Singin' in the rain!

After a pretty fast-paced, high-energy trip, I was looking forward to spending a few days relaxing and catching up on some sleep before jumping back into term paper madness. But, of course, this would not be the case for little 'ol me.

Last night was Earth Hour, and as the Community and Environmental Secretary for my hall of residence, I was in charge of planning an event. We participated in style, with an hour of glow-in-the-dark bingo! While we may not have been full-on environmentally friendly, I'd like to think that fun was had in the name of energy-conservation awareness!

Photo credit: Areeba Khan

Today, however, I found myself once again on board a bus ready for adventure. This time, I, along with a handful of my fellow residents were heading to Chester. Now, this is not to be confused with one of my favourite spots in Nova Scotia (and home of the Kiwi Café), no, this was Chester, UK.

Views of beautiful Chester, NS from last summer

A shot of the patio at the Kiwi, taken straight from their website, noted above!

Chester, not unlike the one I have grown to know and love, is a small town filled with lots of charm. Even in the rain (yes, it was rainy), you could easily see how beautiful it was/is. As we arrived fairly early, we made out way to one important stop - coffee. Then, when we filled up, we made our way to the Cathedral and began our trek along the old city walls.

The main entrance to the Cathedral

A side shot of the Cathedral, with Town Hall poking out in the background

Another view of the Cathedral

The walkway on top of the wall

Group shot!

City wall

Unfortunately, it began to rain quite heavily, so when we came upon the racecourse, we stopped into the bar for a drink and warm up. This is where I discovered a whole new style...

My sweet new look, thanks to that super stylish headband!

Since the rain didn't seem like it would be ending anytime soon, we took a group vote. Despite my desire to continue walking in the rain, I was out voted and it was decided that we would head to the aquarium, which was just a short bus ride away.

A view of the Chester bridge, which is currently under renovations, hence the covering.

Now, to be honest, I truly had zero desire to visit the aquarium. My last experience at both a zoo and aquarium left me feeling sickened by the treatment of the creatures on display. However, I was assured that Chester's Blue Planet Aquarium maintained clean and roomy enclosures. So, slightly reluctant, I tagged along with the group. AND, I was pleasantly surprised!

We saw a wide variety of fish, frogs, sharks, turtles, snakes, and more! My favourites, of course, were the otters. Man, I could have watched those rascals for hours. But, we were getting hangry and needed to return back to Manchester.

I found Nemo! Twice in one week - I'm on a roll!

Some sharks waiting to be fed!

Otters!

Loved this little guy! Check out the intricate pattern he's rockin'! 

Jellyfish

Lionfish...they may be destructive little buggers, but they sure are neat looking!

Impatiently awaiting food!
Photo Credit: Yong Kai Jie

We made it back in good time, only to be greeted with beautiful sunshine! Go figure... Not a bad day, overall, but now I'm 'knackered' as they say in this rainy part of the world!

I'll be taking a break from adventuring for a while to concentrate on my studies. This is not to suggest that there won't be anything blog-worthy over the coming weeks, but that I don't anticipate anything too exciting to take place!

Until next time,

-the Orange Canadian