Froda Travels to Europe and Canada 2010. Part Thirteen: Rocky Mountaineer - Canada

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Tuesday July 13th (continued).

Arriving early evening to a wet Calgary where folks in stesons were all over the place – very stampeded out! First impressions – didn't like the place. Too "Wild Western". However we found the taxi-transfer place and after a short wait were loaded in and delivered to the International Hotel & Suites. OMG. How I wish we were going to be here for more than just one night. We had a whole suite: TV flat screens in both bedroom and lounge. Little dining room, kitchenette and bathroom. Sooo nice. It was on the 32nd floor but the flash lifts only took 10 seconds to get there! Had to use our key to operate the lift. And we had to be up at 5a.m. For a 5.30 departure. We found our way to the restaurant – on the ground floor and it was just a bar really where the one waitress was rushed off her feet. Stampede people were there. We ordered southern baked chicken with interesting criss-crossed fries which were rather nice. We're getting the hang of filling in bills and leaving tips etc. And so to bed. I was so tired I didn't bother with a sleeping pill. Bad mistake. I think I only got about ½ hour of sleep all night.

Wednesday July 14th

Calgary to Rocky Mountaineer Train.

We phoned the cab company at about 4.40a.m. To book the cab. Just thought it might be safer. Showered, packed and ready in comfortable time to get to the foyer by 5.25. The cab was there. It took less than 10 minutes to drive to the station. There were shortish queues – one for Gold and one for Red (us). All the attendants were smiley and helpful. Larry's foot was giving him some cause for discomfort and he found it hard to get comfortable. Then sat down to wait. The train was delayed and it was practically an hour before we boarded. Quite steep steps up to the carriage (assisted by a small step stool and a gallant assistant) and soon we were settled in CB04 seats 15 & 16. Pretty wide and spacious, better than an aircraft but not quite as wonderful as I'd expected. Then came a voice-announcement through the PA. It was Antoine, our "on board assistant" with his microphone pressed to his chin. He was like a tour director, air hostess and entertainer all rolled into one. And very good in all capacities. We had a safety briefing and welcome. Then came the Hot Finger Napkins followed by cutlery then a breakfast tray plus a choice of drinks. Finally a bagel. And all this had to fit on our fold down table. Not much room and Antoine did the whole "service" on his own. Courteous, efficient with good humour and appropriate repartee whenever called for. And so the 14 hour trip began. Snacks and drinks served to our seats every couple of hours. Commentary on the features of the country that we passed. We were somewhat disappointed (unfairly so!) at the lack of snow in summer – DUH! Lunch served at around 2.30p.m. Drinks (wine) @ $6 each and chippies at about 5.30p.m. Otherwise all other food and drink was included. Much of the trip was extremely slow. Fascinating information about sharing the lines with CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) and the work crews (40 minutes work then 20 minutes stop work to allow trains through.) Antoine reflected that it was just like Civil Servants in Canada! We pulled into Kamloops at around 8p.m. Then to a "Heritage" Hotel: Plaza (i.e. Old). The lift was small and there was only one in the hotel. Very old. The room was quite nice but so small and miserable compared with the Calgary International. Not many power points and what there were not particularly accessible. However, I was so tired all I wanted to do was sleep. But we did go for a short walk (to exercise Larry's leg which had been troubling him increasingly since Midland) then I collapsed (with sleeping pill to be sure).

Thursday July 15th

Kamloops to Vancouver.

Woke at 6a.m. Ready for take off. The shuttle bus departed at 7.20. I don't think the train left till about 8a.m. Long wait in the bus parking area while all the buses sorted themselves out. All meals were served in reverse order from yesterday (i.e. he served the back seats first) to keep things fair. Lots of interesting scenery – lots of variety and change. One of the interesting features that we were alerted to was the nests built by two different kinds of birds: the bald eagle and osprey. "The bald eagle constructs the world's largest nest made by a single pair of birds". It is "used (and added to) year after year". (One) nest weighed two tons and toppled its host tree. The nest is rarely placed in the topmost branches of the host tree because thin upper boughs can't support a structure that even unexceptionally is four or five feet across". The Osprey, however, "like dead trees, and often build their nests in the very topmost branches. They get away with this latter location because their nests are smaller than those of bald eagles". [I have quoted here from an article by Julie Collier http://www.dvrconline.org/builder.html] Sometimes they mistake a power pole for a tree and their nests can be seen on top of a power pole!

Antoine also pointed out a number of structures that we travelled through that were in place to protect the trains from rock falls, and also the wall of wires (look like power lines) that detect the fall of rock. At one point we ran alongside a river which merged with another river as we went over a bridge. We got photos showing the two distinct colours of the rivers – one very murky, the other clear. The two rivers effectively ran together with their separate colours for several miles. Looking at the photos, I was confused by a shot much later that showed a clear stream/river merging with the now murky big river – but it was obviously another clear river joining in. I forget the reason for the differences. We had to take every possible opportunity to walk around in the carriage as there were no stops during the day. Heaps better than an aircraft of course but that's not saying much. Not nearly such a long day but we were still later than scheduled getting into Vancouver: probably 7p.m. Another point of interest that Antoine pointed out were the propane tanks which could be seen along side the tracks every so often – always beside a junction - their purpose being for de-icing the points when they freeze over. There are two railway lines the entire route: CPR (Candian Pacific Railway) had to travel on one, and the other company, CNR (Canadian National Railway) ran its trains on the other. At one point we crossed the river and so the other line had to cross over to the side we'd come from. At one point we passed a collection of buildings that housed a cable car. We noticed many clusters of logs in the river – not being floated down river, but there for storage and had to be kept wet for some reason. The train pulled into the station and we were met by buses which transported us through Vancouver to our Hotel: The Holiday Inn.

Next: Vancouver (Canada)

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