31 August 2006, Thursday Day 6 Ketchikan.
Welcome to Ketchikan, Alaska.
Sailing from Glacier Bay to Ketchikan. Today we make port at Ketchikan.
Woke up at 9am. Got to sleep in today. Weather looks lousy outside. Can't really tell yet, as I'm still in the cabin, but from the ships broadcast of the bow and stern, it doesn't look good.
9.19am Late breakfast. The weather outside is overcast and drizzling. We've had a sleep in and now having a late leisurely breakfast, We're joined by Ann, who has lost Mike. Watch them pack away the breakfast and prepare for lunchtime. Sit at the table until it's time for lunch. Chat to Ann. At an adjoining table, sit Kerry and Brian and Darrell. After only just having had breakfast, do I really feel like eating again. Oh well, what the heck, Janet has already tucked into the roast chicken and chips, so I might as well join her.
2.00pm and we've docked in Ketchikan. It's wet and drizzly and no one feels like going off the boat. Some of the tours have been cancelled, but ours is still on, so we pack our wet weather gear and head down to deck 1 where we are to get off. I decide to change into shorts, don't want my jeans getting wet, so I hurry back to the room to change and get back in time for us to get off and join our tour of the town and Totems.
It's 2.54pm when we get on our bus which will take us around town and then to Totem Bight. At Totem bight we're given umbrellas to use and they come in handy, although the rain holds off until the end of our tour. Each totem tells a story and there is no right way to read a totem pole. Most include a raven or eagle as well as the chief of the clan.
We sit in the clan house while the guide explains what took place in the clan house. It would house the entire tribe and there was only one doorway which was so small you would have to stoop to enter and leave it. That way any enemies who did enter could be struck down before they could attack. They've made the doorway bigger to accommodate tourists.
Inside they have a fire pit right in the very centre. Very similar to a Maori House.
We're given time to visit the gift shop before it's time to board the bus and head back to the ship. We get back just in time for me and Evan to dash to our rooms to change into long pants and make it to dinner at 5.30pm. No time to walk the streets or buy any souvenirs, plus it's pouring down with rain still.
After dinner we go to the Vista Lounge for Showtime, it's a salute to the stage and screen with the Zuiderdam singers and dancers. This is followed by round 2 of Superstar Idol in the Queen's lounge at 9.30pm. After which I head to the library to try and complete the puzzle.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
30 August 2006, Wednesday Day 5 Scenic Cruising
30 August 2006, Wednesday Day 5 Scenic Cruising
6.30am and Evan is up and out on the deck to see the Glacier Bay National Park Rangers board the ship.
Apparently he waits for us on the Lido Deck, but we've slept in and don't know he's waiting for us.
I go out on deck at 7.00am to the bow of the ship to take a few pics.
Today we sailed into Glacier Bay. Evan woke up early to watch the whales, but didn't manage to get any nice shots. Janet and I slept in, but I did go to the Observation deck 4 and I did see a whale or two, but from a distance.
Then I join Janet for breakfast. After breakfast, we sail past the John Hopkins Glacier which is pretty big, but it's not until you see the Margerie Glacier which is enormous.
As we sailed into glacier bay, no sign of Evan was to be seen with his camera, he appears to have been on Deck 6 in front of the gym, whereas Janet and I were at the stern, back of the ship. I had gone to Obeservaton deck 4, but it got too crowded, so I made my way down to deck 3, promenade level and had a nice view of the glaciers all to myself, then I made my way to the back of the ship and then back up to the lido deck 9 where I joined Janet.
It's bigger than the ship. Lots of pics taken. Still no sign of Evan, apparently he is on the front of Deck 9, while we are at the back of the ship on Deck 9. We get ambushed by the ships photographers.
12.30pm Time for lunch while still drifting near the Margerie Glacier.
After lunch Janet goes to the Vista Lounge to hear the Park Rangers and Hoonah Tlingit Interpreter do their talk and presentation. While I spend time in the library with the jigsaw. After which we're back on deck to see the Rangers and Interpreter get off the ship around 4pm when we leave Glacier Bay National Park.
Then it's time to get ready for dinner. It's another formal night. Although dinner time has been adjusted to 5.45pm, we're there and it's another sumptious menu of escargot and surf and turf with lobster tails. This is followed by the Baked Alaska Parade, which is the dessert for the night. The waiters all carry a dish of Baked Alaska lit with sparklers and march around the tables and up and down stairs to music. Later tonight is also the chocolate extravaganza.
After dinner it's straight to the Vista Lounge for showtime with James Cielen, the magician. He performs sleight of hand with doves, a poodle and the usual rings and scarves. Also makes a passenger float as well as puts a sword through a girls neck.
At 9.30pm we go to the Queens Lounge to view Superstar Round One. Not as packed as round two and the finals. But good for a laugh.
After which it's back up to the Lido Deck 9 midship for the Dessert Extravanganza. Cakes and desserts galore. It's sickening, but deadly. It's a diabetics nightmare. So much for watching the weight. After dessert it's time for bed.
6.30am and Evan is up and out on the deck to see the Glacier Bay National Park Rangers board the ship.
Apparently he waits for us on the Lido Deck, but we've slept in and don't know he's waiting for us.
I go out on deck at 7.00am to the bow of the ship to take a few pics.
After dinner it's straight to the Vista Lounge for showtime with James Cielen, the magician. He performs sleight of hand with doves, a poodle and the usual rings and scarves. Also makes a passenger float as well as puts a sword through a girls neck.
At 9.30pm we go to the Queens Lounge to view Superstar Round One. Not as packed as round two and the finals. But good for a laugh.
After which it's back up to the Lido Deck 9 midship for the Dessert Extravanganza. Cakes and desserts galore. It's sickening, but deadly. It's a diabetics nightmare. So much for watching the weight. After dessert it's time for bed.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
29 August 2006 Day 4 Skagway, Alaska
29 August 2006 Day 4 Skagway, Alaska
Welcome to Skagway, the gateway to the Yukon.
Although they forecast showers and cloudy skies, the weather turns out perfect and it's a nice sunny day.
6.30am and I'm out on deck to see the boat already docked. Another cruise ship is docking alongside.
9.00am having a very late breakfast
10.00am we leave the ship and walk the pier, waiting for the start of our trolley tour of Skagway.
Our tour starts at 10.45am, but we have to wait for another trolley car. They have two trolley cars full of people. We do a loop before we head to a hall where a guy does a talk about the arctic brotherhood, which is open to all who are looking for gold, golden memories, golden moments. After the song and film presentation we are back onto the trolley and driven up to a lookout where you can see the town of Skagway. From there our next stop is the cemetery where the outlaw "soupy" Smith is buried. Then it's back into town.
Walk a bit of the town, until it gets too hot and we decide to go back to the ship to change and get some lunch.
After lunch it's back off the ship to continue our walk around town.
See a creek with salmon spawning. See the original log cabin of Jack London, the founder of the town. Do some shopping and buy some souvenir shirts as well as my charm of Alaska. See the steam train as well as the other engines.
5.00pm head back to the ship in time for dinner.
Tonight's show is with the lounge singer, Alfreda Gerald. Not my cup of tea, so I head for the library. Evan takes pictures of the town at night.
9.00pm we leave port bound for Glacier Bay.
At 11.15pm Janet and I head to the Vista Lounge for the Indonesian Crew Show. Evan retires early to watch the movie on TV and an early night. We watch the Indonesian crew perform a hand clapping/slapping routine, a couple of singers as well as the bamboo instrument "angklung" orchestra before retiring to bed at 1am in the morning.
Welcome to Skagway, the gateway to the Yukon.
Although they forecast showers and cloudy skies, the weather turns out perfect and it's a nice sunny day.
6.30am and I'm out on deck to see the boat already docked. Another cruise ship is docking alongside.
10.00am we leave the ship and walk the pier, waiting for the start of our trolley tour of Skagway.
See a creek with salmon spawning. See the original log cabin of Jack London, the founder of the town. Do some shopping and buy some souvenir shirts as well as my charm of Alaska. See the steam train as well as the other engines.
Tonight's show is with the lounge singer, Alfreda Gerald. Not my cup of tea, so I head for the library. Evan takes pictures of the town at night.
9.00pm we leave port bound for Glacier Bay.
Monday, August 28, 2006
28 August 2006 Monday, Day 3 at Sea
28 August 2006 Monday, Day 3 at Sea
Welcome to Juneau.
Up at 6.30am. Today we are cruising through Tracey Arm. I'm up early to see if there are any whales. Janet tells me to go to Deck 4 up the front of the ship which they will open up to passengers, but when I get there, the door is closed and there is no one around, so I go up to the Lido Deck and try the door that is next to the gym, but this is closed, so I join a lady who is also there spotting whales. We see some breaching and others just spouting, so I go back in and give Evan a wake up call. He gets Janet up and they go to Deck 4, while I'm still up on the gym level waiting for them. See a few more whales spouting off, before I decide to go up on the outside deck. Still no sign of Evan or Janet, until about 8.10am when I spy them on the upper outside deck.
8.55am Breakfast on the Lido Deck and scenic cruising through Tracey Arm.
Do a right turn into Stephens Passage and make our way to Juneau via Gastineau Channel. The temp drops.
11.35 pm Lunch time. Hmm sushi.
After lunch, we need to take out the scarves and beanies, getting colder as we pass icebergs in the water.
12.30pm we sail into the port of Juneau. The ship cannot dock, so it anchors just off the harbour and we see them unload the tenders (lifeboats) which will take us to shore.
1.15pm we go to the Crows Nest to kill some time before getting off at Juneau.
2.00pm we wait in the Vista Lounge. They've given us stickers for our tours and tenders, we have lucky number 13 green. When we leave the ship, we need to show our key cards to get scanned and when we come back on we also need to have our cards scanned as well as have a photo id.
2.42pm Finally on board the tender to take us ashore. Once on shore we look for our guide, we're told to go to the second last bus which will take us on our tour of the Mendenhall Gardens and Glacier. We have a short tour of the town before we head on out to the gardens.
3.24pm we get to the Gardens where we are met by a guide who tells us the history of the gardens, how it is all built by one man, his wife and his rented excavator. The gardens are famous for the tree stumps which are turned upside down and have flowers growing in the roots of the trees. In order to see the gardens, groups of 4 people are taken on golf buggies up a steep and winding path. Takes a while to get through a group of 41 people, we were in the second to last buggy. While waiting for the buggy, we could hear a baby eagle cry, and the nest was in a tree which you could just see.
3.45pm we were back at the start and in the hothouse where there were so many hanging baskets and a huge heart shaped rose bush used by many weddings.
4.27pm Arrive at Mendenhall Glacier where the bus driver explains to us that the best way to see it is to see the bears first in the salmon viewing area, before heading up to the Visitor center. As we get off the bus, some people spy a bear heading down stream, by the time we get to the viewing platform, it is walking away, all I get is a photo of the bear's butt.
