Prelude
Atlantic-Canada is pretty well known for it's unique landscape, lifestyle, people, food & culture. I was trying to come up with a travel plan for summer, & finally ended up with Canadian East coast exploration. When I tell people that I am an avid traveller, sometimes they ask me how many countries I have travelled so far. Actually, I haven't got a chance to visit other countries apart from Canada (& of course my home country India). The fact is that, I am trying to explore the Canadian provinces as much as possible till I am here. I think this huge country has so many things to offer, I should explore those first...
Whatever. Initially I was in a conflict in deciding between East coast (Atlantic side) & West coast (Pacific side - Vancouver area). Then fortunately I got to do some works at Halifax & didn't have any other choice :) Chopped out a 10 days plan to explore the harbor city Halifax in the province of Nova Scotia & then fly to the beautiful city of St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador. Another solo journey starts... :)
Halifax is the capital city of the province Nova Scotia, situated at the Atlantic coast of Eastern Canada. A small but beautiful town, the closest city from the sinking point of the Titanic. Some people make joke that, Halifax is so small that if you stay there for a few days, you will see the same people over & over again. Most of the stuffs you would like to see in Halifax are in downtown area & you can easily explore by walking. However, if you want to go out of the city, I don't think you will get a public transport.
It took few hours to fly from London (Ontario)->Toronto->Halifax. One bad thing about domestic flight is that, they don't allow any check-in luggage (you have to pay for it). I had to pack everything in my laptop backpack. My itineraries: few cash, credit & debit cards, two sets of shirts & pants, a bed-sheet, a towel, cap, water-bottle, moisturiser cream, some basic medicines, my laptop, camera, charger, diary, a book ('Five Days in Paris' by Danielle Steel) & few chocolate bars... I am good to go :)
My flight landed at Halifax in the afternoon on 2nd June, 2015. It was a rainy day (which I really hate!). As I had some works to do for first few days, I didn't care about the weather. My actual exploration started after a few days & by that time the weather got improved :)
I had planned to explore the city in 2-3 days by walking. As usual, I was travelling without a cell phone, GPS system & totally relied on my google map print outs.
Stayed in 'Halifax Backpackers'. You can book directly or through hostels.com (which I did). A moderate hostel, cheap. I don't think there are many hostels available in Halifax. The location is okay, you can walk to the harbour area in 15-20 mins. But I won't recommend it as great. They should renovate the rooms. Also, there is no common room as such in the hostel. However, one good thing about the hostel is that, the first floor is a cafe, where you can get snacks & drinks.
Started Halifax exploration from Point Pleasant Park, a forest-type area having nice view of the harbour. You can walk the whole area, but be careful to follow the map unless you want to get lost.
I met a Chinese friend, Meng & we went there together. We saw some old historic stuffs there, including canons. The park is quite big. In summer, you will see lot of local people with their dogs. Some people do paragliding also.
I would recommend to keep a few hours in the afternoon to explore the park. Walking along the shoreline is very pleasant if the weather is sunny. Keep food & water with you, there is no food stall inside the park (I didn't see any).
Alexander Keith's Brewery is one of the oldest breweries (since 1820) in North America & a very famous attraction of historical Halifax.
Located near the lower water street, the brewery offers some traditional historical tours which are worth attending. If you are a big fan of beer, you just can't miss it! They offer group & individual tours. In some tours, the stuffs dress in 18th century traditional style & will show you around the brewery. You will exactly feel like being inside the history!
While testing beers, you can go back to the history & see how the old instruments & techniques were being used in one of the biggest & oldest North American brewery. Spending one evening inside the brewery was a nice experience indeed.
Walking around the beautiful city of Halifax in a sunny day can never be tiring. Actually if you don't explore by walking, you will miss the feel of a city.
Spring-garden road is one of the busiest streets in Halifax, with lot of shops, restaurants, pubs around. You can also visit beautiful campus of St. Mary's & Dalhousie University.
If you like to spend some time alone in a calm place, visit Halifax Public Garden at the heart of the city. Being an avid reader, in the afternoon I simply took a cup of coffee & spent a few hours inside the park just by reading. Quiet atmosphere, families around, & lot of dogs!
Don't miss to have ice-cream from Sugah, just at the entrance of the park. It's locally made & also cheap ($2). You can also get coffee there (little bit expensive).
At the end of the day after spending a few hours at the public garden, I walked towards Citadel, a national historic site in Halifax. Unfortunately it was closing by that time & I couldn't go inside. There is a museum & some historical stuffs inside. However, you can get a spectacular view of the city from the Citadel hill!
The waterfront is just a few blocks from there, & you can see an amazing view of the bridge. The famous Town clock is just at the front of Citadel.
I walked a lot & became very tired. Ended the day with Teriyaki noodles in a Chinese restaurant, & went to bed early.
6th June: My actual travel starts from today, after getting rid of works...
Incessant rain from the morning, I had to change my travel plan accordingly. It really pisses me off when it's a rainy day. I tried not to get dominated by rain, but if you are getting wet, what can you do? Even in the hostel it was so bad that I was the only person in a 6-bed dorm, got totally bored! I stay in the hostels to meet new people, & sometimes that doesn't work out.
