Holy Ship !

This week the harbour in Halifax is home to over 25 warships of varying sizes and shapes who are here as part  of International Fleet Review Week .  A Fleet Review is a large gathering of warships who assemble to celebrate an important event, in this case, the Canadian Naval Centennial. This weekend at least 17 of those ships are open to the public for tours.  Brazil, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and the U.S. are sending vessels to participate in the review, which follows an international exercise off the eastern seaboard.

Yesterday I sauntered along the waterfront to see what the big "to do" was about.

The Canadian ship, The HMS Toronto and the Brazilian ship, "Independencia"  (below) were tied to each other so that a tour of one automatically lead onto the other.  Farther down the quay, two U.S. warships can be seen awaiting visitors.  Interestingly, it was necessary to show photo ID before being allowed on the U.S. ships  while there were no such requirements on other ships.

We were even allowed to stroll through the Canadian ship's bridge.

There were big ships and little ships.  There were so many ships that some had to be docked at Alderney Landing on the Dartmouth side of the harbour.

For all you "Dr Who" fans out there, doesn't the weapon above remind you of those diabolical Daleks ?  "Exterminate !  Exterminate !"

The Toronto is reflected in the windows of a nearby building under construction in the above photo.

The pièce de résistance of the fleet was a pair of aircraft carriers the HMS Ark Royal and the famous USS Wasp moored up past Casino Nova Scotia.  I wandered in that direction.  It looked like there might be a bit of a line up but I was keen enough that I didn't mind standing in a line up for half an hour or so.

Boy was I wrong !

The line up really wound down the street and was two hours long.  Sigh.  So I settled for seeing the ships from a distance.

 From the media release:

The ceremony on Tuesday will follow a review of 28 international vessels from eight countries that are in the port city with an estimated 5,000 sailors to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian navy.

The Queen will lead the fleet review on board HMCS St. John's, which will carry her down the centre of two rows of anchored frigates, destroyers, tankers, assault ships, a British aircraft carrier and a Canadian submarine.


She will be accompanied by Prince Phillip and Prime Minister Stephen Harper as they pass through the Bedford Basin, under the city's two bridges and out to the harbour to a line of Canadian vessels.

During the procession, which dates back to 1773 when King George III reviewed the British fleet, crew will salute the Queen, give three cheers and wave their caps as her frigate sails past the flag-draped ships.

Canada's aerobatic team, the Snowbirds, will be part of a multination flypast that will include vintage aircraft, Hornet fighter jets and helicopters.

Unless it's raining like heck I plan on parking my car and walking onto the Macdonald Bridge to watch it all. 

I'll tell the Queen you said "hi".

Hartlen Point

This morning I took Buffy for a walk to Hartlen Point.

The Shore road that runs from Dartmouth through Woodside, Shearwater and Eastern Passage ends at Hartlen Point -- once  the site of a military installation and a war time bunker -- and now home to a golf course and a large tract of ocean view land just waiting to be explored.

The first time I went there I was a bit put off by the sign on the gate,

but a gent out walking his dog told me he'd been walking there for ten years and no one had said anything.  Of course, the word of a "gent out walking" outranks "no trespassing" signs every time.  

There is a gravel road that leads to a point of land looking out on the ocean and several side trails.  It was a foggy cool morning.  The sweet smells in the air were wonderful. 

 Buffy romped along snuffling about in the wet flowers and grasses and chasing the occasional stick.

We came across a puddle.  On the surface of the puddle were all sorts of small bugs flitting about. Buffy spied all this movement went into great-hunter-puddle-splashing-stalking mode.  I lingered to watch her have fun.

We walked on to the lookout at the tip of Hartlen Point.  It is quite lovely there.  There is a deep bay to the left and to your right is the vast Atlantic Ocean.

The flowers by the way side were covered in early morning droplets.

There were lots of flowers ....

and they were lovely ... and wet.

Crossing over ...

Halifax is a chubby peninsula that sticks down into a deep natural harbour.  If you want to get there from the Dartmouth side you've got to get over that water.   If you have a car, then your only way across is on one of the two bridges, the Macdonald and the more northerly MacKay.

  

Commuters can depart from one of two ferry terminals for the  lovely 10 or 15 minute trip to the Halifax terminal.  On the above map the dashed lines show the ferry routes.  The ferry is part of the transit system so your ticket gets you a transfer for the bus. 

Driving across one of the bridges at rush hour can be a real experience !  There are five toll lanes that at rush hour filter into two bridge lanes.  That is five congested lanes merging into two.  

Since everyone is used to the routine, the merging is smoothy done.  You seldom hear honking.  You frequently see hand-waving "gestures to  "go ahead".  And then that person waves someone else in.  We've all been there so we all know what it's like.  It's a daily demonstration of  "paying it forward".

I generally cross via the Macdonald bridge.  The view is marvellous -- a dangerous situation for someone with raging ADD.  "Oh look at cruise ship!"  "Look at the cute tugboat !"  "Look at the ship in floating dry dock !" "Is that a submarine?".

Can you believe I've never walked across the bridge ?  It's on my radar for this weekend as naval vessels from all over the world will be in the harbour as part of our navy's 100th anniversary.

The Queen is coming on Tuesday to check out the fleet.  I can just imagine her using her cute, slo mo queenly wave to gesture my car ahead of her limo as we roll by each other coming out of the toll booths.  I'll smile and nod by head and wave her through.  "Age before beauty" as they say ...

