Day 12: Halifax tour and Fundy!

Location: New Minas, NS

Halifax City Tour

We started our (very early) day with the Halifax City Tour. I wasn't able to get many good pics while we were in the bus :( but here are a few that I managed to snap.

St. Mary's Basilica





St. Matthew's United Church
I wish I was able to get out and take some pics of this for work. It's really a beautiful church. Check out the link above for a good pic of the bldg.




Some really big fancy house ...
I can't remember the name of the couple that live here, but apparently they are quite wealthy and generous. AND ... their house has a bowling alley and a carwash out back!



We made 2 stops on the trip where we were able to get off the bus and explore. We saw the Citadel and Fairview Cemetery.

Citadel

I wasn't sure how to photograph this place. It's a giant circle! We only had 30 mins to spend here so I wasn't able to look around much. I recommend visiting it tho. It's quite spectacular.

Fairview Cemetery

This is the cemetery where the remains of 121 Titanic victims rest. Most of the stones are very simple. These were paid for by the White Star Line, and were mainly second and third class passengers. Most of the first class passengers were sent back to their homes, or were laid to rest at this cemetery with a fancier headstone.

White Star Line had an office in Halifax, NS and the city had an accessible and large harbour at the time of the sinking, so they were the "first responders." When the bodies were recovered they were each assigned a number, regardless of whether they were identified or not. Out of all the bodies recovered, only 6 passengers were not assigned a number. If you take a peek at the headstones, the bodies are not buried in numerical order. They were laid to rest as they were sent to the cemetery.

You'll notice that some headstones have text written on the front of it. These remains could not be identified when the bodies were first recovered. However, in 1991 there was DNA testing performed on some of the people in the cemetery and they were identified. The names on the front of the stones are those people who were identified in 1991.








This is the grave of the unknown child. There have been 3 identification attempt made, most recently in the last few years. At the time of his funeral, hundreds of people attended. I believe it was the White Star Line that paid for this stone, even tho the remains of the others whose stones were paid for by the Line only received a basic stone. This child left an impression on everyone.



I'm not sure I got all my facts straight about the cemetery, so don't take my word just in case :) The tour guide was quite informative so there was a lot to remember (and get confused.)

Bay of Fundy

I have been DYING to see the Bay of Fundy since I was a teenager. My dream was to study Marine Biology or Oceanography at Dalhousie University and study marine life in Fundy. Maybe someday I'll actually be able to realize that dream. But in the meantime I have memories of Fundy :)






We were supposed to go Whale Watching on Fundy in Digby, NS but the afternoon tour wasn't running, and they couldn't guarantee that any tours would be running tomorrow either so we left :(


Tomorrow: P.E.I.