Walked from the hostel to the sea-port area through rain. Had my brunch with a Subway foot-long, followed by a cup of coffee at the Tim Horton's. Because of the rain, I decided to see indoor stuffs as much as possible, like museums, galleries, etc. Maritime Museum of Atlantic is situated at the harbour, on lower water street (The road towards the water is slanted & the parallel roads are at different levels. The road just beside the water is called 'lower water st.' & the road at the next upper level is called 'upper water st.' :)).
An interesting museum to visit, lot of demonstration of different kind of ship architectures. If you are interested in marine stuffs, this museum has really many things to offer for you. So many traditional instruments those were being used in ancient days & I've read in books (also, thanks to the movie 'Pirates of Caribbean'), got a chance to see these actually.
A section on the memories of Titanic was very interesting. There were demonstrations of copy of Titanic ticket, remaining part of a deck chair, wooden architectures of first class compartment, along with historical information from 'White Star Line' & many more. Throughout the day, a short documentary movie is shown inside the museum (about 20-25 minutes) - you can get lot of informations about Halifax harbour & also Titanic disaster.
I have never seen a real torpedo, got a chance to see one at the museum! I can't believe that one of these can destroy a whole ship!
Fortunately, it was one of the two days of Halifax 'Doors Open Festival' when hundreds of historical & Govt. places are kept open for public, which are not allowed to enter during rest of the year. Due to that reason, in the harbour area, two Navy ships were remained open for visitors. I have never been inside a navy ship, it was so interesting!
The ship people were demonstrating everything like how does the ship work, where are the controls, engine rooms, etc. There are so many things inside a navy ship that you won't believe until you see it!
By noon, the weather improved & became sunny. I explored the harbour area till evening.
Once the rain had stopped, people started to gather at the waterfront area & were chilling out (so many dogs! :)).
Liked the 'Theodore Too' boat. Lot of kids were around, as expected :)
One good thing about summer is that, you will see lot of outdoor activities around. So many street performers were at the waterfront. Some music program was also going on. Everybody seemed to enjoy the moment. I really liked the street food stalls. People were standing in a queue & were taking fried sea-food from the stalls... reminded me about coastal food stalls in India :) I was talking to a stall owner & she was saying that they don't operate during winter. They really maintain the area, it was so neat & clean.
At the end of the day, the harbour was looking so beautiful! Just take a cup of coffee & walk through the harbour-side platform, detach yourself from all communications, switch off your phone & keep walking... believe me, it's the best way to discover yourself, get nostalgic, think about philosophical stuffs :)
I had already walked a lot for the whole day, & was feeling tired. By evening, started walking back to the hostel. There is a small grocery 'Carrot' on Gottingen street near the hostel, I got some noodles, bread, ham, etc. to cut down budget for dinner & breakfast. Again, nobody checked in & I had to spend time with myself. Finished dinner with 2 packs of noodles & some chocolate milk, read a book for a few hours, wrote diary & went to bed soon after calling my mom.
June 7th: My last day at Halifax. A beautiful sunny day. The plan was mostly to travel by walking. Had some light breakfast with noodles, bana, chocolate milk & got ready for the day.
In a beautiful sunny morning, I decided to take the ferry to go to the other side of the water, aka Dartmouth. Ferry services work for the whole day. You should not miss the ride. The city of Halifax looks beautiful from the ferry!
However, there is nothing to see at the other side. You can explore the waterside by walking to get some nice view of the bridge & Halifax at the other side, and can come back within an hour using the same transit ticket. In the return ferry, a little girl sat beside me. She introduced herself & her brother, gave me the information that her brother doesn't go to school yet & many more :P She even offered me Tim Bits which she got in her birthday! Smart kid ;)
Next destination: Halifax farmers' market at the sea-port, few minutes of walk from the ferry station.
I always like to explore farmers' market because it gives you the feeling of local culture & food. The location of the market is very good, just beside the water, close to downtown. Nice market, lot of local food & other stuffs. I got a plate of noodles & a few dumplings from a Chinese sushi restaurant inside the market.
Couldn't see any place around to sit & eat. In a chilling sunny day, I decided to have my lunch on a table outside the market, just beside the water. It was so windy that my plates were blowing out! Spent some relaxing time by writing, read a few pages of the novel I was carrying. Sometimes we complain so much about our life, I think we should just enjoy the present moment, nothing else. And I believe travelling is a great way to recover inner peace, at least it works for me...
One of the most important historical stuff about Halifax is with the the Titanic. Although it's not a popular tourist spot, but without visiting Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax visit will remain incomplete. Highly recommended. I took bus #90 from 'Cunard St. before Hunter St.' & told the driver to drop me there. It took about 15-20 minutes. Actually there is another Jews cemetery beside, but Fairview entrance is on the bus road (you will see a big highway crossing nearby).
120 victims from Titanic disaster were buried under the grave-stone in this cemetery. Series of grave stones are carved with the same date of April 15, 1912...
You are bound to feel emotional to see these. I saw one grave stone of a little kid, who died at the age of 2 years!
