We made it down to Murphys Wharft, where our whale watching tour was to begin. My hangover was consuming me. I told Justin, my roommate, that chances were good that I was going to upchuck on a whale, or possibly a small child. He gave me one last way out, “You don’t have to do this man”. I lifted my face out of my hands, “Yes Justin, I must!”

We all boarded Murphys Tour boat, a collosal looking thing with chairs lining the outer-upper deck and theatre-esque seating in the main cabin. I found a sweet looking seat right beside the edge of the starboard side of our tour boat. If I was going to be sick, I didn’t want to be running for a garbage or bathroom. Plus the fresh air distracted me from how many shots of whiskey I shouldn’t have partook in.

The tour boat set off toward the sea while the tour guides gave us an in-depth history lesson on Point Pleasant Park, Pier 21, and the Halifax Harbour. I took in as much as I could under the circumstances. That is, until one of the Murphys Tour Guides mentioned on the P.A system that there was a bar in the cabin. My guts said no, but my logic said yes. The only way to cure (or at least delay) this hangover was to drink through it. Hair of the dog. Thankfully, Justin and his old man were happy to join me for beers.

My thoughts were finally tuning into the beauty of Halifax’s harbor. The second largest in North American, next to New Yorks. As of yet, we hadn’t seen much in terms of wildlife, aside from some seabirds. The history lessons continued, when finally some harbor seals swam by far enough away to look indistinguishable from some of the waves. The Murphys tour guides informed everyone on boat that they were going to pull a lobster trap out to let us touch (and annoy) some crustaceans.

As they hauled up the heavy looking wooden box, I had to laugh a bit. It was almost empty. There were a few little guys in there, along with some stone crabs and a very pissed off fish. This was by all means nothing like “The Deadliest Catch”. Thankfully, Murphys Gang had a backup plan, they ran to their tank in the cabin and pulled out their domesticated lobster and crab to let the kids (and me) hold. We grabbed a second round of beers and took our seats to enjoy the sun as it faught its way through the clouds. My hangover would come back every so often, or maybe it was seasickeness. Regardless, I held strong.

We’d been on the boat almost an hour with still no sight of whales. I was beginning to think we might be the unlucky group of the day when suddenly crowds of children and a few eager photographers ran to the port side of the ship to see something. The Murphys Whale Watching crew announced that they’d found a Minke Whale, but warned we might not see it for a bit as it looked like it was diving. I figured I should get up to see if I could see anything. Then on the starboard side two more whales surfaced, where they proceeded to show off a bit. One minke whale waved its tail as it dove deeper, while the other was just surfacing.

After watching for 15 to 20 minutes, one last whale, or possibly the first one, surfaced again on the port side. Unfortunately, unless you have a telescopic lens with a trigger finger and some serious high shutter speed, you may have a heckuva time catching any pictures of whales. As you can see, I didn’t. But I think that’s what a lot of people seem to forget. Its a Whale Watching Tour, not a Whale Photo Shoot. After realizing I wasn’t going to be able to get much of a shot, I put the camera away for a while, and just watched the whales. Its incredible how much faster the human eye is than the camera.

The Whale watching tour finished with some bird feeding and a few more historical stories, including the famous Halifax Explosion. As I snapped a few last photos of the Halifas Skyline, I realized my hangover was gone. Then I got off the boat and realized I was perhaps a bit dunk. “Hair of the dog, you’ve done it again!” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you go whale watching hungover!

Explosions at Citadel Hill

I woke up with 7 minutes to make it 6 blocks to Citadel Hill for the 21 gun salute. Yes, I slept in til 11:53am, do I regret it? Not a chance. I threw on a semi-clean Tee and commenced running with perfect form. Some might say I looked like a gazelle as I passed families covered in temp tattoos of maple leafs, with red shirts, red hats, and Canadian flags hanging from any nook and cranny they could find. I made it there with less than a minute to spare. The canons exploded violently, shaking the everything and everyone near. As the 21st shot went off, the crowd lining Citadel Hill cheered.

