Lovely Visit to Sydney, Nova Scotia

[Trish Traveler]

Portion of my review from Voyager of the Seas.  For complete review, link below:

SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA   8am-5pm

Partway through our cruise, we realized that Hurricane Fiona was now headed up to this area in Canada.  It was still off to the SE in the Atlantic, so we were able to make our port stop in Sydney.  We knew there wasn’t a lot to see in this town, so we had pre-booked a RCCL tour to the Fortress Louisburg for the afternoon.   It was another mostly cloudy day, but the temperature was mild as we headed out early on foot to check out the city.  We walked to the Cruise Pavillion which has the iconic world’s largest Fiddle out in front.  Everyone wants a picture with it.  There are some nice shops here indoors and out, visitors center, and a craft fair.  Bustling area.  We then took a short walk to visit St. Patrick’s Church Museum, St. George Anglican Church, continuing on to Charlotte Street (partly under construction) for shopping and restaurants.  We also found some cool murals we hadn’t realized were here.  We then headed back down to the boardwalk to return, stopping to see the very moving Merchant Mariner Monument.   At this point it began to rain lightly. Checked out some of the shops on Esplanade including Get Nauti and right next store is Governors Pub.  Back at the fiddle, I saw a Canadian Mountie!

 

Back on the ship to eat lunch before our afternoon tour.  We met back outside for our 3 hour/45 minute tour to Louisburg Fortress which is about 45 minutes drive south.  It was in a comfortable, full size bus with driver and tour guide.  Gave us interesting area info and some history.  Sadly, he said they would all be off the next day, Friday, to board up and prepare for Hurricane Fiona which was due to hit on Saturday.  I don’t know specifically how much damage they had, but we did hear in the news that the electricity was knocked out.  They definitely were in our thoughts and prayers. 

 

We did get some breaks in the clouds and saw some blue sky and sun while at Louisburg Fortress.  A tour guide takes you through the first part and then you have some free time on your own.  First we entered a structure and received a tasty cup of authentic hot cocoa while a costumed lady spoke about life in the 1700’s.  We toured the garden outside before heading to a soldier’s demonstration on the lawn in front of the large King’s Bastion, including a military chapel.  There is a lot to see here.   Great views of the water from up where the canons are located.  And another pretty lighthouse.  We enjoyed the song by a traditional fiddle player.  We really lucked out with the weather here!  After, we were free to roam the large property and we came upon a building that sold beer, so we shared a quick flight of 3 beers, and live music which was a plus.  Even though we couldn’t see it all, I still thoroughly enjoyed this tour and was glad we booked it.  On the way out on the bus, they stopped at a beautiful cemetery for a really quick photo.  Returning, we saw a different part of the city and saw all the improvements being made by the Membertou native community.  We arrived back at just about 4:20pm with all aboard at 4:30pm, but no worries because we were on a RCCL tour and they would wait for us.  Although it was cloudy again, it was a nice sailaway from Sydney.  Another great day.  We would now head south as unfortunately Hurricane Fiona tracked north towards Canada. 

[1kaper]

Happy to hear you enjoyed it. 

 

That side of the island was hit quite hard.  I haven't heard of any damage to the Fortress itself but there were a few homes in the town of Louisbourg that lost roofs and chimneys.  
Trees and power poles were down everywhere.  The damage to the power grid was quite extensive.  The military was brought in to help clean up as well as many back up power cruises from other provinces and even the US.   Many were without power for upwards of 10 days.  Some more, especially out towards that way.  

[Trish Traveler]

On 10/17/2022 at 7:25 AM, 1kaper said:

Happy to hear you enjoyed it. 

 

That side of the island was hit quite hard.  I haven't heard of any damage to the Fortress itself but there were a few homes in the town of Louisbourg that lost roofs and chimneys.  
Trees and power poles were down everywhere.  The damage to the power grid was quite extensive.  The military was brought in to help clean up as well as many back up power cruises from other provinces and even the US.   Many were without power for upwards of 10 days.  Some more, especially out towards that way.  

Thank you for the update.  So sorry to hear of the damage.  Hopefully, things are improving and they can get repairs completed before winter begins.  Such a pretty area.