US/Canada 2018

Halifax 15th September, 2018 Today is our last full day in Canada as tomorrow we head to the airport to start the trek home. (Halifax to Toronto to LAX to Brisbane to Sydney) We spent the day in Halifax, visiting the Halifax Citadel on the hill overlooking the city and then to Pier 21 - the Immigration Museum and then hanging out round the waterfront. It was the large hill overlooking the easily defended harbour below that led the British military to found the town there in 1749. Among the first buildings constructed was a wooden guardhouse on top of what would eventually be called Citadel Hill. Today, the Halifax Citadel continues to watch over the city although now its role is as a reminder of Halifax’s past and not as a military fortification. The present Citadel, completed in 1856, is officially called Fort George, named after Britain’s King George II, and is actually the fourth in a series of forts to sit atop the hill. Pier 21 commemorates those who ca

Bay of Fundy 14th September, 2018 Today we headed north to the north west coast of Nova Scotia which is the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy. The bay is quite big and along both shores, there are smaller bays and beaches where the huge tides that happen in this part of the world can be seen. Why big tides in the Bay of Fundy? The most important effect is resonance - the tides are high in the Bay of Fundy because the size of the bay is just right to match the natural gravitational pushing cycle of the Moon that causes the tides. Many accounts on the web attribute the high tidal range to the shape of the bay. Before got to the actual Bay, we crossed the Shubenacadie River which flows towards the Bay of Fundy but is also affected by the tides. As we crossed it, there were the remains of old supports for a bridge which certainly showed the signs of erosion. The tide was right out and it was hard to imagine that the water would rise by up to fifteen metres over the ne

Halifax 13th September, 2018 Today we set off to the Halifax waterfront, which has lots of restaurants, tourist outlets and the Halifax Maritime Museum. Halifax was the closest North American port to the United Kingdom and Europe to be used to provide support for World War 1. Conveys of ships would assemble behind submarine proof nets in the harbour and then set sail for the battlefields of World War 1. In December 1917 - a ship loaded with TNT collided with a smaller vessel. The TNT exploded, killing 2,000 people on the water and the shore and injured 9,000.  It was the biggest man-made explosion in the world, surpassed only by the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The museum commemorates those who died and those who came to their aid. We then set off west to visit Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay and Lunenberg. All of them are fishing villages on the shores of the Atlantic - yes, we have crossed the continent from the Pacific and now to the Atlantic. There is

Quebec 11th September, 2018 Today we woke to light drizzle, but that was the forecast, so we drove to the Levi Ferry terminal on the south-side of the St Lawrence River and right across from Old Quebec Lower Town. The car ferry travels back and forth every 20 minutes from 5am to 2am. Much quicker than driving into the old city as we did yesterday. We knew it would be damp, but after our walking tour yesterday we wanted to check out more of the Lower Town shops and building. (These images have had a slight tweak to enhance the shot and adjust the levels - in some way making up for the overcast day.) We found a dry place to eat our lunch (the Starbucks inside the Fairmont Chateau Hotel) and then went underground to look at the archeological site under the boardwalk. There you can see the store rooms, pantry and latrine from the late 17th Century. Tomorrow we leave here early to drive three hours back to Montreal to fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia where we will spend our l

Quebec 10th September, 2018 Today we left Montreal at 7.30am, braved the morning peak and arrived in Quebec around 11.30. We had a 1.30pm walking tour booked from the centre of the old city, so I took the advice of the tour organisers and parked under the Quebec Town Hall, right in the heart of the old city. Six hours - $18! Amazing. The walking tour started right outside the Chateau Frontenac Hotel (now a Fairmont Hotel) on the long wooden terrace and over two hours, our guide Louise led us slowly down into lower Quebec. Everywhere you turned there were beautiful sights. We learned about the history of Quebec, its architecture and why it was built where it was. It is on the banks of the St Lawrence River which gives it access to the Atlantic Ocean one way and to the Great Lakes the other way. The river narrows here and is also the deepest. A great location for a port,  It's history includes some prisoners transported to Australia - something I didn't k

Montreal 9th September, 2018 Today we headed back into Old Montreal to see more of this 375 year old city. We had booked a walking tour, something we first did 16 years ago in York, UK and we have always found this is a great way to get to know a city. We spent an hour and a half with Pierre and 16 other people and learnt a lot more about the history and the various wars and battles fought over this 'croissant' shaped island. It was first settled by French Catholic missionaries who set out to 'convert the natives'. It has been through English and French ownership and now of course is part if Canada. After our tour we went back to some of the shops we had passed and then visited the Montreal Museum, which is built over the ruins of the first settlement here. As you walk through the building, you go up and down, over the ruins and in one case, walk through an old sewerage tunnel, made of brick. It is very well done. We had hoped we'd fi

Montreal 8th September, 2018 Bonjour. Bienvenue à Montréal. We are in Paris - well no actually, but there is so much about Montreal that reminds us of Paris. We are staying in an AirBnB right near a Metro station, so we can be downtown in about 10 minutes. We left Ottawa this morning and stopped on the way at a gorgeous little community called Montebello. This is also the home of another Fairmont Hotel, this one is like a giant log cabin. There is also a Mansion which is open to the public. We walked around downtown, had dinner and then lined up at Notre Dame Cathedral for an 'Immersive Experience'. It was truly mind-blowing and awe inspiring. Using the same technology which Sydney Vivid uses to 'paint' patterns and designs on our buildings, this event 'painted' the inside of the cathedral and it was stunning. The audio track was classical music, probably composed for this event. Using light, patterns, shapes and incredible colours, the show used

Ottawa 7th September, 2018 Today we set out to explore Ottawa some more. We had intended to take a walking tour of the Byward Markets, but the scheduling wasn't quite right, so Catherine gave us a personal tour - hitting the highlights. These included the Ottawa sign, the Sussex Street Courtyards - one with an original metal front of a shop mounted up on a wall and a good recommendation for coffee. Then we headed to see the Impressionists Exhibition at the Ottawa Museum and Art Gallery - a magnificent building looking over the city. We spent quite a few hours there and saw some Matisse, Gauguin and Van Gogh's 'Iris'. (No, not the one Alan Bond tried to buy, that was "Irises'. Subtle difference.) We went back to the Byward Markets for lunch. Then we came across three boats navigating the locks in the Rideau Canal, so that was fascinating and kept us occupied for an hour or so. We ended the day with a boat cruise on the