Skiing Awenda in the Winter (Provincial Park Photo(s) of the day)

I keep saying Awenda is little known, but perhaps I have merely been there on quiet days. The Friends of Awenda page  seems well done.

I had a great ski there with my mother on Friday and want to go back.  I’m lucky to have gotten this day in so I doubt I’ll make it next week.

One problem with skiing there is there are only two ‘official’ trails, a short, easy 4 km or a long 13 km.  I’ve managed 10 km in a day, more or less, but didn’t feel up to 13.  So we followed a ski trail to the beach.  It was around 5 km as a 2.5 km in and out on the same trail -no loop.  The map showed the beach route, but I think it was only as part of the regular map, only the two trails above were explicitly described.

The skiing scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.  The silence was total and I felt like a church-farter when I yelled a comment to my mother.

among the giants

 

 

 

 

 

I think this is Christian Island.

 

The pictures above and below show how cold it can be.  You can see that the waves froze in mid-surge.

 

On the way to the park, we saw a fox run across the road.  The first I have seen in Ontario.  Midland Naturalists reported in February seeing 22 deer at one time in the park but we saw none.  There many tracks of many different animals but none actually seen.

I have decided to add a mark to the bottom of my pictures.  I have never previously worried about copyright or intellectual property theft (the benefit of being a poor photographer, I guess) and the writing is low enough to be cropped out if someone wanted to.  I welcome the idea of others using my pictures but want to keep some kind of identifying mark on them.  Suggestions? Ideas? Should I have the full url for my blog?

Provincial Park image of the day: Craigleith

Craigleith is a specialty park.  Sure, you can camp and swim there, but the biggest deal is the vast number of  fossils to be tripped over.  I think it is best for younger children, who dig the shapes in the rock, and adults, who can feel the weight of time in their hand.

Craigleith’s page is here.  Google map is here.

 

A lesson from Springwater Provincial Park for Arrowhead

Thank you very much, Emily Mckiernan for your corrections and advice regarding a year-long all-parks day pass for Ontario Provincial Parks.  Summer and year-long passes can be found here.  Thanks also to Lisa Fleming who linked to my previous article about Springwater Park on the Facebook Save Our Springwater  page.

I hope their work goes rewarded although, as I’ve previously noted, I have not been in the area long enough to be greatly invested in the park.

I need to correct a mistake I made in my previous post. I wrote that I had been to Springwater two times but I have since learned that my parents took me there many times when I was a young child.  I don’t remember this at all.

A new article in the Barrie Examiner suggests that the work to close the park is continuing.  The article describes plans for the animals currently in the park to be moved to new locations.  Ah, the article describes the animals as ‘wildlife’, and the animals mostly fit that definition but these are animals:

“… that have been injured in the wild, or are unable for a variety of reasons, unable to survive in the wild. This makes it [Springwater] unique among parks and an especially valuable treasure: one of a kind. It is a legacy for future generations,” Miller said.

They are not removing every squirrel or free wild animal.  That would be a little creepy.

Also in the article:

Springwater is the only provincial park with an animal sanctuary,…[and has] 29 animals, including Monty the bobcat, a black bear, a timber wolf, two foxes (one red and one silver), two raccoons (one of them albino), two wild turkeys, a turkey vulture, a great horned owl, a peregrine falcon, a rough-legged hawk, a trumpeter swan, two mute swans, three Canada geese, four white tailed deer, two lynx, two bald eagles and two skunks

Finally

Two groups are leading the charge to keep the park operational.

They include the Springwater Park Citizens’ Coalition at www.SpringwaterParkcc.org and the Friends of Springwater Provincial Park at www.friendsofspringwaterpark.ca.

