Sat. Oct. 01/2010: Dartmouth/Halifax -Peggy’s Cove-White Point

Greetings to you friends.  If you are returning to read, you’ll know by now that I usually begin each post with a map of the ground covered today.  So…here it is.

The day was thoroughly miserable as our little group left the motel at Dartmouth.  Fog had rolled in and a fine drizzle was falling.  However, it seemed there were signs of the sun trying to get through and the weatherman had assured us that things would improve as we went along.  So, who were we to question him?

We managed to clear the city quite quickly and without difficulty.

Boats at Peggy's Cove

Our first stop was at Peggy’s Cove, the tiny fishing village just west and south of where we had been staying.  Swissair 111 crashed there on Sept 02/1998 and the lives of the villagers have changed, probably forever.

Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove

The cove was crawling with tourists. The skies had cleared and indeed the weatherman was correct. We visited a marvelous sculpture done in granite by one of the local men. It was done to honour his fellow villagers and the tough life they lead.

Sculpture

The surf at the cove was amazing. Everywhere there were warnings not to go to the edge of the rocks as the waves could easily remove you…forever.

Spectacular Surf

From Peggy’s Cove we motored on a little while and got a bite of lunch at a spot along the way.  We  decided to motor on to our destination at White Point, and when we arrived at this beautiful place we were assigned a cabin which slept the six of us.

Our cabin at White Point

The inside was very cozy and we soon set about deciding who would sleep where.

Cabin living room

Once that was done, we poured the wine or opened the beer and drank a toast to ourselves on our arrival.  A friendly squirrel hopped up on to the deck rail to join us.  He was obviously used to two legged critters being around as he budged not an inch.

Small friend

Dinner followed at the restaurant at the lodge and it was made more special because it was Barrie’s birthday. ( We won’t worry which one ‘cos we can’t count that high). We’d arranged for a cake to come to the table and everyone in the dining room sang to him with us.

Master of the cake

The cake was far too much for us, so we sliced away and supplied many of the kids in the room with a slice of “dark chocolate”. The day had been a great success. Goodnight to all of you and God bless.

Fri.Oct. 01/2010: Seeing Halifax

Greetings everyone.  It’s the end of a long, but very good day in Halifax with our buddies from Wales.  I think they enjoyed absolutely everything we did…I know Cynthia and I did.

This amazingly warm (24C) and beautiful day began with an ample continental breakfast at our hotel.  After a brief conference over the cereal and toast, we opted to drive to the harbour ferry terminal on the Dartmouth side and take that little ship’s twelve minute ride to the Halifax side.

Alderney landing on the Dartmouth side

It proved to be a very smart move as we didn’t have to worry about parking or getting from place to place. (More about that later)  I chatted to a crew member and he told me the advertised crossing time of 12 minutes wasn’t strictly true and was more like 8 minutes, and it took longer to load the ferry than make the crossing.  We enjoyed the trip, short as it was, for the approaching Halifax skyline and quayside was impressive.

Approaching the Halifax side

It was an absolute pleasure strolling the boardwalk after we disembarked from the ferry. We walked the waterside for 20 minutes or so noting the many places to eat,

Do you like this one Oliver?

quiet courtyards, or simply places to rest and take in the busy harbour’s activity. There was something for people of every age along the wharf.

Ride Theodore the Tug

We walked until we came to Pier 21 which we had decided would be our first major stop of interest.  We paid our fee and went in.  Immediately we opted for a 30 minute tour with a guide.  She was excellent.   She told us of the huge numbers of immigrants who had come through Pier 21, some before the war, some during the war, and most after the war. We heard personal stories from her, and read of others, some very moving. After the tour, we went into a replica of a ship,

Theatre in the ship

in which we saw and heard other information about the immigration that happened. We also learned of the 1917 explosion which rocked the city, when one ship collided with another filled with explosives bound for the war effort in Europe.  We saw this fellow below trying to immigrate to Canada.

Trying to stamp himself

As we looked closer, we saw it was our friend Barrie from Wales. If we were in charge, we would not let this guy into the country!

Just as we were about to leave, Cynthia called me over to see something she’d found. As I peeked over her shoulder, she was pointing to a picture of a ship. It proved to be the Carinthia, the ship on which we’d immigrated to Canada 43 years ago. Seeing her there, it forged a link between us and  many others who’d made the long trip across the Atlantic so many years before us and under very different circumstances from ours. Nevertheless, it reminded us that we, like all “Canadians are just immigrants with seniority” to use a quote from someone listed at Pier 21.

