Well I wanted to write one last post about my trip to Nova Scotia. Here are some final impressions and things that were interesting about the place and the people.

One thing my parents and I noticed were some obsessions these people have. Ice cream is one of them. For a country that is so far north they sure do have lots and lots and lots of ice cream vendors. Everywhere we went we saw the little ice cream signs. And yes, we tested some yummy flavors like Udderly Devine that was made up of creamy vanilla ice cream with swirls of chewy fudge chocolate surrounding scrumptious peanut butter filled chocolate cups. Mom appreciated that one, too. Dad—boring vanilla. I hate being on a diet and dreaming about mouthwatering food! Man, that treat was good to have right in the middle of the day or on a walk around the docks at night. It’s why I love vacations. Okay, moving on.

Another obsession was trampolines. We drove around almost the entire province and saw them everywhere. The funny thing was, all but one or two did not have any kind of protection or security surrounding them. Not like in the states where everyone is scared of either litigation or letting their kids do anything more dangerous than playing video games.

Other impressions. Let’s see. They talk funny. But we know that already. What else. Driving around we kept seeing signs with question marks on them. I thought that was funny and so random. When I realized it was for visitor information stations, it wasn’t as funny anymore. The fish and chips dinners I had were all excellent—except at the one place that boasted they had the best in the world. Mom and I did not agree with their claim. Nova Scotians are generally pretty friendly people except when you talked to them about the new increase in their tax. Nova Scotia boasts a 15% tax rate. Yikes.

They also have a neat recycling program where the government makes everyone pay a 10 cent deposit on all bottles and cans. If you take the bottles and cans to a recycling facility (which happen to be very difficult to find) you get five cents back. Hmmm. To me that kind of looks like a tax wrapped up in a fake sustainability program. Even so, this province has some of the best green initiatives I’ve seen. Everyone recycles and they are serious about conservation. We could take some lessons in living that way. Their land sure is pretty—they want to keep it that way.

They are also pretty keen about protecting whales and wildlife. I wrote previously about the protected park land. We also went to a whale museum and learned about their efforts at protecting them (the ones we didn’t see). That reminds me, my friend Fast Ed called the other night and we chatted about Nova Scotia. (It was Ed and his wife that got me interested in going there.) Ed told me a story about how he has a picture of himself standing on the dock in Lunenburg and in the background was a whale being gutted by the locals. Nice. Guess the conservation policies didn’t go into effect until after the 70’s.

So in wrapping up the Nova Scotia journal, it was a nice trip in general. The hiking and scenery were absolutely beautiful. The people were nice and fun. The food was good and the weather mostly perfect. It’s time to spin the globe and pick the next adventure. My parents and I want to do a safari so I’m taking donations now! Or if you live somewhere interesting, I’m accepting invitations to come visit and stay with you.

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