 

I think other Provincial parks need to take heed.  Algonquin, in my opinion, will always be here.  It is giant, famous and historic and just close enough to Toronto to be a daytrip.  Parks that I like and think are lesser known are Awenda and Arrowhead.  Arrowhead, get a Friends Of… group, get a real website, a Facebook page and more.  If you already have these things, I need to tell you that a Google search didn’t find them on the first page.  I did find this wordpress blog that looks like it is updated annually and dryly informative.  It does have a facebook page that looks well used.  Awenda could use one; this page needs work.

 

These are suggestions only.  I wonder how saturated people are with wilderness-based advertising.   Algonquin Outfitter’s Facebook page is updated nearly hourly. as is Pure Muskoka.  Well, even if the Facebook pages or other online content doesn’t attract many new visitors, it does a good job of maintaining the enthusiasm of longtime patrons.

What is RTO7 -Ontario Ministry of Tourism’s designation for the area (Regional Tourism Organization 7) doing to help Springwater – or Awenda?  And RTO12 for Arrowhead?

 

I am too newly returned to help Springwater in the way I would like, but I will do my best to post a Provincial Park image every day.

The closing of Springwater Park

On Saturday, my son and I visited Springwater Provincial Park. along with a few hundred others, to show support for the continued existence of the park which is slated to lose its status at the end of the month.  It is a great little park and everyone there had fun.

Springwater links:  Facebook, Barrie Examiner.

I will be sad to see the park go but I can’t claim to be heavily invested in it.  It is a great local park for Barrie but I have only visited it twice.  I guess I won’t be visiting it again as it will become a ‘non-operational’ park the beginning of April.  I think that means the cross country hiking or ski trails will continue to be open but the animal sanctuary, the unique part of the park, will be no more.

Animal sanctuaries are my thing.  I love seeing local wildlife close up and even as a young adult would call strangers walking down the street to see some raccoon or snake I had found.  The Robertcats (I convinced my son that it was too informal to call them ‘bobcats’) and lynx were the first I had seen ever. I even loved the “site vacant” signs with their explanation that the park did not buy or collect animals but only provide a home for those unable to return to the wild. This kind of viewing opportunity needs to be preserved.

The thing is, from a numbers standpoint, the park really should be shut down.  I said that several hundred people attended the Saturday gathering, but that is probably the same number as visited the park in two or three months last year.  This is a local secret that people only seem to learn about from word of mouth.

I hope Springwater stays open but I also hope other people and parks are taking a second look at marketing and public awareness.  I’ve been out of the country for thirteen years so perhaps my ability, or lack of, to name parks is no indicator of the average Ontarians’.  I looked at the Ontario Provincial Parks website and was happily surprised to see how many there are, and how many I didn’t know about in my neighbourhood.  Well, I might be a little upset, too.

Why aren’t these parks better known?  Springwater is a great park that I suspect no one knew about three months ago.  I only recently learned that Springwater has cross country ski trails.  Wish I’d known that in early February.

As I’ve repeatedly written, I’ve been away.  I am not sure what the responsibilities of a park are compared to the responsibilities of the “Friends of…”  Who is involved in marketing?  How professional are these groups.  Back in the nineties, I had thought “Friends of Algonquin Park” was a volunteer organization of enthusiasts.

The thing I want is for those responsible for Awenda Prov Park and Arrowhead Prov Park to be sure they are keeping their parks in the public’s eye.  These are two great places that I know about that don’t get much attention. I know nothing about Bass Lake, McCrae or Mara Provincial Parks even though I drive within 50kms of them twice or more a month.  Explorer’s Edge, are these parks are in your region of responsibility?

What advice can I give to the marketers?  Well, I have a few ideas.

First, when you make a website, Facebook page, Google+ or Twitter account, Keep Adding Content!  The Wye Marsh, a great place that also needs to be aware of its marketing, offers both a good and bad example.  The Facebook page Wye Marsh has four friends and five photos (all mine!).  It has been in operation for two years with no apparent support from Marsh management.  The Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre, another Facebook page, is full of what appears to be daily content.  Attention seems to attract attention.  Next to actual Wye Marsh generated content is more content made and prepared by the public.  Win-win.

