Halifax

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Dramas on bus - Got off at Montreal to find the BIGGEST, most unorganised line ever. People everywhere. I lined up, but it looked like the bus was going to overfill, and me and a couple of guys I was talking to in the line were hoping it would, so that we could all get seats to ourselves and stretch out. I get to the front of the line, and am told that I have to go back to the information booth, because my pass isn’t good for this busline, I need an actual ticket. Frickety. So I go and line up for about 10 minutes there, all the while getting edgy about missing my bus and having to wait 5 hours for the next one. I get to the front and the lady tells me that I have to go to the ticket booth, not the information booth. Yet another line, awesome! So finally I get my tickets and we’re off! Turns out that they oversold the bus twice, and had to get a third bus. You know what that means? Seats to ourselves! Luxurious! This bus was a newer bus, with power points and tray tables and leather seats. The leather seats weren’t the most comfortable for sleeping, but you get that. I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City on my laptop, just cause I could plug it in and not worry about draining the battery. Eventually I went to sleep though.
I had a seat to myself for most of the journey to Halifax, only had to share for some portions, so it wasn’t too bad!

I got to Halifax at about 6:30, and walked to my hostel which was only down the road. I needed a shower and I needed food. Now came the time to decide which was more important. I went with food, because I’d only eaten a bagel in 24 hours, and didn’t smell THAT bad. I had a wog shower and was off to the supermarket. Oh yes, I went cheap this time and decided to buy bread and frozen meals, instead of spending $30 on food a day. I didn’t do much that night, just some laundry and hung around.. I was too buggared to do anything else. The first lady I met in my room was from Canada and was about 65.. She told me my accent didn’t sound Australian enough. I get that quite a bit, and I’m not sure why. Gonna have to occa it up a bit I think! Crikey! Strewth! Stone the crows! Channel Alf Stewart a little and I’m sure I’ll be right!

The next morning I went on a free bus tour. I was researching Hop on Hop off tours, and there was a forum that said not to bother with them, and to try Fred the bus. The city of Halifax puts on a free tourist bus, much like our City Circle Tram in Melbourne, which goes around to all the popular tourist destinations. Score! SO I did the tour (which takes a whole 40 minutes, as opposed to the 1.5-2 hrs other buses usually take. Halifax is small!) then got off at the Citadel. The Citadel is an old war fort, built into a hill, so that the enemies couldn’t see it easily. All the staff dress in old costumes, kilts and boots and hats, must get so hot in them! They have bagpipe players and also set a cannon off everyday at noon. I, of course, got there at 12:05, so had just missed it. They give you free tours of the place, and yeah, it was pretty cool.
The tour guide on the bus had said that a cheap way to cruise the harbour was to get the ferry - $2! Can’t beat that, so off I went. There were other cruises, including the opportunity to ride Theodore Tugboat. I have never heard of Theodore Tugboat (mum, how is this possible?!) so didn’t bother. I would possibly look like a douche going on there with all the kids and grandparents, which wouldn’t bother me if I actually knew who he was. Plus it was $20. Rip!

So I took the ferry across, and wanted to just come right back. I asked the man at the ticket booth if there was much to do on the other side, to which he answered “ I don’t know, you’ll have to see when you get there”. Why be so rude and cryptic, old man? I decided that there wasn’t much to do on the other side from what I could see, so decided to just go right back again. I, along with other people, stayed on the boat til an announcement came over that we must get off. So I did. The man told me I’d have to go and line up again. The gates opened and everyone came rushing out, so I thought I’d be sneaky and join them. I walked past the man who had spoken to me earlier, and wasn’t sure if he’d seen me or not. I had cheated the system!
Not so. After I had chosen my seat and everyone was boarded, he came up to me and yelled at me in front of everyone. He asked to see my ticket and told me that it was federal law that they get a count of everyone. I felt like I was in school, getting yelled at like that. Fair enough, I did the wrong thing, but thought he would let me off this time. No, he wanted me to get off the boat, go through the counter and re-board. Le sigh. When I got to the counter the man told me that I had just missed the boat, and would have to wait another 30 minutes. I thought for sure that the man from the boat had told this guy to not let me on, just to teach me a lesson. A hole. But there were people just behind me who were told the same thing, so I think the guy from the boat timed it so that I would just miss it. This just further proves my point that people who work in public transport in Canada must be treated badly, a good 80% of them are pure evil.

The next morning I took Fred to the Citadel again, this time determined to see the cannon being shot. The security guard, a shorter, older, African-French-Canadian man kept talking to me, telling me that I was beautiful and that he’d like to take me anywhere I’d like to go in Halifax. I laughed it off, because he was creeping me out! So they give you a 30 second warning before they shoot the cannon, so you can cover your ears and get ready for it. I screamed, of course.. Very loudly.
I had asked the guy at the hostel which was better out of the Maritime Museum or Pier 21, the Immigration Museum, and he recommended the Maritime Museum. So that’s where I went next. Holy freaking goodness was I bored. I think I’ll have to stay away from museums for a while, I’m just not interested in most of them! This one in particular though, I guess because it was just filled with boats. I did learn about a big explosion in Halifax, when two ships collided. It was the biggest man made explosion until Hiroshima. Also something I wasn’t aware of, but Halifax played a big part in the Titanic disaster, retrieving a lot of the dead bodies, many of which are buried in Halifax. I fell asleep at one stage during one of the movies, that’s how much I enjoyed the Maritime Museum!
I thought I’d check out Halifax’s two malls, ScotiaBank Square and some other one. Both took me less than half an hour to go through. Deary me. I then walked along the harbour and back to the hostel, where I hung out for a while. An old Aussie lady had moved in and taken place of the old Canadian lady. She is the reason that people don’t think I have an accent. She was from Wilson’s Prom and had the thickest accent ever.
Later that evening I decided to walk along the harbour again, and stick around for sunset. I passed this icecream shop, which claimed to have Canada’s best ice cream. I went right past it, but then backtracked when I saw the line, if there’s a line it must be good! I asked the girl in front of me if it was worth the wait, and she said that it most definitely was. We chatted for a while, and then it was time to order. The ice cream was pretty good! I took my icecream to the end of the harbour and sat, waiting for the sun to go down and the lights to come on so I could get some good photos. I had to wait over an hour, didn’t time it too well! So I got some nice photos, and walked back to the city. Rodger had told me about this bar called the Bubbles Mansion. Bubbles is a character on a Canadian TV show called The Trailer Park Boys, and he has his own themed bar/restaurant in Halifax. Tom is a big fan of the show too, so I went to get photos and a souvenir for them both.

The next morning I checked out of the hostel, and boarded a bus bound for Quebec City. Yay!

So, all in all, Halifax was pretty, but I was a little bored. I don’t think that small towns are for me, I need things to keep me occupied!

xx

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Comments

[Vanessa]

hmmm
Wow I think I can sleep well at night now knowing I didn't miss anything by not going to Halifax....lol

[kirsterellie]

Oh totally.. It was pretty and all, but yeah, not a lot going on!!