Tuesday 13^th November and Wednesday 14^th November

These next two days have been earmarked to visit Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. I had browsed online for a hotel in which to stay and while hotels serve their purpose we are not huge fans for a number of reasons. We find that they have a “sameness” about them, that is you expect to see a room with a bed, a television a separate bathroom, wardrobe with the ironing board and iron stacked neatly (NEVER to be used by yours truly!!).  The other downside for us is eating breakfast in a hotel environment.  The array of foods is usually way out of our comfort zone for morning consumption, however the selection often will lead to us having just a “little taste of this” and a “little taste of that” and before we know it we are leaving for the day feeling weighed down with a carbohydrate overload.

I then had a “flashbulb moment” and remembered the online club we had joined a number of years previously.  This club is the “Affordable Travel Club” and was begun here in Canada quite a while back.  www.affordabletravelclub.net. The idea behind the club is to provide a bed and breakfast to fellow travellers and to share your knowledge with them of the local area as well as any other travel hints and tips which have been amassed during your own travels. There is a very small fee to be paid to the hosts.

I contacted a couple in Halifax who were listed in the online directory, mentioning it was a very short notice request, and to our delight the reply came back very quickly letting us know they would be happy to host us and would even come out for dinner with us.

We met Joan and Donald a well travelled couple in their very cosy home right in the middle of Halifax following an afternoon of looking at some of the city in the 90 minutes left on the parking meter.  The port was very close and the information office had told us a little ferry crossed the harbor every 15 minutes, so armed with camera and high hopes of capturing all that the harbor view offered we took the ferry ride from Halifax to Dartmouth. The attendant at the gate told us that because it was Tuesday all seniors travelled for free – bonus.  Now that my biological clock has ticked over to the magical 60, I also must have it emblazoned on my forehead as well.  It was fun before I was 60 when people took me for a senior and assumed that because I was with an older husband that I too was 60+.  It is not so funny now that I must look like a senior and don’t even have to mention it.  We have to be grateful though that there are benefits at some points in our travelling career.

The little ferry started chugging out into the harbor after doing a 360 degree turn and headed toward Dartmouth.  Out came the camera to capture some of the highlights, and on went the flat battery light.  No more needs to be said.

Our evening with Joan and Donald was delightful as it also included meeting their son Steven and daughter-in-law, Yuki who had both travelled through parts of Australia.  The following morning Joan cooked us a lovely breakfast which included delicious blueberry pancakes with maple syrup – we certainly felt as if we were experiencing Canadian living in an authentic way.  We entered their home as strangers and left as friends – a very positive way to enter into the ATC.

The morning was very wet and uninviting to walk and see any of the local sites so we spent time in a local shopping mall gathering a few gifts as well as a new iPad for Bob to play with. We were delayed on our exit from Halifax by a truck full of timber which had crashed on the highway.  The rain was quite heavy, the line of traffic getting longer and no reason could be seen for the hold up.  We were stuck for well over an hour before we could move and head for home. It was such a relief to get back home to kick off the shoes and relax.