The idea of a holiday in Canada was one that had crossed my mind a few times in the past, without me ever getting past the vague planning stage. It always seemed too far away, too expensive, or just too much like hard work... but then back in early 2008, I happened to see
a mail from Condor offering cheap flights to destinations all over the world. Normally I wouldn't bother clicking on any of the links, but one line in particular caught my eye: "Fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for €99 per person". And there really were still seats available at that price - not during high season of course, but we'd heard that autumn on the eastern seaboard really is a great time to visit, so this was an offer we couldn't refuse. Should you be considering a visit to Nova Scotia, don't be put off by the idea of travelling outside of the traditional summer season. We had a fantastic time, enjoyed the brilliant scenery with warm and sunny weather in relative peace and quiet, and had the bonus of seeing the full palette of gorgeous autumn colours in the
province's extensive
woodlands as well.
In fact, there is a huge amount of stuff to see and do all over Nova Scotia, far more than we had time to fit in during our stay and it is now right up there at the top of the list of places to go back to, to try and fill in the gaps! It is the second smallest province in
Canada but enjoys a
pleasant cultural diversity, thanks largely to a history rich in upheaval and conflict. After the first Europeans arrived, the territory changed hands on several occasions and the various waves of immigration from the
USA (I was surprised to
discover this but immediately after independence, many loyalist settlers chose to move north of the border and set up home in the British colonies that were to become Canada), Great Britain,
France and various other
European nations have bequeathed a complex history of immigration that has led to this vibrant cultural mix, with the many small communities intent on preserving as much as possible of their
heritage.
The area was of course home to indigenous peoples before the first French settlers claimed it for their
crown under the name of 'Acadia' and the local government is now supportive of the rights of the the Mi'kmaq nation and their attempts to preserve their culture and language (for example, in Nova Scotia October is celebrated as Mi'kmaq History Month). We didn't have a chance to visit any of their historical centres in the province and I have to admit that the
closest we got to seeing anything of the Mi'kmaq people's culture was a visit to the
shopping mall outside Halifax that bears the name of the tribe...
Although the territory of Acadia passed to British control during the 18th century (leading to the scattering of the majority of the French population to the four winds, thus allowing English-speaking settlers to grab the best agricultural land), there is still an appreciable French-speaking presence in Nouvelle-Écosse that is fiercely protective of its language in particular, and is just now starting to make the most of tourists' interest in the varied history of the region.
While neighbouring New Brunswick has a far larger number of French-speaking inhabitants, the 30,000 Nova Scotians who use French as their first language are also still proud to call themselves Acadian and are concentrated mainly around the western end of the Bay of Fundy and parts of Cape Breton island. This remote area of the province also boasts a Gaelic enclave, whose several thousand speakers are the descendants of Gaelic-speaking Scots settled in Nova Scotia after the Highland Clearances, from the late 18th century onwards.
Halifax
The first impression of Nova Scotia will generally be Halifax International
Airport: although on a smaller scale than other major
hubs in
North America, don't expect the security checks for flights from
Europe to be any less scrutinous. The welcome we received was friendly, but the border guards have plenty of questions to ask and while you're waiting to collect your bags, further immigration security personnel wander around (OK, there are only two baggage carousels, and ours was the only one in use that day, but still...) with sniffer dogs to make sure that you're not bringing anything untoward into
Canada. Halifax is well served by flights from other cities across Canada, and you also have a choice of direct connections from London,
Frankfurt and a host of US cities. Many of the
airlines only offer a restricted service outside of the period from May to October, however.
There are a host of rental car companies with desks at the airport, but no rail connection, so the only other way to get into Halifax itself is to take the airport shuttle
bus. Depending on the time of day, the route is served by 24 or 48-seater
buses, and it runs to and from the airport approximately 20 times per day, stopping to
pick up and drop off at a large number of
hotels (a complete list of the hotels served by the bus is available from the Airporter website - link below). The
fare is 19CAD per person, payable at the ticket desk in the main airport terminal building. Regular announcements are made over the airport tannoy to inform you when the next bus is leaving. Make sure you leave enough time to get to the bus stop, as it's a bit of a walk from the terminal though (there was a lot of building work going on at the airport when we were there, but this should be concluded by 2009 so the bus stop should be a bit nearer the terminal then). If you've got time, pay a visit to the large tourist information area in the main terminal - the friendly staff there will be happy to help provide information about the town and things to do in the area.
Unfortunately we simply didn't have the time to travel to the eastern or western extremities of the province this time, concentrating instead on seeing as much as possible in and around Halifax before we headed north to Prince Edward Island. The provincial
capital is a bustling city that is currently undergoing something of a
face-lift to make it more attractive as a tourist destination. The Citadel occupies a dominant position above the heart of the city, providing great views down to the harbour and is a very visible sign of just how important Halifax was as a
principal naval station in the British Empire.
The recent history of Halifax tells a story repeated in many coastal cities, in many countries - the lifeblood of the port has gone into steep decline (in this case, the Atlantic cod fisheries have all but collapsed after decades of overfishing), and the local authorities in Halifax have had to react and find other ways to inject some life into the city, and to bring back the income that is required. The harbour-front area has been restored and given a new look, and now provides a wide range of accommodation, restaurants, bars (Alexander Keith's brewery provides guided tours... and free samples!) and museums. The fishing trawlers and ships crammed with immigrants from Europe have been replaced by gigantic cruise ships that dock at the far end of the harbour and disgorge hordes of passengers for a whistle-stop tour of the city but the infamous Pier 21 has been renovated and turned into a National Historic Site, and is certainly well worth a visit.
