Saturday, August 15, 2009

Day 7 - Halifax here we come

When you ride motorcycles, it seems that you are more approachable and wherever we are people start conversations about riding bikes. We met a guy on the ferry who has a Gold Wing and has toured with his wife many times. Cyclists came over to chat at the camp site. They were doing a trip in Nova Scotia and were originally from central New York. Many interesting stories and people that we would have missed if we travelled in a car.

One of the people we met along the way mentioned the town of Halls Harbour and said this was a great place to detour to for a view of the tides and a great meal of fresh fish. We rode down this windy path through viniards that was beautifully paved (a smooth road in Canada is always a welcome sight) to reach this quaint little town. For the first time we met rural Nova Scotia charm and spent about an hour chatting, eating and taking pictures.

The best fish and chips we've had since coming to Canada 13 years ago, presented on newspaper as it was meant to be presented.


Herman ventured into the harbour floor to take this picture of the low tide.










From the dock it is quite stunning too.
Denise was standing next to the lobster cages.







Unfortunately we couldn't wait for the tide to come in to see the boats rise again, but this happens twice in a 24-hour period...
Once we left Halls Harbour, we returned to the 101 highway and took our course to Halifax. We rented a room in the Coastal Inn in Dartmouth which has a laundry facility and a small kitchenette. We were tired of riding and physically started to hurt. Once we unpacked, we took a serious 2-hour nap.
When we were well rested, we hiked the 40-minutes to the ferry to take us across to Halifax for a night of good food, a well deserved beer and some music. Herman got a nice shot of Halifax from the ferry.
The pubs were full and the harbourfront crouded, but we managed to score a seat inside at a pub that featured a group that played general folksy favourites and leaned towards the blues. Denise had the best Calamari and I once again went with the fish and chips. After a couple of beers we headed out into a warm summer evening.
The crowds were thinning a little, but there was still lots of activity. We followed he noise to another outside stage, and came upon a band who's drummer was the same as the one playing for Great Big Sea. He is taking a few days off before touring with his band again - next gig in Molson Amphitheatre - but for now, he is playing with his buddies in Halifax. On the picture of the Lower Deck Stafe, he can be seen (barely) way in the back.
Unfortunately the band's name wasn't mentioned, but they played many of our favourites and we were disappointed to leave to catch the last ferry back to Dartmouth.

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