Day 80 – 81 Deer Lake to Halifax July 7th and 8th 2015
By Mel
Another round of sad goodbyes, this time protracted and multiple as we kept running into each other as we headed for our various flights. Despite the feeling at the outset of this trip that we would not make connections as we had on the cycling trip – we again had a new set of travel buddies, and a great comrade in our tour leader.
On to Halifax – and another tour – and another set of thoughts – Is 3 in a row too many? Was there enough activity in this new tour? Would we connect with anyone?
As we settled into the Atlantica Hotel and I brushed my teeth ready for bed. I felt a pop. Out came a crown with hole in the top. I jammed it back on and pretended nothing had happened. As the night wore on I realised it needed attention.
First thing in the morning I checked Google for any sort of ranking of dentists and found one just down the road. Got an appointment for 3.30pm.
Sorted – so off we went. Brekky at the hotel was an unfortunate affair with a rude and offhand Maitre de. First world problems abound when travelling this long!!
Decided to wander down to the Maritime museum in the brief time I had before heading off to the Dentist. Time was limited for me so priorities needed to be set. I particularly wanted to see two exhibits
1) The Halifax explosion. Another reminder of what we do not know. This was the largest explosion prior to the dropping of the atom bombs in Japan.
2) Titanic exhibition – I had forgotten that Halifax was the closest port to the disaster.
Both were excellent presentations and even when you think you have read and seen all there is about Titanic there is more. A little pair of baby shoes found and put in a drawer by a policeman on the rescue mission and eventually given to the museum. With more recent DNA advances the little shoes were researched leading to speculation the baby belonged to the body of a mother found near the shoes.
Another exhibit contained a piece of cane from the original deckchairs on the Titanic.
Chris stayed on after I headed off to the dentist and enjoyed the display of boats large and small.
Dentist – I had no idea how this would play out given it normally takes two appointments, a couple of weeks apart, while the crown is made. What I discovered was new technology available where they take computer images, mould and bake the crown on the spot. Three hours later – I have a new crown.
I did ask for a Maple leaf on the side as a reminder of my new expensive Canadian souveneir.
There was a funny moment when the Dentist commented that the music on the piped music system was appropriate to the moment – it was Abba “Take a Chance on Me” .
Back at the hotel I was not very connected at the Introductory dinner with the aftermath of the lengthy dental appointment. The major impression to leap out is that we were not at this point really trying to connect with others. And I immediately noted the chalk and cheese of our tour leaders – no criticism just difference. Ann appears well organised – written checklist for menu choices. She has everything planned and sorted ahead of time, whereas Tony had a more laid back – you are grown ups sort yourself out – style. We liked both personally and style wise.