For the rest of the day I explored the city by walking. Because of the 'Halifax door open', got a chance to visit some of the places like Keith's house, Town Clock, etc. Also visited quite a few churches in the city.
Can't remember the name of the cathedral, but it was a big one. I thought that it's closed, but the back door was open & I entered inside. Interestingly, nobody was there inside the cathedral at that time. The sound of my footsteps was echoing in the Cathedral. I could hear someone was playing piano from somewhere in the second floor. It was a totally different feeling, I can't express! Nevertheless to mention, the cathedral was beautiful.
While walking around the Spring Garden road, I found an old cemetery, called the Old Burying Ground. Old cemeteries always bear some histories & traditions of a city & I never miss an opportunity to explore these...
At the end of the day I thought of visiting the museum of national history, but it was getting closed. I walked a lot (about 10Km I guess) & there was nothing much to explore. Also, I was a bit tired. Thought of spending time in the public garden. After all, it's a nice & quiet place. Took a cup of coffee & spent a few hours by reading book. The weather was chilling, & I was so much enjoying to spend time by reading inside the park!
My last afternoon in Halifax. Ended the day by eating Halifax special 'Maritime Poutine' at the harbour. Writing down last few lines of Halifax memories beside the waterfront, surrounded by sea-gulls, with sea-food on the open table in a chilling evening: I will remember the time for my whole life probably...
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8th June 2015, Halifax international airport: Time to say good bye to Halifax. Next destination: St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, 1500 Km away from Halifax. I will be flying with Porter Airlines. After printing my boarding pass, I still had few hours for the flight. I was just exploring the airport area. Took a cup of 'double-double' coffee & were just relaxing. While writing my diary from the airport, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Don't know why, the feeling of travelling from one unknown city to other, only with a backpack of limited items, a cup of coffee, boarding pass, my diary, airport area... sometimes I feel I don't need anything else from life, I don't have any complaint! I was feeling soooo much lucky & privileged to experience all these. I think I have finally grown up & really enjoying my freedom to the fullest :)
The flight was delayed by an hour, due to foggy weather in St. John's (which is very common). It was a 2 hours flight journey, which was unforgettable. When we were flying on top of Labrador islands, the view from flight window was a lifetime experience. It was like someone has painted with expert hands using blue & green colours...
Landed on St. John's around 4.30 PM. A small but nice airport. Synchronized my wristwatch with local time. As I didn't have any check-in luggage, got out of the airport very quickly. Then the real story began...
As I had mentioned many times that I always travel with low budget & without electronic gadgets, sometimes things get complicated. Same for this time also. From Google map I had an idea that it's possible to walk about 1-1.5 Km to reach the bus-stop near the airport & get a public transport to reach my hostel. Somehow I couldn't relate the place with Google map & was confused. I started asking people at the airport who are local, but surprisingly nobody could direct me to the right way! Some people even said that I should get a taxi, it's not possible to walk till the bus stop, etc. I struggled for more than half an hour just to locate with my map print-out. Then I took it as a challenge & never gave up. After an hour, I realized that a road which is turning to the right, might be the way out. Following my instinct, I took that path. Walked more than a kilometer through a construction work beside the highway. I was not very sure if I am on the right path, but moved forward (some avatar said, "If you are going through hell, keep going" :P). Finally came across the 'Portugal Cove road' & gained some confidence - at least I can relate something from the map. After searching for a while, I located the bus stop - 'Viscount Street #71'. Asked a local & confirmed it! After a few minutes bus #20 came which took me to the MUN center (the University), waited there to take another bus (#10) to get off at 'Military Road #9'. It was a few minutes of walk from there to reach the hostel... I felt so good, so good, as if I have won a battle! Nothing is more pleasurable than finding an unknown address using public transport in an unknown city - I was on top of the world by that time ;)
It took about an hour to reach to the hostel from the airport, but I had saved a lot of money: the bus cost only $2.25!
I stayed in City Hostel at 8,Gower street, a very nice area of the city. The hostel was very good, especially the location. The rooms were nice, & the stuffs were very helpful. I stayed in a 4-bed dorm. The only thing I found inconvenient is that, the personal lockers are not in the rooms. You have to go upstairs to access these.
I didn't have my lunch as such & was terribly hungry. Had two packets of noodles left from Halifax. Went to the kitchen to cook these & filled my appetite for the time being. Met a British family in the kitchen...
Talking to a local is the best thing to know your surroundings. Got some useful information from the hostel office reception girl. She gave me the address of a nearby grocery, which I really wanted.
It's about 10 minutes of walk from the hostel to the grocery supermarket. Shopped quite a few items to survive for next 2-3 days. I really enjoy shopping in an unknown city, it feels at home. Got some bananas, apples, ham, burger, tomato, lettuce, yogurt, noodles. These will help me to make some 'powerful sandwiches' & I will be able to cut down some budget by avoiding eating outside...
I didn't have much to do in the evening & just went for a long walk along the water side. Beautiful city, beautiful harbour area. The hilly areas have made the city more beautiful. In the month of June, it was pretty cold & I was just wearing a T-shirt. Had to turn around to go back to the hostel, I was feeling really cold. Also, I was tired for the day's journey...
