Day 10: A day out from the port of Halifax,
Nova Scotia
|
|
A day-long excursion, visiting
the Citadel, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Peggy's
Cove and Fairview Cemetery; Lunch at Hubbards.
|
|
|
| |
Thursday 10th October 2024
|
|
|
After sailing all day
yesterday, we were happy to wake up and see that we were
entering the port of Halifax. Geoff was even happier to
know that we would not have to go ashore using a zodiac.
Before the holiday, we were advised that the port didn't
have a docking location for our ship today, but things changed
and a free space was found for us at short notice. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Another bonus - dry weather
was forecast with plenty of sunshine too, although it wasn't
too warm. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Looking back, we realised
how far we would have had to sail on a zodiac if a docking
location had not been found for us. |
|
|
| |
Our location looked
more like a cargo terminal than a passenger cruise terminal,
but we weren't complaining, because the coaches we were
using today were parked at the bottom of the gangway. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
We travelled 160km today.
Starting from the port, we drove a short distance into the
city and up to the Halifax Citadel for our first stop. From
there we drove down to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
We then drove out of the city to Hubbards and onto the Shore
Club for lunch. Returning part of the way, we then turned
and followed the coastal road on the eastern side of St
Margarets Bay to Peggy's Cove where we stopped again. We
returned to the city along a very scenic route and visited
the Fairview Lawn Cemetery before returning to the ship
late in the afternoon. |
|
|
| |
Setting off at 9:00am,
we drove through a fairly quiet part of the city... |
|
|
| |
...which seemed very
welcoming to all... |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Before visiting the site,
we admired the views. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
The museum focuses on
Nova Scotia's maritime heritage with an emphasis on small
craft and the massive allied World War II convoys assembled
in the inner Halifax harbour. There is also a permanent
exhibition called "Titanic - the unsinkable ship and
Halifax". We were given plenty of time to look around. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Geoff successfully sent
a message using Morse code... |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
...and even got a certificate
to prove it! |
|
|
| |
The view from the outdoor
viewing area of the museum. Our ship was docked some way
to the right. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
There was an excellent
exhibition about the horrors of the Halifax
Explosion in 1917. |
|
|
| |
It was a most welcome
surprise to meet somebody we knew in the museum, who wasn't
travelling on the ship with us. We had sailed with Fiona
on two previous cruises ("Natural Wonders of the British
Isles" in 2021 and "Macaronesia to Iberia and
beyond" in 2022) when she was one of the onboard team
members, but this time she happened to be here on a private
holiday. |
|
|
| |
| After the very interesting visit to the museum,
it was back on the coach for an hour long journey out of the
city towards the small community of Hubbards,
where we were expected at the Shore Club for a lobster lunch. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Before sampling the
""World Famous" lobsters, we were given a
demonstration of how they are prepared. |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Before and during lunch,
we were given more information about the lobster industry. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Our team, including
(l-r) Natalie, Sue, Elaine and Ros (with her head bowed).
The two ladies on the right were local guides. |
|
|
| |
The task of tackling
our lobsters seemed rather daunting. We managed somehow
and what we ate was delicious, but we didn't have the skills
to eat every morsel! |
|
|
| |
Blueberry shortcake for
dessert! |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
After lunch, we followed
the coastal road on the eastern side of St. Margarets Bay
towards Peggy's Cove. En-route, we passed the memorial to
the 229 people who died on Swissair
Flight 111 when the plane crashed near here in 1998. |
|
|
|
| |
Shortly afterwards,
we arrived at Peggy's
Cove, one of the loveliest maritime villages in Nova
Scotia. It is an active residential village with charming
multi-coloured homes, wonderful views and a well known lighthouse
surrounded by rocks, which are good to walk on and explore. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
The village also caters
for coachloads of tourists like us and has all the usual
things that tourists like... a restaurant, a souvenir shop
etc. They didn't make any money out of us today! |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
After exploring the
village thoroughly and taking a few too many photos, it
was time to board the coach once again and to take a (different)
scenic route back towards Halifax. This is a map we were
given of the Peggy's Cove region. |
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Our last stop before
returning to the ship was at the Fairview
Lawn Cemetery, where over a hundred Titanic victims
are buried. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
The guest lecturer from
our ship gave us some more information. A wreath was also
laid on behalf of us all. |
|
|
| |
It was time to return
to the ship after our long yet interesting full day excursion. |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Unlike embarking in
the rain at Summerside, PEI two days ago, we were all well
prepared today, with passports on hand to show to the local
officials! |
|
|
| |
Our lovely cruise director
Reba, with whom we had sailed twice before, greeted us all
warmly and then asked us all individually if we could go
straight to the lecture theatre for a special announcement.
What could be so important, we wondered? |
|
|
| |
We were all soon to discover why we had
been invited to the lecture theatre. The news was not
good and the full explanation is on the right but it went
something like this...
Because of a "clerical error",
our ship had been denied entry into United States waters
and despite strenuous efforts to get the decision overturned,
including via the French Embassy in Washington (our ship
being French owned) the decision was firm. As a consequence,
the planned day at sea tomorrow would be spent sailing
to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada instead of sailing
towards our intended destination of Portland, Maine, USA.
Furthermore, we would have to disembark in Saint John
and spend a night in a local hotel to await a charter
flight to take us directly to Boston the following day.
We were disappointed, to say the least, but we quickly
recovered and felt happy that we didn't have to do anything
more than follow instructions!
|
|
|
| |
|
|
