NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Jun 6th 2009 | 4:19 am
#1
Thread Starter
No really, it doesn't
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,817
From: Rural Nova Scotia
NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
As it appears to be recce trip season I thought I would post our experiences of our recent trip to NS.
Arrived on 21st May - Halifax Airport was an absolute dream....virtually empty of people and queues. Hertz gave us a virtually free upgrade to a SUV (GMC Envoy) which started the trip off nicely.
Weather
Whilst there we experienced record temps 30 C for two days followed by cold days with windchill ........clear blue skies most of the time but temps mainly in the 17-22 C bracket. Only a couple of days of rain.
Transport
Highways are generally very good surfaces, hardly any traffic and get you from A-B in good time. Some of the side roads were showing the ravages of winter and some of the potholes we skipped round would have an admission fee in the Peak District.
Driving in Nova Scotia is a good experience mostly although getting used to the fact that pedestrians are king was a little weird as at junctions when people step into the road and are very confident that drivers will give way.....I can vaguely remember in my childhood zebra crossing in the UK not having traffic lights to control them and just belisha beacons.
Petrol whilst we were there $1.02 - $1.05 usually depending on how remote you were.
We went into the ViaRail station at Truro and asked when the next train to Halifax was and was told that there was 1 train a day apart from Wed.....not a commuter service then Saw evidence of car pooling in most towns.
School
We were shown round the brand new Truro Elementary School by the Principal. I understand that about 4 other schools closed down as a result of this one opening. It appeared to be an excellent school with excellent facilities. Cafeteria providing hot meals $3 a day. French Immersion classes account for about 20% of the students. Teacher to pupil ratio was v good and class sizes good.
People
Everyone we met were extremely friendly and helpful, introducing themselves in supermarkets, in the street...very welcoming indeed. Busy workmen, truck drivers and the Canadian equivalent of the white van man raised their hands to acknowlegde and say hi.
Food
Generally found that prices were very similar to UK. Some things cheaper (snacks...pop...etc), some things dearer (milk or most dairy products, chicken etc) Eating out was very similar priced to UK in restaurants.
Found Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore supermarkets to be well stocked with excellent fruit and veg.
Tim Hortons for a coffee and bun takes some beating for price and I got the impression people met at these places to socialise over a coffee.
Places
We concentrated on Colchester County for a proportion of our trip and visited Truro and met Margot at Corda who was very helpful as usual. Bruce Berry again was very helpful and showed us around some excellent properties in the Salmon River, Bible Hill areas near Truro as well as some beautiful Heritage properties in Truro town.
Stayed at the Super 8 Motel Truro which was clean and functional although stuck out of town a little (kids loved the swimming pool and slide though) £67 family room per night.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Prince St, Truro which was excellent. £90 for family room, kids eat free in restaurant, swimming pool and jacuzzi
Locally we checked out Debert, Brookfield, Stewiacke, Tatamagouche, Wentworth and Masstown.
We rented a property at South Side Harbour near Antigonish which was fantastic...next to the sea complete with sailing boats, canoes and kayaks which we all used. Antigonish is a very nice place and one of the few places where they have decided to bury all the telephone and electric cables under the road rather than hang them overhead on poles.
We found Halifax a really wonderful City...one of the best we have ever visited. Relaxed, chilled out and has a bohemian feel to it. The waterfront area is a delight and we felt very safe and were not intimidated at all.
Stayed at the Lord Nelson Hotel which had a great location near the Citadel and Public Park....£85 per night for family room)
We visited some beautiful tourist villages along the south shore Mahone Bay, Lunenberg, Hubbards, St Margarets Bay....excellent places to visit but we could not see ourselves living in those places.
We visited Wolfville, Grand Pre which again were very nice and would be a possible second option rather than Colchester County.
We visted the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park which was wonderful (Family ticket $11) How much !!!
Work
I managed a day out with the RCMP in Antigonish and was shown the area, visited a High School and introduced to the local police officers and civilian staff. RCMP requires you to be a Citizen for either police or civilian so that would not be open to us yet but was a useful insight.
Met Martin Fisher who works for the Canadian Red Cross in Truro (he emigrated to Truro in 2001 from South Wales) he was very helpful.