Dogs, glorious dogs ...

Walking without a dog is like golfing without a golfball,  surfing without a surfboard, taking pictures with the lens cap on ... you get the picture.  

I just love walking with dogs. 

It's hard not to be affected by a dogs enthusiasm as leashes come out and that exciting question "Who wants to go for a walk?" is uttered.  Dogs gather wiggling, whining and running back and forth to the front door, in case I might have forgotten where the exit is. 

Left to right above: Chandler, Sooki, Wendy & Trey

Dogs just love being outside with us.  Walking on leash is OK but they are most joyful when our walks are to off-leash areas.  I love watching them as they explore, sniff, greet and play.  Their simple happiness is infectious.

I take our two youngest, Buffy and Sooki, to the Saturday morning dog group at Point Pleasant Park to  socialize with people and other dogs.   And besides ...  it's a lot of fun. 

  

We are working on improving the leash training of the three younger dogs but there is no denying that they'd all much rather be off leash and romping around, exploring the woods, meeting other dogs or chasing a ball.  

Our latest drill involves commanding each dog by name.  Imagine four dogs sitting in a row and you call ONE particular dog.  So I bark the dogs name and "come".  "Trey -- COME".  Wendy sits there.  Trey rises.  Chandler stands up and Sooki strolls toward you.   I drag Sooki back.  Tell Chandler to sit down.  "Trey -- COME" and we have victory.  The others are catching on.  Sometimes I'll blurt out nonsense words like "Window COME"  or "Buttercup COME" to teach them to listen only for their own name.

Waiting to be called to get leashes on. 

Sooki was just a baby in this shot from last winter so she's wearing two coats.

 Trey, Sooki, Chandler with Wendy behind

It's just wonderful going for walks with friends.

 

Where's my car dude ?

The Auto Port in Eastern Passage is a fascinating place.  It is the arrival point for cars imported from Europe.
 
They come on enormous ships that look more like massive floating boxes than something meant to slice gracefully through the water as it crosses the ocean.   One of those ships, the Wallenius Wilhelmsen arrives about every two weeks.  Because the Eastern Passage is not navigable from the open sea, the ship must travel up the western entrance to Halifax Harbour, loop around the north end of McNab's Island and then be assisted into position at the port by tug boats which help turn it around so it's facing out for the outward bound trip.

The vehicles, which could be cars, buses or even farm equipment, are driven off the back end of the ship (left side of picture above) and parked in one of several enormous parking lots to await the next step on their journey.

Some arrivals just have coverings on doors and more likely-to-be-scratched surfaces.  Others are totally "gift wrapped", with only strategic windows showing.  I learned from the Security Guard who came to check me out when I was taking photographs, that some of the cars are next-year's models and are literally being kept under wraps until they reach the show room floor.  I thought it amusing that he was troubled by my taking pictures, as anyone driving by can do so and the lot is clearly visible from Shore Road.

The cars that arrive here are loaded onto trains or transport carriers which take them on to their final
destinations across Canada. (If you enlarge the shot above, you'll see the cars being driven into the triple-decker train cars.)

Happily, this is not just a one-way proposition. The cars in the shot below are arriving at the Auto Port by train to be loaded onto the now-empty ship for their trip to show rooms in Europe.

It is a bustling place, with Jaguars and BMW's in one lot and Smart Cars and double decker buses in the next.

                                    

So now you not only know where your car is (don't you?), but how it got there.

Inside out ...

My cats have lived indoors all their lives, which is around five or six years.

Our new home has a door from the kitchen onto a large deck with a staircase down to the yard.  Today was a lovely warm day so I let the cats come out onto the deck with me. 

Thumper (above) and Roswell (below) quickly jumped onto the deck railing and had a delightful time prowling around.

Yes, Roswell IS bald.  He's a Sphynx.  If you look closely you'll see that he has got orange fur on his face and tail.  If he was fully furred he'd be a marmalade cat.

My third cat is 15 lb easy-going cat named Butters.  Butters is philosophicaly opposed to jumping on railings but is happy just to chill with friends.

I'm with Butters. 

Sometimes it's nice just chilling with friends.

A Halifax must see.

My brother and sister-in-law were here this week and together we went for a  glorious stroll around the Public Gardens.  

Even though it was a damp, overcast day, we had a wonderful walk.  The Gardens were full of blooming rhodoodendrons and the sweet smell of spring filled the air.  

 

 It was my first visit and I was astonished by its beauty.

What an idyllic place.  If you are ever in Halifax -- make sure you go.

And tell them Sybil sent you.

Cheap Thrills

I was in the check out line at the bulk food store the other day and spied an item from my long-ago childhood.

It was a package of gum ...

 I told the cashier how much I used to love Thrills and I couldn't understand why there was a silly quote on the package that said:

"It still tastes like soap!"

With great relish, there at the register, I tore open the package and popped two of them into my mouth.

Chew.  Chew.

WOW !

They tasted awful. 

Really, really awful.

And ... vaguely soapy.

The lady behind me in line remembered Thrills fondly and I offered her one. 

Foolishly she took it and poped it into her mouth. 

 Apparently her memory was as bad as mine as she made the most apalling face.

Some memories are best left untouched.