Halifax – Meanderings & Mind Munchies

Tidal bore rafting trip

Ever since we arrived in Nova Scotia, Greg has wanted to do this rafting trip. He finally got his wish today. I was significantly less enthused about it. I tried to convince him to leave me behind, but he wasn’t having it.

I’m so glad I went! It was amazing.

After signing our lives away and getting our life vests on, we all trooped down to the Shubenacadie River to wait for the leading edge of the tidal bore to pass.

(Many of the following pictures were taken from TripAdvisor. We were not able to bring our camera phones on the boat. The guide had a GoPro, and she took some video and photos for us, but she didn’t get photos of everything I would have taken a picture of.)

At low tide, most of the river’s muddy bottom is exposed. Then, as the tide rushes in, the water rises 3 inches every minute for the next 4 hours. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

We stood on the muddy floor of the river and waited for the tidal bore to arrive.

This is what the leading edge of the tidal bore looks like. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

After the leading edge of the tidal bore passed, we all hopped into our powered rafts and headed off to follow it. As the water rushed over the sandbars, it created large standing waves.

For about an hour, our guide powered us through the rapids created by the rising water. Some of the waves were about 6 ft tall. At times, there was so much water in the bottom of the boat that I thought we might sink.

We had three little kids and their parents with us in our boat. The littlest kid, Evelyn, was absolutely petrified. The two older boys were having the time of their lives. It was so much fun to see their excitement.

As the water started to settle, our guide stopped the boat and gave us an opportunity to hop out and swim. (Yes, the water really is that muddy!) Getting back into the boat was quite a challenge!

Greg and I. Photo taken by our guide, Steph.

And finally, we headed a little further up the river to where there were muddy banks. Everyone got out of the boats (except me) and went sliding down the banks.

Greg, the intrepid adventurist, decided to give mudsliding a try. I would have given it a try as well, except that I was concerned about getting mud in parts of my anatomy that were already giving me a challenge. 😆

Me, watching Greg slip-slide in the mud like a beached whale. I haven’t laughed this hard in months.

By this point, the water in the river had calmed down quite a lot. We raced the boat back to our starting point and called it a day.

When we first walked down to the river, the area underneath this bridge was completely dry. (Photo from TripAdvisor)

Peggy’s Cove

Today was a beautiful day. We headed to one of the local tourist attractions called Peggy’s Cove.

Peggy’s Cove is an adorable tiny fishing village where you can find shops, restaurants, and art galleries. Its total year-round population is 35 people.

Greg and I stopped into one of the art galleries, where we purchased a print of the lighthouse.

I am pretty sure that I have painted this little fishing village and its lighthouse from photos I found on the internet. I’m so excited that now I have my own photos to use.

The main attraction of Peggy’s Cove, however, is its lighthouse. It is perched on top of a vast rocky shoreline that is accessible to the public.

In the photo above, I have removed the people.

Halifax Harbour Boardwalk

After Peggy’s Cove, we headed back to Halifax to take a walk along the harbor boardwalk.

There are two parking lots near the harbor where we were able to find parking both times that we visited Halifax. It made the visit much less stressful!

Harbour Hopper

Today we headed to Halifax for a Harbour Hopper tour, which is similar to a Duck tour in the U.S. As you can see from the photos, the skies were cloudy and gray.

The Drunken Lampposts are an art installation along the harbor boardwalk. There are three of them. One is called Fountain (because it is peeing into the harbor), another is Get Drunk, and the third is Fall Down. You can just see the curve of part of Fall Down in the photo. (The rest of it is lying on the boardwalk, passed out.) Together, they represent what happens in Halifax at night on the waterfront.

St. George’s Island. I wanted to go over and tour the island, but it never happened.

One of the stories that our Harbour Hopper tour guide told us was about a huge explosion that occurred in 1917, when a French cargo ship fully loaded with explosives collided with a Norwegian ship in the harbor, causing a blast that killed more than 1,700 people and injured 9,000 others. The explosion destroyed buildings within an 800-metre radius and created a tsunami that exposed the bottom of the harbor.

Another medical clinic

After our tour, we stopped by a local restaurant on the boardwalk and had lunch (more seafood chowder).

Then we walked to a nearby pharmacy/medical clinic to get another UTI test since I was still having a lot of discomfort, and I was almost out of antibiotics. Although the people were very nice, I wasn’t really satisfied with the experience.

At that point, we headed back to the camper because the weather was getting even more threatening.