Myself and my wife went to the Operational Command Centre for the RCMP for the whole province which is situated on Prince St, Truro. It is a mixture of call centre and dispatch centre and employment opportunities there appeared good.
Met Truro Deputy Chief of Police who was very helpful about local municipal jobs for Truro Police and also spoke with a very helpful senior guy within the Nova Scotia Provincial Govt (Emergency Management) about potential future employment prospects...he was very positive about PRs being able to land jobs within the Nova Scotia Govt.
Lots of info I know but if anyone wants more specific info please PM me....
All in all the trip was excellent and confirmed what I suspected.....Canada has all the technology and modern gadgets of the 21st Century with most of the attitudes and helpfulness/community spirit of the 1950s.
Drank most of the types of beer they sell Keiths was very good......... but they are severely lacking some draft ciders......
Arrived on 21st May - Halifax Airport was an absolute dream....virtually empty of people and queues. Hertz gave us a virtually free upgrade to a SUV (GMC Envoy) which started the trip off nicely.
Weather
Whilst there we experienced record temps 30 C for two days followed by cold days with windchill ........clear blue skies most of the time but temps mainly in the 17-22 C bracket. Only a couple of days of rain.
Transport
Highways are generally very good surfaces, hardly any traffic and get you from A-B in good time. Some of the side roads were showing the ravages of winter and some of the potholes we skipped round would have an admission fee in the Peak District.
Driving in Nova Scotia is a good experience mostly although getting used to the fact that pedestrians are king was a little weird as at junctions when people step into the road and are very confident that drivers will give way.....I can vaguely remember in my childhood zebra crossing in the UK not having traffic lights to control them and just belisha beacons.Petrol whilst we were there $1.02 - $1.05 usually depending on how remote you were.
We went into the ViaRail station at Truro and asked when the next train to Halifax was and was told that there was 1 train a day apart from Wed.....not a commuter service then
Saw evidence of car pooling in most towns.School
We were shown round the brand new Truro Elementary School by the Principal. I understand that about 4 other schools closed down as a result of this one opening. It appeared to be an excellent school with excellent facilities. Cafeteria providing hot meals $3 a day. French Immersion classes account for about 20% of the students. Teacher to pupil ratio was v good and class sizes good.
People
Everyone we met were extremely friendly and helpful, introducing themselves in supermarkets, in the street...very welcoming indeed. Busy workmen, truck drivers and the Canadian equivalent of the white van man raised their hands to acknowlegde and say hi.
Food
Generally found that prices were very similar to UK. Some things cheaper (snacks...pop...etc), some things dearer (milk or most dairy products, chicken etc) Eating out was very similar priced to UK in restaurants.
Found Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore supermarkets to be well stocked with excellent fruit and veg.
Tim Hortons for a coffee and bun takes some beating for price and I got the impression people met at these places to socialise over a coffee.
Places
We concentrated on Colchester County for a proportion of our trip and visited Truro and met Margot at Corda who was very helpful as usual. Bruce Berry again was very helpful and showed us around some excellent properties in the Salmon River, Bible Hill areas near Truro as well as some beautiful Heritage properties in Truro town.
Stayed at the Super 8 Motel Truro which was clean and functional although stuck out of town a little (kids loved the swimming pool and slide though) £67 family room per night.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Prince St, Truro which was excellent. £90 for family room, kids eat free in restaurant, swimming pool and jacuzzi
Locally we checked out Debert, Brookfield, Stewiacke, Tatamagouche, Wentworth and Masstown.
We rented a property at South Side Harbour near Antigonish which was fantastic...next to the sea complete with sailing boats, canoes and kayaks which we all used. Antigonish is a very nice place and one of the few places where they have decided to bury all the telephone and electric cables under the road rather than hang them overhead on poles.
We found Halifax a really wonderful City...one of the best we have ever visited. Relaxed, chilled out and has a bohemian feel to it. The waterfront area is a delight and we felt very safe and were not intimidated at all.
Stayed at the Lord Nelson Hotel which had a great location near the Citadel and Public Park....£85 per night for family room)
We visited some beautiful tourist villages along the south shore Mahone Bay, Lunenberg, Hubbards, St Margarets Bay....excellent places to visit but we could not see ourselves living in those places.
We visited Wolfville, Grand Pre which again were very nice and would be a possible second option rather than Colchester County.
