Fall 2019 Road Trip; Part IV B; Canada (Nova Scotia And New Brunswick)

A portion of the downtown and harbor, Halifax, Nova Scotia. (click to enlarge)
All images made with an Olympus E-M1 Mark II and 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens.
12mm; 1/2000th sec. @ f/4; ISO 200

From Maine, we drove to Halifax, Nova Scotia to spend a few days with lifelong friends.  As I have written in the past, it is always great to spend time with these three guys (and their significant others) who have been friends since we have any memories at all.  We always have a great time.  As an aside, and with a touch of humor readers of a certain age can appreciate, our conversations as youths mainly centered around girls, cars, sports and playing outdoors.  Now it is pretty much about kids and grandchildren as well as conditions of prostate glands, who has what medical issues, colonoscopies, joint pain, etc.  We all laugh, however.  We each have the attitude that we've been blessed in life and are grateful to still be on the green side of the grass.

McCully House

The house we rented in downtown Halifax was the historic Johnathan McCully house.  If you are interested in why it has been designated a Canadian National Historical Place, you can find more information here.  To be honest, I was less than impressed with the accommodations.  Yes, the house is of historical significance but there were many things about it that didn't make it conducive as a week long rental.  For one thing, although each of us at no time felt in danger, the neighborhood appeared to be a bit sketchy.  Also, there was no air conditioning, which is okay (after all it has to remain somewhat true to its historical nature), but there were also no screens on any of the windows.  If you are familiar with the term, it felt "stuffy."  To have some air circulation and reduce the heat inside (the days were pretty warm for the time of year), we were forced to open the windows, which allowed many flying visitors to come in and buzz around—and annoy us!  Another is that most of the bedrooms had no closets, no usable dressers and most had nowhere to sit except the bed.  As I said, a nice property, convenient to downtown and the waterfront, but the new owner needs to pay some attention to make it a better short term rental property.  But I digress.

I found Halifax to be quite a nice city, upon first impression and only having spent a short time there.  The city seems steeped in history and that history is celebrated.  We visited the Citadel, a fortress that has been present in central Halifax since its founding in 1749.  It has been strategically built on the top of a rather large hill in the middle of town with great views of the harbor.  It is a perfect location to defend the city and the harbor.  There have been four iterations of the fort since its inception.  Our tour of the Citadel was fascinating, informative and I found the young period re-enactors knowledgeable and pleasant.  Images below.

During our stay we had several excellent meals at restaurants along the waterfront as well as restaurants in the middle of the downtown area.  I found the food was priced appropriately.  At first glance, prices seemed high until one did a mental conversion of the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar.  At the time of our visit it was 25%.  One Canadian dollar converted to $.75 U.S.  When considering the currency conversion, the prices seemed in line with any other large city where fine food is served.

One last comment about Canada before we head back to the United States.  Everyone, to a person, I met was friendly, helpful and pleasant.  Not a scowl, grimace nor cross word was heard.  I still am very impressed.  

Here are some images I made from Halifax.

Halifax waterfront from the ferry on our way across the harbor to Dartmouth, NS.
35mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/4; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

Part of the industrial portion of the Halifax waterfront.
75mm; 1/3200th sec. @ f/4; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

The Citadel.  A group watching a demonstration before touring the facility.
13mm; 1/2500th sec. @ f/4; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

Inside the Citadel.
21mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

100mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

100mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

100mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

29mm; 1/800th sec. @ f/4.5; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

 Most of the cannons were pointed at the harbor area and could be easily maneuvered on these rails.
34mm; 1/1000th sec. @ f/4.5; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

41mm; 1/1250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200 (click to enlarge)

We did make a few side trips.  One was to Mahone Bay and Lunenburg.  You have already seen the images from Peggy's Cove.  Here is just one image from the small town of Mahone Bay. 

Sailing in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia (click to enlarge)
86mm; 1/640th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

I hope you enjoyed these.  Next post will highlight a different aspect of my travel photography.  I think you will find it interesting.

By the way, I continue to be delighted with this small, lightweight and unobtrusive micro4/3 kit I am carrying.  Never a bother and always with me.  Image quality is great.  I have missed nothing by not taking a camera with a larger format sensor.
 
Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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