The recent World Of Acadians in the Acadian Peninsula of New Brunswick, Canada has taught me another lesson: You learn by doing and find out just how much you don't know about areas of expertise you think you have covered.

Am I confusing you?

Let me explain. For the past six years I have become an expert on the Acadian Peninsula in Northeastern New Brunswick Canada. I know every knook and cranny, every back water hide-out, and every date a migrating shorebird will present itself and on which shore, beach or mud flat.

I have learned about rare plants and where they are, endangered butterflies and seductive sunsets. I know when and where every fish species in the Gulf of St. Lawrence will be close by and which birds they will attract and how to record the images they offer up to an enthusiastic photographer. I have become a member of the community and know my ancestors, the Acadian people of Canada's Maritime Provinces and their strugglers to survive and be accepted by their neighbors.

I have interviewed, photographed and lived with many of them been reintroduced to my culture and my history for which I am truly thankful. We are a beautiful people, full of Joie de vivre, hospitality, faith, and tenacity. We are the world's greatest example of survivors and we are proud of our efforts to exist but humble about our successes. We are artists, laborers, academics and businessmen and women. We are committed to our families, our children and our Roman Catholic faith.

When I was invited to present on exhibition of my photographic art at the World Congress of Acadians 2009 I was honored and humbled. However, I knew my efforts had to be worthy of my people, be an example of our love for nature and show how we are and continue to work within the environmental challenges that confront us today.

Having a collection of thousands was an advantage but providing a showcase of framed pictures was the least of my concerns. I needed to allow the creative side of me to shine through and to honor my ancestors, relatives, our culture and the region with something dynamic, perpetual and available to the world-at-large.

It took two months and a team of creative and professionals to create the complete package that would touch each and every visitor who entered the Centre Municipal of Bas-Caraquet where the exhibition would be displayed.

And come they did! Not only did they learn, admire and reflect they left with a new sense of self-worth for their heritage and the beautiful area they had left behind for economic reasons but retained in their hearts. They took with them images and DVD of the program to share with others wherever they may live. They have become the best tools for introducing the world and especially the rest of Canada and now the United States to the wonders of the Acadian Peninsula.

Our home page is playing a snipit of the DVD and the full program is available to you by contacting us at www.nature-nfocus.com or calling our toll free line at 1-866-512-3686.

Because of the overwhelming success of the week long exhibition I have determined the time has come to invite you to join me in my walks through this wonderland or as the locals call it, "Paradise"

Beginning in the spring (April) 2010 I am inviting small groups of interested nature photographers and bird watchers to tour the Acadian Peninsula with me and experience the splendor of North America's most important migratory shore bird flyway. You will not only see, hear and photograph these magnificent specimens in breeding condition you be treated to a cuisine that without equal, hospitality that will bring you back year after year and an experience your friends will not believe.

There is so much to see and do in the Acadian Peninsula that one week may not be enough but there will be more trips, tours and adventures in the future. If you have an interest in the experience of a lifetime, going back into history 50 years and becoming a member of the most layback way of life on the planet join me.

For myself, I learned just how much I have missed during my life trying to succeed when success was here at my finger tips in a low pressure, high energy environment with more to do than any person could complete in a normal lifetime.

Join me in April for the first of many adventures into the peregrine of natural history that has captured me for the past six years.

Bob Belliveau-Ferrin Lemieux