A good thing to come across after going back to my room was, I have room-mates :) From the belongings, it seemed that one is a hiker (tent, mattress, hiking stuffs were around in his bed) & another one is a photographer (tripod, lens, etc.). Also I met Stacy, from Taiwan. She has been travelling across Canada for last 1.5 month. A different kind of girl: she said that she left the job just to travel! I respect these people & it was my pleasure to know her! So many people find out the meaning of life in so many ways... some are totally into money making business, some are playing it safe, & some are people like her. She was saying that her job wasn't allowing to travel & that's why she had to quit, will try to get another job after getting back there. That was her last day in St. John's actually...
After spending some time in the common room & talking with people, I thought of going to bed. Ate an apple, banana & some yogurt, called home & went to bed by 11 PM.
9th June: A cloudy day. After taking a shower & having breakfast, I left the hostel around 10 AM. I have never seen such a beautiful & colourful city in my life - so amazing! The beautiful architecture of the city makes it unique among all cities in North America. The hilly city roads towards the water is more than like a painting...
It seemed like someone has made the city with cards of different colours. Almost in every nook & corner of the city, you will see these nice houses. One local said that the govt. even doesn't allow to change the colour of your own house because of the heritage!
Gower street area (where the hostel is located) is full of these houses. I just walked through the narrow streets & was getting overwhelmed.
Came across a cathedral while walking through the city - Cathedral of St. John's the Baptist. It's the oldest Baptist church in North America, & full of heritage architectures.
When I entered inside the Church, there was nobody else apart from two cathedral stuffs. They welcomed me & I showed my interest in having a tour of the church (btw, I use the words 'church' & 'cathedral' interchangeably, although these are different). They seemed to get surprised little bit, most probably because I am not a Christian, & usually people of my age don't have any interest in church tours. Well, I am not Christian & I am not religious too. My intention of the church tour was to know the history in more details, & to see the heritages of a very old cathedral...
Whatever, the old woman was so nice! She showed me all the tiny details of the church, explained everything, including the glass painting meanings, purpuse of the architecture of the pillars inside the church, etc. & never seemed to get bored. Rather she thanked me for the visit & were asking me where I am coming from, etc. I really enjoyed the tour. If you are interested in local culture, religion & history, taking a church tour is a very good idea.
Continued exploring the city by walking, with occasional coffee breaks. One thing I have experienced quite a few time that I should share. I have heard before that people of Newfoundland are very nice. Well, that's in general true for whole Canada, but I was really surprised to experience the fact in St. John's... As I mentioned previously that I navigate my way in the city from paper print-out of maps, I was trying to figure out the way at a junction of roads. A local girl came & asked me if I am lost & need any help! It happened 2-3 times with me - that's so nice! I haven't experienced this before anywhere else. People do help, but not before asking them. Truly, Newfoundland is amazing in terms of scenic beauty & people...
Explored the famous George Street area, having maximum number of bars & pubs per square foot than any other streets in North America. I am not a party person, & was happy only with passing by...
By noon, I was ready for the 'close encounter with whales' :P Let me explain...
Being located at the coast of Atlantic, St. John's is famous for whale watching & iceberg viewing. Hundreds of icebergs float from Greenland to this area during the summer months. Also the Humpback whales tend to migrate here for food during mid-late summer. Usually the good time for seeing ice-berg is spring to early summer, although there is no such hard & fast rule. However, if you are really interested in seeing plenty of icebergs, you should head towards Twillingate area (called the 'iceberg capital of the world'). And for whales, mid-June to late summer is a good time. You just can't miss these when you are in St. John's!
I had booked a trip from IcebergQuest for a 2-hours cruise tour on Atlantic for seeing ice-bergs & whales (although there is no guarantee, but they try their best).
The cruise authority introduced about the tour first. There were about 25-30 people in the boat. They were saying that unfortunately there is no iceberg in this area right now... a couple of weeks ago there was one but drifted away. BUT two Humpbacks were spotted recently! (yay!!!).
The tour started a bit late. While going through the harbour area, the audio announcement was explaining the details about the history, culture, etc. of St. John's harbour.
So many ships in the harbour! The boat traversed through the harbour area & through the opening of two islands, floated on to the Atlantic. The colourful city of St. John's was looking so nice from the boat...
As the boat entered into the Atlantic, huge tides started to play with us. And it was f***ing cold! I wasn't carrying any warm garment & was literally shivering with cold. Moreover, the spilled water due to the tide was making everyone wet & that added extra inconvenience to the cold. However, there is no point in staying inside the boat when you have come to enjoy. Ignoring all the inconveniences, I came out & stood beside the railing...
It was beautiful all around! The rugged cliffs of the islands, deep blue Atlantic, noisy sea-gulls around made me feeling super amazing.
