Halifax

 

Today Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. with a population of 373,000.

The first permanent European settlement in the area was the establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the British Earl of Halifax, in 1749 when the colonial capital was transferred from Annapolis Royal. The British founding of Halifax initiated Father Le Loutre's War and the capital region was raided during the war 13 times by the Acadians and Mi'kmaq Indians.

The 1917 catastrophe.

With it's deep water harbor, shipbuilding capacity, and strategic location the first world war was seen as a blessing for the city's economy, until ,in 1917, a French munitions ship, the Mont Blanc, collided with a Belgian relief ship, the Imo.

December 6, 1917 had dawned clear and sunny in Halifax. Before darkness fell, more than 11,000 people would be killed or injured. 

The Collision sparked a fire on the munitions ship which was filled with 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton, with drums of High Octane fuel stacked on her deck. The munitions ship exploded in what was the largest man-made explosion before the first testing of an atomic bomb, and is still one of the largest non-nuclear man-made explosions. Items from the exploding ship landed five kilometres away.

The Halifax Explosion decimated the city's north end, killing roughly 2,000 inhabitants, injuring 9,000, and leaving tens of thousands homeless and without shelter.

The following day a blizzard hit the city, hindering recovery efforts. Immediate help rushed in from the rest of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. In the following week more relief from other parts of North America arrived and donations were sent from around the world. The most celebrated effort came from the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee; as an enduring thank-you, since 1971 the province of Nova Scotia has donated the annual Christmas tree lit at the Boston Common in Boston.

The Halifax North Memorial Library was built as in 1966 to commemorate the victims of the explosion.

 

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Time to move on- 07-28-2011

We leave for Halifax tomorrow, we had a few things left on our "list" to do in Annapolis Royal before then.

There is a small German restaurant and Bakery in town, had lunch there. Barbara had a tomato bisque and I had a very large slice of Bavarian chocolate cake, both were excellent.  The restaurant is next to the town's rose garden and is set up as a very open building with a patio in the back full of flowers.  We picked up a few items from the bakery.  Barbara had a great time practicing her Yiddish and  having chats with the owners.

That evening we joined the "Annapolis candlelight Graveyard Tour". This is hosted by the local historical society and the  narrator was dressed in the period garb from the 17th century.  He was a descendent of the Arcadians. When many of the Arcadians were expelled his family moved up river and stayed in the countryside for three years.  They returned when the British decided to forgo the "loyalty" pledge.

He explained that Arcadia is the French name for Nova Scotia, those who settled the area were Arcadians. The word Cajun, used for folks from southern Louisiana is a local dialect derivation of Arcadian.

He described life in the 16th century.  Many of the women buried in the graveyard were young (less than 40) dying after having a dozen or more children. Between the still births and children deceases less than a third of the babies survived to puberty.  His great great great grandfather had three wives, the first had 12 children, which included three sets twins,his second wife had 11 children with two sets twins two sets of triplets , he did not survive his third wife (no children). There must of been some issues, she did not bury him in the family plot, nor did she provide a headstone. Of all those siblings only a handful went on to have children of their own. 

It was an interesting way to present history, if you ever get up this way be sure to take the tour.

That evening we decided to stay an additional day to get organized and have some "chill" time.

 

 

Oh, I hate to mention this but the nights are in the upper 50's days have been low 80's.  Hope it cools off down there in the Carolinas soon! Barbara said she is not coming home till it cools down!

Whale Watch 07-27-2011

Today we took a 3 hour lobster boat trip to watch whales in the Bay of Fundy.  The bay is an important summer feeding ground for several types of whales. Usually the calves are born here, moving south with the mother during the winter.

Our host was the Petite Whale Watch company, who operates a  converted lobster boat, taking two to three trips a day when weather allows. They are located at the southern end of Digby Neck, a peninsula that starts just outside Digby NS south to the same latitude as the northern coast of Maine.

The neck consists of the peninsula and  two islands, accessible by ferry.  Our trip started at the lowest point in the peninsula at the Petite Cafe and Whale Watch.

The sky's were overcast,with a heavy fog rolling in, along with some rain.  We were worried they would cancel the trip because of the weather.

We met the captain, Craig, and he assured us we would be able to go. We left the dock in a pea soup fog, but as we moved out into the bay the sky's remained overcast, but the fog lifted.  There was a light breeze, temperature  was in the 50's.  Besides the crew of two there were about 20 passengers.

All the whales we saw today were Humpback, two of which were with their calves. The locals have given all the whales names, and have them tagged to track them.

The early sightings were okay, but then one of the whales decided to get up close and personal.  He (?) approached the boat and then spent the next 45 minutes proceeding to size us up. It swam under the boat' rubbing its back on the keel, coming up on the port side with  it's side, head and fin out of the water.  It then proceeded to dive several times, bringing the tail out of the water whereupon it turned upside down, swimming on its back.

It seemed to be as interested in us as we were in it.  The children on the boat were excited, even the captain was impressed, said these acrobatics rarely happen.  To further the "show" White Sided Dolphins entertained us by leaping several feet out of the water.

It was well worth being cold and wet for the afternoon.

 

  

Annapolis Royal- 07-25-2011

The town, located northwest of Halifax on the Bay of Fundy in 1605 has been fought over by the British and French for hundreds of years. Originally settled by the French, it is one of the oldest settlements in Canada.

