Wednesday 20 June 2012

Training adventures from the Great Northen Peninsula!!

Members of the Great Northen Peninsula Heritage Network recently participated in a 3 day regional tour along the Northern Peninsula. The idea of the tour was to encourage cross marketing and to provide quality training in terms of partnerships, visitor experience, leadership and customers service. We thought we'd share some of our adventures with you!

 The bus that we had hired had had a vehicle inspection done the day prior to our trip and was cleared for travel. Irene, our bus driver, picked up Sean, Ian and Mark in Rocky Harbour and headed for Hawkes Bay to meet the rest of us. About an hour before getting to Hawkes Bay, the bus broke down on the side of the road. Some hoses underneath the bus had come apart and the bus was overheating. She managed to get to Cow Head and pulled into a local service station but there it wasn't open yet. Irene set out for help and with no cell service, she stuck out her thumb for a ride. The first car came and went without stopping. The second car slowed down and Irene jumped aboard and headed somewhere. The boys on the bus were left behind! Irene eventually showed up with a mechanic and got the bus fixed and back on the road - we were only an hour late.

The tour finally kicked off with a tour of the Torrent River Salmon Interpretation Centre in Hawkes Bay. Angie, the tour guide, gave us an orientation as to why Torrent River is home to the province`s most successful Atlantic salmon enhancement project. Check out the group of ladies at the bottom of Torrent River Falls!!




Next we headed to Port au Choix to see the French Rooms Cultural Centre where we learned of the French history. After a quick trip to see the Chaloupe and Bread Oven, we grabbed lunch and headed for Conche. Joan gave us a great overview of the Tapestry and the story of Conche.





Our next stop was Barnes House in Englee where Doris showed us around the museum. Be sure to stop and see the hooked rugs!! We then travelled to Ashton House in Bide Arm where we learned how a house was towed to be resettled to two different communities. A definite must see! The last stop of the day was to the Green Moose Interpretation Centre in Roddickton where we learned about the logging industry.  The life size moose and polar bear was an instant hit!

The day ended at Mayflower Motel with a delicios chicken dinner and a wonderfully engaged networking session. Stay tuned for the fun adventures and more pictures from Day 2.

(Random pictures from Day 1)