Around the World in as long as it takes.

We checked out of the Fairmont and with that said goodbye to flash hotels etc. for the next month or so... from here on in we were backpacking proper (or so we thought)

We boarded the Train with our prepared sandwiches at 6:30 pm.... luckily we'd been able to check in our luggage at 12pm and had spent the day wondering around the Massive Underground shopping mall (aka city) in Montreal.

We'd chatted to a Canadian Lady called Cathy who was also traveling to Halifax with us on the train and we all sat in which ever seats were available.

There's nothing too flashy about Economy class travel on Via Rail (Canada's National Rail Service)... just a seat, and small pull down table on the back of the seat in front and a foot rest (which did pop up though so it would have been great if you were about three foot tall!)

We were on the overnight train and funnily enough we did manage to get some sleep whilst wedged in our seats (I'd decided against using the Foot rest thingy as I kept getting pins and needles as my leg kept getting stuck in between the rest and the wall!!!)

Anyway, a day and half later.... we arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia!.... 4 hours late...... hmmm.....

Luckily for us, Cathy (the lady we'd been speaking to on the train) offered us a lift to our hostel) and we checked into the dorm before heading our for some supper. We crashed out early, ready for our exploration of Halifax City the following day.

Halifax is on the far East of Canada (only surpassed by Nova Scotia which is further
North and East) and as such is a large Port Town. As a result, the area we were staying in was a little bit run down, however, the centre of town and the waterfront was pleasant enough.

We’d been toying with the idea of doing a tour around the North of Nova Scotia and there was a company called “Salty Bear” that organized Backpacker trips around the area…. It wasn’t the cheapest, however, luckily they had a trip leaving in two days… so we booked ourselves on it.

The following day Cathy had offered to take us on a tour South of Halifax to the more touristy part of the Maritimes. She picked us up nice and early and we headed off towards Peggy’s Cove.

It was a lovely setting (much like the West of Ireland) however, the place was ransacked with Tourists We were also welcomed with a Scottish Bagpiper on entering the lighthouse and also an accordion player sat on the lighthouse door entrance…. All plying their trade well, however, somewhat annoyingly to anyone other than the droves of Americans and Canadians that seemed to love this stuff!!!!

“I’m from Ireland you know”….. yeah right !!! Maybe your great great great great great grand pappie was… that doesn’t mean you were…feckin idiots !

Anyway,
Having seen Peggy’s Cove and then popped down to Lunenberg (another old fishing town) Cathy dropped us off back at the hostel and we went to bed early ready for our Salty bear trip the following day.