Nova Scotia

 We had a good night's sleep and woke to shower and get breakfast from the buffet which was well stocked and reasonably priced. After a smooth sailing back to North Sydney we docked around 9.30am and were keen to get off the ferry and begin our 400km drive to Dartmouth. In the ferry we'd been parked at the front of a row of trailers but in front of us were dozens of motor bikes each one chained to the deck to prevent movement. One by one the motorcyclists came back to their bikes and rode off, until they had gone we could go nowhere since we were all packed in tight. You might imagine our frustration that all the bikers went quite quickly...... except the big bike chained up directly in front of us. After about 15 minutes waiting for the biker to return and claim his bike the ferry crew instructed us to stay put and the vehicles behind us all backed up and pulled around us. Eventually we had to back up and drive around the still chained bike. So much for thinking we would disembark quickly, turned out we were about the last!

Ninety minutes later we were back at a coffee stop at Canso Causeway (Port Hawkesbury), the same place we stopped at on the drive east. Nothing here to see that we didn't already see so it was on to Truro where we gassed up before parking at the Canadian Tire store where we had lunch and did a little retail therapy.

We checked into Shubie campground and were set up by 4.40pm, after some laundry it was time for a BBQ.

It was already promising to be another hot day even when we rose in the morning on the 27th July. We decided to head into Halifax, visit the visitor information place and see what we could find. We parked the car downtown in a multi storey car park. Despite following the 'Information' signs we couldn't find the tourist information office so after a little wandering we set off for the citadel. It proved to be quite an uphill walk and the heat didn't make it any easier. Once we arrived we realized we could have driven up and parked at the top! 

HMCS Sackville

Halifax Citadel

Halifax Citadel

Halifax Citadel

Halifax Old Town Clock

Continuing our discovery of Halifax we drove off to find the Titanic cemetery. The cemetery is a regular stop for tourists, especially those coming into Halifax on cruise ships! Fortunately there were no significant numbers of tourists when we were there. The headstones of those buried here are arranged in the shape of a ship's bow. A sombre visit, reading the story of the disaster and those who were lost.

In the shape of the ship's bow..

From the past we decided to go to the port area and chill out over a cuppa. So we headed to Pointe Pleasant park where we anticipated getting some Halifax scenery. We pulled into a parking lot on the northern side of the park but all there was were a lot of trees and some walking trails threading between them. So we decided to try again and moved to the west side of the park where we found another parking lot but the scenery there was no better. After some discussion we moved through an open barrier and finally discovered a decent parking lot near the bay. 

Black Rock Beach

 

From our new spot we were a bit mesmerized watching the dockers loading containers on to a nearby ship. 

If we had done more (some?) research beforehand we may have taken a short walk through the trees behind us to explore Fort Olgilvie.

Finally it was back to the trailer for supper. Not wanting to stay around the trailer all night for a change we decided to head to the Dartmouth waterfront area to see what was there. We were surprised to find a Busker Festival and fun fair in full swing with a corresponding crowd to go with it.

Bridge from Dartmouth to Halifax

You didn't think he was dead did you?