DESTINATION FOCUS
Continuing our extended look at the Canada/New England cruise region, we focus on the ports of Halifax in Nova Scotia
and St John, New Brunswick
Halifax & St John W
hen cruise ships make their right turn out of the St Lawrence Seaway, they reach a unique
and history-rich part of the world – the Scottish-tinged region of Nova Scotia. This defiant peninsula juts out into
the Atlantic, surrounded on three sides by maritime activity often of the roughest kind, hence it can be a bleak and forbid- ding place in winter. Even in the autumn season, be ready for some cool and even foggy weather. The Caribbean, this isn’t. Canada’s second-smallest province is studded with rugged bays and inlets, craggy cliffs and ages-old seafaring towns and villages. It is actually Canada’s second-most populated province – with all of 946,397 inhabitants – but, at times, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve travelled back several hundred years to the pioneering age. A 19th
century ship-building pow-
erhouse, Nova Scotia holds fast to its sea-going heritage and this aspect is firmly to the fore in main port HALIFAX, where virtually every Canada/New England itin- erary pays a call.
Birthplace and home of Samuel Cunard,
who went on to found the renowned Cu- nard Line, the port city is a compact col- lection of largely modern buildings due to the thunderous 1917 accidental explosion
of a munitions ship that ripped the harbour apart, killing 2,000, injuring another 9,000 and leaving countless thousands homeless. Until Hiroshima, it was the largest man- made explosion in the world. The massive harbour is overlooked by
star-shaped Fort George, established in 1856 on the bulky Citadel Hill. This British- built fortress was never attacked but, under Canadian government, formed the basis of the province’s key contribution in two World Wars, when Halifax was a vital staging point for Atlantic convoys and the battle against the U-boats. Today, it makes for a thoughtful historical perspective as well as a dramatic overview of the port. Maintaining its Atlantic tra- ditions, Halifax was the final resting place of many of the victims of the Titanic disaster in 1912, which is also a cornerstone of the excellent Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which displays Nova Scotia’s full sea-going heritage in wonderful detail, including the CSS Acadia moored in the bay. Take the pleasant harbour
walk between the Museum and the cruise ship berths and you are sure to discover Halifax’s oth-
Autumn 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING 41
er great ‘secret,’ Alexander Keith’s Brewery. Founded in 1820, you can not only tour this local gem in period fashion with guides in 19th
century costume, you can taste their
range of full-bodied real ales. The pub’s fish and chips are pretty good, too!
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