A cruise person located an Eagle sitting on a cliff - it was so wild! We floated towards Cape Spear, the Easternmost point of North America! Picturesque beauty, can't be described in words. Easternmost point of North America means, if you start swimming straight from there, you will reach either France or Ireland or Spain ;)
Suddenly, the captain turned the boat to the left & announced that he has spotted two Humpbacks. My heart started beating faster with excitement. I am gonna see whales from close!!! As we were moving fast, I could see the whales breathing from far (the typical air vapor stuff!). It was so beautiful! I couldn't wait any more to go more closer! However, it's really hard to predict when & where the whales will be visible on the surface of the water, & we had to wait for half an hour to get a close view. The boat authorities were very patient & give extra time. We were just waiting & waiting, like a patience game. FINALLY, in about 10 feet distance from the boat, two Humpbacks started demonstrating their dance ;) I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to take photos. Actually the boat was dwindling so badly & it was so cold, I could hardly stand on the deck & hold my camera properly. It was a lifetime experience that I will never forget. Second time, the whales again came on the surface & this time I didn't make any mistake to shoot the video (bad quality due to lighting condition & excessive shaking). Check it out:
I realized that my East coast trip is successful, I don't need anything else :)
While coming back I felt that I am having sea-sickness, & feeling bad, wanting to vomit. It was good that the trip didn't last for long, otherwise I would have been in trouble. Met a few people in the boat, had some chat. Came back around 4.30 PM - a memorable day in my life.
After having a subway foot-long & coffee, for rest of the afternoon I explored the city more.
Unfortunately, The Rooms were closed by that time. I just walked around & absorbed the beauty of the city.
Strange city, strange roads, strange houses - different, it's really different...
Came back to the hostel by 6.30 PM. Two new room-mates have checked in - Kris & Brad. Two friends in their early twenties have come to St. John's for exploring East coast. Their plan is to hike 300 Km Atlantic coast in next 21 days. What an adventure! We became friends sooner than I expected & realized that we share tons of common interests. I told them that I wish if I could join you guys, & said that I will be welcomed any time :) We discussed about a lot of things for next few hours. Sometimes you get so bored without company or with bad company, but with appropriate people, time just flies...
I went to bed early because next day was the "Big Day"... next part of this tour is continued to This Page...
Whatever. Initially I was in a conflict in deciding between East coast (Atlantic side) & West coast (Pacific side - Vancouver area). Then fortunately I got to do some works at Halifax & didn't have any other choice :) Chopped out a 10 days plan to explore the harbor city Halifax in the province of Nova Scotia & then fly to the beautiful city of St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador. Another solo journey starts... :)
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| Beautiful colourful city of St. John's |
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| City of Halifax from Citadel in a sunny day of summer |
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| Toronto Pearson airport |
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| Nova-Scotia lobster (1.5 lbs) |
Stayed in 'Halifax Backpackers'. You can book directly or through hostels.com (which I did). A moderate hostel, cheap. I don't think there are many hostels available in Halifax. The location is okay, you can walk to the harbour area in 15-20 mins. But I won't recommend it as great. They should renovate the rooms. Also, there is no common room as such in the hostel. However, one good thing about the hostel is that, the first floor is a cafe, where you can get snacks & drinks.
Started Halifax exploration from Point Pleasant Park, a forest-type area having nice view of the harbour. You can walk the whole area, but be careful to follow the map unless you want to get lost.
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| Point Pleasant park |
I would recommend to keep a few hours in the afternoon to explore the park. Walking along the shoreline is very pleasant if the weather is sunny. Keep food & water with you, there is no food stall inside the park (I didn't see any).
Alexander Keith's Brewery is one of the oldest breweries (since 1820) in North America & a very famous attraction of historical Halifax.
Located near the lower water street, the brewery offers some traditional historical tours which are worth attending. If you are a big fan of beer, you just can't miss it! They offer group & individual tours. In some tours, the stuffs dress in 18th century traditional style & will show you around the brewery. You will exactly feel like being inside the history!
While testing beers, you can go back to the history & see how the old instruments & techniques were being used in one of the biggest & oldest North American brewery. Spending one evening inside the brewery was a nice experience indeed.
Walking around the beautiful city of Halifax in a sunny day can never be tiring. Actually if you don't explore by walking, you will miss the feel of a city.
Spring-garden road is one of the busiest streets in Halifax, with lot of shops, restaurants, pubs around. You can also visit beautiful campus of St. Mary's & Dalhousie University.
If you like to spend some time alone in a calm place, visit Halifax Public Garden at the heart of the city. Being an avid reader, in the afternoon I simply took a cup of coffee & spent a few hours inside the park just by reading. Quiet atmosphere, families around, & lot of dogs!
Don't miss to have ice-cream from Sugah, just at the entrance of the park. It's locally made & also cheap ($2). You can also get coffee there (little bit expensive).
At the end of the day after spending a few hours at the public garden, I walked towards Citadel, a national historic site in Halifax. Unfortunately it was closing by that time & I couldn't go inside. There is a museum & some historical stuffs inside. However, you can get a spectacular view of the city from the Citadel hill!
I walked a lot & became very tired. Ended the day with Teriyaki noodles in a Chinese restaurant, & went to bed early.
6th June: My actual travel starts from today, after getting rid of works...
Incessant rain from the morning, I had to change my travel plan accordingly. It really pisses me off when it's a rainy day. I tried not to get dominated by rain, but if you are getting wet, what can you do? Even in the hostel it was so bad that I was the only person in a 6-bed dorm, got totally bored! I stay in the hostels to meet new people, & sometimes that doesn't work out.