We walk the trail, see a lot of dead salmon, and crushed bushes where the bear has been. Smells very fishy. No more bear sightings, so we go in search of the glacier. Lots of photos later, we end up in the visitors center, quick look around, before it's time to get back to the bus at 5.30pm
Then it's back to Juneau and a quick walking tour of the town before it gets interrupted with the rain, so we head back to the ship. Need to wait in line to get a tender back.
By the time we get back on board, it is too late to go to the Vista Dining room, so we head up to the Lido deck to grab a late dinner. When we pop into our stateroom to drop our gear off, we discover Mo has left us a towelled elephant.
10.14pm I'm in the library working on the jigsaw puzzle. We meet Mike and Ann there.
Welcome to Juneau.
Up at 6.30am. Today we are cruising through Tracey Arm. I'm up early to see if there are any whales. Janet tells me to go to Deck 4 up the front of the ship which they will open up to passengers, but when I get there, the door is closed and there is no one around, so I go up to the Lido Deck and try the door that is next to the gym, but this is closed, so I join a lady who is also there spotting whales. We see some breaching and others just spouting, so I go back in and give Evan a wake up call. He gets Janet up and they go to Deck 4, while I'm still up on the gym level waiting for them. See a few more whales spouting off, before I decide to go up on the outside deck. Still no sign of Evan or Janet, until about 8.10am when I spy them on the upper outside deck.
8.55am Breakfast on the Lido Deck and scenic cruising through Tracey Arm.
Do a right turn into Stephens Passage and make our way to Juneau via Gastineau Channel. The temp drops.
11.35 pm Lunch time. Hmm sushi.
After lunch, we need to take out the scarves and beanies, getting colder as we pass icebergs in the water.
12.30pm we sail into the port of Juneau. The ship cannot dock, so it anchors just off the harbour and we see them unload the tenders (lifeboats) which will take us to shore.
1.15pm we go to the Crows Nest to kill some time before getting off at Juneau.
2.00pm we wait in the Vista Lounge. They've given us stickers for our tours and tenders, we have lucky number 13 green. When we leave the ship, we need to show our key cards to get scanned and when we come back on we also need to have our cards scanned as well as have a photo id.
2.42pm Finally on board the tender to take us ashore. Once on shore we look for our guide, we're told to go to the second last bus which will take us on our tour of the Mendenhall Gardens and Glacier. We have a short tour of the town before we head on out to the gardens.
3.24pm we get to the Gardens where we are met by a guide who tells us the history of the gardens, how it is all built by one man, his wife and his rented excavator. The gardens are famous for the tree stumps which are turned upside down and have flowers growing in the roots of the trees. In order to see the gardens, groups of 4 people are taken on golf buggies up a steep and winding path. Takes a while to get through a group of 41 people, we were in the second to last buggy. While waiting for the buggy, we could hear a baby eagle cry, and the nest was in a tree which you could just see.
3.45pm we were back at the start and in the hothouse where there were so many hanging baskets and a huge heart shaped rose bush used by many weddings.
4.27pm Arrive at Mendenhall Glacier where the bus driver explains to us that the best way to see it is to see the bears first in the salmon viewing area, before heading up to the Visitor center. As we get off the bus, some people spy a bear heading down stream, by the time we get to the viewing platform, it is walking away, all I get is a photo of the bear's butt.
We walk the trail, see a lot of dead salmon, and crushed bushes where the bear has been. Smells very fishy. No more bear sightings, so we go in search of the glacier. Lots of photos later, we end up in the visitors center, quick look around, before it's time to get back to the bus at 5.30pm
Then it's back to Juneau and a quick walking tour of the town before it gets interrupted with the rain, so we head back to the ship. Need to wait in line to get a tender back.
By the time we get back on board, it is too late to go to the Vista Dining room, so we head up to the Lido deck to grab a late dinner. When we pop into our stateroom to drop our gear off, we discover Mo has left us a towelled elephant.
10.14pm I'm in the library working on the jigsaw puzzle. We meet Mike and Ann there.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
27 August 2006 Sunday, Day 2 at sea
27 August 2006 Sunday, Day 2 at sea
7.35am on deck taking photos as we sail the Johnston Strait.
8.30am Breakfast - try the congee after having scrambled eggs and sausages for a week, plus it's Sunday.
9.30am Shore Excursions presentation. Got a bit boring and we were falling asleep so went up on deck for some fresh air.
12midday Lunch time. You need to get to the Lido early if you want a table near the windows, otherwise you need to sit at an inside table or with other people.
After lunch we set about exploring the ship
1.30pm pass the Lido deck and grab 2 jelly to eat out on deck. Either very sweet or no flavour at all.
3.00pm time to get ready for dinner tonight and to meet the ship's captain. Need to dress formal tonight.
4.45pm We need to line up and go through photo shoots, just like the red carpet star treatment. The meet and greet is at the Vista Lounge. Have to go through at least 3 photo shoots before we get to shake hands with the ship's captain, Hans van Biljouw. Also get our picture taken with him, before we are shown into the Vista Lounge and told to take a seat. Complimentary drinks are served, glass of wine, champagne or fruit punch as well as finger food. Don't want to eat too much as we have dinner straight after. Looks like just about everyone has made an effort. So glad we packed the bling. Should see some of the dresses and jewels dripping off some of the ladies, too good to be true.
After the Captain has shaken everyone's hands, he gives a speech to welcome us aboard and to introduce the other officers and crew members.
5.30pm Dinner time, we all file out of the Vista Lounge and into the Dining Room. Again as we are having our meal, we're pestered by the ships photographers. I keep the menu as a souvenir.
8.15pm Showtime at the Vista Lounge. Under the Boardwalk musical with hits from the 50's & 60's, but a few 70's and 80's songs creep in.
9.30pm Time to go back to the stateroom and change out of our finery. Take a walk around the ship exploring every nook and cranny.
7.35am on deck taking photos as we sail the Johnston Strait.
8.30am Breakfast - try the congee after having scrambled eggs and sausages for a week, plus it's Sunday.
9.30am Shore Excursions presentation. Got a bit boring and we were falling asleep so went up on deck for some fresh air.
12midday Lunch time. You need to get to the Lido early if you want a table near the windows, otherwise you need to sit at an inside table or with other people.
After lunch we set about exploring the ship
1.30pm pass the Lido deck and grab 2 jelly to eat out on deck. Either very sweet or no flavour at all.
3.00pm time to get ready for dinner tonight and to meet the ship's captain. Need to dress formal tonight.
4.45pm We need to line up and go through photo shoots, just like the red carpet star treatment. The meet and greet is at the Vista Lounge. Have to go through at least 3 photo shoots before we get to shake hands with the ship's captain, Hans van Biljouw. Also get our picture taken with him, before we are shown into the Vista Lounge and told to take a seat. Complimentary drinks are served, glass of wine, champagne or fruit punch as well as finger food. Don't want to eat too much as we have dinner straight after. Looks like just about everyone has made an effort. So glad we packed the bling. Should see some of the dresses and jewels dripping off some of the ladies, too good to be true.
After the Captain has shaken everyone's hands, he gives a speech to welcome us aboard and to introduce the other officers and crew members.
5.30pm Dinner time, we all file out of the Vista Lounge and into the Dining Room. Again as we are having our meal, we're pestered by the ships photographers. I keep the menu as a souvenir.
8.15pm Showtime at the Vista Lounge. Under the Boardwalk musical with hits from the 50's & 60's, but a few 70's and 80's songs creep in.
9.30pm Time to go back to the stateroom and change out of our finery. Take a walk around the ship exploring every nook and cranny.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Saturday 26 August 2006 Checkout and Board Zuiderdam Cruise to Inside Passage.
Saturday 26 August 2006 Checkout and Board Zuiderdam Cruise to Inside Passage.
6.30am Wake up, go on net, but it keeps dropping out. Type up blogs.
9.00am Breakfast
10.15am Call porter to bring bags down
10.30am Wait in lobby for our taxi's which is booked for 11.00am
Joined by Kerry and Brian, then Phil and wife, then Darrell. Truck driver Phil leaves in first taxi. As we get into our taxi, Mike and Ann also appear. We all leave at about the same time. Our taxi driver is a Malaysian who was from the Carribeans.
11.18am arrive at Canada Place, drop luggage off and join the queue for security check. Apparently need to take all metal objects out of pocket as well as watches and jackets. Water is fine.
After the security check we have to go through US customs and immigration. But any aliens, not holding US or Canadian passports must wait in a holding area, until the lines are shorter then they process us row by row. Have to be fingerprinted and photographed again. Then it's into the Holland America Checkin area, where all our documents are processed and they get an imprint of your credit card. We are then given our welcome aboard documents and our id cards for our cabin doors and getting on and off the ship.
12.35pm Directed to the ship, just a short walk down the gangway and we're onto the ship where our cards get scanned. Immediately we are directed up to the Lido deck 9 for lunch buffet. So many selections. Because everyone else has been herded up, it's difficult to find a table near a window, so we settle for an inside seating. Evan and I are itching to do some exploring, so Janet gets her lunch and while she eats it, we go explore the Lido deck and the upper Observation deck. Discover the swimming pool area and the sports deck.
1.41pm We finally make it to our staterooms, they are 6143 and 6147, and they have adjoining doors. Wait for our bags to arrive.
2.30pm Go back up to Lido deck so that Evan and I can have lunch.
Go exploring after we've eaten. Then it's back to our staterooms to wait for the Emergency Evacuation drill with life vests on. What a hoot. We play sumo. Janet seems dwarfed by the vest. And they have a definite smell about them.
4.15pm 7 hooters sound for the drill. We are told we need to go back to our staterooms to put on our life jackets and when we hear the hooters to meet up on deck at the assembly area. Our life boat is number 15, so we file to that area. Women & children told to stay up front while they call the roll (room numbers) after which we can all go back to what we were doing.
5.00pm We leave port and it's time to party. Drinks are served, the decks are decorated with flags and the music is on. Congo lines are formed as we sail out of Vancouver harbour.
5.30pm Early dinner seating on Deck 3 in Vista Dining Room. Tonight's dress is casual, no need to dress up.
Join Cosmos group and meet 2 aussies, Neil and Maree and a bunch of kiwi's.
8.00pm go to the Crows Nest to view sunset. Evan takes photos on Observation Deck.
8.15pm Janet and I go to the Vista Lounge 3 to watch the Welcome Aboard Showtime, while Evan walks around and takes photos.
9.15pm Discover the library and jigsaw puzzle.
9.52pm Do one lap of the Promenade Deck = 1.6km. Then go back up to Observation Deck to get back down to Lido Deck and bump into Evan talking to Phil the bus driver.
10.00pm back to stateroom for shower and photo downloading. Also typing up blog.
6.30am Wake up, go on net, but it keeps dropping out. Type up blogs.
