TRAVEL
ANNABELLE WHITE TAKES A SCENIC TRAIN RIDE THROUGH CANADA
Nova Scotia conjures up romantic images of misty seas, the circling glow from a lighthouse, distant blasts of a foghorn and buckets of sensational fresh seafood.
In my mind, this landscape has quiet fishermen wearing ragged sweaters and sporting old woollen hats. Ever since
I was a child, I have wanted to visit and immerse myself in the area and soak it all in.
I found out about a great train journey on the Canadian Rail network and investigated it. On track since 1904, The Ocean is the oldest, continuously operated, named passenger train in North America. The 1346km trip from Halifax to Montréal takes 22 hours. It travels three days a week and also does the reverse route, Montréal to Halifax, too.
What better way to experience the unforgettable landscape of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec and the St Lawrence south shore than sitting on a scenic train after having eaten lots of great seafood?
It’s time to ‘fess up that I’m completely crazy about trains – such is my obsession, I have a CD of train sounds that I listen to at home when I’m cooking.
So, with my bags packed, I headed off for my rail adventure, but what happened and what emerged took me by surprise.
Firstly, the people in Nova Scotia are so incredibly friendly and kind. I even tried to “annoy” locals and it didn’t work. On the plane flying into Halifax, the man next to me helped me get to my hotel late in the evening and bought the “visiting Kiwi” a hat and stuffed toy lobster from the
airport gift shop as a welcome present. Secondly, some of the best seafood in Halifax is in the most unlikely places.
Take the cheap ferry (NZ$2.80) over to Dartmouth and get an amazing view of the city from the water, and have the best local fresh haddock, scallops, clams, salad, a few fries plus a tasting of seafood chowder at Evans in the Alderney ferry terminal building for $19. They are famous for their hot lobster roll.
That night, I enjoyed an equally stellar meal of lobster risotto and grilled seafood at Five Fisherman Restaurant and Grill.
The next morning, the train journey began at noon. After boarding and being shown to my sleeping cabin, I feasted on a three-course lunch while the picturesque landscape unfolded outside. There were glimpses of water, marshlands and the changing colours of the leaves.
I visited the observation carriage, with its glass ceiling, before having dinner back in the dining car once again. The food was excellent and from our tables, we saw a moose near a pond, and the unforgettable lowlands between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
An experience that bordered on charmingly surreal was opening the curtains in the middle of the night to see a small Québec town bathed in lights, complete with large churches, a convent, majestic buildings and even a group of locals clustered outside.
Only on The Ocean train lying in your bed would you see these incredible real-life moments – then with a blast of the train horn, we gently moved on. Bliss!