Farewell to Nova Scotia

    On May 31, with packed trailer in tow, we said our goodbyes to Nova Scotia and headed west to Fredericton New Brunswick. The year has gone fast and we have experienced many new things and developed great friendships.

     Here is a quick look back at this year's activities including some that we did not write a blog post about.

Land and Sea:

Here we are posing in our red chairs in our backyard.
The Little Sackville River is behind us.
On the other side of the river is a walking trail.

Getting "Bluenosed".

On a boat tour of the Tusket Islands, we participated in a ceremony to

to become a "bluenoser". We even got a certificate. So official!

A perfect location to sit and relax
amongst the trees.

Boats, lobster traps and the sea

A lovely evening looking out to sea from a camp site.

Stones and....

sand and....

Water.

     History:

Two of four water babies riding on sea serpents which is part of the
Victoria Jubilee Fountain in the Halifax Spring Gardens. Chubby
little things! The fountain was installed in 1897 to mark Queen
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

While in Guelph, Ontario during the fall of 2017 and winter of 2018, we learned about Viola Desmond and her contribution to civil rights. She grew up in Nova Scotia and is buried
in a Halifax cemetery. One day, we went to find it. I was so surprised
at the small size of the grave-site marker. See post here
Also read more about Voila Desmond.

This impressive 10-foot tall bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill has
been gracing the front lawn of the Spring Garden Road Memorial
Library in Halifax since 1980. Created by sculptor Oscar Nemon
and based on a photograph taken of Churchill when he visited Halifax
in  September 1943. The story goes that after attending the first Quebec
Conference, Winston Churchill and his family arrived in Halifax to return
to England but it was a secret. He visited various locations in the city such
as the Citadel and was seen by a few. It was not until a week later that his
visit appeared in the Halifax Herald because the visit was top secret until the
party had safely returned to Downing Street in England.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has an exhibit on the Halifax explosion.
The date was December 6, 1917 but what was the time? This clocked stopped
at the exact time of the explosion: 09.06 or was it? To hear more about how the
 exact time has been determined click here.

When the Titanic sank, the survivors were brought to Halifax. Why, when
the location of the sinking was closer to Newfoundland? It was because
the offices of the White Star Line were located in Halifax. A lot of the memorabilia
from the ship is displayed at The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. The picture
 above shows an actual deck chair from the Titanic. There are also pieces of the
famous staircase, dishes, menus and passenger items on display. Although this exhibit
has more to show, the exhibit in St. John's, Newfoundland tells the story better. 

     The beautiful towns:

This is one example of a pretty town.  Lunenberg is
 the home harbour of the Bluenose Schooner.

     The animals:

One sunny day we came across some water with hundreds of ducks gathered together.

Ducks spilling over onto the road.

Bev pretending to feed the ducks but they were not fooled.

A deer eating in our front yard.

A deer passing by as we sat in our car waiting to pick up someone.

A fox walking down someone's driveway.

Sheep at Ross Farm.

Who could forget the 5 cats and 3 kittens that we fostered
over the winter for the SPCA? Each group of cats were
different and we just loved looking after them.

     Personal Development:

Bev facing her fears.

Looking good!

Taking photos is a big part of our trips.

Al examining the sea creatures that live under the surface.
We took a two-hour guided tour of the rocks at low tide to learn
about mussels, seaweed, crabs and other small sea creatures.
We love to learn new things all the time.

Al sang with the Halifax Harmonizers which is a Barbershop Chorus.
Each week he rehearsed with them and throughout the year he performed
in several concerts and smaller shows both in the chorus and in a quartet.
This photo is of the Chorus management team in which Al was a member-at-large.

Bev showing off with her trainer Ken, at GoodLife.

Bev learning how to spin and card wool at a wool mill.

Before we moved to Nova Scotia, we started a Euchre Meetup group
online. When we arrived, we had enough members to have a good round of
 euchre. We played once a month. Most of the people were either from Ontario
or lived in Ontario for a portion of time. This is some of the members at
our last euchre night and BBQ in May. The photo was taken in our back yard.

Here we are with our neighbours from the three-unit house. They were very kind and
supportive in many ways. Lots of food swapping! Photo taken in front of the
river in our back yard.

     So, farewell to Nova Scotia and all the people we have met. We had a wonderful time experiencing all that the province has to offer and much more.

A friend of Bev's painted this sign for us. It hangs in our trailer.
Thanks Wanda!

Now onto YEAR 4 in New Brunswick

     Click here to hear what the Irish Rovers thought about Nova Scotia.