Second, make sure you have accounts with the three media above (and more) and your own website.  Link between them.  Really, these two steps are all that is needed for basic Search Engine Optimization.

Third, plan some events and write about them now!  Don’t wait until news comes that your park will soon be shut down. Do it now.

parenting milestone

My son and I went for our first bike trip on Sunday.  We rode along the river and across a bridge to Eulsookdo, a park with ecological preserve, a drive in theater and other tourist attractions.

 

Previously, I had jogged or roller-bladed beside my son as he rode, careful to be close enough to try to catch him if he tipped over.

This time he was on his own and I followed . Oh, in taking this picture and others, I tried to hold the camera back enough to get my profile in the shot and ended up crashing into the fence.  That’s not really part of the trip as I plan to remember it.

 

Later, we were walking the bikes on a sidewalk and found this little lizard.  My son first thought it was a snake and I was able to give a little bio lesson about how the lizard’s hips cause the legs to jut out sideways so it runs in a slithery sort of way.

I don’t remember cycling with my father.  He certainly taught me to ride and I remember him running beside me as I started, but I don’t recall actually going anywhere by bike with him.

We travelled by canoe and that I do remember clearly.  His long powerful stroke, at a rate of one per two of mine, and the surge I would feel when he dug in.  We explored many rivers and lakes together.  I don’t remember him as the patient sort except when we travelled by canoe.

I intend to travel more with my son, by bike, canoe and on foot.  I don’t expect to be the homework dad or the team sports dad -the way I think my dad wanted to be with me – but I will be the explore and educate dad and I am looking forward to it.

 

World Expo: Meh

I guess not may people are attending the Expo.  Not as many as Korea had hoped, anyway.  Various branches of government offices are required to buy so many tickets and my wife kinda-sorta volunteered to do so at her workplace.

I was surprised by how close Yeosu is to Busan.  I looked at Google maps and asked for directions- it would have sent me way North to Daecheon before returning South to the expo for a travel time of over six hours.  Instead, we drove it in under two-and-a-half.

Getting there was pretty easy although we didn’t see any Expo signs on the expressway (number 10, if you are curious).  Once near the location we found signs for the Expo -go straight, and for Expo parking -turn right.  We turned right and drove through the grittiest industrial area I have ever seen.  There were a lot of signs for parking and that was the only thing that eased my fears that I was heading into a scam.

It wasn’t a scam, but it was a grim place for parking.  The free shuttle bus took us to the Expo.

I guess there is a gallery of images below.  I had wanted a long row of photos that I could add commentary to, but I guess in WordPress, that is only possible if you place each image individually, not as a group.  Commentary below the images.

We got to the gates just before nine and onto the grounds quickly.  We first went to the Aquarium and though we didn’t dawdle, we did end up -at 9:20- in a line where we queued for more than two hours.  We were lucky to have brought drinks but the little guy could have used some snacks as well.

The aquarium was good but not that much different from Busan’s.  The Beluga whales were interesting to me but didn’t hold the little guy’s attention for long.

He did love the Turkish ice cream men who served acceptable ice cream with great showmanship.  I had seen the act before but even still, I dropped to the ground to catch the cone when he ‘dropped’ it.

Somewhere in the pictures are the only spinal boards I have seen in Korea, the world’s first ‘surfboard’ (suck it, Melvin!) and some images for Kind Fun Labs.  At the lab, we walked in, and played with huge amounts of flour.  In the next room we played with huge amounts of rice.  The picture of me nearly buried in rice? That is my nightmare after a long weekend at the farm.

The fish robot had a frickin’ laser in it’s head!

To cut this short, almost everything that was interesting had long lines. The international pavilions were okay but felt underdone.  Despite the complaints I have heard, there was plenty of English.