We visted the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park which was wonderful (Family ticket $11) How much !!!
Work
I managed a day out with the RCMP in Antigonish and was shown the area, visited a High School and introduced to the local police officers and civilian staff. RCMP requires you to be a Citizen for either police or civilian so that would not be open to us yet but was a useful insight.
Met Martin Fisher who works for the Canadian Red Cross in Truro (he emigrated to Truro in 2001 from South Wales) he was very helpful.
Myself and my wife went to the Operational Command Centre for the RCMP for the whole province which is situated on Prince St, Truro. It is a mixture of call centre and dispatch centre and employment opportunities there appeared good.
Met Truro Deputy Chief of Police who was very helpful about local municipal jobs for Truro Police and also spoke with a very helpful senior guy within the Nova Scotia Provincial Govt (Emergency Management) about potential future employment prospects...he was very positive about PRs being able to land jobs within the Nova Scotia Govt.
Lots of info I know but if anyone wants more specific info please PM me....
All in all the trip was excellent and confirmed what I suspected.....Canada has all the technology and modern gadgets of the 21st Century with most of the attitudes and helpfulness/community spirit of the 1950s.
Drank most of the types of beer they sell Keiths was very good......... but they are severely lacking some draft ciders......
Last edited by jimmydean; Jun 6th 2009 at 5:27 am.
Jun 6th 2009 | 4:28 am
#2
Account Closed
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 132
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Great informative post - it makes me want to hop on a flight to Halifax. We love the South Shore - Lunenburg and Mahone Bay especially! We too have stayed at the Lord Nelson and have always found it superb - excellent rates, location and they usually upgrade too. These NS posts are tempting me to book another trip! All the best with your plans
Jun 6th 2009 | 12:38 pm
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,935
From: Amherst Nova Scotia
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Nice post, I went to Halifax for the first time last Monday and got lost twice. Hopefully next time I have to go I know where I am going and won't be as bad. Takes me 2 hours to get there so glad I don't do it often
Jun 7th 2009 | 2:01 am
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 635
From: Cochrane ,Alberta
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Hi Jimmydean,
great post ,we are going out on the 8th of August for our first reccie ,this post just makes me want to go now
Cheers
Arty & Co
great post ,we are going out on the 8th of August for our first reccie ,this post just makes me want to go now
Cheers
Arty & Co
As it appears to be recce trip season I thought I would post our experiences of our recent trip to NS.
Arrived on 21st May - Halifax Airport was an absolute dream....virtually empty of people and queues. Hertz gave us a virtually free upgrade to a SUV (GMC Envoy) which started the trip off nicely.
Weather
Whilst there we experienced record temps 30 C for two days followed by cold days with windchill ........clear blue skies most of the time but temps mainly in the 17-22 C bracket. Only a couple of days of rain.
Transport
Highways are generally very good surfaces, hardly any traffic and get you from A-B in good time. Some of the side roads were showing the ravages of winter and some of the potholes we skipped round would have an admission fee in the Peak District. Driving in Nova Scotia is a good experience mostly although getting used to the fact that pedestrians are king was a little weird as at junctions when people step into the road and are very confident that drivers will give way.....I can vaguely remember in my childhood zebra crossing in the UK not having traffic lights to control them and just belisha beacons.
Petrol whilst we were there $1.02 - $1.05 usually depending on how remote you were.
We went into the ViaRail station at Truro and asked when the next train to Halifax was and was told that there was 1 train a day apart from Wed.....not a commuter service then Saw evidence of car pooling in most towns.
School
We were shown round the brand new Truro Elementary School by the Principal. I understand that about 4 other schools closed down as a result of this one opening. It appeared to be an excellent school with excellent facilities. Cafeteria providing hot meals $3 a day. French Immersion classes account for about 20% of the students. Teacher to pupil ratio was v good and class sizes good.
People
Everyone we met were extremely friendly and helpful, introducing themselves in supermarkets, in the street...very welcoming indeed. Busy workmen, truck drivers and the Canadian equivalent of the white van man raised their hands to acknowlegde and say hi.
Food
Generally found that prices were very similar to UK. Some things cheaper (snacks...pop...etc), some things dearer (milk or most dairy products, chicken etc) Eating out was very similar priced to UK in restaurants.
Found Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore supermarkets to be well stocked with excellent fruit and veg.
