Into Nova Scotia, Halifax...

Almost as soon as you return to New Brunswick across the Confederation Bridge and head east on the Canada Route 2, you cross the border into Nova Scotia. Compared to both NB and PEI, this Province excelled itself and had a big, bright tourist info centre which was actually open (the first we've found open), and not only that, the friendly staff provided a heap of helpful information. Those other Provinces could learn from Nova Scotia, the tourist world does not close down in winter. We'll that's our argument - the truth is we hadn't seen another tourist until we were well into Nova Scotia!

The Nova Scotia Welcome Centre is the first we have found open in Canada so far.

We were shocked by the mild weather here. We heard about temperate conditions, and warm winds called the 'pineapple clipper' from Hawaii, but were totally unprepared for how warm it actually is. Temperatures seem to cycle above and below zero, and unfortunately, when above zero, we've seen a lot of rain. There is almost no snow on the ground. On the way in to Halifax NS, we took a recommended scenic diversion and passed a ski resort near Lake Folly which is entirely made from artificial snow. The surrounding hills had no snow at all.

Snow free pastures of Nova Scotia as seen at Amherst.

The tiny Wentworth ski resort is 100% man-made snow, but at -10C, its easy to make.

The freeway into Halifax was excellent, extending the good experience across New Brunswick. This situation rapidly went downhill when we entered Halifax. Like many other cities, Halifax was clearly never designed with motor vehicles in mind. Downtown, geography made it worse. The CBD is almost an island like Manhattan, which seriously reduces the access opportunities, and seems to force traffic in counter-intuitive directions. We came in from Dartmouth over the three lane $1 toll Macdonald Bridge whose approaches are cramped, tight and rather scary. Luckily, our Garmin navigator gave excellent directions, so we found our way OK. We later learned how to avoid this and another bridge.

A predicted snow flurry in Halifax turned into a heavy snow storm. This view from our hotel window.

We made a good decision and booked into an upmarket downtown hotel, the Hilton Doubletree in Hollis Street. Our few days in this location were most pleasurable, although the car park was a grotty development site. We don't know what the Doubletree will do when this site gets built on. Good restaurants were in easy walking distance of the hotel. One evening during our stay, temperatures dropped and there was a heavy fall of snow. Walking to our dining choice that night was beautiful in the well-lit streets padding through several centimetres of fresh powder, before the ploughs, salters and sweepers were able to swing into action and destroy the beauty.

Frequent ferries make the crossing from Halifax across the harbour to Dartmouth.

Halifax is an interesting but gritty, unattractive city. This impression is reinforced by the amazing amount of construction going on. Steep streets run down to Halifax Harbour, but the Citadel, a 1749 fort now converted to a park at the top of the hill, has only a poor view because of the buildings in front of it. On the harbour itself, the waterfront is undergoing a welcome renewal, and ferries ply their way over to Dartmouth on the other side. Near the ferry terminal, we found a great cafe Two If By Sea where we could get good coffee, that name a line from Henry Wadworth Longfellow's beautiful poem Paul Revere's Ride.

Halifax has a hilly and busy downtown, not very pretty, but very interesting with massive construction underway.

Halifax is a city with some interesting disasters in its history. During WW1, two ships collided in the harbour. One loaded with munitions set off an explosion bigger than any other man-made event (until Hiroshima) which destroyed much of the city, and killed over 2000. Once city clock is still locked at the time of the blast. In the same decade, the Titanic went down, and Halifax, the nearest large city, sent several rescue ships. They only recovered bodies, and many Titanic victims are buried in Halifax cemeteries.

Road signs warn frequently of moose, but this is the closest we have gotten to actually see one.

We used Halifax as a city base for nearby exploration, but soon we had to move on so we could cover more of Nova Scotia.