Average temp. 7ºC
The sunny english paradise was replaced by Nova Scotia at its best,.. never has a country been more aptly named “New Scotland”, as far as I could see Scotland had sent all its worst weather to Canada.. as we came in we were informed by the captain that it was a balmy 4ºC and so foggy I barely knew we were landing until I saw the tarmac a few feet below me.
In the airport I immediately recognized Lorraine and Brad, the only 2 people in the concourse with as much luggage as me were sat in front of Tim Hortons. Dan turned up a little later and amazed everyone with his lack of luggage,… he had managed to pack everything into what can only be described as a slightly oversized sleeping bag case, that weighed only slightly more than my hand baggage
Once fed, we duly called Eddie the taxi driver who I have to say is probably the most knowledgeable person about Halifax in Canada and he regaled us with tales of the origin of the Boston Christmas tree, largest explosions in history pre-Hiroshima and every other fact he could think of whilst nonchalantly hitting every other pothole in the road. At times he was so intent on ensuring his audience was captivated by his fascinating tales by turning round and looking them in the eye that we almost veered off the road a number of times. After 1hr 40 mins I had run out of interesting noises to make at the end of every statement, so it was a relief that it finally looked like he had run out of steam. But we couldn’t have wished for a nicer guy and the scenery (that we could see through the fog) was spectacular. On arriving in Lunenberg we were challenged to find the bay the fog was so thick and as the drizzle became fully fledged sleet, we were informed by Bronwen that the Picton was to be dry docked next week so we were bunked on the Zebroid an old trawler moored a little down the way. When I saw her my breath was literally taken away! If “rust” was this season’s black she would have been the coolest ship in the northern hemisphere! And I had honestly seen more seaworthy vessels 30m underwater!
I have to admit that what started as nervousness on seeing Zebroid suddenly became fully fledged panic when I saw our bunk room, 16 of us in a room barely bigger than my lounge, no hot water, no privacy, on a boat that I honestly thought was painted red until I got up close!
I suddenly became the little 8 year old sent away to camp for 2 weeks for the first time again, desperately lonely, unsure of what to expect, in a strange place with strange people and on the cusp of turning round, bursting into tears and running back to mummy. However, I didn’t at 8, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to at 34, especially after paying a small fortune to do it! Other people had managed this voyage and enjoyed it,.. I was going to be one of them!
The entry to "Zebroid"
The beautiful Nova Scotia vista
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