First, what job did you have in SA? I didn't even know we had posting in SA...
Anyways, Halifax is a great community. Maybe it's because it's the next major city in 10hrs away (Quebec city.. sorry NB), but everyone seems to feel like your neighbour. It's the "East Coast Feel" that you'll learn to recognize.
Traffic, on the other hand, SUCKS. You'll be driving to work and hear on the radio "no major traffic delays to report", but yet you're in bumper to bumper traffic. This is because bumper to bumper traffic is what is typical.The Halifax "peninsula" has only 5 routes in or out of it: 3 intersections of several roads and the 2 bridges, which end up becoming huge bottle necks.
If you hate dealing with traffic and/or long commutes, then I would definitely recommend carefully considering where you live. If you're going to be working in Halifax, and HATE commuting, then live on the peninsula. Halifax, I found, is very "patchy" when it comes to nice and not-so-nice areas. The south end is definitely nice, except near some of the student ghettos, and the North end is mostly ok, with some areas much nicer than others. So, you'll have to shop around, because you can find a nice place to live jut about anywhere on the peninsula. Clayton park is a really nice area, but it's just off of the peninsula, which means going through those bottle necks in the morning. If you're going to be working in Shearwater, then there are lots of options. Eastern Passage, Cole Harbour, Dartmouth, etc. There is still a lot of traffic but your commute will not be as long.
If you don't mind long commutes, then there is always Bedford, Sackville, Fall River and Waverly, and a whole bunch of other small communities surrounding Halifax.
As for motrocycling, there are a lot of great places to ride, especially the Cabot Trail. as for groups, a lot of guys on my ship were members of the Veterans UN-NATO club of Nova Scotia:
http://www.veteransunnatons.org/who-we-are.
Also, taxes suck, insurance is great, DONAIRS DONAIRS DONAIRS.