night walk.  Although the significance may have been lost on some, he commended the girls on their ability to spend time outdoors in nature without the use of light, learn about the Acadians and help to celebrate their 250^th anniversary. 

Although we weren’t anticipating it, Paul brought a friend and CBC Radio Canada (French)  correspondent with him to record parts of Paul’s talk for an upcoming radio story.  When he learned that some of our girls are fluent in French, he immediately contacted his supervisor back in New Brunswick and asked if he could do a segment on our girls’ story.  It was a resounding, “Yes!” and he made arrnagements to interview Coralynn, Ava, Madeline, Tia, Kaylee, Sienna, and Anjou following our tour.  The girls were all very excited and each took a turn sharing (in Frnech) at least once (if not more) about our reasons for coming to the Maritimes, the hard work it took to get here, and the experiences we’ve had thus far!  The segment should air on a Saturday morning in the next week or two.  As soon as we have a link, we’ll be sure to share it!  It was a suprising and exciting ending to the day for those girls.

We’re writing this as we drive back to our hotel in Yarmouth for the night!  Another fun filled day tomorrow; looking forward to it!