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August 2007 Archives
Eastern Canada Tour wrap-up...
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 30, 2007 at 8:53 AM
Well, we made it safely back home, where things have been extremely hectic! I still hope to get some details of the last part of our journey up on the site, as we did get to do some interesting things. At least nothing else broke!
A quick summary of our trip- 37 days on the road (July 13- Aug. 18), 9061 km over 4 provinces, with 54 programs delivered to 5680 people! We're efficient, not to mention cost effective! Along the way, 1 sudden breakdown (blown coolant hose), 1 fuel leak, and 1 significant trailer rupture (yes, we really did re-build the whole front end at a campsite), plus 2 CBC radio interviews, 1 CBC TV interview and another brief appearance, and a large number of local newspaper articles.
If our 3 day Georgian Bay 'shakedown cruise' is included, our total would be 60 programs, to over 6200 participants.
Amongst other things, we're now preparing for a large number of school programs planned for parts of Ontario this fall under our Habitat Stewardship Funding from Environment Canada. No doubt, it will be busy!
The whirlwind tour continues...
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 15, 2007 at 5:41 PM
It's been quite a trip, and at least we haven't had any more breakdowns! We also haven't had many opportunities to get on-line, and update the site... A lack of time, and access spots! We'll try to get some more details up soon, but in general, things have gone very well. We've been up into Cape Breton Highlands National Park, through Halifax, down to Kejimkujik National Park, and now back up to the Annapolis Valley. We've done some great programs, seen some fabulous ocean views, explored a bit, radio-tracked wood turtles and Blanding's turtles with research staff, and managed to fit in a CBC radio interview and a quick CBC TV news spot!
We're in the middle of a program as I write this on a wireless connection, and since I'm on in a moment, I'd better get back to work!
Cheers,
Jeff
So You Want To Be A Herpetologist- A Reprise From Last Summer!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 10, 2007 at 3:49 PM
We've been asked a few times this summer about careers with reptiles and amphibians, and I have referred people to this post from last summer, but I figured it was time to run it again so it was easier for everyone to find!
We get asked a lot about careers involving reptiles! Kids often want to know how to become a herpetologist, which is a person who studies reptiles and amphibians. It isn't easy! The first advice we'd have to offer is to stay in school, study hard, and get good grades! Jobs in this field require post-secondary education, generally at the university level, though some college programs can also be a good choice. High school courses in sciences and maths are typically required for entry in these programs, and often there is competition for limited spaces, so reasonably high marks are necessary to get accepted into a program. This doesn't mean you have to be a genius- hard work can take you a long way!
Nova Scotia, at last!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 10, 2007 at 3:39 PM
From New Brunswick to Nova Scotia we had a day off to just enjoy! A FULL day off! One WITHOUT repairs to the trailer or the van! AND we were in a beautiful ocean front cottage at the Amherst Shore Country Inn! Jeff's relatives run the inn and it is such a beautiful place with GREAT food!
The end of New Brunswick... for now!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 10, 2007 at 3:16 PM
Well, another province done (sadly, as I have an affinity towards New Brunswick... being from there and all!). We are now in Nova Scotia and have some catching up to do! After the CBC radio interview in Saint John (SOOO cool!), we had a few libraries and as always they were amazing, really attentive children ready to soak up all the cool information we have about reptiles! Sarah Jane had a great time talking about the bull snake and the place where they come from (the prairies), she got a good laugh when she explained that they love to live in prairie dog holes, as well as snack on them!
Bonjour tout le monde!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 8, 2007 at 8:54 AM
Enfin!!! Francais!!! Je sais, je sais, vous attendiez tous ce moment!
Voici un petit resume pour ceux qui ont de la difficulte a lire nos blogs en anglais!