Tim Hortons for a coffee and bun takes some beating for price and I got the impression people met at these places to socialise over a coffee.
Places
We concentrated on Colchester County for a proportion of our trip and visited Truro and met Margot at Corda who was very helpful as usual. Bruce Berry again was very helpful and showed us around some excellent properties in the Salmon River, Bible Hill areas near Truro as well as some beautiful Heritage properties in Truro town.
Stayed at the Super 8 Motel Truro which was clean and functional although stuck out of town a little (kids loved the swimming pool and slide though) £67 family room per night.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Prince St, Truro which was excellent. £90 for family room, kids eat free in restaurant, swimming pool and jacuzzi
Locally we checked out Debert, Brookfield, Stewiacke, Tatamagouche, Wentworth and Masstown.
We rented a property at South Side Harbour near Antigonish which was fantastic...next to the sea complete with sailing boats, canoes and kayaks which we all used. Antigonish is a very nice place and one of the few places where they have decided to bury all the telephone and electric cables under the road rather than hang them overhead on poles.
We found Halifax a really wonderful City...one of the best we have ever visited. Relaxed, chilled out and has a bohemian feel to it. The waterfront area is a delight and we felt very safe and were not intimidated at all.
Stayed at the Lord Nelson Hotel which had a great location near the Citadel and Public Park....£85 per night for family room)
We visited some beautiful tourist villages along the south shore Mahone Bay, Lunenberg, Hubbards, St Margarets Bay....excellent places to visit but we could not see ourselves living in those places.
We visited Wolfville, Grand Pre which again were very nice and would be a possible second option rather than Colchester County.
We visted the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park which was wonderful (Family ticket $11) How much !!!
Work
I managed a day out with the RCMP in Antigonish and was shown the area, visited a High School and introduced to the local police officers and civilian staff. RCMP requires you to be a Citizen for either police or civilian so that would not be open to us yet but was a useful insight.
Met Martin Fisher who works for the Canadian Red Cross in Truro (he emigrated to Truro in 2001 from South Wales) he was very helpful.
Myself and my wife went to the Operational Command Centre for the RCMP for the whole province which is situated on Prince St, Truro. It is a mixture of call centre and dispatch centre and employment opportunities there appeared good.
Met Truro Deputy Chief of Police who was very helpful about local municipal jobs for Truro Police and also spoke with a very helpful senior guy within the Nova Scotia Provincial Govt (Emergency Management) about potential future employment prospects...he was very positive about PRs being able to land jobs within the Nova Scotia Govt.
Lots of info I know but if anyone wants more specific info please PM me....
All in all the trip was excellent and confirmed what I suspected.....Canada has all the technology and modern gadgets of the 21st Century with most of the attitudes and helpfulness/community spirit of the 1950s.
Drank most of the types of beer they sell Keiths was very good......... but they are severely lacking some draft ciders......
Arrived on 21st May - Halifax Airport was an absolute dream....virtually empty of people and queues. Hertz gave us a virtually free upgrade to a SUV (GMC Envoy) which started the trip off nicely.
Weather
Whilst there we experienced record temps 30 C for two days followed by cold days with windchill ........clear blue skies most of the time but temps mainly in the 17-22 C bracket. Only a couple of days of rain.
Transport
Highways are generally very good surfaces, hardly any traffic and get you from A-B in good time. Some of the side roads were showing the ravages of winter and some of the potholes we skipped round would have an admission fee in the Peak District.
Driving in Nova Scotia is a good experience mostly although getting used to the fact that pedestrians are king was a little weird as at junctions when people step into the road and are very confident that drivers will give way.....I can vaguely remember in my childhood zebra crossing in the UK not having traffic lights to control them and just belisha beacons.Petrol whilst we were there $1.02 - $1.05 usually depending on how remote you were.
We went into the ViaRail station at Truro and asked when the next train to Halifax was and was told that there was 1 train a day apart from Wed.....not a commuter service then
Saw evidence of car pooling in most towns.School
We were shown round the brand new Truro Elementary School by the Principal. I understand that about 4 other schools closed down as a result of this one opening. It appeared to be an excellent school with excellent facilities. Cafeteria providing hot meals $3 a day. French Immersion classes account for about 20% of the students. Teacher to pupil ratio was v good and class sizes good.
