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Halifax Accommodations and Things To Do Thread [merged]

Stacked said:
Going to be in Halifax 14 Jan for Basic Submarine Qual. 

Aside from whatever parts of your course are down by the MOG/jetty/dockyard, you don't have far to go around Stad.

A-Block also houses your galley and there is a small CANEX and Tim's in the same building.  The gym is a 2 minute walk.  One of the sub trg facilities is another 2 min walk past the gym, and the MWC, BHospital and Stad CSOR are a 1 min walk past that.  Pretty condensed.

The Fleet Club is 5ish min walk from A Block.

Down to the dockyard side, I'd say 15-20 min walk (considering the time of the year and ice/snow/retard drivers down the hill to Barringston, and to the jetty) depending on where you are headed. 
 
Stacked said:
I'm living in Belmont Park, even more of a pain in the ass than Esquimalt. 
In Victoria I usually frequent the "V-Lounge",  or the dirty-c.  As for pubs,  I usually go to "Ross Bay Pub" on Fairfield. 
I'm young, so the uni-style binge drinking sounds great. 

And I am sure I've seen MEC before.  It's by the bay center isn't it?  Just not a place I'd usually visit.

MEC is the beige building next to Chinatown (across from Montys).  It's huge and not really something you can miss.  I think you're thinking of Valhalla Outfitters or something similar.
 
Dimsum said:
MEC is the beige building next to Chinatown (across from Montys).  It's huge and not really something you can miss.  I think you're thinking of Valhalla Outfitters or something similar.

Valhalla moved to Langford a couple of years ago so it's probably not that. But yeah, MEC spans the block from Johnson to Pandora along Government.

Everyone else has covered it, but to reiterate, if you like getting hammered at dozens of packed pubs and bars in one night, boy is Halifax the town for you. It's also pretty great for lethal but extremely yummy junkfood. There's a Starbucks a couple minutes walk from A-Block in a mini version of Cook Street Village if you want to simulate the west coast for a few minutes a day. There is (or was) a Jamaican place right there, too, that I never got to try. I can vouch for the peanut butter burgers, very decent. Even though it's a chain, Cora for breakfast downtown is really good.

I wouldn't recommend trying to get accommodation at St. Laurent for the length of your stay. It's a good 20-30 minute walk to Stad every day, and Halifax winter weather suuuuucks. It might drizzle in Vic but at least arctic winds aren't trying to rip your face off every day - I'm from northern BC so don't paint as some kind of softy. There's isn't a galley there any more either so if you don't want to live on noodles and microwave meals the walk is a pain in the ass. A-Block is far more convenient to everything even if the standard of living is low (but the rooms are bigger than Nelles). You'll be pretty busy studying on a BSQ anyway, and hopefully roomed with someone else on the same course.
 
Last time I was there many moons ago it was 2 to a room with communal washrooms down the hall....
 
Stacked said:
Somebody recommended I ask for St Laurent but from what everyone's saying ill just stick with A-Block.

A review from 2007. Hopefully, things have improved since then.  :)

aesop081 said:
Last time i stayed in A-block :

1- They tried to put me in a 6-man  transient room.  When i entered said room, there was a very large kit explosion present and the door was not even locked.
2- The next room they gave me was a 2-man room where i as to be by myself.
3- It took 3 keys to get one that worked.  The working key still took 35 minutes to get the door openned as the lock was itself deffective.
4- Once i entered the room i found both beds to be broken.
5- The lights were flickering so badly, if i was prone to seizures, i probably would have ad one right away
6- There was not a single square inch of wall where the paint was not peeled / peeling off
7- The carpet was heavily soiled and stained
8- The TV did not work
9- The window was broken.  Took a while to figure that out since the window was covered with enough dirt to conceal it
10- Someone had urinated in one of the closets when the room was last occupied
 
Better to go in with that knowledge and then find out things might be better.......
 
