Friday
So yesterday we’re checking the weather in Halifax and find out it’s snowing. Not a good sign. We arrived at 7:00 am. It was cloudy but dry and the inch or so of snow they got had melted. By the time we got off the ship, it remained mostly cloudy, but there was a fair amount of sun as well. It was nice in the sun. The temperature only got up to about 52º. We are docked right near the center of town, but our balcony looks out the other direction and we see this ligthhouse. Quiz question: What residents of Halifax known as? Halifaxers? Halifaxians? Or something else? Answer below somewhere.
After breakfast we donned warm clothing and our special expedition-ship life vests for an hour foray on one of the two “special operations boats” on board. It’s hard to describe the whole experience, but here a uTube video of one of the boats on the Viking Octanis, Viking’s first expedition ship. Polaris, our ship, is the second.
Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.
It was cold out there, and for wildlife we only saw a lot of ducks and loons and geese, but it was fun. There are a lot of huge expensive homes along the shoreline. The stone tower you see is in Sir Sandford Fleming Park. It is also known as Dingle Park or simply The Dingle, named after the town of Dingle in southwestern Ireland How appropriate! We’ll be in Dingle in just five weeks. Here are my pictures:
After our short ride we reboarded Polaris, dumped our life vests, and headed out on foot. We just stayed along the Halifax Harbourwalk which is very nice, but lots of stuff wasn’t open yet as it is very early in the season. In fact, Polaris is the first cruise ship of the year to dock in Halifax. There was a TV news crew filming about that fact, and I got interviewed. So if you happened to be watching local Halifax news on TV on Friday, you might have seen me. Fact learned on the walk: Samuel Cunard who founded Cunard Lines was from Halifax. So, the quiz answer is that he was a Haligonian. Pictures from along the walk below. See the lighthouse in the gap of the stone statue? That’s Sammy Cunard in the last picture.
We had a great lunch at Sea Smoke, a nice restaurant right on the Harbourwalk. It was nice enough to sit outside where we had our own fire pit. The local beer we had was called Frig Off East Coast IPA by Nine Locks Brewing Company. I had six yummy oysters and then fried calamari and fries. Elaine had fish and chips. Good lunch!
Then it was back to the ship for rest and relaxation prior to the daily happy hour with John and Donna. Tonight it was in the Living Room Bar and we later adjourned to dinner in the World Cafe. At 7 pm we sail for Cape Breton, further north in Nova Scotia, where we will be tomorrow.
Until then! Oh, by the way, the next comment made will be the 2,000th comment on the blog. Who will it be?
Let it be me!!
I thought you might run into some snow after all the snow storms along the northern east coast. You look great all bundled up. How far off the coast does your ship normally cruise? Those SOBs look like a lot of fun.
How funny about that park being known as The Dingle. Nice homes along the coast. Jeffs’s dad was born in Port Mouton Nova Scotia so when we went in our camper, we stayed in campgrounds on the ocean in that area and in Peggy’s Cove. A beautiful place.
Sounded like a great lunch on the Harbourwalk. Love the Frig Off East Coast IPA. We drank a lot of Schooner beer while we were there. We spent time in Cape Breton as well. See you there tomorrow.
YAY, Sue wins the prize for 2,000th comment ! I was rooting for you Sue, since you have a been Joe’s most frequent and faithful commentator over all these years, always posting the most detailed and interesting observations. And I’m pretty sure this is a cash prize so keep an eye on the mail. Don’t know how long it takes a check to get from Nova Scotia to New Hampshire. Are there tariffs on mail from Canada? 🇨🇦
Interesting stop for you guys. Amazing how much Nova Scotia looks like New England, including the weather.
Thanks, Mianne. Hopefully no tariff on direct deposits!!
Right there with you in the snow. We have had it off and on this weekend. Normal for us in CO but we are over it. Nice seeing you two in all the pics. Who knew about the other Dingle, interesting.
The Maritime Museum in Halifax was a must stop for us two years ago. It’s paired with the World War I munitions ship explosion that leveled the city. We were in the museum the day the mini sub blew up going down to the Titanic. Being amongst the Titanic relics was a eerie feeling with the happenings of the day
What a thrilling adventure thanks for sharing!
Someone is on your cruise who is posting to our Facebook Viking Cruises page. 60mph winds and sideways snow. Such pix! Stay safe, she said they closed all outside decks.
Maybe a 60 mph gust. More like 35 mph wind. Definitely snow and they did close the outside decks because of the wind and slippery conditions. But the seas are fairly calm and its comfortable as could be inside. No rocking and rolling like we had on a Princess cruise from Oslo to Southampton years ago when sailing though a force ten gale.