Big ships on the Boardwalk

I walked back to my apartment leisurely, high fiving families and drunks decked out in red & white. It was already 12:15pm, I had to catch up to these animals. That wasn’t hard. After consuming a fair amount of drinks with my friend slash roommate, we decided to check out what was going on down at the boardwalk. Rumour had it that there were still a bunch of Navy ships kicking around from the Queens recent visit. The ships still in harbour during Fleet Week were awesome. Coming from SK, where the biggest boat you can hop on is your cousin Jeds 12 foot tin can fishing boat, these ships blew me away.

The Battered Fish

After checking out some of the ships the smell of salty and savory food was luring us in. The boardwalk is notorious for amazing little food stands, as well as some of its more high end restaurants. We chose the food stands. The Battered Fish was pretty lined up, but the sign above where they were taking orders greeted us with warm words, such as Poutine, and Fish ‘n Chips, and other sexy words, like “side of Gravy”, and “Made with real cheese curds“. The food was in our hands in minutes, and in our guts in seconds. Why does everything taste so much better when you’ve got a good buzz on?

A Quick Nap

I ended up walking up to Citadel Hill again to see what was going on. Which as it turned out at that moment, wasn’t much. I starfished on the grass, enjoying the bright blue sky we were given on this fantastic day. Next thing I know I wake up to the sun setting. Must have passed out there for a minute. Classic whiskey.

Wake up for round 2

Justin and I made it back to our apartment for some coffee, followed by more drinks. That quick passout kicked our butt, so getting back into the swing of things the second time around was tough. However thanks to the invention of the shotglass, we were properly intoxicated in a short time. We ran down to the harbour and barely caught the fireworks. We oo’d and ah’d for a couple of the big ones, then began planning our night.

Initially we had planned on catching the ferry to Dartmouth to catch Joel Plaskett, but those plans never panned out unfortunately. Instead we ended up bar hopping for most of the night. We met some cool people, high fived a few thousand hands, and listened to some live bands at various drinking establishments. All in all, good Canada Day. Bad hangover, but good Canada Day.

The weather was hovering around 25 degrees celcius all weekend, I needed to get out of my cramped apartment, and was itchin’ to see something new. After getting lost a couple times and nearly dieing as I struggled up every hill, I finally managed to find it. Point Pleasant Park.

One might wonder, how Pleasant is this Park? Well, as a matter of fact, I can proudly vouch for the name, this park is all sorts of pleasant. As soon as you walk through the first couple hundred feet of the footpaths, you begin to forget how close you really are to downtown Halifax, to the hustle and bustle of life in a metropolitan city.

The first thing I noticed upon walking into the park was the fragrance of the woods and flowers, combined with the chirping sounds of birds and the occasional blast of warm air, I began to wonder how in the hell this park had escaped me for this long.

After making a quick stop at Blackrock Beach, I was fortunate enough to catch one of the massive cargo ships leaving the Halifax Harbour. This was by far one of the coolest things I’d seen that day, however it was clear that myself and the cute asian girl standing a few feet away were the only ones who thought so, on account of us being the only two people snapping pictures and starring at this massive piece of machinery gracefully float back out to sea.

After hiking further through the park I began to find a whole bunch of WWI and WWII memorials. It was a surreal sight seeing people bathing in the sun just a few feet from this massive 25 foot Cross with the names of hundreds of men and women etched in it. Unsure of whether this was disrespectful or not, I made sure to pay a few minutes of attention to the memorial before grabbing a piece of grass and laying starfish as I watched the clouds go by.

Once my imagination gave out and the clouds began to simply look like clouds again, I hiked further into the park. After coming across a “You are here” sign, I began to realize how little of this park I had seen so far, despite spending almost 2 hours in it already. Turns out this monstrous park I was just meandering through is a total of 186 acres. So I decided to make use of what little energy I had left to see a little more of it. The canons only a few hundred feet from me, seemed like the next stop.