If any portion of your course puts you at the NBCD / Firefighting school (forget what they are calling it these days), be sure to take in the displays on the Kootenay explosion. (if it hasn't been moved elsewhere). It is quite a moving display about the incident. (I am a little biased, as there is a photo of me way back when)

Have to agree, Halifax winters suck, having been through more than 40 of them. They can be even worse if you a=have acclimated from a warmer climate.

Best view of Halifax is from the Dartmouth waterfront next to the ferry terminal.

Best time to visit Peggy's Cove (my preference) is just before or after a winter blow. No tourists, great waves, and just give a real mood of the ocean, particularly if you are looking for great photos.

Sailor's Memorial and the Bonaventure Anchor are down at Point Pleasant Park, stop by and remember those who have gone before you.

Best clams / fish & chips are at John's Lunch on Pleasant Street, just up the hill from the Woodside Ferry Terminal. Also, Pilot's Pub located on the access road to the Woodside Ferry terminal has good food as well.
 
Agree on the clams....fish and chips, I`ll go wth Wharf Wraps down in Eastern Passage.  ;D  The cajun stuff is awesome.
 
Stacked said:
Great.... :facepalm:

I was last there in 2011 and it wasn't that bad (not great, mind you). A lot of that describes the transient quarters that house who-knows-who for short periods. You will have a room ready and waiting for you, but still almost certainly it will be double occupancy. Maybe they have put better TVs in the rooms by now.

The only tip I can offer is try to make sure you get a room AWAY from the galley exhaust fans. They are very, very loud and quite often the staff will forget to turn them off at close of business so you get the roar all night. That said I think that's the PLQ wing now so it may not be a problem.

St. Laurent block rooms are tiny, slightly larger than a prison cell (smaller than Bernays), and seem to be made of cardboard for all the noiseproofing they offer - the only benefit in my opinion is that they are in fact single rooms.
 
As far as donairs are concerned Robert's Donairs in Dartmouth are the best in town all though Venus is pretty good too.  Have fun on BSQ and I might run into you as I am headed there on Jan 6th for my CSEC?COW course at CFNOS subs as well.
 
Stacked said:
Hello, 

Going to be in Halifax 14 Jan for Basic Submarine Qual. 

Curious where are "trade qualified" pers usually housed?  Unqauls out West stay in Nelles Block,  and once qualified can either move ashore or into Bernays Block.  Is there something similar out east? 

Going to be around Halifax for a few months,  haven't been since I was 10.  Any recommendations on what to see/where to go/eat? 

Stacked

I just finished my BSQ, all the West coast guys on our course were housed at A Block. Accommodations wasn't entertaining anything else as the galley is shutdown at St. Laurent.

As far as Halifax nightlife. I'm sure the east coasters on your course will be more than happy to show you around, but realistically you won't have a whole lot of free time, especially in the first 3-4 weeks. You'll be drinking from the fire hose so to speak.
 
If no dice on the Hfx side, try Warrior Block in Shearwater, they have 4-5 family set-ups there on the first floor just down the hall from the Duty NCO room.

You could also drop into the Accn desk in A Block to ask how to get an update, or Juno front desk perhaps.  Someone should be able to point you in the right direction.
 
being a history nut, I say don't forget the Citadel http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/index.aspx


other places nearby http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=3&threadid=42392
 
Can a retired military person can rent  a room at stad?..When I was on ships in Halifax, I used to get rooms and a lot of them were innoccupied..I figure that instead of asking friends or rent a room in a motel for 5-6 days, it would be  cheaper tro get a room at stad. the price used to be 10-15$.Can we reserve a month in advance  if we can  rent a room there?
 
Don't know the rules, but this web page should ahve contact info where you can get an answer:

http://www.cg.cfpsa.ca/cg-pc/Halifax/EN/HousingandAccommodation/Accommodations/Pages/default.aspx
 
Thanks :) ,with that link above, I was able to find out everything that I needed(and no,if you are retired,you can not rent a room)
 
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