Our first trip was to the Citadel. I thought a citadel had something to do with
a church. I was kind of surprised Peter
wanted to visit a church; imagine my surprise as we entered yet another
fort. This was my only surprise. Cannons----seen them. Thick walls----seen them. Slits for shooting things from----yup. Parade ground-----check. Armory----got it. Good news:
I have a new word in my vocabulary.
And what a tour guide! The Citadel was the last of the forts that provided protection for
Halifax, which lies on a very long bay lined with at least five forts set up
for crossfire. Impressive---no one has
ever even tried to invade Halifax.
Maritime Museum: I
know, I know, I’ve said I would not visit these places anymore, BUT Halifax is
the site of the Canadian Navy and was chosen because it allowed Britain control
of the North Atlantic. Having let down
my guard, I opened up the trip to the Maritime Command Museum as well-----it
was just a Navy kind of a day. For me
the most poignant part was watching Peter get excited about the ship’s radio
equipment that was exactly what he had used as a radioman in the (An aside here: “You know you’re old when. . . . .the
equipment you used in the Navy is now in a museum.”). We were both drawn in by the displays of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. While at the
Maritime Museum we also learned about the Titanic disaster and FORCE (Fundy
Ocean Research Center for Energy).
Bay of Fundy: The Bay
of Fundy (seen here at low tide) inserts itself into the northwest part of Nova Scotia like a giant
bullet. It is known for having the most
extreme tides in the world. About 160 billion tons of water flow through the
bay at each tide. This is equal to four
times the estimated flow of all the freshwater rivers in the world. FORCE is a research center exploring the most ecologically reasonable way to harness this energy. If they can do this without harming this
unique environment, they will be able to provide the highest power capacity of
any in-stream site in the world. Tidal
turbines are already operating on Orkney Island, Northern Ireland and in Firth,
Scotland. The advantage to tidal
turbines is that tides are constant and predictable. Wind is not.
This is not new technology, either.
In Northern Ireland in 787 A.D., early people used tidal power to turn mill
wheels to grind flour. |
| thermally shows speed of water through Bay of Fundy. Red is fastest currents |
Titanic: Halifax
played a major role in rescue and recovery of the victims of the Titanic
disaster. Four days after the start of
her maiden voyage, Titanic struck an iceberg off the southern coast of
The next day two ships
departed from Halifax on a rescue/recovery mission. They recovered 323 It’s pretty eerie and
very sad to walk around the tombstones and see small children buried. Not surprisingly, most of the victims were
men----and of those crew made up the bulk of the lost.Newfoundland.
Tomorrow: Back to the USA!!!!