Hiking turned into walking, which then turned into “Holy crap I’m out of shape“. Thankfully I found the right trail that lead to somewhere I could rest. Price of Wales Tower. From far away it didn’t look like much, but as I got closer it became apparent how well made this thing was.  As I snapped some pictures, I did a quick 360 to see if I was getting in the way of somebody else’s picture. Turned out I was the only one in this part of the park. This gave me plenty of time to walk around this big brick tower and read all the signs before carrying on. Turns out this giant brick tub-stopper was built in 1794 through to 1799 as a means to protect the Halifax against seaborne attack  from the Northwest Arm. It must have worked, because Halifax still exists today. Thank you Tower.

As I finished the last of my water, I realized how incredibly hungry I was. I never argue with my stomach, so I decided to call it quits for the day. Point Pleasant Park was a great place to spend a hot spring day, and is well worth more than just a quick stroll through. You can’t beat the price (Free), and if you’re a history buff, I’m sure you’ll find something that interests you. If you’re a nature lover, the wooded areas and scenic vistas will make you right at home, and for those just in need of a quiet place to unwind, theres a good hundred acres or so for you to find a spot of your own.

For more surfing videos like this check out Surf Donkey

Sable Island

Nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic, Sable Island has been the final resting place for over 350 ships since it’s discovery. Partly due to thick fogs, strong currents, and the fact that it’s in the middle of of a major transatlantic shipping route. Despite the enormous number of ships to have met Davy Jone’s Locker, there is little sign of any of these ships. Thick tides and moving sands tend to cover them in little to no time at all.

So aside from its nasty ship eating abilities, what makes Sable Island so great? For one, it’s protected to the nines. Try to make an unwelcome visit and you’re sure to meet the good folks of the Canadian Coast Guard. But why so protected? Nope, no gold, no diamonds, no secret Canadian version of Area 51 (how cool would that be!?). It’s all about nature here.

Nature huh?

Yea man, nature! Sable Island is home to hundreds of feral horses known as Sable Island Ponies, all of which are protected by law from human interference. If you’re like me, you might be wondering “What the heck are a bunch of wild horses doing miles from the mainland on a stretch of land no more than 1.5km wide?” Well, apparently the horses are descended from a herd confiscated from Acadians during the Great Explusion and left on the island by Thom Hancock…you may know his nephew…goes by the name of John Hancock.

Aside from horses, there is a large Grey Seal population on the island (See photo to the right), which sometimes happen to end up being food for natures dear friend, the Great White Shark. These ocean predators have been known to hang around in the nearby waters. Don’t forget the countless bird colonies that reside here, along with the  freshwater sponge which is found only in ponds on this mondo el weirdo island.

Sable Island on Map

You want to visit Sable Island?

So all this talk is getting your feet all sorts of itchy to check this place out? Sandy beaches, cool animals, a little hidden getaway from the world. Might be nice. At present, you’d have a better shot at going to Antarctica than Sable Island. From what I hear they currently limit 250 visitors per year. You should also be warned, many locals are pissed that the government is considering making Sable Island a National Park, which means it could end up being a tourist attraction. What would be a group of pissed of people be without a Facebook Page, check it out at Hands off Sable Island. Whatever decision is made in the end, I just hope Sable Island survives along with it’s inhabitants. If you’re looking for an organized group of people trying to protect Sable Island, check out the Green Horse Society. They’ve got some great photos and a lot more reading material on this subject.

Cool video of the Sable Island Ponies

Looking out at the Atlantic

My older brother made a surprise visit from Regina a few days back, so I took him out to the Lawrencetown district and showed him some of the neat little beaches along the coast. Despite how cloudy it looks it was actually a really nice day out. Go warm winter days.

For those who don’t know much about the Halifax Explosion, it was the world’s largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima. The explosion happened on December 6th, 1917 in the Halifax harbour. The explosion was caused when a Belgian relief vessel and a French munitions carrier collided during World War I. 1600 Buildings were destroyed, 12,000 houses damaged, and 6000 were left homeless.