9.00am Breakfast
10.15am Call porter to bring bags down
10.30am Wait in lobby for our taxi's which is booked for 11.00am
Joined by Kerry and Brian, then Phil and wife, then Darrell. Truck driver Phil leaves in first taxi. As we get into our taxi, Mike and Ann also appear. We all leave at about the same time. Our taxi driver is a Malaysian who was from the Carribeans.
11.18am arrive at Canada Place, drop luggage off and join the queue for security check. Apparently need to take all metal objects out of pocket as well as watches and jackets. Water is fine.
After the security check we have to go through US customs and immigration. But any aliens, not holding US or Canadian passports must wait in a holding area, until the lines are shorter then they process us row by row. Have to be fingerprinted and photographed again. Then it's into the Holland America Checkin area, where all our documents are processed and they get an imprint of your credit card. We are then given our welcome aboard documents and our id cards for our cabin doors and getting on and off the ship.
12.35pm Directed to the ship, just a short walk down the gangway and we're onto the ship where our cards get scanned. Immediately we are directed up to the Lido deck 9 for lunch buffet. So many selections. Because everyone else has been herded up, it's difficult to find a table near a window, so we settle for an inside seating. Evan and I are itching to do some exploring, so Janet gets her lunch and while she eats it, we go explore the Lido deck and the upper Observation deck. Discover the swimming pool area and the sports deck.
1.41pm We finally make it to our staterooms, they are 6143 and 6147, and they have adjoining doors. Wait for our bags to arrive.
2.30pm Go back up to Lido deck so that Evan and I can have lunch.
Go exploring after we've eaten. Then it's back to our staterooms to wait for the Emergency Evacuation drill with life vests on. What a hoot. We play sumo. Janet seems dwarfed by the vest. And they have a definite smell about them.
4.15pm 7 hooters sound for the drill. We are told we need to go back to our staterooms to put on our life jackets and when we hear the hooters to meet up on deck at the assembly area. Our life boat is number 15, so we file to that area. Women & children told to stay up front while they call the roll (room numbers) after which we can all go back to what we were doing.
5.00pm We leave port and it's time to party. Drinks are served, the decks are decorated with flags and the music is on. Congo lines are formed as we sail out of Vancouver harbour.
5.30pm Early dinner seating on Deck 3 in Vista Dining Room. Tonight's dress is casual, no need to dress up.
Join Cosmos group and meet 2 aussies, Neil and Maree and a bunch of kiwi's.
8.00pm go to the Crows Nest to view sunset. Evan takes photos on Observation Deck.
8.15pm Janet and I go to the Vista Lounge 3 to watch the Welcome Aboard Showtime, while Evan walks around and takes photos.
9.15pm Discover the library and jigsaw puzzle.
9.52pm Do one lap of the Promenade Deck = 1.6km. Then go back up to Observation Deck to get back down to Lido Deck and bump into Evan talking to Phil the bus driver.
10.00pm back to stateroom for shower and photo downloading. Also typing up blog.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Friday 25 August, 2006 Queen Elizabeth Gardens & Capilano Suspension Bridge with the Bucklands
Friday 25 August, 2006 Queen Elizabeth Gardens & Capilano Suspension Bridge with the Bucklands
Sleep in today, no wake up call. Head on down to breakfast at 8am, only a handful of the Globus tour group are still around. Most have checked out. Have the usual bowl of cereal, scrambled eggs with toast and sausages.
The Bucklands are driving up to Whistler today, but they offer to take us with them to the Queen Elizabeth gardens. Phil and Evan head out at 9.30am to pick up their hire car from Hertz. Janet and I wait in the lobby where Sally finds us.
Around 10am, they swing by with the car and we all hop in and it's off to the Queen Elizabeth gardens. Lots of roadwork going on, apparently they are contructing a subway to the airport.
We stop at the Rose garden first before walking to the Conservatory and large and small quarry.
Next stop the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but before that we have lunch at the Bridge Restaurant. Janet's shout.
She has a sandwich, I have the chicken wrap and Evan has the salmon fish and chips.
Then we queue for the Suspension Bridge, but apparently there's more than the bridge. We arrange to meet up after 1 hour. There is also a treetop walkway.
We walk around and talk a lot of photos, even bump into Phil, before we have to meet up with them at the entrance. From there they drop us off at the Lonsdale Quay where we catch a seabus back to the waterfront.
We see that a Holland America ship is docked, so we go to Canada Place to take photos. Realise that it's not our ship, but still take photos. By now our legs are getting heavy and we can't stop yawning. Getting tired, but we still need to go to the library to get that bear.
Next we walk up towards the library. I'm still chasing bears and spot one just across from the Harbour Centre so it's cross the street to take a shot of the bear, while Janet waits on the other side. We pop into the Harbour Centre to go up to the Observation Deck, why not, we've been up the Toronto CN tower, the views are great and we're lucky the sky is clear. You can use the ticket all day, so we may pop up at night, depends whether we're tired or not.
Next we go to the Vancouver Public Library, it's huge, have a look inside, I'm so envious, all that technology, but I don't think I would like to work in that library. It has 7 floors and its manned on all floors.
Find my bear and take my photo, then it's time to head back to the hotel, but we stop at a 7-eleven on the way to buy dinner, 3 min noodle, Janet doesn't feel like going out again for dinner. So here we sit in the hotel room, eating 3 minute noodle in mugs. It's exactly 7 o'clock.
Sleep in today, no wake up call. Head on down to breakfast at 8am, only a handful of the Globus tour group are still around. Most have checked out. Have the usual bowl of cereal, scrambled eggs with toast and sausages.
The Bucklands are driving up to Whistler today, but they offer to take us with them to the Queen Elizabeth gardens. Phil and Evan head out at 9.30am to pick up their hire car from Hertz. Janet and I wait in the lobby where Sally finds us.
Next we go to the Vancouver Public Library, it's huge, have a look inside, I'm so envious, all that technology, but I don't think I would like to work in that library. It has 7 floors and its manned on all floors.
Find my bear and take my photo, then it's time to head back to the hotel, but we stop at a 7-eleven on the way to buy dinner, 3 min noodle, Janet doesn't feel like going out again for dinner. So here we sit in the hotel room, eating 3 minute noodle in mugs. It's exactly 7 o'clock.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Thursday 24 August, 2006 City Tour of Vancouver, Granville Island, Free Time, Farewell Dinner
Thursday 24 August, 2006 City Tour of Vancouver, Granville Island, Free Time, Farewell Dinner
8.02am Breakfast at the hotel, before we head up to our rooms to get ready to go out.
9.00am City Tour. All aboard the bus which takes us to 9.17am Canada Place. Start of Bear hunt. This is where I start taking photos of bear statues. This is also where we will be getting on our cruise ship.
Next stop 9.37am Totem Poles in Stanley Gardens
10.27am Lions Gate Bridge and Prospect Point Lookout
11.20am Granville Island. Given the option to stay on the bus or get off. We get off and walk around the island.
11.45am Walk through Growers Market
12.39pm Lunchtime, buy fish and chips, mussels and clam chowder to take away. Restaurant very busy. We sit at tables in the open area and enjoy our lunch. The seagulls are huge, they even help themselves to food of other peoples plates. Double the size of our ones back home.
1.20pm Catch False Creek Ferry back to Aquatic Centre and walk along sea wall towards Stanley Gardens. The beaches are rocky and I wouldn't swim there.
1.49pm take photo of Inukshuk statue
2.00pm start walking towards Georgia Street we're going on a bear hunt to capture all those bears I saw while on the tour bus. Keep walking in search of those bears
3.16pm stop at Starbucks for frappacino
3.39pm Outside HMV with Darth Vader bear.
3.45pm Art Gallery
4.30pm back to hotel to get ready for farewell dinner
6.00pm Down to mezzanine level for dinner...just about the last ones there. Sit at table with Phil, Sally, Mike, Ann, James, Susan & Peter.
Dinner has been preordered the day before. We all say our goodbyes and swap email addresses. James passes out the group photos and I go through it putting names to faces.
8.45pm Go back to room and onto the internet and blogging.
8.02am Breakfast at the hotel, before we head up to our rooms to get ready to go out.
9.00am City Tour. All aboard the bus which takes us to 9.17am Canada Place. Start of Bear hunt. This is where I start taking photos of bear statues. This is also where we will be getting on our cruise ship.
Next stop 9.37am Totem Poles in Stanley Gardens
10.27am Lions Gate Bridge and Prospect Point Lookout
11.20am Granville Island. Given the option to stay on the bus or get off. We get off and walk around the island.
11.45am Walk through Growers Market
12.39pm Lunchtime, buy fish and chips, mussels and clam chowder to take away. Restaurant very busy. We sit at tables in the open area and enjoy our lunch. The seagulls are huge, they even help themselves to food of other peoples plates. Double the size of our ones back home.
1.20pm Catch False Creek Ferry back to Aquatic Centre and walk along sea wall towards Stanley Gardens. The beaches are rocky and I wouldn't swim there.
1.49pm take photo of Inukshuk statue
2.00pm start walking towards Georgia Street we're going on a bear hunt to capture all those bears I saw while on the tour bus. Keep walking in search of those bears
3.16pm stop at Starbucks for frappacino
3.39pm Outside HMV with Darth Vader bear.
3.45pm Art Gallery
4.30pm back to hotel to get ready for farewell dinner
6.00pm Down to mezzanine level for dinner...just about the last ones there. Sit at table with Phil, Sally, Mike, Ann, James, Susan & Peter.
Dinner has been preordered the day before. We all say our goodbyes and swap email addresses. James passes out the group photos and I go through it putting names to faces.
8.45pm Go back to room and onto the internet and blogging.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Wednesday 23 August 2006 Rocky Mountaineer Kamloops to Vancouver.
Wednesday 23 August 2006 Rocky Mountaineer Kamloops to Vancouver.
Get to sleep in as we don't have to eat breakfast and the bus will be in to pick us up at 7.20am. I get up early anyway, 6.00am to hop onto the net and post a blog as well as answer some emails. Before I know it, it's time to pack up the laptop and checkout.
The bus is on time and we all pile on ready for another day on the Rocky Mountaineer. As usual we are one of the last to board and sit at the back of the bus, so when getting off the bus, we are also the last ones. The train departs Kamloops at 7.30am as soon as we are all boarded. They've added on another 6 carriages.
During our journey, we past a cemetery of First Peoples as well as a heritage church which was used in the movie, Unforgiven. The first part of today's journey is through the Ashcroft Subdivision, travelling 206 km from Kamloops to Boston Bar along the narrow Thompson and Fraser River canyons. From our cliff side view we can see the freight trains on the other side of the river weave in and out of the tunnels as we also weave in and out of tunnels.
