Way back in mid-July, I was in Nova Scotia visiting family in the countryside, and I spent some time in Halifax as well. I explored town a bit on my own, because in past years I’ve always been too young or too busy to really look around. When I wasn’t walking, I was usually sitting in a cafe on Spring Garden Road, a main street in central Halifax.

The Tall Ships were in this year, so I went down to the harbour and had a look at them.

Georges Island, seen from the shore, once housed Acadiens being processed for deportation.

I was quite curious to find out what this little boat was up to, and why two people were sleeping on it. It was 7:23am so I can understand why they were asleep, but wasn’t sure why they were sleeping on their boat instead of somewhere a bit more comfortable or warm. What I didn’t know was that they had only arrived from Boston at 1am and were about to cross the Atlantic, successfully, setting several Guinness World Records.

Many people forget that basketball was invented by a Canadian. This ship has a basketball player on the front. No, that is not a globe he’s holding, it’s a basketball.

The HMCS Sackville, an old WWII corvette from the Canadian Navy, including artwork illustrating its supposed prowess at hunting German U-boats:

The Bluenose II, a replica of the once-fastest schooner in the world, the Bluenose, which is featured on the Canadian 10-cent coin:

More boats:

My dad’s cousin’s husband built Theodore Tugboat’s hat:

Not a boat:

My sister’s boyfriend Matt picked me up in the afternoon to drive back to the countryside, and on our way we stopped for a coffee. While I may not be the number one car parking expert in the world, I’m relatively certain that this driver is worse than me. Partly occupying 4 spots with one car and it’s not even a Hummer:

Grandma is a terrific baker, and she never seems to stop cooking. These bread rolls were amazing!

On the 19th, before leaving Nova Scotia with Jos and Matt:

Next up: Roadtrip to Québec!

After arriving in East Ship Harbour on my bicycle, worn out from the long days of cycling in the summer heat with far too many hills for someone of my fitness level, I was glad to relax for two weeks and enjoy my grandmother’s cooking in the company of my uncle John, my sisters Lisa and Jos, and Jos’s boyfriend Matt.

John, me, and Lisa in the oceanside yard:

Grandma and Jos:

Matt:

Grandma is a terrific baker. She definitely helped me regain the weight lost on my cycle trip!

I got to be lazy the whole two weeks I was visiting, as John took care of all the mowing and other hard manual work so that we could relax.

The beautiful view looking East from the house:

On the 8th, us four younger ones drove into Halifax for a few hours to take care of some practical stuff that couldn’t easily be done in the countryside. The highway is windy and hilly, but it only takes about 1 hour 20 mins by car to do what I did in a day’s worth of cycling…

While I sat in a coffee shop using the high speed internet, a big tank type thing rolled past, as if the War Measures Act had been implemented!

Turns out it’s part of a small daily parade put on by the military during peak tourist season…

I didn’t speak to this fellow coffee drinker, but I bet he would have had something interesting to tell me. I like his bow-tie.

The girls did some laundry at a laundromat, and I caught up to them after printing a few photos elsewhere. The laundromat has a strange rule against drinking juice, pop, or coffee. They only allow people to drink containers for some reason…

In the afternoon we headed back out of town past the more industrialised parts of the harbour and across the bridge to hit the highway home:

The next day, we visited a couple of old friends a few miles down the road. They’ve got two dogs, really cute little things! The first one can’t sit still, jumps all over the place, runs in circles, and is generally just hilarious to watch. The other is a lot better behaved and perhaps more photogenic.

As we arrived home after our visit, the sun was setting behind the power lines, and we were soon having our supper and preparing for a quiet evening at home.