At the end of the day -we left around 7:30 – I thought again about the strange location for parking and found some rationale for it.  Several of the exhibits were focused on ocean life and how to preserve it or exploit it.  Not all the exhibits were positive but most were and I think the parking -in the midst of a huge industrial zone at the water’s end – balanced those points well.

If you get cheap tickets, or will be in the vicinity anyway, check it out.  If not, don’t bother.

Check out these reviews from other bloggers:

Pro, con -also via ROK drop.

morning exercise in the parking lot

Our new apartment is working out pretty well.  I find the location to be much better.  However, it is an older apartment complex and I guess the parking requirements were smaller when it was built.  As a result, cars are parked in the two rows of parking spaces, then two rows are made between the parking spaces.  These cars are left in neutral so they can be moved more easily.

My son was eager to go outside this morning, and I saw an actual parking space available, so we shuffled cars around until I could drive around to the empty space.  Then, we moved some cars back so the throughways were clear.

 

Now, I wrote that the parking spaces fill up then rows are made between the spaces, and I think that is the appropriate order, but often people choose to park in the row rather than a space because it allows them to depart more easily in the morning.  This sometimes goes on leaving actual parking spaces nearly unreachable and contributing to more cars to be pushed.

For me, this means that when I have my car safely parked I don’t like to use it again if I know I will return in the evening.  I know busses are better for the environment and that Earth Day is coming, but one big reason I take the bus often is to avoid parking woes.  Perhaps, instead of Earth Day, we need ‘Don’t get uptight about parking; leave your car where it is for the day’ Day (Dguap;lycwiiftdD).

A month in Gangwondo… and where Surprises is going in 2012

Hi all.  It’s been so long.  In November, I was either busy with nanowrimo or procrastinating about not being busy with it.  In December, I guess I was busy with exams then camp.  In January, I was at camp, then sorta rootless for a while.

I remain sorta rootless now, but do feel I have time to blog.

Let’s see. I learned from Nanowrimo and really should discuss it more at my creativity blog.  At my university, I was the first person done the grading and had my results entered before any other.  Sadly, I am quite proud of that.

The camp went well, although it squeezed Christmas quite a bit. We had Christmas on Dec 20 and I was on the road to Gangwondo on the 23rd.

For more about my time in Gangwon, visit my Gangwon blog for January.  But first, here is a taste:

There should be a video from Boribong – the peak of Chiaksan National Park, as well.  I’ll put that up when I can. Added later: here it is!

You might reasonably be wondering what I mean by ‘rootless’.  Well, we are apartment warming for some family who will move soon.  As near as I can learn, it is good luck to have a family move into an apartment as soon as it is bought.  My in-laws are still working and their current apartment is still rented until the end of February, so we are spending the nights there.  Does that sound strange to you?  Good.  I still haven’t figured it out.  Anyway, we are commuting each night and morning.

As many have, I made some resolutions for this year and am already behind on them- I’m blaming the ‘rootless’ thing.  One goal is to write 4000 words a week on my blogs.  Now, you are unlikely to see 4,000 words in a given week here, but here or at Gangwon Notes or the Creativiti Project, it should happen.

It is tough to say what you will find on this blog.  I remain a fan of human-powered travel, environmental issues, and teaching ESL but have learned enough to know I don’t know all that much about these fields.  If I write about ESL, I want to do more than post a link and add one sentence of commentary.

I am also looking for extra work.  My university pays me a great wage per hour- I get paid for February and work zero hours – but not so much per year.  As a family man, I need to find some new sources of income.  It is legal for me to do so, but I probably won’t go into many further details on the blog.

In the last four months of 2011, I somehow lost 3 kg and saw 89.—kg for the first time in many years.  I want more of that -well, less of that, I guess.  When I am more settled, it will be time to exercise regularly again.  Until that time, I plan to hike when possible.  My hiking in Gangwon Province was great and its time to do more of it.

So, come here often.  I expect there will be more for you to read this year than last.

