Hello all
We left Hawaii at 1am on the 10th and we soon made our minds up about flying Air Canada – definitely not recommended! Air Canada clearly rents the gates at that time of night to save money. The same gate was used for arrivals and departures, the microphone didn’t work to announce boarding, the lanes don’t look as though they have been upgraded since they were built, and to top it off, the air temperature inside the plane was probably not much different to outside which was no doubt to save fuel. Sally was wearing a jumper, jacket and scarf just to try and keep warm.
Stuart’s Grandad picked us up and then we drove back to his house in White Rock. In the afternoon we went for a walk down to the water. We have been very lucky on this trip and every day has been sunny and warm. The next morning we departed very early to drive to the train station and begin our Rocky Mountaineer journey. The train started off travelling from Vancouver and headed out through the desert, following the Fraser River and past lakes like this one. Travelling first class (thanks to Stuart’s Grandad) meant that we were kept well fed. We arrived in Kamloops that evening after a long, but enjoyable journey.
The next day we were travelling all the way through the mountains and Bamff, concluding in Calgary. The train had an amazing domed roof which made the mountains even more spectacular. I will just link to a few of the better mountain photos here, here and here as there isn’t much description necessary!
We had a day in Calgary before flying back on Saturday afternoon so Stuart and I went up the Calgary Tower (the highest one in the world above sea level – unfair advantage we think given the location in the Rockies!) This is a photo of downtown Calgary with the Rockies in the distance.
We went to a hockey game on Sunday night and it was great. It was a juniors game played by guys in senior high school but it was fast, rough and exhilarating (even better than the Mighty Ducks!)
We went out for dinner afterwards and this is Stuart with his ribs (note the new shirt that Sally found for him in Hawaii).
You can look at the rest of our photos by clicking the Canada link at the top of each photo to return to the Canada album. We are heading into Vancouver today and Murphy’s law, showers are forecast.
Sally and Stuart