It's not long before they signal the call for the first seating of breakfast. We're finally seated on our own, but then we are joined by Darrell (aussie miner). He isn't feeling too well and has an upset stomach, so doesn't really feel like eating breakfast. For breakfast we first have a croissant and are given our choices of juice. Then a plate of fruit which has a slice of grapefuit, a slice of orange and a strawberry and a slice of rockmelon is offered. We all order the Sir Jasper Eggs Benedict with crab meat and spinach on muffin with hollandaise sauce and hash browns. This is followed by tea or coffee.
After breakfast we step out into the vestibule area for a breathe of fresh air, before heading on up back to our seats. We pass lots of tunnels and go over many small bridges. We pass through Rainbow Canyon, where the minerals in the rocks reflect a rainbow of colours giving the canyon a painted look.
I take out the laptop and start sifting through copies of pur photos, so we can download them for Phil. It's a time consuming task, but I'm constantly looking out the window seeing the scenery go by. Before long, my battery pack runs low and I have to stop. Janet has conversations with Jim and other people on the tour while Evan is busy taking photos of the passing scenery down in the vestibule area.
It doesn't seem that long before we are called for the first lunch seating. As we had the second seating on Tuesday, we get to have the first seating today. For lunch, we are joined by Jim Nako who is a Professor Emiratus. I settle for the coated tender chicken breast with mash potatoes, asparagus, carrots and pumpkin. Janet has the Bison and Evan has the Halibut (fish). They are all nicely presented and taste scrumptuous. For desert we are offered a selection of ginseng cheesecake, chocolate caboose and chocolate chip muffin cake garnished with a lace toffee. Very sinful, but we still try it all.
After lunch it's back upstairs. Evan copies our photos over for Phil. There are cries of Osprey and Bald Eagle. Spotting fishermen along the river banks, they set up their nets and hope to catch the salmon by their gills. They don't use any bait at all. Every one is still keeping an eye out for that elusive bear.
Drea, our attendant comes along with some Baileys and ice and it's on for one and all. She's very popular and the group gets louder. Someone in the back seat performs a magic show and we also have a competition on for the best poem, either about a salmon or anything to do with the rail trip. Before you know it, we pull into Vancouver at 5.10pm. Our coach is already waiting for us. As we disembark, we look back, wandering when we'll ever get to do this trip again. I think it is a once in a lifetime experience.
We get to the Hotel Georgia Court and we're given our keys and briefed on what will be happening the next day. Check that our bags are in the room and we're back out to go for a nice long walk to stretch our legs. We walk all the way down Robson Street to Stanley Park, which is all the way on the other side of the city. It's not so far after all. Like walking from The Rocks to Town Hall. We walk pass a lot of shops and restaurants. Get to the park, see some huge sunflowers, they tower over us, took some pics, walked a little bit along the edge of a lagoon, but there are a lot of ducks, geese and swans and other bird life, so we head on back the way we came.
On the way back to the hotel, we decide to try there version of a doner kebab, they call it a donair. Watching the girl make it up was funny, they use basically the same ingredients, but she wrapped it so it was short and stubby, whereas ours back home are longer. Anyway, that's our dinner, had to have our fast food fix. Then it was on the laptop to work on these blogs, trying to catch up on our days.
Get to sleep in as we don't have to eat breakfast and the bus will be in to pick us up at 7.20am. I get up early anyway, 6.00am to hop onto the net and post a blog as well as answer some emails. Before I know it, it's time to pack up the laptop and checkout.
The bus is on time and we all pile on ready for another day on the Rocky Mountaineer. As usual we are one of the last to board and sit at the back of the bus, so when getting off the bus, we are also the last ones. The train departs Kamloops at 7.30am as soon as we are all boarded. They've added on another 6 carriages.
During our journey, we past a cemetery of First Peoples as well as a heritage church which was used in the movie, Unforgiven. The first part of today's journey is through the Ashcroft Subdivision, travelling 206 km from Kamloops to Boston Bar along the narrow Thompson and Fraser River canyons. From our cliff side view we can see the freight trains on the other side of the river weave in and out of the tunnels as we also weave in and out of tunnels.
It's not long before they signal the call for the first seating of breakfast. We're finally seated on our own, but then we are joined by Darrell (aussie miner). He isn't feeling too well and has an upset stomach, so doesn't really feel like eating breakfast. For breakfast we first have a croissant and are given our choices of juice. Then a plate of fruit which has a slice of grapefuit, a slice of orange and a strawberry and a slice of rockmelon is offered. We all order the Sir Jasper Eggs Benedict with crab meat and spinach on muffin with hollandaise sauce and hash browns. This is followed by tea or coffee.
After breakfast we step out into the vestibule area for a breathe of fresh air, before heading on up back to our seats. We pass lots of tunnels and go over many small bridges. We pass through Rainbow Canyon, where the minerals in the rocks reflect a rainbow of colours giving the canyon a painted look.
I take out the laptop and start sifting through copies of pur photos, so we can download them for Phil. It's a time consuming task, but I'm constantly looking out the window seeing the scenery go by. Before long, my battery pack runs low and I have to stop. Janet has conversations with Jim and other people on the tour while Evan is busy taking photos of the passing scenery down in the vestibule area.
It doesn't seem that long before we are called for the first lunch seating. As we had the second seating on Tuesday, we get to have the first seating today. For lunch, we are joined by Jim Nako who is a Professor Emiratus. I settle for the coated tender chicken breast with mash potatoes, asparagus, carrots and pumpkin. Janet has the Bison and Evan has the Halibut (fish). They are all nicely presented and taste scrumptuous. For desert we are offered a selection of ginseng cheesecake, chocolate caboose and chocolate chip muffin cake garnished with a lace toffee. Very sinful, but we still try it all.
After lunch it's back upstairs. Evan copies our photos over for Phil. There are cries of Osprey and Bald Eagle. Spotting fishermen along the river banks, they set up their nets and hope to catch the salmon by their gills. They don't use any bait at all. Every one is still keeping an eye out for that elusive bear.
Drea, our attendant comes along with some Baileys and ice and it's on for one and all. She's very popular and the group gets louder. Someone in the back seat performs a magic show and we also have a competition on for the best poem, either about a salmon or anything to do with the rail trip. Before you know it, we pull into Vancouver at 5.10pm. Our coach is already waiting for us. As we disembark, we look back, wandering when we'll ever get to do this trip again. I think it is a once in a lifetime experience.
We get to the Hotel Georgia Court and we're given our keys and briefed on what will be happening the next day. Check that our bags are in the room and we're back out to go for a nice long walk to stretch our legs. We walk all the way down Robson Street to Stanley Park, which is all the way on the other side of the city. It's not so far after all. Like walking from The Rocks to Town Hall. We walk pass a lot of shops and restaurants. Get to the park, see some huge sunflowers, they tower over us, took some pics, walked a little bit along the edge of a lagoon, but there are a lot of ducks, geese and swans and other bird life, so we head on back the way we came.
On the way back to the hotel, we decide to try there version of a doner kebab, they call it a donair. Watching the girl make it up was funny, they use basically the same ingredients, but she wrapped it so it was short and stubby, whereas ours back home are longer. Anyway, that's our dinner, had to have our fast food fix. Then it was on the laptop to work on these blogs, trying to catch up on our days.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tuesday 22 August, 2006 Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Kamloops.
Tuesday 22 August, 2006 Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Kamloops.
Today we board the Rocky Mountaineer and our Gold Leaf domed carriage. We check out of the Banff Park Lodge and board our coach to take us the short trip to the railway station.
We are in seats 26, 27 and 28 which is near the middle of the carriage. Most of the Globus people are in the back of the carriage, while another tour group occupies the front of the carriage. There are 4 domed carriages. The rest of our Globus group is in Red Leaf which is like a normal train carriage. They get served a packed lunch, but have the same snacks as we do.
Janet opts to sit with Jim, so that Evan or I can have a window seat.
We've had breakfast at the hotel, but as soon as we are all boarded and the train is on it's way, we are served a muffin and orange juice and champagne to drink to the start of our journey with the staff of the Rocky Mountaineer. Our attendants are Randall (Rannie), Drea, Heather, Cora, Ren and the chefs are Kaz and Keith.
As soon as that's out of the way, there is an announcement that we're suppose to have first sitting for Breakfast, someone tells them that James has arranged second sitting for us, so they correct there announcement. As it is, we have breakfast served at 11am on the train. It's a hot breakfast with a choice of The Rocky Mountaineer (scrambled eggs, sausage, etc.), Salmon or Eggs Benedict. This is served with croissants as well as toast. Your given a choice of juices as well as tea or coffee.
Once breakfast is over and we're all back upstairs, it feels like we just ate when they offer us cheese and crackers at 1.30pm, 3 types of cheese and an assortment of crackers. Not too many takers.
We pass a lot of lakes and rivers, lots of trees again. At Shuswap Lake we keep an eye out for Osprey, and at Salmon Arm we look for Salmon, but they aren't spawning. We pass fields of ginseng being grown as well as many cattle farms.
It's not long before we're called down to our second sitting of lunch.
After lunch it's more drinks, we get Drea's fruit cocktail and cookies are offered, but most of us take a bag to have for later.
We pull into Kamloops at 7.20pm where they have arranged for buses to take us to our hotels. Gold Leaf people stay at different hotels to Red Leaf people. At the hotel we find out that we're to meet across the road for our Dinner and Show, The Two Rivers Junction, thinking we're suppose to board another bus to take us to the show, it comes as a surprise to find that we are at the venue for the dinner and show.
Dinner is buffet, all you can eat, but having had so much food already, most of us are reluctant to go get the food. They have salads, chicken, salmon, and beef.
It's 8.30pm when the show starts, it's about Billy Miner a train robber, with comedy and audience participation. Elvis is a hoot. He is also dressed as litle bo peep.
Get back to the hotel around 10.30pm where Evan finds out that Internet is for free. We get the password from the receptionist and head back to our rooms. Straight onto the net to upload some photos. Evan doesn't get to bed until well after 1am. Janet and I have already gone to bed before then.
Today we board the Rocky Mountaineer and our Gold Leaf domed carriage. We check out of the Banff Park Lodge and board our coach to take us the short trip to the railway station.
We are in seats 26, 27 and 28 which is near the middle of the carriage. Most of the Globus people are in the back of the carriage, while another tour group occupies the front of the carriage. There are 4 domed carriages. The rest of our Globus group is in Red Leaf which is like a normal train carriage. They get served a packed lunch, but have the same snacks as we do.
Janet opts to sit with Jim, so that Evan or I can have a window seat.
We've had breakfast at the hotel, but as soon as we are all boarded and the train is on it's way, we are served a muffin and orange juice and champagne to drink to the start of our journey with the staff of the Rocky Mountaineer. Our attendants are Randall (Rannie), Drea, Heather, Cora, Ren and the chefs are Kaz and Keith.
As soon as that's out of the way, there is an announcement that we're suppose to have first sitting for Breakfast, someone tells them that James has arranged second sitting for us, so they correct there announcement. As it is, we have breakfast served at 11am on the train. It's a hot breakfast with a choice of The Rocky Mountaineer (scrambled eggs, sausage, etc.), Salmon or Eggs Benedict. This is served with croissants as well as toast. Your given a choice of juices as well as tea or coffee.
