Little Lolly's Small Adventures: horse and carriage ride

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Last night at dinner time Paul and I met up with the 2 doctors (Aileen Siscar and Irene) and a nurse from the medical team, as well as Liz from shore excursions, and her fiance. Sadly Aileen and Irene were called away to an emergency so the rest of us ended up having the major part of dinner without them. Aileen got back around about the time we were starting our dessert. As usual we all ate a bit too much and were full afterwards, our bellies exiting the Pinnacle Grill before we did!

It was a chilly but bright and sunny day when we docked in Halifax but it warmed up a bit during the day. The excursion I was assigned to met not far from the entrance of the cruise terminal. Our horse hosts for the day were Mel and Mike. Mike was a curious chap with a good sense of humour whereas Mel wasn't really bothered, just getting on with what she was there to do.

We had a guide who gave us an interesting history lesson about Halifax and pointed out places of interest as our trolley trundled its way around, such as the city gardens, Citadel, Robbie Burn's statue and much more. Our carriage driver was a huge lass. At first I thought she was a lad until our guide introduced her to us (oops!). Its just that her curves seemed to be all in the wrong places and well hidden underneath her man-like clothing. She handled the Mel and Mike well, making sure they didn't get startled from all sorts of things going on around them – from traffic to humans and building works. Sad to say, not only did I thank the guide and carriage driver, but I also thanked the horses for taking us around Halifax!

Paul was very busy when I got back but eventually we managed to 'touch base' with each other. I went with him to see one of the winches undergoing a load-bearing test. A lifeboat was lowered into the sea and then huge rubber tarpaulins were hitched onto each winch. The tarpaulins were filled with water until a certain weight and left for a few minutes to hang. Then the winch brakes were tested: the full water tarpaulins were lowered a bit and then the brakes applied. Fortunately they held! The water was then emptied out of the tarpaulins.

After the tests were done the lifeboat was then hitched back up out of the water but it went back down into the water as fast as it went up. The winch had broken and fortunately nobody was in the lifeboat when it happened. Unfortunately this happened around about the time that the ship was about to leave and the mechanic who serviced the winches had already left the ship. So a frantic call was made for him to come back to the ship and look at the winch = a delay in the departure. Needless to say, things were sorted fairly quickly and the ship was able to leave without any further hiccups. According to Paul, the technician didn't have to do anything – the winch worked without any problems under his watchful eye – sod's law!

You can see my pictures on facebook via this link: Excursion: Halifax by Horse Drawn Trolley

Travelling to our next destination: Bar Harbour, (via sea though!)

The Maasdam docked early and the sun was shining nicely when I woke up. It was to be a hot day with a breeze. With the current and winds, bridge staff were more or less a bit more on alert than usual.

After breakfast I joined the waiting group in the terminal for my assigned excursion . It turned out the guests would be split into 2 groups of about 20 or so in each. There were enough people to complete the first group so they set off whilst the rest of us waited until the rest of our group was complete.

We had a nice walk from the cruise terminal to Quebec’s Old Town, Place Royal and its Market Square and through Petite Champlain with stops for photographs. Despite a lot of walking involved, I admired a lady who came with us, complete with oxygen tubes, and her husband carrying a bag of oxygen bottles to which his wife was linked. Fortunately our guide, Stacey, went at an unrushed pace but still there were stragglers for which she had to stop and wait for. The stragglers kept stopping to look in shop windows or to take pictures rather than actually being physically slow. That’s the way it was – although guests would have enough time in the afternoon to wander around town on their own.

We went up the steep cliff-face via a funicular and had plenty of time to take in the views of the old town below, and the river. Stacey took us to the Chateau Frontenac (a hotel) where we were able to step inside the reception hall to have a look. It was beautiful inside. The place was HUGE! The courtyard that we passed through looked very like a castle’s courtyard.

The next part of our tour involved a carriage ride, up to 4 guests per carriage. An Australian lady and I had a carriage to ourselves which meant that we could sit facing forwards. It was lovely meeting our horse. There was also a white horse and carriage just in front of us so I went over to say ‘hello’ to her. She gave me sniff and I bent my head gently towards her nose. She promptly put her forehead down and we gently touched foreheads. It was lovely! Anyway… once in our carriages we set off in convoy through Quebec’s Upper Town with our carriage driver pointing out places of interest and various landmarks. About halfway through the walk the horses were brought up to a small fountain where they could have some water to drink – if they wanted to. 2 or 3 did, but the rest of them didn’t. There was something happening in town – possibly a ‘walkathon’ because there were some walkers with numbers pinned to their chests and there was some sort of a festival in a park that we passed by, complete with stalls and a small funfair. There was a high amount of traffic on the roads, with cars bumper to bumper at times. Fortunately, if our convoy got split up at traffic lights or whilst turning into a road, cars would stop and allow us to pass so that the carriages could keep together.

We said our goodbyes to the horses and our carriage drivers and met up with our guide, Stacy, at the entrance to Governor’s Park. From there we took a slow walk back to the ship through the Upper Town and down a windy road through to the Old Town. One or two couples opted to remain in town rather than walk back to the ship with the guide, and would make their own way back to the ship later on. Again I was surprised at the determination and resilience of the lady on ambulatory oxygen – she did so well, never complained and never sat down on a bench to catch her breath. She seemed determined to enjoy herself despite her health.

Back on board the ship I took photographs from the top deck and looked down to the park – there was a crowd gathering around someone on a podium. I later learned that it was the official opening of the park. Paul and I had a quick bite to eat and, with him having permission to go ashore, we headed into town; going up by the funicular to get to the upper town and then walking back down a road on the way back. It was hot but there was also a strong wind which kept the town cool to a huge degree. On the way back we walked through Petite Champlain, passing the lower station of the funicular and noticed that the building doors were closed.

It was a bit odd. Then we looked past the building, up the rails – one of the trams was stuck part the way up. ½ an hour later we past the funicular again, to get back to the ship, – the carriage was still stuck and there was a bit of a crowd gathering… People in the tram were hanging out of the window, trying to get some air. Having glass windows, the tram was like a sun trap in the 29C heat. I noticed a small ladder on the side of the tram doors and also a stairwell between the 2 sets of rails, but nobody had got out of the tram to climb down. Maybe people were unaware of the escape route or perhaps rules and regulations state that you can’t get out without assistance of the fire brigade or rescue services (??). I probably would have got out… Later on we learnt that there had been a short power outage which seemed to have affected the lower old city including the cruise terminal. Power had come back on but we think that the tram’s power station had been affected/mucked up, or it had not come back on. Needless to say, Paul forewarned the gangway that if there were any guests on the stuck funicular tram – they may be late. As it turned out, everybody was back on board in time.

Paul and I continued our walk back to the ship but instead of walking along the road, we opted to cut across a newly formed park adjacent to the pier. There were floor water fountains and mist sprays, as well as patches of grass and areas of foliage that had been planted. As the plants and grass grow and take hold I think the area will look really nice. Children played around the floor water fountains, squealing with delight. It was like one huge party!

It will be an early night for me. I’m very tired. The clocks are due to go forward 1 hour sometime during the wee hours of tomorrow morning = 1 hour’s less sleep for everyone.

The ship’s horn is blaring and the Maasdam is now setting sail for Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.