Walked from the hostel to the sea-port area through rain. Had my brunch with a Subway foot-long, followed by a cup of coffee at the Tim Horton's. Because of the rain, I decided to see indoor stuffs as much as possible, like museums, galleries, etc. Maritime Museum of Atlantic is situated at the harbour, on lower water street (The road towards the water is slanted & the parallel roads are at different levels. The road just beside the water is called 'lower water st.' & the road at the next upper level is called 'upper water st.' :)).
An interesting museum to visit, lot of demonstration of different kind of ship architectures. If you are interested in marine stuffs, this museum has really many things to offer for you. So many traditional instruments those were being used in ancient days & I've read in books (also, thanks to the movie 'Pirates of Caribbean'), got a chance to see these actually.
A section on the memories of Titanic was very interesting. There were demonstrations of copy of Titanic ticket, remaining part of a deck chair, wooden architectures of first class compartment, along with historical information from 'White Star Line' & many more. Throughout the day, a short documentary movie is shown inside the museum (about 20-25 minutes) - you can get lot of informations about Halifax harbour & also Titanic disaster.
I have never seen a real torpedo, got a chance to see one at the museum! I can't believe that one of these can destroy a whole ship!
Fortunately, it was one of the two days of Halifax 'Doors Open Festival' when hundreds of historical & Govt. places are kept open for public, which are not allowed to enter during rest of the year. Due to that reason, in the harbour area, two Navy ships were remained open for visitors. I have never been inside a navy ship, it was so interesting!
The ship people were demonstrating everything like how does the ship work, where are the controls, engine rooms, etc. There are so many things inside a navy ship that you won't believe until you see it!
By noon, the weather improved & became sunny. I explored the harbour area till evening.
Once the rain had stopped, people started to gather at the waterfront area & were chilling out (so many dogs! :)).
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| These two Golden Retrievers were climbing till my chest when I was trying to play with them ;) |
One good thing about summer is that, you will see lot of outdoor activities around. So many street performers were at the waterfront. Some music program was also going on. Everybody seemed to enjoy the moment. I really liked the street food stalls. People were standing in a queue & were taking fried sea-food from the stalls... reminded me about coastal food stalls in India :) I was talking to a stall owner & she was saying that they don't operate during winter. They really maintain the area, it was so neat & clean.
At the end of the day, the harbour was looking so beautiful! Just take a cup of coffee & walk through the harbour-side platform, detach yourself from all communications, switch off your phone & keep walking... believe me, it's the best way to discover yourself, get nostalgic, think about philosophical stuffs :)
I had already walked a lot for the whole day, & was feeling tired. By evening, started walking back to the hostel. There is a small grocery 'Carrot' on Gottingen street near the hostel, I got some noodles, bread, ham, etc. to cut down budget for dinner & breakfast. Again, nobody checked in & I had to spend time with myself. Finished dinner with 2 packs of noodles & some chocolate milk, read a book for a few hours, wrote diary & went to bed soon after calling my mom.
June 7th: My last day at Halifax. A beautiful sunny day. The plan was mostly to travel by walking. Had some light breakfast with noodles, bana, chocolate milk & got ready for the day.
In a beautiful sunny morning, I decided to take the ferry to go to the other side of the water, aka Dartmouth. Ferry services work for the whole day. You should not miss the ride. The city of Halifax looks beautiful from the ferry!
However, there is nothing to see at the other side. You can explore the waterside by walking to get some nice view of the bridge & Halifax at the other side, and can come back within an hour using the same transit ticket. In the return ferry, a little girl sat beside me. She introduced herself & her brother, gave me the information that her brother doesn't go to school yet & many more :P She even offered me Tim Bits which she got in her birthday! Smart kid ;)
Next destination: Halifax farmers' market at the sea-port, few minutes of walk from the ferry station.
I always like to explore farmers' market because it gives you the feeling of local culture & food. The location of the market is very good, just beside the water, close to downtown. Nice market, lot of local food & other stuffs. I got a plate of noodles & a few dumplings from a Chinese sushi restaurant inside the market.
Couldn't see any place around to sit & eat. In a chilling sunny day, I decided to have my lunch on a table outside the market, just beside the water. It was so windy that my plates were blowing out! Spent some relaxing time by writing, read a few pages of the novel I was carrying. Sometimes we complain so much about our life, I think we should just enjoy the present moment, nothing else. And I believe travelling is a great way to recover inner peace, at least it works for me...
One of the most important historical stuff about Halifax is with the the Titanic. Although it's not a popular tourist spot, but without visiting Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax visit will remain incomplete. Highly recommended. I took bus #90 from 'Cunard St. before Hunter St.' & told the driver to drop me there. It took about 15-20 minutes. Actually there is another Jews cemetery beside, but Fairview entrance is on the bus road (you will see a big highway crossing nearby).
120 victims from Titanic disaster were buried under the grave-stone in this cemetery. Series of grave stones are carved with the same date of April 15, 1912...
You are bound to feel emotional to see these. I saw one grave stone of a little kid, who died at the age of 2 years!