Once breakfast is over and we're all back upstairs, it feels like we just ate when they offer us cheese and crackers at 1.30pm, 3 types of cheese and an assortment of crackers. Not too many takers.
We pass a lot of lakes and rivers, lots of trees again. At Shuswap Lake we keep an eye out for Osprey, and at Salmon Arm we look for Salmon, but they aren't spawning. We pass fields of ginseng being grown as well as many cattle farms.
It's not long before we're called down to our second sitting of lunch.
After lunch it's more drinks, we get Drea's fruit cocktail and cookies are offered, but most of us take a bag to have for later.
We pull into Kamloops at 7.20pm where they have arranged for buses to take us to our hotels. Gold Leaf people stay at different hotels to Red Leaf people. At the hotel we find out that we're to meet across the road for our Dinner and Show, The Two Rivers Junction, thinking we're suppose to board another bus to take us to the show, it comes as a surprise to find that we are at the venue for the dinner and show.
Dinner is buffet, all you can eat, but having had so much food already, most of us are reluctant to go get the food. They have salads, chicken, salmon, and beef.
It's 8.30pm when the show starts, it's about Billy Miner a train robber, with comedy and audience participation. Elvis is a hoot. He is also dressed as litle bo peep.
Get back to the hotel around 10.30pm where Evan finds out that Internet is for free. We get the password from the receptionist and head back to our rooms. Straight onto the net to upload some photos. Evan doesn't get to bed until well after 1am. Janet and I have already gone to bed before then.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Monday 21 August, 2006 Banff Helicopter ride, free time and Oh Canada dinner.
Monday 21 August, 2006 Banff Helicopter ride, free time and Oh Canada dinner.
7.28am Breakfast
8.00am Walk to Laundromat to drop off clothes. They do a Wash Dry and Fold service, relatively cheap.
8.19am Back in Hotel and down in lobby waiting for James to takes us on our Helicoptor flightseeing.
8.25am Hop onto Coach which takes us to Canmore and the Alpine HeliTours. There are 14 of us going on this tour.
8.50am We are seated on the safety room and given a briefing video to watch. Then we're given our tickets and grouped off. We're with Darrell, Mike and Don. We have a group weigh in before we're lined up to get on board the helicopter. So exciting.
9.15am We board and before you know it we're up in the air. We're touring Mount Assinbone and the Gloria Glacier. 30 minutes later we are back on the ground. What a ride. We were as high as 83,000 feet. James greets us with donuts and then deals with paperwork and collecting money for the side trips.
10.15am it's back on the bus and back to Banff.
11.12am we head on out to look around Banff. Pass the Public Library, I go in to have a quick look. Then it's to the post office where I buy some stamps, to send my postcards which I have yet to write. Janet also decides to buy a souvenir there.
11.47am Walk into a lolly shop, Welch's Candy and Chocolate, where kids can go crazy. So many to choose from. We get some Corn and Pistachio nuts. While we're in the shop, the mountie from Sergeant Preston's shop comes out for photos. Evan calls us out, but we consider the mountie too old looking, so we pass on the photo.
12.30pm Walk into the Information Centre where I do some souvenir shopping.
12.40pm Lunch in the Cascade Shopping Centre. They have a food court on the ground floor. I have Chicken Yakisoba, Janet has Wonton with noodle soup and Evan has the Beef Teriyaki.
Because I've forgotten to take the laundry receipt with us, we need to pop back to the hotel, but on the way, we sight a deer with binoculars on a car...just love it.
1.38pm Back to the laundromat to pick up our laundry. It's pretty busy.
Evan drops off the laundry back to the hotel while we wait outside. Spot a squirrel. It's going to cross the road, but too many cars, so it decides against it, thought we would see road kill before our eyes.
2.00pm Temperature has gone up and it's pretty hot and humid. We head off on our Bow River Trail walk which leads us to the Bow Falls. It's a nice walk along the river, with lots of photo stops along the way.
2.47pm we get to the Bow Falls. A few more pics and then it's time to walk back. Lots of funny photos taken on the way back.
3.25pm Get to the Fur Trading Post. Lots of animal heads and pelts and stuffed animals. Also a Merman in a display case. Then it's pop next door to the Buffalo Indian Museum before heading back over the Bow River Bridge and back to the hotel at 4.06pm
Back at hotel, it's busy downloading photos and updating blog. Before it's time to get ready to go out to dinner at 6.00pm, when it's back ont he coach and back to Canmore for the Oh Canada Eh! dinner and show. The cast are also our waiters and waitresses and the louder you are, the more they like it. Supposedly everytime our waiter appears on stage, we're suppose to yell out Eh! The dinner is very basic, pea and ham soup, salad, then a selection of beef, fried fish, chicken and vegetables. The show is a history of Canada in song, with trivial pursuit categories, e.g. sport, geography, history, entertainment, etc.
Finally get our photo with a mountie.
9.15pm back on the bus to go back to the hotel.
7.28am Breakfast
8.00am Walk to Laundromat to drop off clothes. They do a Wash Dry and Fold service, relatively cheap.
8.19am Back in Hotel and down in lobby waiting for James to takes us on our Helicoptor flightseeing.
8.25am Hop onto Coach which takes us to Canmore and the Alpine HeliTours. There are 14 of us going on this tour.
8.50am We are seated on the safety room and given a briefing video to watch. Then we're given our tickets and grouped off. We're with Darrell, Mike and Don. We have a group weigh in before we're lined up to get on board the helicopter. So exciting.
9.15am We board and before you know it we're up in the air. We're touring Mount Assinbone and the Gloria Glacier. 30 minutes later we are back on the ground. What a ride. We were as high as 83,000 feet. James greets us with donuts and then deals with paperwork and collecting money for the side trips.
10.15am it's back on the bus and back to Banff.
11.12am we head on out to look around Banff. Pass the Public Library, I go in to have a quick look. Then it's to the post office where I buy some stamps, to send my postcards which I have yet to write. Janet also decides to buy a souvenir there.
11.47am Walk into a lolly shop, Welch's Candy and Chocolate, where kids can go crazy. So many to choose from. We get some Corn and Pistachio nuts. While we're in the shop, the mountie from Sergeant Preston's shop comes out for photos. Evan calls us out, but we consider the mountie too old looking, so we pass on the photo.
12.30pm Walk into the Information Centre where I do some souvenir shopping.
12.40pm Lunch in the Cascade Shopping Centre. They have a food court on the ground floor. I have Chicken Yakisoba, Janet has Wonton with noodle soup and Evan has the Beef Teriyaki.
Because I've forgotten to take the laundry receipt with us, we need to pop back to the hotel, but on the way, we sight a deer with binoculars on a car...just love it.
1.38pm Back to the laundromat to pick up our laundry. It's pretty busy.
Evan drops off the laundry back to the hotel while we wait outside. Spot a squirrel. It's going to cross the road, but too many cars, so it decides against it, thought we would see road kill before our eyes.
2.00pm Temperature has gone up and it's pretty hot and humid. We head off on our Bow River Trail walk which leads us to the Bow Falls. It's a nice walk along the river, with lots of photo stops along the way.
2.47pm we get to the Bow Falls. A few more pics and then it's time to walk back. Lots of funny photos taken on the way back.
3.25pm Get to the Fur Trading Post. Lots of animal heads and pelts and stuffed animals. Also a Merman in a display case. Then it's pop next door to the Buffalo Indian Museum before heading back over the Bow River Bridge and back to the hotel at 4.06pm
Back at hotel, it's busy downloading photos and updating blog. Before it's time to get ready to go out to dinner at 6.00pm, when it's back ont he coach and back to Canmore for the Oh Canada Eh! dinner and show. The cast are also our waiters and waitresses and the louder you are, the more they like it. Supposedly everytime our waiter appears on stage, we're suppose to yell out Eh! The dinner is very basic, pea and ham soup, salad, then a selection of beef, fried fish, chicken and vegetables. The show is a history of Canada in song, with trivial pursuit categories, e.g. sport, geography, history, entertainment, etc.
Finally get our photo with a mountie.
9.15pm back on the bus to go back to the hotel.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Sunday 20 August, 2006 Jasper. Coach to Columbia Icefields. Lake Louise, Banff Gondola and dinner at Hotel.
Sunday 20 August, 2006 Jasper. Coach to Columbia Icefields. Lake Louise, Banff Gondola and dinner at Hotel.
6.30am Breakfast
7.30am Checkout and waiting outside to board the coach. Just about to leave when we see a bunch of elks or caribou along the train line.
8.40am Photo stop at the Athabasca Falls. Spot a deer on the side of the road, but my flas goes off when I take the picture.
9.30am Piss stop at Sunwapta Falls Resort. Play hitchhiker. Photo with Totem POles and Grizzly Bears.
Driving along the Ice Highway
10.15am arrive at Columbia Icefields for our ride to the Glacier. While James goes to get our tickets we have time to take some photos before we have to line up to board the bus that will take us up to the icefield. We spot a nice yellow snow vehicle for Evan.
10.30am we board the Brewster Ice Explorers to take us onto the Glacier. Can't believe we are standing on ice which has taken hundreds of years to melt. There are areas which are coned off to prevent tourist falling into soft ice, freezing water.
11.30am it's back onto the small bus to take us back to the Centre, where we have 20 mins to have lunch and look around, maybe buy something in the, dreaded double barrelled word, gift shop. Have our photos taken with a moose, may be the only moose we see.
12.30pm back on the coach to continue our journey to Banff. No onewants to ride up front so the three of us are in the 2nd front seats.
1.45pm Photo stop at Bow Summit. Lookout which can see Peyto Lake and Glacier.
2.00pm Back on the bus
2.45pm Arrive at Lake Louise. Photo stop. Pretty hazy day and so many tourists. But Lake Louise is a pretty spot. Go into the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, great hotel, but it's a maze trying to find the restrooms. Blood sugar level is getting low. Only have a banana to share between the 3 of us.
4.20pm arrive in Banff. Circle the town with James pointing out places of interest as well as the laundromat before we head out of town towards Sulfur Mountain and the Gondola ride.
4.40pm Get off the bus and straight into the queue, while James goes and gets the ticket. We're one of the first from the group in line, along with Phil and Sally.Takes us about 10 mins before we board the Gondola. It seats 4, so we have someone else join us. They happen to be French and are in Canada filming a western. He says he's a movie star but we don't recognise him..not famous.
5.00pm We get to the top but find that the queue to get back down is so long, we just join the queue and take turns jumping out of line to take photos. That line is deceiving. While waiting in line we spot chipmunks. We find out more about the Bucklands and they find out more about us.
5.50pm We get to the front to board the Gondola down. Takes us 5 mins to get down. As the others are still lining up to come down, we have time to look in the gift shop and take more photos.
