Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Our main impression on driving
to Nova Scotia was that Canada is BIG, and like Australia, everything is spread
out. One our 2 days of driving, there were lots of farmland, forests and
rivers. There were also lots of signs warning of deer, moose and caribou but we
did not see any of them.
On the way we did see the
longest covered bridge in the World in Hartland, New Brunswick. The bridge is
1,282 feet (391 m) long and was originally opened in 1901 and then
covered in 1922. There have been a number of changes including replacing many
of the wooden piers with concrete ones.
Our main stop in Nova Scotia
was Halifax on the Atlantic coast. The city seems to be undergoing a resurgence
with lots of development along the waterfront, walkways, restaurants and housing.
We enjoyed visiting the Halifax Maritime Museum which shows the history of
Halifax as well as having a major exhibition on the Titanic – Halifax was the
closest major port to where to Titanic sank. There are lots of historic boats
and displays but the one that struck us was on the great explosion on December
6th, 1917 in Halifax Harbour.
A French cargo ship ladened with
explosives collided with a Norwegian ship and exploded. The explosion
obliterated all structures within 800 metres including the whole of the
Richmond area. There were 2000 deaths and 9000 injuries. 1630 houses were
completely destroyed and a further 12,000 damaged. Some of the stories were
amazing such as the young girl walking down the street when the explosion
occurred and being carried 500 metres. There were also lots of stories of
heroisms such as the Morse code operator who signalled approaching trains to
stop knowing he would likely die if there was an explosion – he subsequently
was killed in the explosion. The explosion was so large explosive barrels were
carried up to 6 kms.
The most disappointing part f
our visit to Halifax was the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. From their website, it
looked like a great gallery but in reality it is very poor with lots of blank
walls and not very good art, despite there being lots of excellent artists in
Nova Scotia.
If it wasn’t for the permanent exhibition of Maude Lewis, it would
have been a non-event. Maude Lewis is one of Canada’s best known folk artists.
She lived in a one room house which she continually painted and sold her art at
the roadside. Remarkably, she suffered from severe arthritis all her life but
sill continued to paint. Her house has been reconstructed in the gallery and
there is a very substantial collection of her works.
The coastline south of Halifax
is very scenic. Peggy’s Cove is one of the most visited places in Canada. It’s
a small fishing village with a lighthouse but it’s the unique rocky landscape
that is the most fascinating. Initially, the rocks were formed by molten lava
and then the area was covered by glaciers – the boulders are 415 million years
old but who is counting.From there we drove to
Lunenburg which is a UNESCO listed village. OK, some of the houses were
historic and wonderfully restored but how can a place be listed when every
street is dominated by telegraph poles covered with lines and cables, seriously
it looked like a developing country – very disappointing and UNESCO should
revisit and make them lay the cables underground!!! We thought some of the other
places such as Mahone Bay and Chester were much prettier. The coastline is
picture book stuff with continual bays, inlets, islands and great houses
overlooking the ocean.
We had three nights in Halifax
and went to three excellent restaurants, the Five Fishermen and the Argyle
Grill for dinner and The Bicycle Thief for light lunch during our walk on the
waterfront – all had good food and great atmosphere.
Next on our way into the
United States.
2022-05-19