People
Everyone we met were extremely friendly and helpful, introducing themselves in supermarkets, in the street...very welcoming indeed. Busy workmen, truck drivers and the Canadian equivalent of the white van man raised their hands to acknowlegde and say hi.
Food
Generally found that prices were very similar to UK. Some things cheaper (snacks...pop...etc), some things dearer (milk or most dairy products, chicken etc) Eating out was very similar priced to UK in restaurants.
Found Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore supermarkets to be well stocked with excellent fruit and veg.
Tim Hortons for a coffee and bun takes some beating for price and I got the impression people met at these places to socialise over a coffee.
Places
We concentrated on Colchester County for a proportion of our trip and visited Truro and met Margot at Corda who was very helpful as usual. Bruce Berry again was very helpful and showed us around some excellent properties in the Salmon River, Bible Hill areas near Truro as well as some beautiful Heritage properties in Truro town.
Stayed at the Super 8 Motel Truro which was clean and functional although stuck out of town a little (kids loved the swimming pool and slide though) £67 family room per night.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Prince St, Truro which was excellent. £90 for family room, kids eat free in restaurant, swimming pool and jacuzzi
Locally we checked out Debert, Brookfield, Stewiacke, Tatamagouche, Wentworth and Masstown.
We rented a property at South Side Harbour near Antigonish which was fantastic...next to the sea complete with sailing boats, canoes and kayaks which we all used. Antigonish is a very nice place and one of the few places where they have decided to bury all the telephone and electric cables under the road rather than hang them overhead on poles.
We found Halifax a really wonderful City...one of the best we have ever visited. Relaxed, chilled out and has a bohemian feel to it. The waterfront area is a delight and we felt very safe and were not intimidated at all.
Stayed at the Lord Nelson Hotel which had a great location near the Citadel and Public Park....£85 per night for family room)
We visited some beautiful tourist villages along the south shore Mahone Bay, Lunenberg, Hubbards, St Margarets Bay....excellent places to visit but we could not see ourselves living in those places.
We visited Wolfville, Grand Pre which again were very nice and would be a possible second option rather than Colchester County.
We visted the Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park which was wonderful (Family ticket $11) How much !!!
Work
I managed a day out with the RCMP in Antigonish and was shown the area, visited a High School and introduced to the local police officers and civilian staff. RCMP requires you to be a Citizen for either police or civilian so that would not be open to us yet but was a useful insight.
Met Martin Fisher who works for the Canadian Red Cross in Truro (he emigrated to Truro in 2001 from South Wales) he was very helpful.
Myself and my wife went to the Operational Command Centre for the RCMP for the whole province which is situated on Prince St, Truro. It is a mixture of call centre and dispatch centre and employment opportunities there appeared good.
Met Truro Deputy Chief of Police who was very helpful about local municipal jobs for Truro Police and also spoke with a very helpful senior guy within the Nova Scotia Provincial Govt (Emergency Management) about potential future employment prospects...he was very positive about PRs being able to land jobs within the Nova Scotia Govt.
Lots of info I know but if anyone wants more specific info please PM me....
All in all the trip was excellent and confirmed what I suspected.....Canada has all the technology and modern gadgets of the 21st Century with most of the attitudes and helpfulness/community spirit of the 1950s.
Drank most of the types of beer they sell Keiths was very good......... but they are severely lacking some draft ciders......
Jun 7th 2009 | 8:12 am
#5
Citizenship Nov 10 2016!!
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,661
From: Stewiacke Nova Scotia
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Hi JD
Glad you had a great time
Really informative post
Chat soon!
Glad you had a great time
Really informative post
Chat soon!
Jun 7th 2009 | 8:19 am
#6
Logical & Hot Stuff
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 19,815
From: Ontario's Armpit
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Hi JD, nice to see you back on here for a bit
Brill post, pity about the Cider but you could always make you own
Irene..xx
Brill post, pity about the Cider but you could always make you own
Irene..xx
Jun 7th 2009 | 8:41 am
#7
no I aint
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,103
From: The dog house
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
Glad to hear you had a good trip
Aug 16th 2009 | 5:08 am
#8
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 6
From: Northamptonshire
Re: NS Recce Trip (Yes another one !)
We're going out in April 2010 really looking forward to the trip after reading about all of your trips.