6.20pm Arrive back in Banff, but stop at the Bow Falls, which we find out that you can walk to from Banff.
6.40pm Checkin and crash, it's been a long day. We're given vouchers for dinner at the hotel, so we go down at 7.00pm
After dinner we go for a walk around Banff to look for the laundromat. What is suppose to be a quick walk turns into a long walk in search of the elusive laundromat. Go to Safeways to buy some water. Janet wants to buy peanuts but we can't reach them on the highest shelf.
As we head back to the hotel, we finally spy the laundromat.
6.30am Breakfast
7.30am Checkout and waiting outside to board the coach. Just about to leave when we see a bunch of elks or caribou along the train line.
8.40am Photo stop at the Athabasca Falls. Spot a deer on the side of the road, but my flas goes off when I take the picture.
9.30am Piss stop at Sunwapta Falls Resort. Play hitchhiker. Photo with Totem POles and Grizzly Bears.
Driving along the Ice Highway
10.15am arrive at Columbia Icefields for our ride to the Glacier. While James goes to get our tickets we have time to take some photos before we have to line up to board the bus that will take us up to the icefield. We spot a nice yellow snow vehicle for Evan.
10.30am we board the Brewster Ice Explorers to take us onto the Glacier. Can't believe we are standing on ice which has taken hundreds of years to melt. There are areas which are coned off to prevent tourist falling into soft ice, freezing water.
11.30am it's back onto the small bus to take us back to the Centre, where we have 20 mins to have lunch and look around, maybe buy something in the, dreaded double barrelled word, gift shop. Have our photos taken with a moose, may be the only moose we see.
12.30pm back on the coach to continue our journey to Banff. No onewants to ride up front so the three of us are in the 2nd front seats.
1.45pm Photo stop at Bow Summit. Lookout which can see Peyto Lake and Glacier.
2.00pm Back on the bus
2.45pm Arrive at Lake Louise. Photo stop. Pretty hazy day and so many tourists. But Lake Louise is a pretty spot. Go into the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, great hotel, but it's a maze trying to find the restrooms. Blood sugar level is getting low. Only have a banana to share between the 3 of us.
4.20pm arrive in Banff. Circle the town with James pointing out places of interest as well as the laundromat before we head out of town towards Sulfur Mountain and the Gondola ride.
4.40pm Get off the bus and straight into the queue, while James goes and gets the ticket. We're one of the first from the group in line, along with Phil and Sally.Takes us about 10 mins before we board the Gondola. It seats 4, so we have someone else join us. They happen to be French and are in Canada filming a western. He says he's a movie star but we don't recognise him..not famous.
5.00pm We get to the top but find that the queue to get back down is so long, we just join the queue and take turns jumping out of line to take photos. That line is deceiving. While waiting in line we spot chipmunks. We find out more about the Bucklands and they find out more about us.
5.50pm We get to the front to board the Gondola down. Takes us 5 mins to get down. As the others are still lining up to come down, we have time to look in the gift shop and take more photos.
6.20pm Arrive back in Banff, but stop at the Bow Falls, which we find out that you can walk to from Banff.
6.40pm Checkin and crash, it's been a long day. We're given vouchers for dinner at the hotel, so we go down at 7.00pm
After dinner we go for a walk around Banff to look for the laundromat. What is suppose to be a quick walk turns into a long walk in search of the elusive laundromat. Go to Safeways to buy some water. Janet wants to buy peanuts but we can't reach them on the highest shelf.
As we head back to the hotel, we finally spy the laundromat.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Saturday, 19 August, 2006 Via Rail Saskatchewan, Winnipeg to Alberta, Jasper.
Saturday, 19 August, 2006 Via Rail Saskatchewan, Winnipeg to Alberta, Jasper.
Slept ok on the train. Janet wasn't use to the rocking motion. Tried to wake up early to catch the sunrise, but managed to miss it.
We head on to the dining cart for breakfast, but find that even though we're there at 8.00am, we still have to wait, as many others have gone to breakfast before us, so we get our name put on a list and wait in the activities carriage, watching the passing scenery. While we're having breakfast the train pulls into Edmonton, so we don't have a chance to hop down and have a look. James joins our table. I opt for eggs benedict, while Evan has an omelette. Forgotten what Janet had.
After breakfast we go to the dome cart to take photos of passing scenery, before heading back to Evan's tiny room, but it does have three seats. Talk some more, have passing visitors, especially James, who likes to pop in and tell us about his gadgets.
Before you know it, it's time to head down to the activities cart to wait for the lunch announcement. Evan has a power nap, while Janet chats to others on the tour.
For lunch I have the chicken caesar salad, Janet has Spanikopita, and Evan has salmon on toast with cheese melt. This is followed by desert of ice cream or cake, I have a little of both, while Janet and Evan opt for the ice cream.
After lunch it's back to the activities cart where some of the others are also chilling out. Not much use sitting in the dome cart, the windows aren't cleaned and it's pretty distorted. We pass lots of lakes and mountains, where we manage to spy some mountain goats as we near Jasper.
The train pulls into Jasper around 2.30pm. We drop off the luggage at the hotel, before we're off to the Lake Maligne cruise. We pass the Athabasca River, pass Medicine Lake (Bad Medicine)
We arrive at the Maligne lake with just enough time for a pee stop then it's time to board the boat that will take us to Spirit Island. Our guides are Frederick and ? The glacial lakes have that bluish colour from the powder or ash given off from the mountains. There are lots of canoeist and kayaks.
When we get to Spirit Island the guides throw another guide in the water, but not after a major struggle, James also gets involved, everyone else looks on with amusement. We are given time to take photos and walk up a trail to a good photo spot. Not allowed to stray off the path, but Evan plays deaf and does exactly that, given a warning.
On the way back, we are lucky enough to see a double rainbow.
After the lake cruise we're driven straight back to the hotel where we are given the night off to do our own thing. We decide to head out, but then turn back to have dinner in the hotel instead. We try their restaurant and at first the service is crap, told to just sit anywhere when we ask for the lounge seating, pub food. There is also apparently fine dining but you need reservations. We have to wait a while before we are served. Unfortunately we order an extra dish, didn't know the mixed platter was going to be so big, but then I forgot, they are like the Americans. So we end up sharing the mixed platter. Evan orders the bison burger, Janet the Chicken fingers and chips and me the steak sandwich, big steak.
After dinner, 9.25pm, Evan and I go for a walk down the main street into the town, while Janet stays behind to wash her hair and have a rest. We go into every souvenir shop that we can, looking for a mountie moose, but eventually decide against buying it..it'll just go into storage.
Get back to the hotel 10.50pm. Shower and straight to bed ready for an early morning start.
Slept ok on the train. Janet wasn't use to the rocking motion. Tried to wake up early to catch the sunrise, but managed to miss it.
We head on to the dining cart for breakfast, but find that even though we're there at 8.00am, we still have to wait, as many others have gone to breakfast before us, so we get our name put on a list and wait in the activities carriage, watching the passing scenery. While we're having breakfast the train pulls into Edmonton, so we don't have a chance to hop down and have a look. James joins our table. I opt for eggs benedict, while Evan has an omelette. Forgotten what Janet had.
After breakfast we go to the dome cart to take photos of passing scenery, before heading back to Evan's tiny room, but it does have three seats. Talk some more, have passing visitors, especially James, who likes to pop in and tell us about his gadgets.
Before you know it, it's time to head down to the activities cart to wait for the lunch announcement. Evan has a power nap, while Janet chats to others on the tour.
For lunch I have the chicken caesar salad, Janet has Spanikopita, and Evan has salmon on toast with cheese melt. This is followed by desert of ice cream or cake, I have a little of both, while Janet and Evan opt for the ice cream.
After lunch it's back to the activities cart where some of the others are also chilling out. Not much use sitting in the dome cart, the windows aren't cleaned and it's pretty distorted. We pass lots of lakes and mountains, where we manage to spy some mountain goats as we near Jasper.
The train pulls into Jasper around 2.30pm. We drop off the luggage at the hotel, before we're off to the Lake Maligne cruise. We pass the Athabasca River, pass Medicine Lake (Bad Medicine)
We arrive at the Maligne lake with just enough time for a pee stop then it's time to board the boat that will take us to Spirit Island. Our guides are Frederick and ? The glacial lakes have that bluish colour from the powder or ash given off from the mountains. There are lots of canoeist and kayaks.
When we get to Spirit Island the guides throw another guide in the water, but not after a major struggle, James also gets involved, everyone else looks on with amusement. We are given time to take photos and walk up a trail to a good photo spot. Not allowed to stray off the path, but Evan plays deaf and does exactly that, given a warning.
On the way back, we are lucky enough to see a double rainbow.
After the lake cruise we're driven straight back to the hotel where we are given the night off to do our own thing. We decide to head out, but then turn back to have dinner in the hotel instead. We try their restaurant and at first the service is crap, told to just sit anywhere when we ask for the lounge seating, pub food. There is also apparently fine dining but you need reservations. We have to wait a while before we are served. Unfortunately we order an extra dish, didn't know the mixed platter was going to be so big, but then I forgot, they are like the Americans. So we end up sharing the mixed platter. Evan orders the bison burger, Janet the Chicken fingers and chips and me the steak sandwich, big steak.
After dinner, 9.25pm, Evan and I go for a walk down the main street into the town, while Janet stays behind to wash her hair and have a rest. We go into every souvenir shop that we can, looking for a mountie moose, but eventually decide against buying it..it'll just go into storage.
Get back to the hotel 10.50pm. Shower and straight to bed ready for an early morning start.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Friday 18 August, 2006 Via Rail to Jasper
Friday 18 August, 2006 Via Rail to Jasper
Wake up at 4am in the morning. We had to set our clocks back one hour. Must be getting use to the early morning wake ups. Anyway go back to sleep. Don't have to get up until 8am, but find that at 7am, I'm up and can't sleep. Get dressed and ready to head down to breakfast. Pick up Evan along the way. Looks like there's a long wait ahead of us, so we put down our name and numbers with the attendant and wait in the activities carriage, where I tidy up a box of Trivial Pursuit cards, most of the questions are Canadian or American.
Have breakfast at 8.30am. We share our table with Ronald, the aussie ranch hand. We all go for the Transcontinental Breakfast, which is two eggs cooked the way you want it, with hash browns (shredded potato, pan fried, not like Maccas) and toast with a piece of Honeydew melon.
After breakfast, it's back to Evan's cabin, where he chat's to his neighbour, Don who is complaining about his snoring which kept him up all night. James also joins us, popping his head in to chat for a while and then we find out we are pulling into Sioux Lookout. Our next stop to get off the train and stretch the legs and breath in the fresh mountain air. This is also a small town, but seems larger than Capriol. We get off the train and walk the length of the train. Don't head off into town, 15 minutes is not long enough. Takes a few shots of the railway station and the train. While here they refuel and restock supplies. Then it's back onto the train and off we continue on our journey.
