Where ever I may roam

The week spent in Halifax consisted of a lot of walking, exploring, discovering and relaxing. I even managed to fit in some work and spent some time on some of my projects.

The Halifax Citadel was the first point of call. I spent 2 hours wandering the various rooms and looking at the exhibits on display. The army museum was quite interesting, covering WW1, WW2, Vietnam and recently Afghanistan. One of the things that I found interesting was that one of the founders of CIBC was a pirate before he started the bank.

The dock and waterfront was quite touristy, with various little shops set up for food and souvenirs. The Bluenose II was docked in Halifax for a few days while I was there and I took a cruise on it around the harbor. It was a little difficult to get a ticket as most of them had been pre-sold to tour companies. I got down to the dock early and put my name down on the waiting list if there were any no-shows. After going through the safety orientation and hearing a bit about the ship, everyone boarded, and then they started to go through the waiting list. It was worth the wait tho as I got on and it was an excellent trip. The sun was shining and there was a bit of a breeze blowing as we spent about an hour sailing around the bay. Most of the crew had signed on for a season from April to October, sailing up and down the eastern Nova Scotian coast line, calling into ports and running cruises. Sounds like a great way to spend 6 months to me.

Halifax from the Bulenose II

Here’s a video of the cruise around Halifax harbour.

I did a day trip out to Peggy’s Cove and I wasn’t too impressed. That was probably something to do with the heaps of people there. On the way back I turned off the highway and rode into a little coastal town called Lower Prospect. I followed the road until it terminated at a dock, where I sat looking out at the ocean for half an hour. It was peaceful and there were very few people around.

Obligatory Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse photo

Lower Prospect Harbour

Peggy’s Cove Harbour

Some of the other things I got up to was wandering around down town, as well as out into the suburbs. I took a ferry over to Darthmouth and walked the coastal trail there. Due to mis-reading the timetable I got to then other end and discovered that the ferry at that terminal doesn’t run on a Sunday. Then I started to worry about when the last ferry back was as it was 3:50pm. After a quick walk back to the main ferry terminal I caught a ferry back to Halifax. I needn’t have worried tho as the ferries run until 11:30pm.

I caught up with Mike for a beer, who used to be a Wings regular until he moved to Halifax. I also wandered around Point Pleasant Park, wandering the trails and looking at the ruins of fortifications that served as part of the Halifax Defense Network.

I think I got a reasonable balance of of exploring and relaxing during my time here. While I was initially quite happy to stay still for a couple of days, I’m now really looking forward to getting back on the road again. I think a week is a bit too long and I’m finding it a little difficult constantly being surrounded by people. It didn’t help that the kitchen was always dirty, as a few people didn’t clean up after themselves. The hostel has been good for interaction, I’ve had some great conversations with some fellow travelers. The majority of people here seem to be either Australian or German.

I’m really looking forward to being by my self and on the road again tomorrow.