Coddiwomple Stardate 180822

Tuesday 31^st July, after paying our $47 toll we left Prince Edward Island and headed for Halifax Nova Scotia. We stopped at an Irving’s Gas Station at Truro for a rest. In the shop I was faced with a huge array of self-serve coffee machines. Had no idea which machine to use or what type of coffee to make. A gentleman saw my predicament and showed me the best way to make a very strong coffee. You take the largest cup add 2 x shots of espresso then 1 x dark roast then add your cream. He said it was far better than Starbucks and a lot cheaper. When I went to pay for it the same gentleman had already payed for my coffee.

When we arrived in Halifax at our house sit we quickly unpacked the car to take it back to the rental company. They would have dropped us where we wanted to go but I decided we should walk back the 8.5km. It was a warm day but once we moved away from the main road it was a pleasant walk back through nice leafy suburbs.

Wednesday, I wanted to check out the area we were staying in. It is only a 600m walk down to Northwest Arm which is an inlet from the ocean. Sharon and I have swum here twice. We found out later that up until 2012 Northwest Arm was used as a sewage outlet. There is a great little walk on the edge of the seawall that passes Memorial Tower that was opened in 1912 to commemorate 150 years of representative government in Nova Scotia. It is opened to the public and when climbed has great views over Halifax. I continued along the seawall before turning up into the forest area and exiting out at frog pond which backs onto the house we are staying in. As the name implies there is plenty of frogs, birds, angry squirrels, deer and coyotes. The pond freezes over in winter and is used for ice skating and to play ice hockey.

The closest shops to us are 2km away. We have walked there but fortunately we have had the use of a car. It is a small Honda Fit Standard. Standard means manual. All the cars we have hired we have always gone for the auto option simply because there is less to worry about when driving on a different side of the road. It has not been as hard as we imagined driving on the opposite side of the road but driving a manual and changing gears using your right hand just feels very strange. People all around the world always believe their side of the road is the correct side. It is what you get use to. My debate is most of the world is right handed so why would you want to remove a hand that has the most control of the vehicle.

Every country we drive in has different road rules. Our hardest to get use to in the USA and Nova Scotia is legally you can turn right on a red light and 4-way stop signs. The turn right rule only applies to USA and Nova Scotia the remainder of Canada is you must stop. We are getting use to the 4 way stop signs and once you understand this rule it makes sense and allows the traffic to flow better. In Australia you only have maximum of two stop signs. After stopping when the traffic is clear you proceed. If you are turning right, you give way to everyone which can take time on a busy intersection. A 4-way stop sign means everyone must stop. The first person too arrive has right of way regardless in which direction they intend to take. When you all arrive at the same time usually people wave you through. I have mentioned before travelling in the National Parks in the US is like travelling in constant peak hour traffic. At a 4-way stop sign intersection in Yellowstone NP also included turn lanes. This meant in a very congested intersection you had 8 vehicles arriving at the same time to go in all directions. It created a lot of car horns and total confusion. It was entertaining to watch though.

Where we are living in the community of Jollimore we would only be 2km away from the Halifax city centre. Unfortunately, we would have to swim across Northwest Arm. To avoid getting wet we have been driving to the shops and taking the bus to get us into the city. We have a bus stop 300m away, it only runs every 1 hr. The one near the shopping centre is every 10 mins. We have taken the bus a few times. We must walk across a four-lane highway to reach the bus stop. We have crossed half way and stopped on the island and vehicles have stopped for us to cross the road. Sharon and I just cannot get use to how much respect drivers have for pedestrians over here. Even in the USA.

When we go into the city I always look for different things to do. We have gone to their public gardens that were established in 1867 and on 16 acres of land. They are a very beautiful and well-maintained garden. We have walked Halifax timber boardwalk which is 3km long. It has three museums plenty of shops bars, restaurants, historical information and Sharon’s favourite wooden chairs. We have been to the grave sites of the bodies recovered from the Titanic back in 1912. There are 135 gravesites at Fairview Lawn Cemetery and are laid out in the shape of a ship’s hull. Most have names of the victims but some have never been identified. Most gravestones were payed for by the White Star line the company that owned the Titanic. The larger ones were payed for by friends or relatives. Two stood out for me. One was a large gravestone for a young man from NSW Australia payed for by his parents the other one was paid for by Joseph Bruce Ismay in memory of Earnest Edward Samuel Freeman. Freeman was an assistant to Ismay and stayed on the ship helping passengers. His body was recovered and buried at this cemetery. Ismay was the highest-ranking White Star official to survive the sinking of Titanic. He was portrayed in the movie Titanic as the person who grabbed a child and boarded a life boat with other women and children still on the deck which of course was a Hollywood take on the true history. He had been helping women and children on to the life boats. The last one was being lowered there were no other passengers on that deck and one space left on the boat. He jumped down into the life boat 20 mins before she sank. History turned him into a coward. We have been to the citadel which is an old fort originally built in 1749 and has had three major reconstructions over the years to strengthen it against attack.

