Halifax, Nova Scotia harbour view by T. E. Smith-Lamothe

Canon G7

This panorama of the Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) harbour ("harbor" in USA lingo) was taken in the Fall of 2007 from scaffolding at the top of the Canada Public Works building, which was undergoing renovations to its exterior sandstone. This is an art deco building downtown which served as Halifax's main post office for many decades. I was on the job site taking pictures of the sandstone carvings of large seahorses which grace the corners of the facade --- accessible to everyone, though, is a full-sized seahorse sculpture on display in the lobby. Halifax harbour is the second largest ice-free harbour in the world, with Sydney, Australia taking the top spot. this view only shows about a third of the harbour --- the Bedford Basin, where Europe-bound convoys gathered in WWI and WWII is not visible in this photo. This panorama shows, at the far right, MacNab's Island where there is a lighthouse and famous "Hangman's Beach" which the British Navy used for the morbid display of executed sailors as a warning to living ones as they entered the harbour. The small rounded island is George's Island, heavily fortified (as are all of the approaches to the harbour --- Halifax was never attacked since it was generally thought to be unassailable). The opposite shore is Dartmouth, which was founded a year after Halifax, in 1750, although Native Canadians had used its rivers and lakes as a canoe portage route for centuries before that. To the far left is Purdy's Wharf Towers One and Two which are recognizable icons from the children's TV series "Theodore Tugboat" --- now only seen in re-runs (Theodore's full-sized tugboat namesake, "Theodore Too", pictured in a snapshot, has tours of the "Big Harbour" throughout the summer). A live webcam of the harbour is at: www.tallshipsnovascotia.com/pages/WebCam.aspx