God save the Queen

On Tuesday, one of the coaches Tino & Otie dropped me out on the trans-Canada highway at 7-30 in the morning. Otie was good & looking forward to his kayaking and was not phased about living on his own in our cabin for the next week.

Hitching was very slow & I was starting to worry about missing my flight, but 2 rides in quick succession got me to the airport by 9-30. The lady in my second ride went out of her way and dropped me at the door.

Flew out at 12-30 with a very cute little airline callled Porter. They had a lounge at the airport for all their passengers with complimentary coffee & snacks. On the flight a big complimentary can of Whistlestop beer with sammie & bikkie converted me into a big fan. They have a fleet of Canadian built Bombadier turbo prop planes. Flight over was cloudy so not much to see. Organised hostel accomodation from airport with very helpfull info ladies & then bussed to town.

It was the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Navy so there were 2 aircraft carriers & approx 34 warships from a heap of different countries in the harbour & the Queen was there to do a fleet review. It seems that Liz & Phil sat on comfy chairs on the side of a Canadian ship which steamed past each ship on which the sailors shouted God save the Queen & threw their hats in the air. I think the French and Dutch sailors shouted something different on their ships.

I jumped out of the shuttle where all the crowds were & about 10 minutes later the Queen &

Prince Phil drove past. I didn't get a great look at them but they didn't see me either. There were lots of sea cadets and naval veterans around also so it was a huge occasion.

I was in a boys dorm at the youth hostel with a great bunch of young fellas. Went out on my own for F & C's & a couple of beers. Halifax feels like a cross between an English town & Dunedin cos uni right in town.

The next day was sunnyin Halifax. All the oldies at the hostel were up & about at 7 & not a young traveller to be seen. None of the youngies was in bed when all the oldies lights out at 10-30. I went on tour of a Dutch warship in the morning docked right by the USS Wasp an aircraft carrier & a huge ship. I went across the harbour to look back at Halifax. The library with free internet was in the ferry building. The

people here are very helpfull, polite & I feel quite at home. The weather was like southern NZ.

Later in the day I boarded a bus for a 7 hour journey up thru Novia Scotia and across Cape Breton Island. It was wooded most of the way and sparsely populated. Very few farms because of the harsh winter. Sat next to a very nice lady who chatted much of the way telling me about the French English history of the area. She was French or Acadien as they are called in this area. Also learned about the local politics, the Micmac indians & decline of industry in the area. The recession was hitting this area & tourist numbers were down. Had a meal stop & I couldnt go past the McLobster sandwich which is only found in this area. In the dark I saw a fox run across the road & an accident where a car had hit a deer.

Arrived at North Sydney to catch the ferry across the Cabot strait which was delayed from 2 to 4 in the morning. Rolled out my mat & slept on the terminal floor. I then found some floor space on the boat & off we went.