We followed the scenic route along the south coast from Sydney, Cape Breton, to Halifax, the principal city of Nova Scotia. The weather was wild early, particularly as we crossed the Canso Causeway linking Cape Breton Island to the mainland. Ocean water from the waves breaking on the causeway crashed onto the road, and thousands of seabirds were swooping and diving to gorge on the fish that had schooled near the causeway to shelter from the storm. Conditions improved later and we stopped mid afternoon for haddock and chips at a campground cafe at Spry Bay. It was a fortunate choice; the owners took pride in cooking everything very fresh, starting with peeling the potatoes for the fries. It took quite a while, but the end result was delicious. Today we visited popular Peggy's Cove, a tiny picturesque fishing village about 35km south-west of Halifax. A small number of families continue to fish out of here for mackerel and lobster, and tens of thousands of tourists visit every year to admire the village's idyllic setting. But not today. The weather was wet, windy and cold, and we were one of only about five cars in the lighthouse car park mid morning. But we still enjoyed the place, and some seafood in the cafe overlooking the village and Atlantic Ocean.
In the afternoon we visited the excellent, atmospheric Maratime Museum of the Atlantic, in downtown Halifax. Being on the far east coast of Canada, Halifax is a strategically important port and has played an important role in Canada's history, and military history generally.
Halifax has had more than its share of trials and tribulations, most notably the great Halifax explosion of December 1917. The Mont Blanc, a ship packed with thousands of kilograms of explosives and about to join a convoy to Europe, collided with another in Halifax Harbour and caught fire. It then drifted to the pier at the bottom of Richmond Street in the city centre. The fire and smoke attracted hundreds of onlookers down to the waterfront and pier. The Mont Blanc then exploded. Nearly two thousand people were killed, many more thousands were injured, and a large area of the city was totally destroyed.
Five years previously, Halifax had played an important role in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster. It was the city closest to the point where the Titanic had sunk (a few hundred kilometres away), and had the type of boats and marine skills necessary to undertake recovery of victims' bodies from the ocean. Halifax mariners recovered hundreds of bodies, 150 of which are buried in Halifax cemetries.
More recently, in September 1998, Swiss Air Flight 111, en route from New York to Geneva, caught fire and crashed into the Atlantic only 8km out from Peggy's Cove, minutes from a planned emergency landing at Halifax International Airport. All 229 people on board were killed.
This all sounds very dark, and it is, but Halifax today is very much a happy, modern place surrounded by great maratime scenery. An excellent place to spend a few days, or better, weeks. But our time in Halifax had run out, and it was time for us to be on the road again.
