Destination Christmas

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As the semester wound down and people began to relax after the stress of exams it soon became clear as reality set in that most of us would be saying goodbye to each other. So for a few days we all did our best to ignore the inevitable and have fun (read drinking) before having to say our farewells. I was definitely lucky to have had such an amazing group of friends over the first semester here at Mcgill University in Montreal.

It was with a certain amount of relief then that Jacqui and I were on our own and getting away from Montreal. We were off to Nova Scotia to visit one of her friends, Halina. We left on the train at about 18:30 on what would prove to be a pretty long journey. The train ended up taking about 23hrs after being stuck behind a freight train for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, it wasn't too bad though as we just relaxed and hung out with each other. We were met at the airport by Halina and her friend Graeme, whose house we were staying at. When we got to Graeme’s house his dad, Bill, announced

You guys are already one course behind

, this bode well for the next few days as we were fed like kings. This was especially good after a semester of living and eating like a student😊 It began to bode even more well after Bill offered me the choice of one of his delicious home brewed beers or wines. Awesome, both wine and beer were excellent and I enjoyed them to their fullest. After stuffing my face with as much Christmas turkey and duck as I could manage it was time to go to bed and let Father Christmas work his magic!

Christmas Day
With this being the first Christmas away from my family it was definitely nice to be in a family orientated atmosphere with a Christmas tree, presents and an over-excited puppy going mad in the wrapping paper. Luckily my mum had sent me a stocking before I had left so I had some pressies to open. I think mum must have stripped the shelves bare at the “Australiana” stores in Perth as everything had an Aussie flag on it😊 Afterwards me and Jacqui went for a walk with Debbie, Graeme’s mum, in the woods around their house with their two beautiful dogs. It was so relaxing in amongst the trees; it was strangely quiet though as there were no birds, I presume that they had mostly migrated south for the winter.

Boxing Day
Today we went to see what is purported to be the world’s most photographed light house at Peggy’s Cove, a small fishing village on the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia. The town itself is lovely with some very old houses and a landscape dominated by large granite outcroppings. Along with the rain, wind and cold it seemed slightly grey but I could imagine with the sun out and a warm breeze blowing that the entire area would be very beautiful. Just as I guessed the area is a massive tourist trap during the summer months with coaches lined up to drive through the town.

We then went and spent the rest of the day in Halifax with some of Halina’s friends. However being Boxing Day everything in Halifax was shut making it impossible to buy beer, or so we thought. Fortunately one place stood above the rest, a store that realised people need beer and they need it cold. Capitalising on this simple business plan and with a catchy and clever name (see photo) they were making a killing when all others were shut!

Halifax
Halifax is easily the biggest city in Nova Scotia and yet it still seemed very quiet, especially on the day when all the Christmas sales were on. We only spent the afternoon there yet I felt I had seen all it had to offer. We wandered around the harbour which is one of the deepest and largest in the world, unfortunately all the tours and boat cruises were closed for the season which was probably why the city seemed so quiet. Apart from the harbour and the nice little boutique shops in town Halifax didn’t seem to have much to offer to the backpacker student traveller type.

If we had had some more time in Nova Scotia I would have loved to have hired a car and gone and seen some of the stunning Atlantic Coast scenery but unfortunately that may have to wait till next time.

Next up Boston

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Photos

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse
Supposedly the world's most photographed lighthouse.

The Girls
Halina and Jacqui

Theodore Tugboat
Tugboat in Halifax Harbour of children's book fame.

Comments

[baz]

hey dan
keep the blogs coming bro, they are good. take it easy

[mr burns]

Man, that lightouse sucks...

[sashi]

bubbling brooks shot
owns. your pics are uber artsy, i like uberly. im with mr burns though, that lighthouse does suck