For the rest of the day I explored the city by walking. Because of the 'Halifax door open', got a chance to visit some of the places like Keith's house, Town Clock, etc. Also visited quite a few churches in the city.
Can't remember the name of the cathedral, but it was a big one. I thought that it's closed, but the back door was open & I entered inside. Interestingly, nobody was there inside the cathedral at that time. The sound of my footsteps was echoing in the Cathedral. I could hear someone was playing piano from somewhere in the second floor. It was a totally different feeling, I can't express! Nevertheless to mention, the cathedral was beautiful.
While walking around the Spring Garden road, I found an old cemetery, called the Old Burying Ground. Old cemeteries always bear some histories & traditions of a city & I never miss an opportunity to explore these...
At the end of the day I thought of visiting the museum of national history, but it was getting closed. I walked a lot (about 10Km I guess) & there was nothing much to explore. Also, I was a bit tired. Thought of spending time in the public garden. After all, it's a nice & quiet place. Took a cup of coffee & spent a few hours by reading book. The weather was chilling, & I was so much enjoying to spend time by reading inside the park!
My last afternoon in Halifax. Ended the day by eating Halifax special 'Maritime Poutine' at the harbour. Writing down last few lines of Halifax memories beside the waterfront, surrounded by sea-gulls, with sea-food on the open table in a chilling evening: I will remember the time for my whole life probably...
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...flying to St. John's, Newfoundland
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8th June 2015, Halifax international airport: Time to say good bye to Halifax. Next destination: St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, 1500 Km away from Halifax. I will be flying with Porter Airlines. After printing my boarding pass, I still had few hours for the flight. I was just exploring the airport area. Took a cup of 'double-double' coffee & were just relaxing. While writing my diary from the airport, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Don't know why, the feeling of travelling from one unknown city to other, only with a backpack of limited items, a cup of coffee, boarding pass, my diary, airport area... sometimes I feel I don't need anything else from life, I don't have any complaint! I was feeling soooo much lucky & privileged to experience all these. I think I have finally grown up & really enjoying my freedom to the fullest :)
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| A cup of coffee, boarding pass to fly to an unknown city, a book, diary & a backpack... #proud#to#be#a#backpacker#bohemian :) |
Landed on St. John's around 4.30 PM. A small but nice airport. Synchronized my wristwatch with local time. As I didn't have any check-in luggage, got out of the airport very quickly. Then the real story began...
As I had mentioned many times that I always travel with low budget & without electronic gadgets, sometimes things get complicated. Same for this time also. From Google map I had an idea that it's possible to walk about 1-1.5 Km to reach the bus-stop near the airport & get a public transport to reach my hostel. Somehow I couldn't relate the place with Google map & was confused. I started asking people at the airport who are local, but surprisingly nobody could direct me to the right way! Some people even said that I should get a taxi, it's not possible to walk till the bus stop, etc. I struggled for more than half an hour just to locate with my map print-out. Then I took it as a challenge & never gave up. After an hour, I realized that a road which is turning to the right, might be the way out. Following my instinct, I took that path. Walked more than a kilometer through a construction work beside the highway. I was not very sure if I am on the right path, but moved forward (some avatar said, "If you are going through hell, keep going" :P). Finally came across the 'Portugal Cove road' & gained some confidence - at least I can relate something from the map. After searching for a while, I located the bus stop - 'Viscount Street #71'. Asked a local & confirmed it! After a few minutes bus #20 came which took me to the MUN center (the University), waited there to take another bus (#10) to get off at 'Military Road #9'. It was a few minutes of walk from there to reach the hostel... I felt so good, so good, as if I have won a battle! Nothing is more pleasurable than finding an unknown address using public transport in an unknown city - I was on top of the world by that time ;)
It took about an hour to reach to the hostel from the airport, but I had saved a lot of money: the bus cost only $2.25!
I stayed in City Hostel at 8,Gower street, a very nice area of the city. The hostel was very good, especially the location. The rooms were nice, & the stuffs were very helpful. I stayed in a 4-bed dorm. The only thing I found inconvenient is that, the personal lockers are not in the rooms. You have to go upstairs to access these.
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| 8, Gower street hostel |
Talking to a local is the best thing to know your surroundings. Got some useful information from the hostel office reception girl. She gave me the address of a nearby grocery, which I really wanted.
It's about 10 minutes of walk from the hostel to the grocery supermarket. Shopped quite a few items to survive for next 2-3 days. I really enjoy shopping in an unknown city, it feels at home. Got some bananas, apples, ham, burger, tomato, lettuce, yogurt, noodles. These will help me to make some 'powerful sandwiches' & I will be able to cut down some budget by avoiding eating outside...
I didn't have much to do in the evening & just went for a long walk along the water side. Beautiful city, beautiful harbour area. The hilly areas have made the city more beautiful. In the month of June, it was pretty cold & I was just wearing a T-shirt. Had to turn around to go back to the hostel, I was feeling really cold. Also, I was tired for the day's journey...
