Holiday Parade of Lights: November 20, 2010

The 15th Annual Holiday Parade of Lights took place today, and fittingly, the skies also opened up with the first snowfall of the season. Later in the day though, in typical Nova Scotia fashion, the snow turned into rain. Fortunately, we were still mercifully left with a great full moon.

By now a seasoned parade watcher, I headed down to my usual parade viewing location on Spring Garden Road. I had to brave a group of screaming, obnoxious kids, their "liberal" parents, and bitter old hags who criticized all the floats, including the lack of reindeer antlers on some of the dogs, at this particular spot though, because I just had to get shots of the floats in front of this beautiful backdrop (note my favourite tea store - David's Tea - on the right, with the neon blue sign). Don't ever say I'm not dedicated to my giving my dedicated readers the best posts possible.

This is the fourth parade in Halifax I've seen this year, and I'm starting to realize that most of the floats come from the same groups, every time. For example, there's this entry from the Halifax Harbour Bridges group (usually one of my favourite floats, because it always has live music and a dancing Mr. MACPASS).

Or these vintage fire engines, which I've seen at various events around Halifax at least five times now:

This time though, there were quite a few new, Christmas themed floats, and even all of the old floats had a new and exciting glow about them. All the shining Christmas lights probably helped.

(This two part, death-by-lobster/lighthouse float was easily my favourite. It apparently came all the way from Peggy's Cove too. That gives it bonus points.)

(Don't forget to thank your friendly neighbourhood postal workers at this time of year; without them you'd have no way of Priority Shipping all of those last minute gifts you forgot to buy/send ahead of time.)

(It was all about the big man on the sled though. Ho, ho, ho, Merry November 20th!)

Quarterly Review #1, Part 3: August 2010

Continuing on with the EP Bike Trip trend, in mid-August I planned an 86 km round trip to Peggy's Cove to see what is perhaps the most famous lighthouse in Canada, if not the world. As regular readers will no doubt remember, things didn't quite go according to plan but that I eventually did make it. This was probably my favourite moment in August.

Speaking of cycling, I also met Jennifer Kean and Mike Cross in August. When I met Jennifer and Mike they were just finishing up their 22nd hour of non-stop continuous stationary cycling, in an attempt to raise money so that they could partake in a 12 day bicycle journey from Vancouver, British Columbia to Austin, Texas. The proposed journey was part of a larger effort by GiveToLive to raise money and awareness for cancer research.

While not as cool as cycling, the Harbour Hopper is definitely the most unique tour in Halifax. This amphibious vehicle is actually a refitted Vietnam War transport vessel, and takes customers on an hour long tour of Old Halifax and the Harbour. What makes the Harbour Hopper special is that it actually goes into the Harbour, and it even has VIP status to get within 50 metres of the Navy base. I would not have normally had the money to take this tour, but thankfully a friend from church bought a ticket for me as a treat. Let her contributions to the blog be duly noted.

My favourite festival of August was the Northern Lights Lantern Festival. It may not have been the largest festival, but it was definitely the most fun. This was not likely because of any one feature I suppose, so much as because of the people who were there. As I've mentioned before, the North End is my favourite community in Halifax because the people are just a bit more relaxed and friendly there than anywhere else in Halifax. I've always felt welcome whenever I've been there, even though I don't live there.

The most memorable moment in all of August for me though was my fantastic camping experience inKejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. As the second instalment of the EP Road Trip series, this journey involved three days and two nights of camping, along with some great camp fire sing-along sessions and playing in the warm waters of Kejimkujik Lake. It was the first tick on an extensive list of Canadian National Parks, of which I intend to visit every single one.

Well, that concludes my look back at the last three months. Let me know in the comments section what your favourite post in that time was. Perhaps you have a suggestion for a new feature you'd like to see in the next quarter. Include that in your comment too, or send me an e-mail at davidrjmurray@gmail.com.

Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to more great adventures in history.