The Belgian vessel was leaving the Halifax harbour, heading for New York, when the French Munitions ship was on it’s way to wait for a convoy when the ships collided at approx 8:45am. The French munitions vessel was carrying picric acid, gun cotton, TNT, and the top deck was carrying benzol. For roughly 20 minutes, crowds began to gather near the Halifax Harbour to watch the fire and sparks. While they were watching, the crew of the Mont Blonc rowed for their lives to warn people to run. Unfortunately it was too late. The French munitions vessel had drifted and rammed Pier 6. The Halifax explosion flattened everything within 800 metres. Rumour has it the explosion was heard as far away as Prince Edward Island. To add insult to injury, the following day one of the worst blizzards ever recorded in Halifax began and lasted for an astonishing 6 days.

If it wasn’t for the aid given by Boston, many more would have died. This years tree was a 49 foot (15 metre) white spruce, donated by the Shatfords from Fox Point, Lunenburg County. The tree has been on this property for almost sixty years. Hundreds of elementary school children were present for the cutting of the tree, and another large group of children awaited it’s arrival on the Boston Common.

Chalk one up for heartwarming history lessons.

Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC

This is the ‘Byron Bay’ of Canada, filled with Surf shops and schools, along with miles of beach. The surf in this area is easily some of the best in Canada. Because of this, Tofino has been gaining recognition in the global surf community. O’Neill is hosting Canada’s first professional surfing competition here between October 25 and October 31, 2009. The Cold Water Classic Tofino is the fourth part of a five-part World Qualifying Series that are sponsored by O’Neill. This event is expected to bring in more than 100 pro surfers competing for $145, 00 U.S. If you’re in the area around then, you should definitely check it out!

Tofino and the surrounding area is extremely beautiful, and for those Surf Tourists, this is definitely a stop you shouldn’t miss. The town has a cool vibe to it, there are plenty of backpackers and free-spirits. Plenty to see, even more to do. Easily one of the best surf town’s in Canada, and a very popular destination for surfers alike. Long beach, the most popular surf spot for Tofinites, is just south of Tofino. Long Beach is a provincial park, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding parking. Easily one of Canada’s best surf locations.

See Tourism Tofino for more information

Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia

25 minutes south of Halifax is a unique small town, which when first going through doesn’t seem much more different than the last few. However, once you get to the waters edge, you’ll see the difference. This great little community is full of surfers, and taking one look out into the ocean, you can see why. The East coast has a habit of getting the best waves at night, so if you can’t sleep, wander down to the beach, you might be lucky enough to see a few redeye surfers out there, taking advantage of a quiet night out on some of the Maritimes best Surfing.

Lawrencetown Beach is a south-facing stretch of sand that unfurls for approximately 1.5 km (1 mile). The beach is a provincial park and is one of the first beaches in the province to be supervised by the Nova Scotia Lifeguarding Service. The beach hosts not only some amazing surfing, there is also some great mountain biking and hiking nearby.

Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia

Located inside Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Ingonish Beach is a remote and well hidden beach many surfers call their own. The breaks aren’t quite as consistent as Lawrencetown, but during winter and particularly hurricanes this area can get crazy quick. It’s a very nice, scenic beach, with miles of sand. A great place to learn to surf, as it’s rarely all that crowded and swells tend to keep below 7 feet.

Ingonish Beach provides a great view of the Highlands of Nova Scotia, with plenty to do, including mountain biking, hiking, golfing, cross country ski, and yearly Ceilidhs and other traditional Cape Breton entertainment. Well worth the drive.

Kincardine, Ontario

Found in the southern part of Ontario, Kincardine has a great beach that can surprisingly keep up with some of Canada’s coastal surf spots. Keep in mind, the weather plays a huge part in the swell size and breaks here, but plan it out and you can find yourself with some solid 10 ft waves.

Make it down to the beach, and you’ll see the massive pier going into the lake. Take a graceful jump off it, and should the weather be on your side, you’ll be surfing before you know it. It may not be one of the best surf spots in Canada, but it’s unique enough that I thought it deserved being on this list. If you’re an avid surfer, you can score some good bragging points for saying you surfed in the Great Lakes.

