Nova Scotia

The train that awaited me in Montreal was the most modern and high tech I'd yet experienced in my cross-continental journey. Though its configuration did present an interesting dilemma. The seating was set out such that it was two seats next to each other on one side of the aisle, and a single seat on the other. The dilemma is do you take a double seat, clearly more roomy, but risk someone smelly sitting next to you for hours on end, or do you take a safe but less comfortable single seat?

I took the double and luckily I had the whole seat to myself for the twenty hour journey. Some other double-takers weren't so lucky, but I was got to lie (almost) comfortably on the seats and get plenty of sleep. When I woke up the next morning we were somewhere in northern Quebec and surrounded, again, in snow – something I had not seen since crossing over from Manitoba to Ontario. I wasn't looking forward to being confronted again with really cold weather, but was pleased as we headed through the maritime provinces closer to the Atlantic, that the snowy areas were replaced by lush green grasses and birch forests which looked like they were starting to think about sprouting green leaves.

The train arrived in Halifax 20 minutes early. But when we got off the train, they didn't let us get into the station house to get our luggage. Apparently there was a fire alarm going off at the station, so the next half hour was spent outside waiting in the evacuation point. Not a fantastic welcome to Halifax but at least it was sunny.

Once I picked up my backpack I headed out of the station, following the directions I had scribbled in my note book the day before, copying from an email. The email I was following was from a girl called Carrie who I'd never met. It was a strange feeling, going to a house of people who were essentially complete strangers, to just rock up at their door, saying “here I am, put me up.”

But Jen, who I'd gone to Belgium, Germany and France with during my stint in London, was a great person whom I was quietly confident would recommend cool people for me to stay with it.

It turned out great. Carrie, Ali, Kev, Chris and Jen were a great bunch of fun people who went out of their way to make my stay comfortable and fun.

My evenings were spent hanging out with the abovementioned housemates and one or two other of their friends. We seemed to click really well so it was great fun, for me at least. I got to go to a few bars, including an apparently well known sailors bar called the Lower Deck, where I got to drink the local beer Keith's, calling out the traditional drinking salute for the city “sociable!” – instead of boring old “cheers!”

One night I even managed to get along to a world championships ice hockey game, thanks to a hook up for some free tickets (thanks Chris!). The championships are being co-hosted in Halifax and Quebec City. My first ever hockey game, and it was good fun. We watched the United States team, full of NHL players, destroy Slovenia, but it was fun cheering the underdog on.

I am a bit embarrassed to admit my mornings were exclusively spent sleeping, but my afternoons were more efficiently spent.

My new found housemates took me to a small, touristy seaside town called Peggy's Cove where we climbed along the seaside rocks and ate seafood at the local cafe. Another day, on a foggy afternoon, Ali took me on a three-hour hike along the rocky coastline which took us through a bunch of different scenery from beach to swamp to lush green forest. It was some really amazing scenery: watching the dark Atlantic Ocean coming out of the fog, the waves massaging the smooth grey rocky seashore, being overlooked by damp, mossy, tranquil forests.

Livia, a Swiss-born Nova Scotian studying in Halifax, who I'd met in Montreal, was kind enough to show me around the city and better still, another day take me for a big drive around the south of the provine. I saw some of the prettiest towns I've seen anywhere in the world. Quaint old villages of two or three story wooden houses along big rivers or greyish sandy beaches, all surrounded by lush green grass on a rocky surface. It reminded me of Ireland or Scotland, but I guess that's where the province gets its name (Nova Scotia had a lot of early settlement from Scotland). I even got to check out Livia's farm and stable, in a little village in an nice area of the province surrounded by beaches and rivers.

One of the best thing about being hosted in the province by locals was the fact that they had cars! Which meant I was able to finally explore some of the great sights of country Canada, rather than being restricted to the cities and what I can see from a train.

I had a great time in Nova Scotia, and thank all the people in Halifax who made my stay a definite highlight of my trip!