A good thing to come across after going back to my room was, I have room-mates :) From the belongings, it seemed that one is a hiker (tent, mattress, hiking stuffs were around in his bed) & another one is a photographer (tripod, lens, etc.). Also I met Stacy, from Taiwan. She has been travelling across Canada for last 1.5 month. A different kind of girl: she said that she left the job just to travel! I respect these people & it was my pleasure to know her! So many people find out the meaning of life in so many ways... some are totally into money making business, some are playing it safe, & some are people like her. She was saying that her job wasn't allowing to travel & that's why she had to quit, will try to get another job after getting back there. That was her last day in St. John's actually...
After spending some time in the common room & talking with people, I thought of going to bed. Ate an apple, banana & some yogurt, called home & went to bed by 11 PM.
9th June: A cloudy day. After taking a shower & having breakfast, I left the hostel around 10 AM. I have never seen such a beautiful & colourful city in my life - so amazing! The beautiful architecture of the city makes it unique among all cities in North America. The hilly city roads towards the water is more than like a painting...
It seemed like someone has made the city with cards of different colours. Almost in every nook & corner of the city, you will see these nice houses. One local said that the govt. even doesn't allow to change the colour of your own house because of the heritage!
Gower street area (where the hostel is located) is full of these houses. I just walked through the narrow streets & was getting overwhelmed.
Came across a cathedral while walking through the city - Cathedral of St. John's the Baptist. It's the oldest Baptist church in North America, & full of heritage architectures.
When I entered inside the Church, there was nobody else apart from two cathedral stuffs. They welcomed me & I showed my interest in having a tour of the church (btw, I use the words 'church' & 'cathedral' interchangeably, although these are different). They seemed to get surprised little bit, most probably because I am not a Christian, & usually people of my age don't have any interest in church tours. Well, I am not Christian & I am not religious too. My intention of the church tour was to know the history in more details, & to see the heritages of a very old cathedral...
Whatever, the old woman was so nice! She showed me all the tiny details of the church, explained everything, including the glass painting meanings, purpuse of the architecture of the pillars inside the church, etc. & never seemed to get bored. Rather she thanked me for the visit & were asking me where I am coming from, etc. I really enjoyed the tour. If you are interested in local culture, religion & history, taking a church tour is a very good idea.
Continued exploring the city by walking, with occasional coffee breaks. One thing I have experienced quite a few time that I should share. I have heard before that people of Newfoundland are very nice. Well, that's in general true for whole Canada, but I was really surprised to experience the fact in St. John's... As I mentioned previously that I navigate my way in the city from paper print-out of maps, I was trying to figure out the way at a junction of roads. A local girl came & asked me if I am lost & need any help! It happened 2-3 times with me - that's so nice! I haven't experienced this before anywhere else. People do help, but not before asking them. Truly, Newfoundland is amazing in terms of scenic beauty & people...
Explored the famous George Street area, having maximum number of bars & pubs per square foot than any other streets in North America. I am not a party person, & was happy only with passing by...
By noon, I was ready for the 'close encounter with whales' :P Let me explain...
Being located at the coast of Atlantic, St. John's is famous for whale watching & iceberg viewing. Hundreds of icebergs float from Greenland to this area during the summer months. Also the Humpback whales tend to migrate here for food during mid-late summer. Usually the good time for seeing ice-berg is spring to early summer, although there is no such hard & fast rule. However, if you are really interested in seeing plenty of icebergs, you should head towards Twillingate area (called the 'iceberg capital of the world'). And for whales, mid-June to late summer is a good time. You just can't miss these when you are in St. John's!
I had booked a trip from IcebergQuest for a 2-hours cruise tour on Atlantic for seeing ice-bergs & whales (although there is no guarantee, but they try their best).
The cruise authority introduced about the tour first. There were about 25-30 people in the boat. They were saying that unfortunately there is no iceberg in this area right now... a couple of weeks ago there was one but drifted away. BUT two Humpbacks were spotted recently! (yay!!!).
The tour started a bit late. While going through the harbour area, the audio announcement was explaining the details about the history, culture, etc. of St. John's harbour.
So many ships in the harbour! The boat traversed through the harbour area & through the opening of two islands, floated on to the Atlantic. The colourful city of St. John's was looking so nice from the boat...
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| St. John's "battery" neighbourhood |
It was beautiful all around! The rugged cliffs of the islands, deep blue Atlantic, noisy sea-gulls around made me feeling super amazing.
A cruise person located an Eagle sitting on a cliff - it was so wild! We floated towards Cape Spear, the Easternmost point of North America! Picturesque beauty, can't be described in words. Easternmost point of North America means, if you start swimming straight from there, you will reach either France or Ireland or Spain ;)
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| Cape Spear lighthouse |
I realized that my East coast trip is successful, I don't need anything else :)
While coming back I felt that I am having sea-sickness, & feeling bad, wanting to vomit. It was good that the trip didn't last for long, otherwise I would have been in trouble. Met a few people in the boat, had some chat. Came back around 4.30 PM - a memorable day in my life.
After having a subway foot-long & coffee, for rest of the afternoon I explored the city more.
Unfortunately, The Rooms were closed by that time. I just walked around & absorbed the beauty of the city.
Strange city, strange roads, strange houses - different, it's really different...
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| Notice the letter-box - St. John's 'logo' :) |
I went to bed early because next day was the "Big Day"... next part of this tour is continued to This Page...
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