As we've walked to the very end of the train, we get on the last carriage. Not too many seats available, looks like everyone else had the same idea, so after sitting for a while, I go back to the cabin to start writing my blogs.
It's 12 noon, they've already called for the first sitting to lunch. We're sitting in the middle domed carriage, Janet and Evan reading the newspaper and I'm writing up my blogs on the laptop waiting for the call for the 3rd seating to lunch. My battery to my laptop is dying.
Sitting watching the scenery go by trying to spot wildlife. Not much to see except lots of trees and then lakes or rivers. We spy a lot of beaver lodges and some beaver dames, but no beavers. We decide for a change of scenery so we move into the activities carriage and play card games waiting for lunch. Beat Evan at Uno and miss seeing a deer.
2.00pm lunch. Choice of chilled fruit juice, Megan, Janet or soup of the day, Italian wedding (like our minestrone) Evan. Evan has the Grilled salmon club sandwich, Janet and I have the Turkey wrap with choice of appleslaw or potato salad. Dessert is carrot cake or lemon yogurt sorbet which we all pass on.
Wake up at 4am in the morning. We had to set our clocks back one hour. Must be getting use to the early morning wake ups. Anyway go back to sleep. Don't have to get up until 8am, but find that at 7am, I'm up and can't sleep. Get dressed and ready to head down to breakfast. Pick up Evan along the way. Looks like there's a long wait ahead of us, so we put down our name and numbers with the attendant and wait in the activities carriage, where I tidy up a box of Trivial Pursuit cards, most of the questions are Canadian or American.
Have breakfast at 8.30am. We share our table with Ronald, the aussie ranch hand. We all go for the Transcontinental Breakfast, which is two eggs cooked the way you want it, with hash browns (shredded potato, pan fried, not like Maccas) and toast with a piece of Honeydew melon.
After breakfast, it's back to Evan's cabin, where he chat's to his neighbour, Don who is complaining about his snoring which kept him up all night. James also joins us, popping his head in to chat for a while and then we find out we are pulling into Sioux Lookout. Our next stop to get off the train and stretch the legs and breath in the fresh mountain air. This is also a small town, but seems larger than Capriol. We get off the train and walk the length of the train. Don't head off into town, 15 minutes is not long enough. Takes a few shots of the railway station and the train. While here they refuel and restock supplies. Then it's back onto the train and off we continue on our journey.
As we've walked to the very end of the train, we get on the last carriage. Not too many seats available, looks like everyone else had the same idea, so after sitting for a while, I go back to the cabin to start writing my blogs.
It's 12 noon, they've already called for the first sitting to lunch. We're sitting in the middle domed carriage, Janet and Evan reading the newspaper and I'm writing up my blogs on the laptop waiting for the call for the 3rd seating to lunch. My battery to my laptop is dying.
Sitting watching the scenery go by trying to spot wildlife. Not much to see except lots of trees and then lakes or rivers. We spy a lot of beaver lodges and some beaver dames, but no beavers. We decide for a change of scenery so we move into the activities carriage and play card games waiting for lunch. Beat Evan at Uno and miss seeing a deer.
2.00pm lunch. Choice of chilled fruit juice, Megan, Janet or soup of the day, Italian wedding (like our minestrone) Evan. Evan has the Grilled salmon club sandwich, Janet and I have the Turkey wrap with choice of appleslaw or potato salad. Dessert is carrot cake or lemon yogurt sorbet which we all pass on.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Thursday August 17, 2006 Via Rail Train to Jasper
Thursday August 17, 2006 Via Rail Train to Jasper
Another early morning wake up call, we wake up earlier now than when working. Everything is run to precision timing and pity the person who is the last on the bus. Breakfast is at 6.30am, this time there is more of a selection, with luncheon meats, cheese, cereals, fresh fruit, french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pastries and selection of breads. They also have a fruit which looks like a tomato, but is orange in colour and sweeter, we find out later that it is called a gooseberry or tomitillo (from Columbia, South America)
Check out is at 7.15am, when we get down to the lobby, we find that most everyone is already on the coach and raring to go. We are the second last ones to board the coach. Our luggage is already on the coach. We arrive at Union Station at 7.45am. Have to wait in the bus until all the luggage has been unloaded by the train porters. It's amazing how one porter can manage to load and transport up to 11 bags on the one trolley. Our carry-ons are unloaded by James and the coach driver and lined up on the pavement for us to collect as we get off the coach.
He then leads us all into the train station. No time for photos, we follow him into the main vestibule and then down into one of the waiting areas, where he leaves us to go get our tickets and lunch/dinner vouchers. We wait in the area for 1/2 hour before he tells us that we're in the wrong area and to follow him to find that we are on the platform and boarding the train. We are on train No. 1, the first train to Vancouver sleeping in carriage 114, cabin E, Evan is in 113, cabin 4, he has a single berth, which means his bed comes down and covers his toilet, yes he has a toilet in his cabin, but it converts into an extra chair, he also as a twin seat and a little wash basin. It's pretty small, but because we're not 6ft, it suits us just right. We can seat the three of us in it pretty comfortably. Our cabin is bigger, with two heavy chairs that are movable, a separate toilet with a door and a table area which converts into a wash basin. The beds get put down at night by the attendant, Cal, when we go for our dinner.
There are two dining carriages and out carriage sits in between the two, but we have lunch and dinners on the one toward the front of the train. There is also three domed carriages which you can sit upstairs and watch the scenery go by. There are 24 carriages in total. While Janet sits and minds our bags in our room, Evan and I explore the train, going all the way to the back carriage, we pass through sleeping carriages, an activities and dome carriage then through the dining carriage, then through some more sleeper carriages til we reach the rear activity and dome carriage. Take a few pics and then it's back through the carriages to our cabin. The passageways through the sleeper carriages are pretty narrow, don't know how the fatter people get through. The train leaves the station at 9.00am and safety announcements are made. The carriage attendant also pops in for a personal visit to introduce himself and asks if there are any problems or questions, but as I'm not there, he say's he'll be back.
When we get back, Janet explains that Cal will be along, so we stay in our cabin to wait. Pretty soon he does pop in and because we have no problems or questions, his on his way to help others. They have electric outlets on the train, so I take out the laptop and start working on the blogs for the previous days, still trying to catch up. James pops in now and again to chat.
We've been given the choice and we've taken the second seating for lunch and dinner. Around 12.30pm, we go to the domed carriage to wait for our call for second sitting of lunch. It's not until 1.30pm that we get down to the dining carriage and have our meals served. You can order a choice from the menu, Janet has the Chicken Burger, Evan has the Lasagne and I have the Quiche. This is followed by dessert, chocolate icecream or tripleberry tart and tea or coffee, we all opt for the icecream and when it arrives, it's big double scoops..totally wicked.
After lunch we make our way down to the last carriage. While there we get talking with Darrell Ziebell, another aussie who is travelling on his own. He is a former coal miner who now teaches people how to drive the huge big trucks that transport the coal. He's from Gladstone, QLD. We talk and chat until the cart begins to fill up with other passengers (we're sharing the train with another American Tour group and a European Tour group) as well as other passengers who are on their own, so it's time to make a move. We end up going to the activities carriage where we end up playing Texas Hold 'em. Darrell has never played before, so Evan gives him a quick lesson, let's just say beginner's luck because Darrell cleans us all out. By the way we are using chess pieces as poker chips. Eventually James joins us in the carriage with a newspaper and tells us bits and pieces as we go along.
We reach our first stop, Capriol. It's a very small town. We're allowed off the train to stretch our legs and breathe in the fresh air for 15 minutes. We discover there is a Chinese restaurant, in fact it's the first thing we see. The town has a main street and a couple of shops. Doesn't take us long to walk up and back, but it's good to get off the train.
Back on the train, it's straight to the activities carriage. We get to talking and around 5pm, James suggest we go down to the end carriage for some drinks and hors d'oeuvres. He manages to get a half eaten tray from Chantal. The drinks have already been served. We stuff our faces with mini sandwiches of salmon, shrimp, pate and deli ham. After a while, Chantal appears with another tray. By this time, we're joined by Craig and Naomi Sinclair, a couple now living in New York, but originally from Scotland and UK. He is in Risk Management with BNP and she is a former music teacher, now a lady of leisure. Lots more small talk before dinner is announced. As we pass our cabin, we see that Cal has already put down our beds and tidied the room.
It is an advantage to get to the dining carts early so that you can be seated together, otherwise if you arrive late you can be split up. For dinner, we have a lady from Louisiana, who is from the other tour group join us at our table. She is very friendly and tells us all about her 6 children and her life as a military brat. She's lived in Hawaii, Reno and a lot of other places that I can't remember. She was also married to a military man.
We start dinner with appetizers of Atlantic Bream Chowder, French Onion Soup or Salad. As entree's (main), the lady, Janet and I have the stuffed portobello mushroom, while Evan has the prime rib beef. Having stuffed ourselves with hors d'oeuvres, we can't really finish our meal. Also for desert is a chocolate cake or a white chocolate cake. Both are sinful. I get the chocolate cake to share with Evan. Hmm yummy. We walk out of the dining carriage clutching our bellies. Janet's the first to go, followed by me and then Evan. Evan uses the public toilets, doesn't want to stink up his room *grin*.
After dinner we go and sit in Evan's cabin for a while. James finds us and starts talking gadgets with Evan. He's got a phone with an organiser on it. He also show's us his Sony camera, and starts talking shop with Evan. Once he's off to bed, we head back down to the last carriage again, it's usually not as crowded as the front or middle domed carriages. This time Janet gets talking to Ronald Wright, who is travelling with his mum, Robyn Bishop. They are from Toowoomba, QLD. Seems he is over here on a working holiday and to visit relatives in Vancouver. Sitting in the domed carriage we try to star gaze, but there is too much reflection from the lights in the carriage.
Soon, it is time to go have our showers. There is one for every sleeper carriage. They are pretty sizeable, like a normal shower, at least for us, it's good. Anyway we do the Via Rail shuffle. Set the handle to 11 o'clock and press the button. Hot water comes spurting out of the shower head. Turn the handle back to 12 o'clock, still too warm, so it's down between 3 and 4 o'clock and it's just right. Anyway, before the water becomes a trickle, you need to press the button again, so it's soap, press, rinse, press, etc. Good pressure though. No complaints. James also gave us a hint to use one of the towels as a bath mat.
After our showers it's time for bed. Evan has a bed that comes down over the twin seat and covers the toilet. It's just the right size for him, unlike James who is over 6 ft and can't sleep straigh in his bed. We have bunk beds. Janet is sleeping in the lower bunk, me in the top bunk. It's pretty roomy and there is no way you can roll out of bed. 11pm and it seems most everyone has gone to bed, only a handful remain up until the wee hours. Breakfast is served between 6.30am and 9.30am.
