Bras D’or to Halifax, Nova Scotia – 2 September 2023
Antigonish, NS – Sept 2, 2023
A 2.5 hour drive to Antigonish to Whidden campground which we had stayed in previously. Again, the campground was extremely crowded with lots of young children. Weather was holding nicely and we were able to enjoy sitting outside the RV without bugs. In fact, it got so hot we ended up going inside.
That evening we ordered some lebanese food and just settled in to watch a bit of TV.
Halifax, NS – Sept 3, 2023
Another 2.5 hour drive to Halifax. Passed through some lovely towns on the way which were at the entrance to the Cabot Trail. Im looking forward to returning there in a couple of weeks.
Once we had set up we went to find the Apple store so we could get my computer in for repairs. Hopefully 3 weeks is enough time to replace the screen, its so difficult sharing a computer right now. As it was, Apple were unwilling to do a backup before accepting my machine so we had to go and buy a larger external drive to do it ourselves. We also purchased a couple of hiking sticks, which Im quite keen to try out. They are retractable so shouldn’t take up much room.
Back at the RV I started the mammoth task of emptying cupboards in preparation for Lucy and Frans’s visit. I filled 4 totes and still had more stuff to store. We are going to be leaving the totes and some of our other heavy stuff at Venetia’s house in Halifax while we have both of the girls here, which will help to lessen the weight that we have to tow. Venetia is Frans’s sister in law. Tomorrow is a big clean.
I woke up 6.15 the following morning thinking of everything I had to do and got a text from Venetia saying that Frans’s flight was delayed by a few hours and she had missed her connecting flight. Now we wait and see for how long. Shortly after that I got a text from Lucy saying she had, had a detailed search at the airport in Victoria when they found the washguns she was carrying for me and also her diabetic supplies.
So much for plans. We had booked 4 days in Halifax with plenty to explore in the area. Lucy eventually arrived on time, but Frans arrived around 6.00 pm the following day. We ended up going to Venetia and Marcelle that evening for supper and off loading all our stuff. Frans was quite tired so we left her at Venetia for the evening and collected her the following day at lunch time. It was our last day in Halifax so we tried to catch up with some sight seeing. First we went to the Fairview cemetery to look at the graves of about 150 people who died as a result of the sinking of the Titanic. There were rows of the same size headstone etched with the date and name of the victim. Some stones were only marked with the date and no name. The stones were organized in the shape of the hull of a ship.
After the cemetery we took a drive to the Citidel, which stood at the top of Citidel hill overlooking the Halifax harbour. During WW1 it served as solider barracks and a command center for Halifax harbour defences and remained as temporary barracks for troops in WW11. The fort was laid out in a distinctive star shape typical of many 19th century forts built by the British military with muskets stationed at every angle of its stout walls and large cannons lining its ramparts.
The present Citidel which was completed in 1856 is the fourth in a series of forts to sit atop Citiadel Hill. It is called Fort George, after Britain’s King George II.
The 78th Highlanders dressed in the same uniforms used in the mid 1800’s guard the Citidel’s entrance and conduct marching and band drills on the parade grounds. There is an extensive military museum ion the property with exhibits from WW1 right through to the Afghanistan war.
After the Citidel, we took a drive downtown to the Halifax waterfront where we enjoyed a nice coffee and Frans shared her first Poutine with Lucy. Then the girls walked along the wharf and took in the sights while Derek popped into the maritime museum for a quick look.
