July 7 & 8,  2019,  St. George's, Bermuda          179 - 180/183


Update:  Last night, Jenene Caramielo, vocalist, put on a terrific evening performance.  This young lady opened for the Beach Boys recently and just head lined the 2019 Governors’ ball at the Whitehouse.

As we left New York, Merrilynne and I wondered if we should have ended our journey by skipping the 5 day extra leg to Bermuda.  Well, that would have been a BIG mistake!  Bermuda is a beautiful country, with numerous beaches, picturesque inlets, lush parks, well-maintained homes and lots of history.  Small to medium sized pleasure boats are every where, in every cove. We toured Crystal Caverns, Tobacco Bay, the Dockyards and toured the 50 km long island from one end to the other. Lawns, public areas, roadways and parks are well groomed.   People are very friendly, we never saw any homeless and graffiti is non-existent.

White wash is widely used on housing, creating a dazzling look, with heavy limestone roofs for storm protection.

Living here is expensive with prices similar to NYC.  Cycling would be challenging as no dedicated bike lanes nor road shoulders exist.

Our little ship slipped into St. George's Harbour through the narrow passage, while the big ships are relegated to deep sea moorage at the Heritage and King's Wharfs, 50 km away.

Shoreline as we enter St. George's Harbour.  Ship had a few metres to spare on each side.

Entering the little harbour

St. George's harbour

King's Wharf, a two hour public bus ride from our great location in St. George's, by the Dockyard.

Tobacco Bay Photos

Overlooks Tobacco Bay

On the walk to Tobacco Bay

Near Tobacco Bay

Large ships moored on the other end of the island, as viewed from Tobacco Bay

Crystal Caverns Photos

Walkway to Crystal Caverns

Walkway into the caverns

Random photos of Bermuda

July 5, 2019,   New York, New York         175/183

(July 6, 2019,  Sea day on our way to Bermuda)

We had nice weather for our 10 hour stop over in NYC.  Merrilynne and I walked 15 km, including a stroll down the 1.5 mile long High Line Linear Park which runs between 34 and 14th Streets.  As always, it was a bustling place with Times Square a madhouse.  Ironically, we ran into Joyce downtown in this sea of humanity, one of our friends from the ship.

As NYC is so iconic, I will not belabour our experiences during the visit. By the way, I noticed there are virtually no new building projects underway now.  Just a comment, partly directed toward you investors....is this telling us something?

We sent four suitcases home from NYC via  Luggage Forwarding.  Certainly will make the trip to Victoria a lot easier with our remaining five or six.  Hard to believe the trip is drawing to a close.

Iconic greeting as we cruised into our terminal further along the Hudson River, pier 88.

Random shot of a NYC street.

We were moored beside the static Intrepid Aircraft Carrier.  Some planes are visible in the photo.

Following are views of Manhattan as we leave New York City, cruising down the Hudson River, past the Statue of Liberty

Freedom Tower 

Sail-away party on deck

High Line Linear Park

Art along the parkway

Last view of ''The Lady" as we look into the sun.  Kind of an appropriate exposure.

July 3, 2019,    St. John, New Brunswick         173/183

July 4 was a sea day.

St. John port is situated on the Bay of Fundy, which experiences tides up to 53 feet, the largest in the world.  Fur traders established a post here in 1631 and the present city was founded in 1783 by Loyalist refugees escaping the American revolution.  A devastating fire burned much of the place in 1877 so consequently many replacement Victorian buildings date from the late 19th century.

Charming city, pedestrian and bicycle friendly, numerous green spaces, lots of art and memorials.  Commercial area sports many pubs which appear to be rocking spots.

Sea on the way to St. John was flat and glassy

Rustic functioning light house

Bicentennial memorial, 1786 to 1986,  for 11 fire fighters who answered their late alarm while serving.

War memorial to soldiers of WWI, WWII, Korean and Afghanistan

Moosehead beer is a famous product of the area.

Commemoration of World Champion Speed Skater, Charles Gorman, who was wounded in WWI but went on to excel in sports.

Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, one of our 36 'Fathers of Confederation'

Group of Pubs

Many examples of street art, sculptures and metallic artistic manifestations abound

Excellent cycling paths

Reversing Falls on the St. John river, created by the extreme tidal action

Art

Maybe not?

Scottish piper giving us a send off

End of a nice day in the Maritimes

July 2, 2019,     Halifax, Nova Scotia,                                 172/183

Nice day in Halifax, the second largest natural port in the world.  Several cruise ships were in town, occupying the expansive, well developed water front.

Canada's Naval memorial, the HMCS Sackville is on display here.  It was one of about 350 'corvette' sized anti submarine convoy escorts that  was used by the RN and RCN (Royal Canadian Navy) These ships were built in 6 months, using locomotive technology.

A tragedy occurred on Dec. 6, 1917, when Halifax was decimated by the largest non-nuclear explosion ever experienced on earth, when 2925 tons of bombs detonated after the collision of 2 ships.  1600 were killed and 9000 injured.  To make things worse, a blizzard hit the next day.

The city of Halifax can take credit for having the largest number of colleges and universities per capita of any North American city.

Copied from a city publication -      "Overlooking the city is the Halifax Citadel National Historic site. It’s not an exaggeration to say Halifax owes its existence to the Citadel. It was the large hill overlooking the easily defended harbour below that led the British military to found the town there in 1749 to become what would eventually be called Citadel Hill, with Halifax’s first settlers building their homes at the base of the hill. Over the years, as the fort grew, so too did the town, with much of Halifax dedicated to supplying the soldiers with both essential supplies and off-duty entertainment.  France constantly presented a threat to Britain on the Canadian front, with the Americans also looking to take over Canada as early as 1775.  The threat from the USA persisted until after the civil war.  Lets not forget the multi-year war called the War of 1812, when the Americans burned most of Yorktown (Toronto) and we retaliated and burned their Whitehorse".   This fort was never attacked.  See photos.

Moored in Halifax by the QE II 

Founder of Cunard Cruise Lines

Nice to see our flag 

Entrance to Halifax Citadel

Photos from inside the Citadel fortification.

Just a view

Local people

Propeller from HMCS Sackville

Nice cafes and bars along the sea walk and down town

Merrilynne said I should be in this picture.

Stature reflective of Immigration

HMCS Sackville

Better than graffiti

Leaving town