Habitat 67, Montreal, Quebec

Habitat 67 is the name of Canada’s very own standing wave. Found in Lachine Rapids, in Montreal, Quebec. It’s become a popular stop for whitewater kayakers and river surfers. Named after the unique building complex located adjacent to the waves. There are two schools out here that’ll teach you how to ride the standing wave. Imagine Surfboards has taught 3,500 students since 2005, and KSF, another Montreal River-surfing school, has had 1, 500 students a year since 2003.

The waves are created by the fast moving water of the rapids hitting some underwater boulders, which produces waves as high as two metres. There are a few other standing waves upriver as well, including another one name Big Joe. Standing Waves are the perfect way to feel comfortable on your board. Rather than a short stint of being up on your board, you can be riding these waves for 10, 20, 30 minutes if nobody else is waiting. Even if you don’t plan on jumping in, it’s definitely worth stopping to check out.

Lake Superior, Ontario

As coastal areas are becoming more and more “discovered”, many surfers have gone to great lengths to find a spot they can call their own. Some of these surfers have turned to the Great Lakes, and surprisingly enough, they’ve been finding some.

The North Shore of Lake Superior offers a good amount of surf. Weather determines the quality of these waves, but despite being very reliant on the weather, surf associations have begun popping up around the area. The Superior Surf Club displays beautifully what the Great Lakes can offer curious surfers. On average there is about 10 surfable days per month, and of those, 2 days will be of good quality. Waves here can reach 10 to 12 feet in height. However, they can get a lot bigger than that during the throes of a raging storm. The most popular places to surf in Lake Superior are Lester River, Stoney Point, and Park Point. They have the most consistent amount of surf. There are no rentals here though, so you’ve got to bring your own surfboard and hope for the best.

For those looking for a unique experience, Canada offers some great surf locations for novices and pros. It’s just a matter of hunting them down. There are countless other surf locations in Canada, you just have to keep your ear to the ground as surfing in Canada isn’t nearly as popular as say hockey, or even curling. Hopefully this list can get you started for a potential great time. Remember, waves come year round, it’s just a matter of finding the guts to dive in, no matter how cold it might be.

After loading up the car rental with as much of my sisters junk as we could squeeze in, we started the three hour drive North to Antigonish. Antigonish, Nova Scotia is unique little town that is home to St. Francis Xavior University. one of the best Universities found in Canada. Some would say it’s the education, others would just say that it’s the parties, the community or the old campus. Either way, it’s a beautiful town that is worthy of checking out, whether you plan on getting some education, or just want to see a youthful town populated by University students and a few thousand locals.

Once we finished unloading everything, we decided to check out a few local attractions in Nova Scotia. We took the sunshine trail over to Pomquet Beach to enjoy the warm Nova Scotian Weather. Pomquet Beach is a coastal beach overlooking St. Georges Bay. The rolling waves and warm saltwater was enough to shake off any cramped legs caused by the hours of driving. The only thing that could have made that moment more perfect was if one of those good looking university girls on the beach offered me one of their beers. Maybe I wasn’t flexing enough. Ha!

That night we went to Pipers, one of the few pubs in town, to enjoy some  music along with some Rye and Cokes. There was a great student Jazz band playing, getting their groove on. Now if you’re a jazz fan, I’m sure you would loved this, I however am not, don’t get me wrong, they were good at what they did, it just wasn’t my thing. So I made it a mission to drink myself to “deaf”, a new technique I’m still working on. It however, didn’t work. It turns out you will get kicked out long before silence occurs. Next time.

The following morning we woke up, grabbed a bagel and a coffee from Tim Hortons, and went on another little road trip to see Cape George, a supposed great view of the cliffs, rocks and rolling hills of Nova Scotia. After kilometers of winding roads, followed by a few detours, we were just about to make the bend towards the tip of Cape George. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, construction had blocked the highway as a dead end, with a “Locals Only” sign. Seeing as my sister is a local of the area for a few more semesters, we saw no reason why we couldn’t sneak by and see the view we drove all the way out for. After a few more dips and turns, we came across a huge landslide that had blocked the highway off completely, part of the wake of destruction left by Hurricane Bill.We snapped what few shots we could, and continued along the highway until reaching Mahoneys Beach. We didn’t stay too long as the tide had just gone down, leaving meters of seaweed and debris. I did manage to score a few more shots, but decided to call it a day and went back to our hotel room in Antigonish.