The Times on saving energy and travel for women

A career educator in nearby Changwon discussed management styles of energy conservation in today’s Korea Times.  At one college, the owner/president decreed that all employees should do all in their power to reduce energy use.   Later, at a private university, individual rooms were proctored by students who made sure the lights and electronics were turned off when the room was not in use.  The student also kept the rooms clean and the white- or black- boards were clear.  Finally, at a national university, no one seemed to care about energy use and lights were often left on in empty classrooms

In the final situation, the teacher would typically turn lights off as he passed vacant rooms. 

“For my part, I like the last one with the students and the teachers taking care of things around us on their own.  That is, after all, the real aim of education.”

I agree with his philosophical point; that we should care for things around us.  I wonder who should be teaching this, and when, though.

A simple activity that anyone at university can do, that will make everyone much more comfortable and will also save energy is to ensure that the access doors to the building are closed when not in use.  I see this as win, win, win, win.  The fourth ‘win’ is that fewer access doors to buildings will be locked if people learn to close them properly. 

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Also in the Times was the article “Solo travels offers unique perspective for women”.  I expect that the titles claim is correct but article is interesting for two other reasons.

The first is that the online version of the paper has no awareness of the article.  MSNBC offers the article and notes that it is copyrighted with the Associated Press.  Okay, in the corner in small print of the Time, I can see (AP).

The second reason I find it interesting is a travel story included in the article that matches very closely the experience a friend had and it also relates to language awareness.

Safety is also an important consideration for Warkentin. After being robbed of her camera at knifepoint while traveling alone in Chile in 1992, she downsized her camera and routinely uses windows or other reflective surfaces to see who’s behind her.

A female friend traveled to Brazil some time ago and spent a day at a beach.  While on the beach, vendors repeatedly spoke to her, asking her to buy their product.  At the end of the day, she was tired of this and when a man near a bus stop stood in front of her and yelled, “cuchillo…[something, something..]“, she ignored him and told him, “No!”.  Then she went to her hotel and learned “cuchillo” means knife*and the man had probably been trying to rob her.

If she had spoken better Portuguese, she could have been robbed.  I think she was lucky and don’t recommend this, but not knowing the language saved her a lot of trouble.

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*I think “cuchillo” is knife in Spanish and Portuguese, but could be off. Also, I heard the story long ago.

Don’t burn the Koran…D’oh!

This afternoon I listened to a BBC World Service interview with Rev. Terry Jones.*  He had publicized a plan to burn many copies of the Koran on Sept 11, the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.  Eventually, he cancelled the event, saying that in simply planning the event, he had generated enough attention to the issue of militant Muslims.

Many people asked Rev. Jones to stop and he did.  Others, such as PZ Myers, applauded the idea, although more as a way to show that one person’s holy item need not have value to others.  Drawing Muhammed is only blasphemy to Muslims and Christians should not be afraid to do so.  Myers is (in)famous for desecrating a Roman Catholic Communion wafer so, if Jones had burned copies of the Koran, Myers might have followed up, in the spirit of inclusiveness, by burning copies of the bible.

I disagree with Myers.  Don’t burn the Koran (click to embiggen)!

I listened, as I wrote, to the interview this afternoon.  In an early evening walk, I saw this SUV and knew I had to photograph it.

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*I really enjoyed the interview.  While both the pastor and the interviewer were civil and allowed each other to speak, it was not a softball interview.  Jones was questioned vigorously but politely and he kept cool throughout.  His answers were sometimes weak, as I will soon describe, but he spoke calmly and clearly.

The interview drifted into other religious issues and homosexuality was brought up.  Jones stated that the bible was against it.  When questioned about other things the bible was against – wearing mixed fibers and shaving, for example, he backed away, saying he was not a theologian.  It was as if he had decided he had read enough of the bible to lecture others but not enough to challenge any previously held beliefs.  If he is not a theologian, why does he feel to comment on any part of the bible?