Halifax – The beginning, middle and end of a journey

Traveling is a journey that will never end, no matter what your destination, route or goal. Small journeys along the big journey called live will end eventually. 

I arrived in Halifax, my last stop in Canada after a 3 hour car trip. In the morning Nelson Shuttle came to pick us up at 6:45 am; it was a quick and pain free trip with a little nap in between.

Upon arrival I checked into the HI Hostel in the Barrington Street, one of the few Hostels in the area. So far I have really enjoyed the Maritimes and hope it will continue in Halifax. I didn’t plan anything for my stay here and hoped that something would come up eventually. And it did!

Digby – Nova Scotia - Some sea air for thoughts

After a 3 hours boat ride I arrived at the Ferry Terminal of Digby in the Province Nova Scotia, a small landing with not much around. Based on the map it was around 4km to Digby Town and I had planned to ask someone on the Ferry if I could get a lift, but there were all kind of people; from a bus tour, bikers, couples etc. Basically I wasn’t sure who I could ask, instead I decided I would just walk the route which would have taken me around an hour to get to my hostel.

A quick stop in Saint John – New Brunswick

The bus transfer from Quebec City with Orleans Express to Rivière-du-Loup over to Maritime Express and then to Saint John worked just fine and after ‘just’ 11 hours of sitting in the bus and enjoying my time I arrived at the mini Bus Terminal in Saint John.

After the initial hick up with my booking for St. Johns in Newfoundland I was able to find a host via Couchsurfing last minute. 

Quebec City – The capital of Quebec Province

I arrived by Train from Montreal in Quebec City in just under 3 hours and made my way to the host I would be staying with, two lovely sisters.

After an initial confusion in which way to go I found the place in the end and the girls were already waiting for me.

Montreal – The city with lots of laughter, food and another lesson learned

I arrived via train in Montreal, just 2 hours from Ottawa. Again, I love the free WIFI on the train and being able to check last minute messages, such as change of departures or routes.

The hostel I had booked here was the 20$ Hostel at Sherbrooke Est, around a 30 minute walk or 10 minutes with the Metro from the Montreal Central Station. A single journey would be 3$. Me being me I decided to walk the distance, and it wasn’t really bad beside the facts that it rained and I was wearing my ballerinas.

Casa Loma and CN Tower– The beauty and the beast of Toronto

For today we had arranged a Couchsurfing get-together and a few people from the past two days joined in as well. But first I went to visit the CN tower, the tallest building in the western hemisphere and the landmark of Toronto. I had pre-booked my tickets which are open tickets and you can use it within the next 2 months or so of booking. You even get a discount when booking online.

Today, the antenna broadcasts over 30 Toronto television and FM radio signals across Southern Ontario in addition to wireless paging and cellular telephone signals.

Canada – The beginning (Toronto)

The alarm clock showed 02:32 am and I just jolted straight up in my bed because of one minor thought: I didn’t check in. This is nothing major but the consequence is simply that I have to get to the airport a bit earlier to check in. That’s the great thing with just hand luggage; print the boarding pass and no queuing at the airport. Well this time I just forgot it (only 24 hour advance check in) and as I don’t have a printer at home I had no other choice but to change my alarm and take a train earlier.

Once I got to the airport at around 8 am I was glad that I arrived a bit earlier as the queue was massive. I had booked a flight with AirTransat as it was the cheapest (for a reason) at the time and most convenient with the time.

I will tell you a bit more about the research I have done at the end of my trip. At the moment I believe I didn’t do my best this time and that the plan I made is a bit of a gamble, but we will see.