I am currently re-reading a novel by Wilbur Smith called “The Angels Weep” it is set in the late 19^th century. He writes about Gatling guns & Maxim machine guns. I realise with all the military museums I have seen I have never seen a Gatling Gun. To my surprise they had a very rare Gatling gun on display at the citadel and a Maxim machine gun. Even though the Gatling is the first ever mass killing machine it was a magnificently presented weapon in its highly polished brass finish. There was an exhibit at the Citadel about the 100^th commemoration of the battle of Vimy Ridge in France during 1917. There was a re-creation of the trenches in France and many young volunteers in period uniforms explaining the history. It was a great feeling having young people in their early 20’s showing so much interest about Canada's military history.

Having use of the car has allowed us to explore more of the Halifax area. 6km down the road is the York Redoubt. Built in 1793 to protect Halifax Harbour and has been a National Heritage site since 1962. There are a few buildings in good condition and 6 well maintained 9.62” breech loading guns.

I went to the Halifax Maritime Museum Sharon wasn’t interested but I enjoyed the many models built and restored by local volunteers at the museum. There are many microbrewery bars in Halifax and has been a great place to explore over the past three weeks. We have been walking a lot to try and get fit again to prepare us for when we reach Scotland. One of the walks we did the other day was to walk down to Deadmans Island and Regatta Point. Deadmans Island is where the British buried American POW's who died in the war of 1812 trying to push out the British from North America. Out of the 8000 prisoners on Melville Island which is next to Deadman's island nearly 200 are buried here. A small area of the island is still accessible to the public with many information boards to read. The rest of the island which is attached to the mainland has housing on it. All I can think of is The Amityville Horror. Regatta Point is another pleasant walk along the end of  Northwest Arm. Here there is a memorial to the 2000 people who died and 9000 people injured on December 6th 1917. This was the day two ships the SS Mont Blanc carrying munitions to France and the SS Imo collided in Halifax harbour and set of the largest man made explosion ever recorded in history apart from nuclear weapons. At this memorial is where the anchor landed from the Mont Blanc 3.8km away from the explosion.

The house we are staying in is on the market. We have met the owner Sheena and she lives not far down the road. We have been helping her in cleaning up around the garden and have become very fond of her. Sheena has had us around for diner and introduced us to some of her friends who have also done plenty of travelling and hiking. Sheena also invited us out to Salty’s Restaurant with her and more friends. Then to listen to Karen Myatt play tribute to Julie London a blues singer. This was at the Halifax Distillery Co.

Sunday 19th we were invited to go sailing with Sheena on a friends yacht. Sharon wasn't to keen she was worried about being sea sick. I went along. There were five of us and the owner of the yacht Graham. The yacht was built in the 1960's and a well loved family yacht. We left the Armadale Yacht Club around 2.00pm with 18km/h winds expected. The yacht club is on Melville Island towards the end of the Northwest Arm. It also is the historical site of the prison which overlooks Deadman's island. We motored along the Northwest arm and switched to sail once in the main Halifax harbour. We passed Georges Island with another old fort on it and sailed just passed MacDonald bridge before turning back. On the day we left for Prince Edward Island Sharon broke the toll bridge. When we arrived at the toll, the boom gate was up. Sharon dropped the $1 toll in the funnel and proceeded to drive through. There was an alarm and the boom gate came down behind us. By the time we had stopped at McDonalds we looked back at the bridge and no cars had been able to get through that lane. The main port is in Bedford Basin further along from the harbour. Cargo ships have to go under two bridges to reach the basin. When the cargo ships pass under the bridge staff make sure the ships don't crash into the bridge. If they do the bridge is closed immediately to prevent a larger disaster. We saw a few seals and purposes on our voyage. On the way back we sailed near McNabs Island. The 17 km/h winds never arrived and the trip was a very leisurely sail average speed was about 2 knts. Just passed McNabs Island the engine was switched on again to get us back to the yacht club. We were gone for 4.5 hrs and was a great day with good company and beer.

Tuesday night we were invited to John and Jo Anns house who live down the end of the road near Northwest Arm. They are friends of Sheena. There were eight of us for the evening and another great night spent with more new friends and offers of accommodation when we reach the Nederlands.

As I have mentioned before in previous blogs, one of the hardest things of travelling for so long is meeting all these wonderful generous people and then having to say goodbye.

Wednesday and it is time to leave Halifax behind and head to Newfoundland to continue our adventures.