Toot, toot: all aboard for the Rocky Mountaineer

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Geo: 50.6761, -120.338

The alarm was set for 5.15 am but really it was superfluous because our internal alarms had us awake on the hour at 1, 2, 3 and 4. The 1am wake up was the best because Mac was waving the torch around in the room - he was sure someone was in the room taking the luggage! He was dreaming!

The 15 minute trip to the Rocky Mountaineer Station from The Fairmont took about 45 minutes because of the stops at various motels. Naively we thought this was the full complement of our fellow travellers but when we arrived at the station our mere 52 became a swarm of 600 passengers who were boarding the train! And this number leave the station every day.

To welcome us aboard there was a welcome reception complete with drinks, a Scottish piper to entertain and an official double toot of the train whistle by two travellers. There are speeches by the Train Managers and welcome from the hospitality team and with a wave of a hand and a traverse of the red carpet you are on board and away!

It all works like clockwork though and by the time you are ensconced in your glass topped rail car it is almost as if you are the only one on board. There are so many staff and every whim is catered for...information and commentary, food, drinks, conversation, blankets, pillows, hot towels, cold towels...it is endless.

At the most basic level the day consists of magnificent panoramic views of constantly changing scenery, trips to the open car, food, food and more food with drinks, drinks and more drinks interspersed with animal spotting. Mac and I are still laughing because we were calling out with "glee and awe" when we spotted a sheep!

In completing the 460 kilometre journey in 8 hours we learnt a little about:

New Westminster: First Nations meeting place for the annual salmon run
The Fraser River: we followed this raging river for half a day - it was the site of the Canadian Gold Rush
Yale, Mission and Hope: and their roles in the Gold Rush
Hell's Gate: the narrowest part of Fraser River and as the name suggests a series of wild ride rapids and a major challenge for the salmon run
Skuzzy Creek Bridge: an impressive cantilever bridge
Cisco Crossing: the largest single span bridge on the line
Lytton: the meeting place of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers and a stark change in landscape from the temperate forests to desert
Rainbow Canyon: where the earth ranged in colour from black, to white to red and yellow
Avalanche Alley: and the man made efforts to control nature and gravity
Jaws of Death Gorge: the narrow stretch of the Thompson a favourite challenge route for white water rafting
Ashcroft: one of the driest places in. Canada with just 10 inches of rain
Kamloops: our destination for the evening. Home of paper mills and sporting venues

The animal spotting was sparse but there were a few:
Eagles and Ospreys nesting
Deer
Mountain goat
Big horn sheep

Meal times in the dining cart are an opportunity to meet new people. Breakfast was with a Vancouver couple (Will and Cathy....retired Mining Engineer...world travellers and sailors with a fishing lake home and a winter property in Whistler) and lunch was with a South African couple (Bushun and Susan....travelling with two daughters...came to Canada to bring 23 year old daughter home...owns small oil company in SA). Each had their own interesting stories to share.

The end of the day was equally well organised with a flotilla of buses at the train station to ferry the passengers to the hotels. Keys are issued on the train and there is no checkin process and the luggage is in your room waiting for you.

We were able to time our run to the Red Bridge perfectly to capture a sunset in Kamloops. We celebrated a great day of relaxed adventuring with dinner at Frick and Frack. And we were lucky enough to stumble onto Fishbowl Friday. Big drinks with three nips in a fishbowl sized jar and big dinner were the prelude to a big win at the casino. The casino was conveniently located right next door to our hotel the five540forty. We invested $10 big dollars and came out with $30.30!

We hit the pillows just on 11pm and with alarms set for 5.15 for our next day of relaxation on the Rocky Mountaineer. I think we were asleep in one minute flat!

Friday
Temperature: no idea!
Pedometer: 6 630
Bear Sightings = 0

Total Bear Sightings = 4

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Comments

[Aunty Gail]

What wonderful memories came flooding back as I read your blog.....you will waddle off that train when you get back to Vancouver.....it is such a gourmet's delight isn't it??!??!!!?........yummmmmmmmmm