Day out in Halifax and Plan for Tomorrow

So yesterday was a 'soft down day' which means there was power to the aircraft for instrument maintainance but no flying. So while some of the scientists spent the day trying to fix their instruments, others of us had a couple of meetings then went out into Halifax. We parked down by the waterfront and wandered down to the jazz festival area. After a look around, some lunch and some brilliant raspberry wheat beer we headed further along the waterfront where we saw an rather intruiging selection of ice cream flavours on offer, shame we had just had lunch. What would Tiger or Bear Paws ice cream taste like? Answers on a post card, or probably easier as comments below.

Next stop was the Citadel, and we were lucky to be there on a special day (Doug was told the centenary of National Parks or something like that) so we were able to get in for free. As we walked up the hill we saw what looked like a large ship behind a grassy bank. We were then stopped out side the gate leading through the grass bank to watch the changing of the guard.

We walked around the inside of the grass banks which afforded a great view of Halifax and of the ceremony going on inside the castle. You would almost believe you were actually in Scotland, with kilts, bagpipes and even a huge union jack.

We then went back down into the town to look around the local bars and eateries. Andrew Rickard found some nachos which looked just too good (and big) not to sample, evidence below.

So onto some science (sort of); the plan for tomorrow is to take off around 11am (meaning power to instruments is at 7am) and head towards Goose Bay, Newfoundland where we will hopefully intercept a plume from the fires currently burning in North West Ontario (see the map produced by Natural Resources Canada). We can then refuel there, allowing us to fly a bit longer, before heading back to Halifax late on in the evening. This will give us about 9 hours flying so we would expect to get some good data. Only things to watch out for is interference from North American pollution, clouds and rain, and the potential for thunderstorms around Halifax later on in the day. Fingers crossed we will see something exciting!