Premierement, nous sommes Sciensational Sssnakes, et nous sommes sur la route depuis le 13 juillet. D'habitude, nous sommes base en Ontario, a Orillia, mais cet ete, nous avons decide de presenter des programmes sur les reptiles a travers l'est du Canada afin d'informer les gens sur ces merveilleux animaux. Nous en sommes deja a plus de la moitie de notre voyage qui englobe l'Ontario, le Quebec (WOUHOU!), le Nouvveau-Brunswick et la Nouvelle-Ecosse. Notre equipe est composee de Jeff, notre "boss-man" qui parle seulement en anglais, de Mary-Ellen, qui vient du N-B, de Sarah-Jane et de moi qui sommes maintenant toutes trois bilingues. Le reste de notre equipe est malheureusement restee au centre, en Ontario. Mais nous formons une super equipe et nous nous entendons tres bien. Nous avons de tres nombreux groupes (jusqu'a 400 personnes) et aussi des moins nombreux (4 personnes), mais chaque spectacle vaut la peine d'etre presente! Nous avons commence par l'Ontario, ou nous etions habitues de faire des presentations.
Repairs completed!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 8, 2007 at 8:48 AM
In the morning at New River Provincial Park in New Brunswick, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was great not to have to fix anything!
Not that there wasn't stuff that we could have been fixing, but at least nothing that was a high priority! Saint John was very good to us. After our first night in a truck stop parking lot, for reasons too complicated to explain, we went down to the CBC Radio studio for an early morning interview, which went well, and then did a couple of library programs. After the afternoon show, we visited the Saint John Market and then went over to the home of the family of Mark, Mary Ellen's boyfriend. They were very happy to see each other, since Mary Ellen has been away with us since May! We had a great dinner with them, caught up on some laundry, etc. Before dinner, we took the van over to Canadian Tire, as we were leaking diesel fuel quite noticeably! Sadly, they called just after dinner to say that the leak was in the engine area, and they wouldn't be able to do anything since they don't work on diesel engines! Too bad they didn't tell us that when we dropped it off! We shouldn't complain too much, though, since Canadian Tire has been good to us in the past, and remains one of our favorite stores.
CBC Radio interview
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 3, 2007 at 11:19 AM
This morning's CBC Radio Interview in Saint John went very well. It was great to get on the air and reach lots of people about Canadian reptiles! We hope that it will help us to get a great turnout at this afternoon's program at the library in town. The morning show, here in Sussex, had over 140 people- much more than they expected!
CBC Radio tomorrow morning...
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 2, 2007 at 2:57 PM
Another update from Doaktown, NB... I just confirmed that we will be on Saint John CBC radio tomorrow morning, at 8:15, on the Information Morning show. It should be interesting, and will be a great way to get the reptile conservation message out to lots of people!
Hopefully, I'll have a little more time over the next few days to post some more things. For the last while, our trip has been plagued with mechanical difficulties, and these have occupied most of my spare time. Mary Ellen has been trying to keep up with some updates of our travels, but I'll try to get some other stuff up soon!
On the road again...
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 2, 2007 at 2:55 PM
Today is Thursday and the trailer is almost fixed. Almost means that it is fixed enough that we can drive with it, as we need to get back on the road. We will finish the rest of the repairs later!
The rest of the shows yesterday went great! The second one at the New Castle library had just under 100 participants. Last night we did our last French show, at Kouchibouguac National Park. Sarah B. was sad that it was our last French show, but she is now writing a french blog that should be up soon for you to read! We started this morning with another show at Kouchibouguac- in English- before we left to go to Doaktown! The people there were great and were buzzing with excitment. Tonight we are off to the Fredericton area for our last program of the day.
The east coast!
Posted by Jeff Hathaway on August 1, 2007 at 11:05 AM
Tuesday was a day off for us, and we were rather excited as we were at Kouchibouguac National Park... a great place to discover the ocean and all the neat organisms that exist there. For Sarah Jane, it was the first time she remembers being at the ocean- she saw hermit crabs (in fact one kind of scared her- she called it Spastic), moon snails, some mussels, oyster shells and lots of sea weed!