Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Nova Scotia

Route from Sydney to Halifax

The Maasdam was supposed to have docked in Sydney yesterday but strong currents and wind made docking unsafe. There are no tugboats in Sydney to help ships, in need, so in the end the cruise ship was turned around and we headed back out to sea, sailing slowly to Halifax.

Judy from Shore Excursions gave me a call to ask me to help with tour brochure collation and folding. Two others came to help but poor Karen (one of the band member's wives) was not feeling quite herself but after taking a Meclizine tablet for sea-sickness, she started to feel better and was soon back in fine form, helping with the folding. Judy did the stapling in the print room and the brochures were done very quickly.

In the afternoon I packed and then helped Paul, who has been extremely busy, to pack. We had dinner later than usual because he kept getting calls.

Mike, one of the doctors, organised 'Games Against Humanity' (a card game) in the Officers' Bar and Marizaan and Linda (nurses) had some nibbles organised. As the evening went on people came and joined in the game. It was a lovely evening which ended fairly late, when all the cards had run out.

We didn't expect to sleep in this morning because Paul is usually up early anyway. The telephone rang around 8.30am but only one ring and then cut off. We ended up getting up, opening the curtains to bright sunny skies. We had arrived in Halifax.

Paul had a few things to do things this morning, tying up a few loose ends. We said our goodbyes to the on board medical team and anyone else we bumped into. We had a late lunch after which we disembarked from the ship and waited for the transport to the airport.

Flying to Toronto from Halifax soon!

We eventually made it safely to the airport but it was sod's law that we got stopped at every single red traffic light on the way! We have checked in now and are waiting for our flight to Toronto.

Sydney from the Maasdam's forward on-board camera.

Fortress of Louisburg in the distance.

After dinner last night Paul and I went up to the Crows Nest to listen to Karen sing. It was the last evening of her singing contract and we wanted to support her on her last night. Unfortunately one of the songs brought back some memories of my parents (R.I.P.) and had me in tears so I had to leave in a hurry. After a good cry I felt a bit better. Maybe I'm a bit 'hormonal' at the moment. Poor Paul, he didn't quite know what was going on but he was supportive. I believe women can be complex at times - well, I find that I can't understand myself some times!

There was no fog during the night but unfortunately Paul didn't sleep very well . Maybe his brain was wired to the fact that he might be woken up for fog duty?

The Maasdam docked in Sydney without any problems (during the previous cruise the wind was too strong and there were no tug boats to help the ship), and it was a lovely sunny but chilly day on arrival.

After an early lunch I met up with my assigned tour group on the pier. I was glad had had put on a few layers of clothing because the wind chill factor nearly turned my exposed hands blue with cold.

Costumed 'kitchen servant' speaking to us.

After a 40 to 50 minute journey we arrived at the Fortress of Louisburg. According to our guide (Irene), from what I can remember, the fortress was finally raised to the ground so that it wouldn't fall into French hands but it was partly reconstructed during the 1960's and '70's. There is quite a history about the fort which I won't go into but you can read about it for yourself via this link: History.

Firing a musket (the woman had earplugs fortunately!).

The fortress was impressive and a nice place to visit. There are restoration works going on in some places. Today there were only a few buildings open to the public on the site but during the summer the fortress, I believe, will come more to ‘life’ with more buildings being open and more costumed people being around and about.

Military Chapel.

For today's visit Irene took us on a bit of a walking tour after which we visited the Engineer's House. Just under the eaves of the house there were bird nests, possibly House Martins but I stand to be corrected. Anyway, we were greeted by a 'kitchen servant' in period costume who talked about her life and offered us a traditional hot chocolate drink. A block of raw chocolate (to which vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of sugar had been added) was grated and the powder was mixed with hot water or hot milk. The drink was a bit on the bitter side but I didn't complain - it was lovey and hot, and probably full of goodness too. Well, in the old days it was only the elite that had chocolate, or it was given for medicinal purposes.

After the visit to the Engineer's House we visited the Guardhouse where a guard in period costume talked about her life at the Fortress, living conditions and also gave us a musket firing demonstration.

From there we went to the Military Chapel after which we were given plenty of time to explore the site at our own leisure.

Heading to Charlottetown

All in all our time spent at the fortress was interesting. I was glad though when the bus arrived to take us back to the Maasdam. I was cold from walking around the site!

The ship has set sail for Charlottetown and I must get the cabin ready for a games evening.

PHOTOGRAPHS