Halifax - the Canberra of the north?

I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re in remotest Canada – there are places much, *much* more remote than this – but we’re away from the border, which is where most of the Canadian population live. To be precise, we’re in Halifax, the capital (I think) of Nova Scotia, which is a city of size similar to Canberra. So hard to believe that a little over a week ago we were in Manhattan, where there are a billion people per square foot, and the contrast here (where the airport is a leisurely $60 taxi ride from the town, and you don’t see anything but trees, lakes and other cars on the way in) is astounding.

We haven’t done much so far, and don’t really plan to do so either. We arrived the day before yesterday following a 2 hour flight from Toronto airport. The plane wasn’t late, but we got to the airport early, and we easily spent more time waiting for the plane than actually on it. Arrived in Halifax in bright sunshine, checked in (Oscar Wilde stayed at this hotel, apparently, but I’m not feeling the literary inspiration), then had dinner at a lovely little pub just up the road. Food and drink seems to be the food and drink of the Halifax economy.

Yesterday we visited the Canadian immigration museum – Halifax was the main port of arrival for immigration up until 1971 and was also the port where boats left for Europe during WW2. While there would have been less traffic in Halifax than at the US facility at Ellis Island, the Canadian museum seems to have more heart and compassion, for some reason. But this could be a function of the way the two countries choose to tell their immigration stories. Cathy nailed it for me when she said the American one was more about ‘we’ve done you a great favour by rescuing you, so now, you can repay the favour: what can you do for us?’ whereas the Canadian one was more about ‘we rescued you because we see it as our humanitarian duty to, so now, go and have a good life, and feel part of and enrich the country’. Having said that, neither country has a perfect and unblemished record, and the boat referred to in Anna Funder's 'All That I Am' also came to Halifax and was rejected by Canada. Then again, Canada actually owned up to it in their museum, which is how we know the boat was there. The Americans didn't. The difference between the two museums was real and was big enough for us to pick up on, especially having visited both museums within the space of a week and a half.

We walked along the harbour foreshore – apparently it never freezes over in winter, which is probably why it handled so much sea traffic – and Cathy bought a dress before we stopped for lunch. The sun is very bright up here, and it seems SE Australia is still struggling through a cold winter. We got a bit burnt. Continued walking along the foreshore after lunch – more slowly, due to lunchtime cocktails in the sun – then walked the long way back to the hotel. Cathy had a snooze and I did some study. This is very much a ‘take time out and regroup’ kind of place. And we slept in this morning. The contrast to the hectic pace of NYC is remarkable … which is why I choose to remark upon it.

I spoke far too soon about the bright sunshine we had yesterday. We’ve been so lucky with good weather that the thought didn’t cross my mind that it would shortly end. Woke up this morning – late – to find the skies grey and the roads wet. Probably a bit like Canberra. Given it’s a cold and windy day today in Halifax, we walked around the town before having lunch at a nice Italian restaurant. Wasn't in the mood for wine until I saw a Greg Norman chardonnay from Australia. I've been avoiding Aus/NZ wines, but given I'd never had the opportunity to laugh sneeringly at a bottle of Norman vintage in Australia - clearly, it's export-only - I just *had* to try it. Let's just say it's rough. Cathy's considered view was that it was 'cat's piss'; I thought it was definitely in the same ballpark, but wondered if it might have even been the great man's own. He's known as being one of Australia's greatest ever world-class chokers, and, rather uncannily, drinking his wine conveys a similar sensation. To recover, we walked around the main street a bit more, then ducked into a cinema to watch ‘Ted’. Right up my street; some very funny bits. We would have watched the new Woody Allen film instead, but it had just started, and I need to watch a picture from beginning to end, even if the titles are in Swedish.

We’re now back at the hotel where we’re escaping the rain: I looked at the weather map and there seem to be far too many big Ls across Canada and far too few big Hs, so this isn't a good sign for the next few days. Cathy is in the room reading, and I’m in the lobby about to do some study. I imagine the remainder of today will be taken up with unremarkables: a visit to the pub up the road, then dinner, then sleep. Tomorrow we hire a car (or, as the Canadians pronounce it, ‘crrr’ - or, if at the end of a sentence, 'crrrrr aayy') and drive to Prince Edward Island. I keep forgetting which Prince’s island we’re going to, as there are so many. Canadians must have run out of inspiration somewhere along the line, but I cut them some slack given they had thousands of islands to name. It's a big country.