Pier 21 was the main point
of entry for over a million immigrants and refugees from Europe. The facility is often compared to
New York's Ellis Island immigration facility and was known as the 'Gateway to Canada.' It was also the departure point for almost half a million Canadian troops during World War Two; the fascinating museum in the old pier buildings tells the story of these waves of arrivals and departures and is dedicated to all those who passed through its halls. The main display hall houses a mock-up of the waiting rooms that would-be immigrant spent many hours in, waiting to be processed, and provides a wealth of information about the those who passed through, and those who worked there. The multimedia show about the history of the facility was particularly impressive; the narrator is in the role of an official from Pier 21, recounting tales of the people he met in the course of his daily work. These snapshots of life in the immigration centre are played out by actors and the recording is projected onto several layers of fabric hanging like curtains across the stage, an ingenious idea that allows for plenty of trickery and use of shadows, depth and fades... it's difficult to explain how effective this technique was, but the overall effect of the half-hour show was to give you a feeling for just how many people passed through Pier 21 and what an important role it played in the formation of modern Canada.
Peggy's Cove
This tiny fishing
village, about 40km southwest of Halifax, might seem an unlikely tourist destination but is one of the most picturesque places we saw on our travels - it somehow manages to provide scenes straight out of a picture book at every opportunity without having totally surrendered its soul (although the huge
gift shop is totally out of proportion with the village itself). The fifty or so residents of Peggy's Cove are of course
reliant on the income provided by the thousands of visitors who make their way to this out-of-the-way corner of the Nova Scotian
coast each year, but this is still a working village and the staff at the tourist
information centre politely ask tourists not to trespass on private property and not to touch the fishing
nets and lobster pots at the side of the road - these are not part of a museum exhibition, but represent the livelihood of the people who live there!
The few houses that are scattered around the harbour are pretty enough, but the highlight of the village is the lighthouse at Peggy's Point, a sparkling white tower in the middle of an expanse of rock, it is visible for miles - and is now home to a post office (only open during the summer season), which will provide your postcards with a unique Peggy's Cove franking in the shape of the lighthouse. Be warned though, the tides and currents around the lighthouse are extremely unpredictable and there are plenty of signs warning you not to stray too close to the water's edge... people have been swept off the rocks by a wave coming in unexpectedly fast and high.
Lunenburg
Lunenburg is another beautifully-preserved old fishing community, nestling further away along the southern coast of Nova Scotia on the shores of Mahone Bay. As the name suggests, the first people to live here hailed from southern
Germany and German-speaking areas of
Switzerland, and their influence can still be seen on the wooden homes, schools and churches that form the core of the old town to this day. One particularly striking feature of the seafront is that the buildings are painted in vibrant colours, with a bright shade of red being particularly popular - this was to help sailors returning home in bad weather, as even if visibility was poor they could still make out the colours of Lunenburg through the mist and find their way back to the harbour. Further up the slope behind the harbour, houses had special viewing balconies built into their loft space so that the wives of those men who went to sea for weeks at a time could lookout for the return of the boats in the evening.
A good way to see plenty of the town's hidden treasures is to take a ride around town in a horse-drawn
carriage - the tours start at the harbour and take about half an hour, and provide a fascinating insight into the history of the town, its buildings and the people who made them centuries ago. You could explore the town on foot of course, but the added bonus of the carriage ride is that you get to head up the steep slope from the harbour in comfort! Right next to the starting point of the tour, you can't miss the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic in one of those bright red buildings mentioned above, which is also well worth a visit. It tells the story of the fishing industry in Nova Scotia as a whole, with particular emphasis of course on the role of the fishermen of Lunenburg therein - there are many stories of lives lost at sea to be read in the Fishermen's Memorial room, and you can also take a look round a retired trawler and speak to some of the men who used to work on the waters off the South Shore. Admission normally costs 9 dollars but if you arrive during the last 90 minutes of normal opening hours, this fee is reduced by 50%, an offer which we discovered by chance and were happy to take advantage of!
Just a couple of minutes away from the museum, the Bluenose II is often to be found at
anchor in Lunenburg harbour - this is the second incarnation of the boat that is recognised as a proud symbol of Nova Scotia, as the original boat was at one time one of the fastest in the world, and was constructed in Lunenburg.
Although the shipbuilding trade has declined over the decades, Lunenburg's expertise is still called on from time to time by the Hollywood studios, and the handiwork of the local craftsmen can be seen in 'Mutiny on the Bounty' and more recently in 'Master and Commander'.
Even if you don't have time to explore all of Nova Scotia, then I highly recommend that you take a day to look around the South Shore - we used Halifax as a base and the round trip from there to Peggy's Cove, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg and back was ideal. In common with much of the rest of the eastern seaboard of Canada, be prepared to drive if you want to see places other than Halifax - public transport is limited outside the major conurbations and it's basically impossible to get around as flexibly and quickly on the bus network, so make sure you get a hire car. All in all, it's a shame that we didn't have more time to explore this beautiful corner of Canada. There were so many more places we wanted to get to in Canada's Ocean Playground (that's the official name of the province on all the car license plates!): Cape Breton Island, or the Acadian communities along the Bay of Fundy, to name but a few - but we'll just have to make sure we do so on our next visit...
www.condor.com - cheap flights to Halifax
www.airporter.biz - Halifax Airport bus shuttle
www.halifaxinfo.com/ - Halifax visitor information
www.pier21.ca/ - Immigration museum in Halifax
www.peggys-cove.com/ - Peggy's Cove
explorelunenburg.ca/ - Lunenburg Tourist Information
http://www.trotintime.ca/ - Horse-drawn carriage tours around Lunenburg
museum.gov.ns.ca/fma/all-body3.html - Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, Lunenburg
http://www.acadianmaple.com/ - delicious local maple-based produce (follow the signs for the store on the road between Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg!)
Canada's Ocean Playground 