EP Bike Trip #2: Peggy's Cove, Part 2

When I last left you, I was recuperating from my failed first attempt to cycle 43 km to see the world famous village and lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia. Fast forward two days and after filling my new light weight riding pack (a children's backpack I bought at Wal-Mart) with my new light weight, high pressure bicycle pump, spare tube (really just my old tube I had patched up in case of an absolute emergency), a patch kit for any extra punctures I may encure, a smorgasbord of tools, and all the other things I normally bring on a trip, I headed out the door to take another crack at making it all the way.

This time the weather was much more agreeable, and I found it quite pleasant not having to battle the wind. I did however dislike battling the heat that comes with no breeze, especially when I had to wait in line at a road repaving for more than twenty minutes - it'd better get a bicycle lane!

Since I purchased my bicycle in Ottawa, and hadn't had time to set it up properly at the shop before it was shipped (I was on a tight sight seeing schedule), my riding position for the past six weeks or so had been less than optimally efficient. After about 8 km into the ride I figured there was no need to continue torturing myself, and so I pulled over at the only gas station along the entire road to adjust my seat height and position. After fiddling around with every conceivable position for about half an hour, I finally settled on my favourite height/angle, and continued on.

I may have been set back a half-hour, but in hindsight it was definitely worth it. The new position placed my back in better alignment so it didn't get quite as sore, and my legs were able to push more effectively, meaning I practically whizzed along compared to what I had been doing before.

At Shad Bay, the half-way point, I stopped to rest and eat the sandwich and apple I had packed for myself. From here I had one last chance to take the shorter route to Prospect, but I stayed strong and continued on to Peggy's Cove.

This was not the first time I had been to Peggy's Cove - in 2001 I had travelled to Halifax as part of high school music trip. I remember quite distinctly enjoying my visit that first time, but being too immature to truly appreciate it. In fact, one of the main reasons for coming to live in Halifax was to atone for wasting my great chance when I was younger, and to see everything again, the "right way".

During that trip there were three events that stuck out in my mind: 1) Exploring Downtown Halifax, which I actually did very well with no regrets, 2) Visiting the Atlantic Ocean, which I did not do well, but successfully recompleted during EP Bike Trip #1, and finally, 3) going to Peggy's Cove. What follows is the closing of roughly a decades worth of regret (over not paying more attention at Peggy's Cove, not over my whole life), and the beginning of a new chapter for EP Dave, in which I move forward and create new goals.

(I've been waiting roughly nine years to take a picture of these homes. I saw them from the lighthouse when I was here in 2001, but for some reason it was just "too far" to go walk over 200 metres and check them out for myself.)

(This rock, carved with scenes from Peggy's Cove's history/legend, is a memorial to all the fishermen of Peggy's Cove who harvest the ocean - perhaps too much recently. It's called Fishermen's Monument and was carved and donated by local artist William E. deGarthe.)

(There it is, perhaps the most photographed lighthouse in the world. Definitely in all of Canada at least.)

(The fog rolls in quickly though on the coast, and in a matter of minutes the sky can go from clear to thick as soup.)

An interesting side note: The public toilet at Peggy's Cove's Information Centre uses little electricity, employ zero chemicals, create no odour, and produce only safe and reusable end products like compost. In the basement underneath the washroom are four large compost chambers. Any water that is used comes from collected rain water, and waste water is disbursed through a planter bed (whatever that is) to prevent contamination of the ecosystem. These toilets are the first public washroom in Canada to use composting together with treatment from a planter bed.

On my way back home, the sky was still a bit foggy, but I stopped in at a little restaurant along the side of the road in West Dover, called Shaw's Landing (with the beautiful view from the patio seen above). I had noticed on the way to Peggy's Cove that a sign out front said "The Best Fish and Chips" and having seen numerous Fish and Chips shops in Halifax and in Scotland, but never having had the money to go to one (in Halifax), I decided to treat myself. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not have the money at this moment either, but I didn't want to get to the end of my life and regret not having tried those fish and chips.

