Cape Breton is well known for its spectacular scenery and hiking trails so thankfully the sun shone, and the rain and snow stopped for the bulk of our stay. It was still cold in places and the large quantity of pack ice around Cape Breton was a constant reminder that summer is still a long way away. The weekend was spent at Elisa's house in Sydney, Cape Breton. We had no trouble filling in our time eating local fresh seafood, enjoying Cape Breton music, hiking and the weather was even warm enough for a picnic at the beach. Newfoundland was a [View Full Entry]

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The trip from Halifax to Peggy’s Cove should only take 45 minutes but this was much longer as it included many stops at the overabundant fishing villages along the way. And yes, it is still snowing! At Peggy’s cove Ron, Julie, Charlene and I climbed around the rocks in front of the picturesque fishing village’s famous lighthouse. The population is only 60 and there is also a 100 foot long granite sculpture telling the tale of Peggy and the Cove. It’s hard to believe how busy it becomes in the summer as many tourist buses frequent the Cove. Although the snow [View Full Entry]

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It is officially Spring in less than a week but it is still winter in Halifax. As I write this, it is persistently snowing outside and the outlook for the rest of week will be more of the same. It has been a long snowy winter in Halifax with the first snow storm 1st December and I’m sure I haven’t seen the last. The sidewalk becomes a mess of slush and water as the snowfall moves to freezing rain then rain and back to snowfall. I am pleased I am in an apartment block who organises snow removal. Other residential poperty [View Full Entry]

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Happy New Year from the Northern Hemisphere! My holidays were spent in New York and Boston and it seemed like one huge adventure just to get there. Canadians don’t really think twice to travel for days on end to get their destination. So 22 hours by bus is no great deal by Canadian standard. My main problem was the bus system which does not reserve seats even if you have a ticket. This meant I turned at the Halifax bus station 6.30am for a bus scheduled to leave at 7.15am. I was very pleased to be the first there and guaranteed [View Full Entry]

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It’s been over a month since I last updated you all. I have been in Halifax for the entire time and it only took a matter of hours to get work at Saint Mary’s University. Halifax is a real student city as there are 5 universities, but not as large as back home. Saint Mary’s has around 6,000 students and is the oldest in Halifax. It seems strange being back at university but nice to be the one handing back exams instead of sitting them! Here are a few highlights from the last month or so: The night life: many thanks [View Full Entry]

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The Salty Bear tour consists all the hot spots around Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and Prince Edward Island. It is a 6 day tour and the group was very large as it was the last one for the year. We all piled into a van which we could only just fit into and all our luggage was stored on the roof covered in a plastic tarp. There were 14 of us and only 4 males if you include Matt, our tour guide. We headed over to Cape Breton Island first. The hostel was only used for Salty Bear tours and [View Full Entry]

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I have fallen in love with Quebec City. Quebec was founded in 1608 and it is preparing for its 400th anniversary next year, which it will host events every day of the year. Vieux-Quebec is a world heritage site and is 95% French speaking. Nearly 9 million tourists visit Quebec every year and I can see why its won many awards and been voted as one of the top tourist destinations in the Americas. Vieux-Quebec (old Quebec) is right on our doorstep from the hostel. There are many quaint and charming streets with shops and restaurants all lined up next to [View Full Entry]

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Dad left me in Montreal fully equipped. The hostel Cielle and I were staying in had a bar so alcohol was prohibited if brought in from outside. Dad was none the wiser and walked straight in to our dorm with a nice bottle of red wine so Cielle and I had a lovely evening with a few wines! Thanks dad for smuggling it into our dorm!! Cielle and I took part of the last Moose Tour of the year. As always woman far outnumber men, this time there were 3 males out of 12 of us. Our tour guide, Homer, was [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog and a few of you have wanted an update so hopefully it won’t be too long. Firstly, I want to say thank you to every one at Meloche Monnex and I’ve included a few photos of Bernie (the big boss) and Athena and Neil. I had a wonderful time at Meloche Monnex and I keep reflecting how enjoyable it was. On my last day at work we had a filling lunch which continued as soon as we got back to the office as Neil and Athena had prepared Pumpkin Pie and Strawberry [View Full Entry]

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You never realize how much you take the comforts of home for granted until you are away from it for an extended time. I can’t express how happy I was to be at Grant and Val’s in Edmonton. I could sleep without worrying about someone taking me things, I didn’t have to stress about being disturbed by others in a hostel during the night, about trying to get to the shower early so it was clean, …all the joys of traveling. No, here I was at Edmonton to spend time in Alberta with Grant, Val, Emily and Hannah (and Cielle) and [View Full Entry]

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