My sisters stuff had been completely unpacked, her room was pretty much setup and ready to be lived and learned in, so the following morning Justin and myself said our farewells to my sister, and drove back to Halifax. We had roughly 4 hours to kill before our flight would take us back to the prairies, so we chose to spend it in downtown Halifax. We had a beer at Gatsby’s on Spring Garden Road, took a walk around the Wharf, watched a few fellow buskers, checked out a couple of the universities in Halifax, and enjoyed some local seafood.

Nova Scotia is a strange, albeit familiar place in Canada. There are subtle differences from the Maritimes to the rest of the country, from the way they say “Cawwwr”  (for Car), or they’re obsession with all things seafood related (even mussels). The people honestly are some of the worlds friendliest, each city has it’s own unique soul to it, and everyone seems generally happy. Many people, Canadians included, never consider the Maritimes as a potential vacation destination. Fact of the matter is, it’s cheap, the food is great, there’s so much to see, even more to do, and not a day will go by that you’d rather trade it in for something else. Go travel Nova Scotia, the sooner the better.

Read Part One here

Read Part Two Here

Read Part Three Here

The Alexander Keiths Brewery tour was pretty swell, the tour guides are dressed and act in colonial fashion. Aimed a little more at older folks I imagine, but it was good none the less. The guides sing and dance and try and include everybody in on their “colonial festivities”. I imagine participation would be easier if the beer sampling came before the singing and dancing begins, but it was fun none the less. Plus I had the hots for one of the colonial girls.

The tour costs roughly $15.00, and includes two pints of beer at the end of the tour. Definitely worth the money. The beer sampling includes Alexander Keiths India Pale Ale, Alexander Keiths White, Alexander Keiths Stout, and Alexander Keiths Red Amber Ale. I hammered back a Stout and a White, as India Pale Ale is one of my old time favourites.

After an afternoon hanging out downtown, the Maritimes decided to show it’s true colours. For the next 12 hours there was a constant downpour of rain. So much so, that when we got back to our room, we noticed the roof was beginning to give out, water was dropping through, and the paint was beginning to bubble in quite a few areas. We let the Inn staff know about it, and low and behold, we scored a free upgrade! We ended up with a lush apartment style hotel room, no questions asked!

We took this good fortune as a sign that we should party. So a bottle of Jack Daniels and a ride in a Rick Shaw later, we were at “The Dome”. A three storey mega-bar.

Cover was $8.00 and gets you access to every floor. The bottom two being your classic nightclub scene. Neon lights, loud music (heavy on the bass) and lots of dancing. I found the top floor to be the best, live music, pub style seating, a large dance floor, all in a very social atmosphere. I wouldn’t say it’s a backpacker bar, but I did meet a lot of people from different parts of Canada. Particularly on the top floor.

Fast forward through the nasty hangover, a little vomit, and a Tim Horton’s Coffee, and we found ourselves at Bubba Rays on Spring Garden Avenue, recommended by my sisters friend, a local to Halifax. They have a huge selection of wings, done in dozens of different sauces, styles, and several different types of wings. Very delicious!

Between eating, drinking, and seeing Halifax, we met up with several of my sisters friends, some locals of Halifax, others of Ontario, each had nothing but good things to say about Halifax. It’s nightlife, the people, the places, and the community feel of being part of a Maritime Culture. It feels so unique, but familiar. It seems like a lifestyle anybody could adjust to, where ever they come from.

I’ve still got a few days left in Nova Scotia, tomorrow morning I leave Halifax, and head to Antigonish to help move my sister back into Residence at St. FX. We’ll see where the road takes me from there.

Check out Part One of Nova Scotia Bound

or read Part Two of Nova Scotia Bound