FRIDAY, MAY 31st:

  Our day was to be a full one: an excursion along the Novia Scotia coastline south west of Halifax, often known as the Blue Nose Coast. The  epithet comes from the colour of the dye that the fishing wives would use  when they knitted mittens for their husbands. When the fisherman wiped his nose, the dye would come off, hence the "blue nose".

   Our driver was Daphne, an amazing character. She was as tall as she was broad, had spent a few years as driving a "slinky", an eighteen wheel lorry, and also a few years as as school bus driver. This was all out of necessity, having been widowed young with two young children. Her voice was as loud as a foghorn, so certainly the bus microphone was not needed! She had a great sense of humour and kept is entertained throughout!

   Our first stop was Peggy's Cove, a delightful fishing village, reminiscent of Cornwall or Norway. There are now only about 35 residents, but many visitors. Sadly, it gained notoriety in 1998 when a Swiss Air flight with 221 passengers came down in the sea nearby on a flight from New York to Geneva. It was a joy to wander around it in the time available.

    Our bus journey continued through lovely coastal scenery with  neat wooden houses and manicured gardens. In the most desirable locations house costs rose to over a million dollars. 

    At length we came to Lunenburg, the town plan laid out by the British in the mid 1700s when they were eager for another settlement loyal to the crown. They then offered the land to Protestant settlers from Germany and Switzerland. Although they were mainly farmers they soon turned their hand to shipbuilding and fishing. The beauty of the town was shown when Lunenburg was declared a World Heritage Site. We couldn't really visit Nova Scotia without having lobster at some point. This was the day! We enjoyed a superb lobster lunch and were given the usual plastic bib, crackers, and scalpel to deal with it. Several other members of the group chose the same restaurant and we had a great view overlooking the sea coast.

    On then to Mahone Bay where Daphne parked the bus lob the outskirts and we had a leisurely stroll along the road through the town with its three steeples. There was the opportunity to have an ice cream - well appreciated!

     We drove on to Chester, again, a pretty coastal town with an interesting memorial to Norwegian seamen killed during the war as they helped with convoys.

      It was on our return to Halifax when our tour became an adventure! Soon after getting on the highway the alternator on the bus failed and we all got out on the roadside and waited for the best part of half an hour before a relief bus arrived. History was to repeat itself when the relief bus failed as we arrived at the Titanic graves in the outskirts of Halifax and a third bus had to be summoned! In the cemetery there were 121 graves of people drowned when the ship went down and their bodies were brought back to Halifax. It was a moving and somber walk along the lines looking at the gravestones and their inscriptions. They included the one of the unknown child whose name was in 2010 determined to be Sydney Goodwin.

     The third bus got us back to the hotel safe and sound!

For our evening snack we again went over the the Waterfront Warehouse where we had a pleasant time sharing the tables with Anthony and Alan, David and Jackie. Good food, good company, good conversation!