Carinthia, the ship on which we came in '67

Once we left Pier 21, and after some lunch at (where else?) Tim Hortons, we boarded the F.R.E.D. bus which runs around the downtown historic sites of the city. (Free Rides Everywhere Downtown=F.R.E.D.)

Fred bus

Brenda, our bus driver (who would be called Brenda the Bus in Wales) Was super.  She treated us all like her family, welcoming us on the bus and checking out where we hailed from. She drove us around from site to site, carefully explaining what she deemed necessary for us to know, but not swamping us with so much info we couldn’t retain.  She made the youngsters on the bus special, even to the point of hugging one little guy whose birthday it happened to be that day. She was a delight.

Brenda the Bus

We visted many other sites on our way, like the Citadel, and Alexander Keith’s Brewery.

Alexander Keith's Brewery

However, due to the day wearing on, fatigue building in us, and the need for us to get back home to the motel, we couldn’t enter everything we’d wished to. That would have to be left for another time, another visit. So, after riding the ferry back again to the Dartmouth side,

Sailing Home

we clambered wearily into the vehicles and made our way home. We did manage to freshen up and get a bite to eat, but it wasn’t long before we were back in our rooms and looking forward to our comfy beds for the night. Boy, do we have lots to be thankful for! It had been a hectic, but great day and a 10/10 for the city and people of Halifax. Goodnight and God bless.

Thurs. Sept 30/2010-Digby-Dartmouth/Halifax

Hello again folks!  Here we go again with today’s blog update, so as usual let’s begin with the map of the territory covered today. As you can see, we covered about 226 Km and it took about 2hrs 41 minutes of driving time.  As usual too, we made good use of Tim Hortons along the route, stopping once for a short break after about 90 minutes.

We wanted to keep pushing ahead with the driving, as we’d arranged to meet Emily, daughter of friends of ours, in Dartmouth.

Cynthia and Emily outside Cora's Restaurant in Dartmouth

Emily now works in Halifax and shares an apartment with a friend she’s made from the Cabot Trail area.  The two young women are getting along famously in the basement apartment they share in Dartmouth.  Emily works in the Dartmouth library system and  her buddy is an accountant when she’s not cutting bait for her Grandad’s fish boat back in the eastern section of this province.

We took Emily for lunch at Cora’s restaurant.   It’s one of Em’s favourites.  What a neat place to go and eat.  What good food, and what an interesting story about Cora and the growth of her little empire.

Cora

Following a very pleasant hour or so with Emily, we took her back to her place.  We said our goodbyes and after not too many tears we headed for the motel in which we’d previously dropped our bags.  It too was in Dartmouth.

Just like everywhere else we’ve been in these three of the Maritime provinces, the staff at the motel (Country Inn and Suites, Dartmouth),was just brilliant.  They helped us sort out the three rooms we’d booked for ourselves and our incoming Welsh friends.  They printed out ready-made instructions for us on how to get to the airport and then how to get back to the motel, once we’d made it to the airport.

Time ticked by towards the time when the Taffies would arrive.  I don’t know about Cynthia, but I was getting excited about seeing them again.  We wanted to go to the airport early to check out motels, hotels in the vicinity to house us when we return to B.C. on the 12th of October.  We visited two in the airport area and noted their rates.  We tried to get to the third, and oh dear, we ended up on the wrong road, going the wrong way, away from the airport and on towards Elgin.  Fog and gathering gloom didn’t help us either.  The time to the Welsh contingents’ plane arrival  was ticking away like a bomb in my head. How could we get off this highway and back on track? Gleefully, we noted an exit sign coming up in the next four kilometres so we breathed a sigh of relief, and knew we’d arrive on time if we didn’t overshoot the turn-off and head back to Halifax.  Yikes!

We made it to the car rental drop-off place.  Cynthia had received yet another of her brilliantly illuminated thoughts from on high.  As the Taffs were also renting a car, maybe we could leave our rental car near their rental company,  and so leave that area together, to avoid missing each other in the darkness.  An obliging young man at Enterprise allowed us to leave our car in one of their parking slots and Cynthia and I were  able to get to the arrivals area to meet our friends.  Eventually they arrived and after hugs all round, we made our way to the rental area to get their car…and ours.

Hugs all round

They received a free upgrade to an upgrade which made them very happy, so once we’d popped all their bags into the vehicle, we had a quick run-down of controls and a reminder to them they would be on the right side of the road while driving.  We left the airport in very tricky driving conditions, for the fog had rolled in to add to the darkness.  We were very glad when we arrived at our motel.  Cynthia, Barrie, Pat and I went out for a meal, but Sandra and Dilwyn Byles crashed.  Tomorrow should be a great day around Halifax.  ’Til then, goodnight and God bless.