EP Bike Trip #2: Peggy's Cove, Part 1

Some time back in July, after I had completed one of my long bicycle rides, I set a goal for myself of being able to ride to Peggy's Cove and back in one day. The distance from my home to Peggy's Cove is roughly 43 km, with a lot of rolling hills. Since that means I would being doing twice my regular distance if I wanted to get back home, I knew I would have to do a fair bit of training first.

My original plan for the "training ride" this day, was to go to the town of Prospect to photograph the quaint fishing village there and then ride back, so that I would get used to having to make a second long ride in the same day (I felt exhausted for the last fifteen kilometres of my Crystal Crescent Bike Trip). However, on this day the wind was a little bit strong, and I started to get upset about it. I was so fed up with battling the head wind, that I decided to try and make it all the way to Peggy's Cove so that I could enjoy the tail wind on the way back.

A couple of days earlier I had seen a petition in one of my local bike shops (Cyclesmith) seeking a paved bicycle lane on the popular Peggy's Cove route. I signed it because any infrastructure work that makes moving easier for riders of bicycles and harder for drivers of cars is a great plan in my mind. Today though, when I got on to Prospect Road, which leads to Peggy's Cove, I found out why everyone wanted to have the bicycle lane.

On the road to Herring Cove, via Purcell's Cove (Purcell's Cove Road) there is a short bicycle lanes for part of the journey, but for the most part the road is wide enough to accommodate both car and bicycle, although not comfortably or conveniently. The road to Peggy's Cove though is ridiculously narrow. I suppose the actually driving lane isn't too bad, but there is absolutely no shoulder whatsoever, which means riders are forced to ride in the lane with the cars when there's barely enough room for the cars. Often I found myself riding on the thin, rough wash-boarded strip of "road" just off to the side of the lane which made for a bumpy ride.

The problem with bumpy rides and road bicycles, is that if you do not have your tires fully inflated it can cause a pinched tube quite easily. I found this out the hard way, after I ran into a small pothole. "Pfffff...." went my front tire immediately (the fourth flat tire I have suffered in the last 8 or so days), and I was left standing there on the side of the road just before the community of Hatchet Lake, with an unusable bicycle.

I thought I saw a garage just up the highway, and I was right, so I decided to walk towards it. When I got there though, the mechanics said they couldn't help me because I didn't have my adapter with me (road bicycle tires have a different shaped valve than a normal mountain bike style tube). Luckily I had brought a sandwich with me though, and after having some lunch I resigned myself to my only remaining option: hitch-hiking back to Halifax.

This was my first time hitch-hiking, so I wasn't sure how long it would take to get picked up, but I have driven past a number of hitch hikers in my day without picking them up (now I feel remorse...), so I had an idea of how it was done. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and after twenty to twenty-five minutes someone turned around to pick me up. Unfortunately they couldn't get me all the way into town, because they were rushed for time, but they did drop me off at a Canadian Tire not too far away from my home.

I went inside the Canadian Tire and bought myself a new bicycle tube. One of the young kids working there helped me change my tube, and he was quite interested in hearing about my hitch-hiking story, as he had never done it before and thought it must have been quite a scary experience. Unfortunately I remembered after the fact that I didn't have my adapter with me and none of the bicycles Canadian Tire sells use a Presta valve, so I couldn't pump my tire up. So after all that wasted time and effort, I was still faced with a roughly hour long walk back home, with a bike that still didn't work properly.

When I did get home, I pumped up my tire and was pleased to see that it looked like a wheel. However, about two hours later I came back and found it flat again. I took off the tire to check for any sharp objects that were still poking through the inside, and found that I had actually torn a hole in the side of the tire, which had pinched the tube as it tried to force its way out. I ended up having to buy a new tube and a new tire. After some deliberation I thought it was best to spend a few extra dollars and buy a more expensive, but thicker, tire that looked and felt much more suitable for taking on potholes and glass from stupid rednecks who chuck their bottles out of their windows (note: this happens far far less in Nova Scotia than in Alberta).

While a lesser ea-pea may have taken the flat as a warning from the road gods to stay away, I was only more resolved to make it to Peggy's Cove, and so I set about preparing for my return attempt in two nights time. (Part 2, to come soon...)