During a 150 year period the area changed hands 7 times.  Originally settled by Acadians (French settlers) the they became a minority over time and in 1749 the British ruler decided to expel those Acadians that refused to take an oath to the Crown. Nearly 60% of them were deported, many to France but a significant number moved to southern Louisiana. At that time it was still part of French territory (the Louisiana purchase took place in 1803). Much of the Cajun culture we see today is a result of that migration.

The area thrived as a wooden ship building region, but never recovered when ships began to be built of steel.  Since then population has declined to about 500, surviving primarily on the tourist trade.

On of this areas claim to fame is the tidal based electric generating stations which provides enough energy for 600 homes. 

Although a "green" facility it is not  without its ecological problems, including whales getting caught in the sluices.

  

We are staying in a large campground outside of Annapolis, Dunromin.  Our site is level, big enough, with 120 volts and an wifi that works!  In addition the campground has a restaurant (had breakfast yum yum). And an ice cream stand, with prices less than we pay in the US. We will be here 5 nights.  The campground is named for a famous B&B In Killkenny  Ireland.

Our plans are to tour:

Annapolis Royal, Digby, St Mary's beach.  In addition we will be going on a whale watch boat, leaves from Digby Neck for a 3 hour trip.

St Mary's Nova Scotia 07-26-2011

St Mary's is a district, south of Digby, on the Bay of Fundy, facing Digby Neck (more on that later). Comprising 7 villages  and some beautiful beach's.  It's population of about 2,600 rely on fishing and boat repair.  It's beaches go from about 25 feed wide at high tide to 1/2 mile at low tide. As a result shell collecting is supposed to be very good.

We took the 70 mile trip, but all we found on the beach was couple of clam shells and a lot of rocks.  We walked along the beach at low tide the day was overcast and the temperature was in the 70's.

We took the coast road on the way back, traveling through at least 10 small towns, each one of which had an amazing church.  This is a bilingual  community with french at the primary language.  The larger churches were  Catholic, some amazing structures, given the small congregations they hold.  It was  a great road trip.

 

Some of these structures date back to the 18th century.

 

On to the whale boats.

Digby NS 07-26-2011

Digby is a town in western Nova Scotia which lies on the Annapolis Basin of the Bay of Fundy beside the western side of Digby Gut, a channel leading to the Bay of Fundy. . Settled in 1783, the town is famous for its scallop fishing fleet.

Since 2004, Digby has become the destination for a major regional motorcycle rally, the annual Wharf Rat Rally. It attracts many times the town's population, up to 17,000 motorcyclists, so many that schools and some roads have to close for the day due to crowds and motorcycle traffic.The Wharf Rat Rally event is generally held the week of Labour Day in September each year.

We stopped at a wholesale fish distributor on the docks that also includes a small restaurant "The Royal Fundy Seafood Company"  This is as fresh as seafood gets. Barbara had sautéed scallops, I tried the haddock.  Not only was it great, but it was a bargain $15.00 plus tip,

For dessert we stopped at the Mag Pyie bakery.  The owner came out to greet us, turned out she loves SC especially Myrtle Beach. She and her husband are planning a another trip to the US that would take them through Charlotte, we invited them to stay with us.

The boat harbor  is an active fishing and boat repair location, got some great pics.

Travel time- on our way to Annapolis Royal, NS 07-23/24-2011

In order to travel from Sussex NB to Annapolis Royal involves driving north east to the top of the Bay of Fundy, south to Halifax and northwest to Annapolis Royal on the east side of the Bay.  The drive is a long 350 miles with much of it on two lane roads.  We decided to break the trip into a 2 day  ride, stopping in Truro NS overnight.  This "big rig" campground turned out to be a bad choice. 

Not only was it very difficult to get in and out of, but:

The exit was barely wider than our motor- home, resulting in some scratches in the side.

Electric power was inadequate.  It was a very warm afternoon, when we plugged in voltage was near 110v, which when we turned on our A/C dropped to 100. We shut everything down.

Our "neighbor felt it necessary to share his choice of radio music with everyone.  His choices ran from rap to country, played loud enough to be heard by all,

It had rained the night before and our site was a sea of mud (the red kind you find in Georgia)

I posted a review of Hidden Hilltop on the RV campground web site, hoping to warn others with "big rigs" away. 

We arrived in Annapolis Royal the that afternoon. It was Sunday so the shops and restaurants were closed up. Some pictures taken that evening.

 

Weather is great, high 78, low 55, hope weather improved wherever you are, read yesterday Raleigh NC has had a run of 100+ degree days!

New Brunswick- trip to Bay of Fundy 07-22-2011

Yesterday we took a road trip to St Martins, located just north of St Johns.  It is a small fishing village on the bay. Our first surprise was the number of streets with Irish names.  We did some research and found out that, during the potato famine in the 18th century, almost 700,000 Irish migrated to Canada, many to the Maritimes and New Brunswick.

St. Martin has now been designated as a "book town" with several booksellers located in the center of town. Another distinction is the two covered bridges and light house  which, from the right perspective, can be photographed at the same time.

After we walked along the shore, Barbara had a taste for claim chowder, we stopped at a restaurant located on the beach which, according to Barbara" was the second best chowder she had ever had, the best came from her neighbor when she lived in Cleveland Hts.

Within a hour of our arrival the fog had rolled in.  Although we drove the 10Km Fundy Trail much of the bay was covered in a heavy wet and cold fog.

When we returned to the campground it was just filling with weekend campers, lots of families with children. As it turned dark  the families gathered together around campfires singing, laughing and eating, reminding us of our early days of camping with Gary and Cheryl.