Earth Day Countdown

See countdown link to national Earth Day events at the foot of our blog

Joggins Fossil Cliffs Canadian Tourism Video

Credit to the Canadian Tourism team for creating a great series of vignettes, showing the tremendous places in Nova Scotia.

We recall the film crew visiting at the end of last season and spending longer than they expected with us as they were so taken with the place and its beautiful scenery and spectacular light as the sun disappeared whilst they were filming.

Visit Youtube to see Jenna, our Director as she exercises her obvious flair for presentation in this fab short film about the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dCVMeYNDlU


(please remember that we have no control over comments posted on Youtube!)

Amazing 360 Degree footage of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs available through World Heritage

By the magic of 21st century technology, you are now able to get a 360 degree view of the Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

This allows you to see the scale and magnificence of the cliffs and a spectacular view across the Bay of Fundy.

Follow this link to view a panoramic view of our special place.

http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/america/canada/eastern-provinces/joggins/overview/sphere-flash.html

What did our visitors say?

Want to know what our visitors think of what we do? Here are just three of the hundreds of great comments we received last season.

"This museum exceded our expectiations. We are "museum buffs" and this ranks at the top of our list." anon.

"The guided tour was excellent. Will always be a memorable experience for me and my wife. I feel like I learned just the right amount." T Philips, USA

"Very informative and interesting. Very knowledgeable guide, very nice centre and welcoming. Thanks...worth the 1500km drive." anon.

Doers' & Dreamers' 2009

We were somewhat over the moon when we learned last year at the TIANS conference that Joggins was to be featured on the cover of Nova Scotia Tourism's official guide, the Doers' & Dreamers' (D&D as it is affectionately known).

We saw our first glimpse of a hard-copy of the guide today (copy of the cover image to the right of this page) and we have to admit that it looks fantastic. With the unenviable task of choosing one place or event out of thousands of worthy candidates, the team from NS Tourism have (and we may be very biased here) definitely made the right choice.

We are also featured on page 12, where our poster boy, Dylan, poses (as only he could do - never one to shy away from the camera) with a couple of visitors from last season. We are also featured in the pages of the Fundy Shore section.

The D&D is supported by a rich collection of artistic and delicious TV ad campaigns, which can leave even the toughest NS fan misty eyed and instill a yearning for summer and an opportunity to get out and see more of this wonderful place.

The TV ad campaign kicks off today and all campaign elements can be found at: http://novascotia.com/en/home/aboutnovascotia

We have less than a month until we open for the season and we are excited to see what effects being on the D&D will have on our visitor numbers.

Thanks Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage.

We made the front page of this week's Amherst Citizen

We made the front page of the Amherst Citizen today, with a great article covering our recent CNTA Awards recognition.

I (that's me in the photo) was interviewed by Andrew Wagstaff, local reporter, who is keen to ensure that the message of the Joggins Fossil Centre and its positive impacts on local and regional tourism are perpetuated.

Thanks Andrew for a great story.


http://www.citizenweekly.com/index.cfm?sid=233631&sc=136

Recovering from the Ice Storm

We were hit two weeks ago by a hard ice storm, which left some parts of the area, including Joggins, without power for up to three days.

What the storm did was coat the entire landscape with a blanket of ice, which made the already beautiful Joggins Fossil Cliffs apear as though they were surrounded by a world of glass. It was too treacherous to go down to the beach to take photos, because of the ice, but we were able to take a couple of pictures, which show the bushes along the perimeter of the site and a view across the bay.

Provincial Artist to Launch Children's Book at Joggins on Earth Day

We are super excited here at Joggins as Susan Tooke, provincial artist and author has agreed to launch her new book "B is for Bluenose" at Joggins on our first day of the season, Earth Day.

Susan, who lives in Halifax and runs the Elm Street Studio, has a list as long as your arm of commissions for her artwork; from the interpretation of social issues through digital montages for Parks Canada to the completion of a fourteen-panel diorama depicting the deportation of the Acadians, on display at the Grand-Pre National Historic Site, Nova Scotia.

Susan has also become renowned for the books she has illustrated, which include: A Fiddle for Angus, written by Budge Wilson, Free as the Wind, Saving the Horses of Sable Island, written by Jamie Bastedo and Brave Jack and the Unicorn, written by Janet McNaughton.


The original artwork, which includes "J is for Joggins" of course, from "B is for Bluenose" will be on display at the Joggins Fossil Centre on the day and visitors can buy a signed copy of the book and meet the artist illustrator, who shall be doing a presentation on the book that day.

Keep watch on our website and this blog for more information on the opening day. If you would like more information on Susan and her work, check out her website:

http://www.susantooke.com/

Joggins Fossil Cliffs Image - Classic View

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs.

This is a classic view along the cliffs late in the afternoon, when the sun casts a peachy glow on the dramatically stratified layers of the cliffs, which stand sentry against the Bay of Fundy tides, the highest in the world.

Who will be the new faces of Team Orange?

We recently attended the Summer Student Career Fair in Halifax and were thrilled at the response we experienced from summer students excited about the prospects of employment at the Joggins Fossil Cliffs over the summer.

We apply for both provincial and federal funding schemes, which enable not for profit organisations such as ours to enance our summer compliment of staff with some fantastic students.

The scheme offers an excellent opportunity for students to gain experience in their chosen field and for employers to get the most enthusiastic candidates on staff.

We are very impressed with the calibre of students who have applied this year and so begins the long process of shortlisting and selection. You can be sure that who ever we select, will have a great summer. Who wouldn't want to spend their time walking on the beach, meeting some very interesting people and spending time in such a supportive and progressive environment?

Why Team Orange? Well, our team are getting recognised everywhere for their orange shirts and everyone is proud to wear them. Orange is a great colour to heighten visibility of staff on the beach and within the centre.

Good luck to everyone who applied. There is an orange shirt awaiting the chosen few...

CNTA Attraction of the Year

On Friday evening, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were presented with another award from the provincial tourism industry.

The CNTA (Central Nova Tourism Association) bestowed upon us the Attraction of the Year Award.

The awards, which followed the CNTA's Annual Conference, were an intimate affair, thanks to yet another winter snow storm, which kept some attendants away. The conference had some fantastic speakers on the itinerary and we were reminded of the value of Social Media, such as our blog, in inspiring discussion and dialogue, in engaging you the public and in receiving feedback and suggestions.

We are incredibly proud to win this award and thank both the CNTA and the people who nominated us.

It is a strange category for us. Indeed we are an attraction, but we are so much more than that too. We are educators, conservators, interpretors, international ambassadors and heritage managers. The site would exist even if we weren't there in our fantastic visitor centre, but would visitors understand it? Would its significance be appreciated? Probably not, which underlines the value in promoting the site as an attraction.

Thanks CNTA, we appreciate your support.