Another early morning wake up call, we wake up earlier now than when working. Everything is run to precision timing and pity the person who is the last on the bus. Breakfast is at 6.30am, this time there is more of a selection, with luncheon meats, cheese, cereals, fresh fruit, french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, pastries and selection of breads. They also have a fruit which looks like a tomato, but is orange in colour and sweeter, we find out later that it is called a gooseberry or tomitillo (from Columbia, South America)
Check out is at 7.15am, when we get down to the lobby, we find that most everyone is already on the coach and raring to go. We are the second last ones to board the coach. Our luggage is already on the coach. We arrive at Union Station at 7.45am. Have to wait in the bus until all the luggage has been unloaded by the train porters. It's amazing how one porter can manage to load and transport up to 11 bags on the one trolley. Our carry-ons are unloaded by James and the coach driver and lined up on the pavement for us to collect as we get off the coach.
He then leads us all into the train station. No time for photos, we follow him into the main vestibule and then down into one of the waiting areas, where he leaves us to go get our tickets and lunch/dinner vouchers. We wait in the area for 1/2 hour before he tells us that we're in the wrong area and to follow him to find that we are on the platform and boarding the train. We are on train No. 1, the first train to Vancouver sleeping in carriage 114, cabin E, Evan is in 113, cabin 4, he has a single berth, which means his bed comes down and covers his toilet, yes he has a toilet in his cabin, but it converts into an extra chair, he also as a twin seat and a little wash basin. It's pretty small, but because we're not 6ft, it suits us just right. We can seat the three of us in it pretty comfortably. Our cabin is bigger, with two heavy chairs that are movable, a separate toilet with a door and a table area which converts into a wash basin. The beds get put down at night by the attendant, Cal, when we go for our dinner.
There are two dining carriages and out carriage sits in between the two, but we have lunch and dinners on the one toward the front of the train. There is also three domed carriages which you can sit upstairs and watch the scenery go by. There are 24 carriages in total. While Janet sits and minds our bags in our room, Evan and I explore the train, going all the way to the back carriage, we pass through sleeping carriages, an activities and dome carriage then through the dining carriage, then through some more sleeper carriages til we reach the rear activity and dome carriage. Take a few pics and then it's back through the carriages to our cabin. The passageways through the sleeper carriages are pretty narrow, don't know how the fatter people get through. The train leaves the station at 9.00am and safety announcements are made. The carriage attendant also pops in for a personal visit to introduce himself and asks if there are any problems or questions, but as I'm not there, he say's he'll be back.
When we get back, Janet explains that Cal will be along, so we stay in our cabin to wait. Pretty soon he does pop in and because we have no problems or questions, his on his way to help others. They have electric outlets on the train, so I take out the laptop and start working on the blogs for the previous days, still trying to catch up. James pops in now and again to chat.
We've been given the choice and we've taken the second seating for lunch and dinner. Around 12.30pm, we go to the domed carriage to wait for our call for second sitting of lunch. It's not until 1.30pm that we get down to the dining carriage and have our meals served. You can order a choice from the menu, Janet has the Chicken Burger, Evan has the Lasagne and I have the Quiche. This is followed by dessert, chocolate icecream or tripleberry tart and tea or coffee, we all opt for the icecream and when it arrives, it's big double scoops..totally wicked.
After lunch we make our way down to the last carriage. While there we get talking with Darrell Ziebell, another aussie who is travelling on his own. He is a former coal miner who now teaches people how to drive the huge big trucks that transport the coal. He's from Gladstone, QLD. We talk and chat until the cart begins to fill up with other passengers (we're sharing the train with another American Tour group and a European Tour group) as well as other passengers who are on their own, so it's time to make a move. We end up going to the activities carriage where we end up playing Texas Hold 'em. Darrell has never played before, so Evan gives him a quick lesson, let's just say beginner's luck because Darrell cleans us all out. By the way we are using chess pieces as poker chips. Eventually James joins us in the carriage with a newspaper and tells us bits and pieces as we go along.
We reach our first stop, Capriol. It's a very small town. We're allowed off the train to stretch our legs and breathe in the fresh air for 15 minutes. We discover there is a Chinese restaurant, in fact it's the first thing we see. The town has a main street and a couple of shops. Doesn't take us long to walk up and back, but it's good to get off the train.
Back on the train, it's straight to the activities carriage. We get to talking and around 5pm, James suggest we go down to the end carriage for some drinks and hors d'oeuvres. He manages to get a half eaten tray from Chantal. The drinks have already been served. We stuff our faces with mini sandwiches of salmon, shrimp, pate and deli ham. After a while, Chantal appears with another tray. By this time, we're joined by Craig and Naomi Sinclair, a couple now living in New York, but originally from Scotland and UK. He is in Risk Management with BNP and she is a former music teacher, now a lady of leisure. Lots more small talk before dinner is announced. As we pass our cabin, we see that Cal has already put down our beds and tidied the room.
It is an advantage to get to the dining carts early so that you can be seated together, otherwise if you arrive late you can be split up. For dinner, we have a lady from Louisiana, who is from the other tour group join us at our table. She is very friendly and tells us all about her 6 children and her life as a military brat. She's lived in Hawaii, Reno and a lot of other places that I can't remember. She was also married to a military man.
We start dinner with appetizers of Atlantic Bream Chowder, French Onion Soup or Salad. As entree's (main), the lady, Janet and I have the stuffed portobello mushroom, while Evan has the prime rib beef. Having stuffed ourselves with hors d'oeuvres, we can't really finish our meal. Also for desert is a chocolate cake or a white chocolate cake. Both are sinful. I get the chocolate cake to share with Evan. Hmm yummy. We walk out of the dining carriage clutching our bellies. Janet's the first to go, followed by me and then Evan. Evan uses the public toilets, doesn't want to stink up his room *grin*.
After dinner we go and sit in Evan's cabin for a while. James finds us and starts talking gadgets with Evan. He's got a phone with an organiser on it. He also show's us his Sony camera, and starts talking shop with Evan. Once he's off to bed, we head back down to the last carriage again, it's usually not as crowded as the front or middle domed carriages. This time Janet gets talking to Ronald Wright, who is travelling with his mum, Robyn Bishop. They are from Toowoomba, QLD. Seems he is over here on a working holiday and to visit relatives in Vancouver. Sitting in the domed carriage we try to star gaze, but there is too much reflection from the lights in the carriage.
Soon, it is time to go have our showers. There is one for every sleeper carriage. They are pretty sizeable, like a normal shower, at least for us, it's good. Anyway we do the Via Rail shuffle. Set the handle to 11 o'clock and press the button. Hot water comes spurting out of the shower head. Turn the handle back to 12 o'clock, still too warm, so it's down between 3 and 4 o'clock and it's just right. Anyway, before the water becomes a trickle, you need to press the button again, so it's soap, press, rinse, press, etc. Good pressure though. No complaints. James also gave us a hint to use one of the towels as a bath mat.
After our showers it's time for bed. Evan has a bed that comes down over the twin seat and covers the toilet. It's just the right size for him, unlike James who is over 6 ft and can't sleep straigh in his bed. We have bunk beds. Janet is sleeping in the lower bunk, me in the top bunk. It's pretty roomy and there is no way you can roll out of bed. 11pm and it seems most everyone has gone to bed, only a handful remain up until the wee hours. Breakfast is served between 6.30am and 9.30am.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Wednesday August 16, 2006 Toronto City Tour and Niagara Falls, Dinner at CN Tower
Wednesday August 16, 2006 Toronto City Tour and Niagara Falls, Dinner at CN Tower
Wake up at call at 6am, but I'm already awake. Get ready and dressed before giving Evan a wake up call and finds he is already up and ready. We head down for breakfast at 7am and find that most of our tour group is already down having breakfast, so we find a table and have our big buffet breakfast. We've been told to fill up on breakfast, because lunch at Niagara will be short. Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, toast, sausages or bacon (tough as leather), pancakes, as well as cereals, pastries and fresh cut fruit.
As we've already got our backpacks with us, hoping to pack some lunch from the breakfast buffet, but finding nothing appetising, we go straight down to the lobby after breakfast. Suppose to meet in the lobby around 7.45am. As soon as James comes down, he finds our bus and herds everyone onto the coach...they are a bunch of eager beavers, no waiting around. Larry is the name of our coach driver.
We then start our tour of the city going from one street to the next, e.g. University Street has universities. Hospital Street has hospitals, Church Street has churches, as well as all the xxx shops and Gay community. We do a quick Shakespeare stop (to pee or not to pee) at the Nathan Phillips Square, which we already saw the day before. We stop at a mural which depicts the history of Toronto. Then we leave the city via Lake Shore Boulevarde and head towards Hamilton and Niagara.
First we make a pee stop at the Whirlpools. Have to queue. Only 20 mins to look around, but spend at least 10 mins in the queue to the ladies while the men just go in and out. Having been there already with Derek, we don't take many photos, but only a few with the coach.
Next stop Niagara and the Maids of the Mist boat cruise of the famous Falls. We pass the queues of waiting people and collect our raincoats before boarding the boat. We're told it's best to stand at the back of the boat. When we put our raincoats on, they go all the way down to our feet..no chance of us getting wet. Only the people on the top deck get very wet.
Lots of photos of the Falls. It's amazing how big it is. Photo's can't capture what it is to see the Falls...you just have to be there to experience it.
Although the Falls are awesome, the flowers are even more amazing with their many colours and the hanging baskets are enormous and overflowing. We are given an hour of free time after the cruise to have lunch and walk around. No time for lunch. Too many photos to take. Then it's back to the meeting place and back on the bus to go back to Toronto.
We arrive back at the hotel around 3.30pm. After a quick toilet break, we head out to buy some water and look for a drug shop in the Eaton Centre to see if they have Ken's glucose gel. No luck, they only sell in tablet form. But we do end up talking Evan into buying an orange collared T-shirt in Gap for the group photo. Janet buys a pink top and I walk out with nothing. I do manage to find an orange buttoned shirt in H & M which I buy for the photo shoot as well. Bright colours, you won't be able to miss us. Then it;s time to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
We head out on the coach to the CN Tower. It's like our Centrepoint. We need to go through security check where they test to see whether you have any foreign substances on your bag. On the restaurant level which is the 4th floor, we are seated in our own booth. For starters, JT has the mushroom soup, ES has the Caesar salad and I have the choice green salad. This is followed by the entre, JT has the salmon, ES and MT has the prime beef. After which this is followed by a light cheesecake.
Dinner takes from 7.30pm to 8.45pm, after which we are given an hour to see the views either on the floor below which is the bar area or the floor below which is the observation deck. The Observation Deck is all meshed in, so you can't really take good photos, but it has the glass floor which can support up to 14 hippos and can withstand anyone jumping on it. I do the jumping thing, but not a vibration do I get. Evan gingerly walks on it to take our photos. We have a few problems getting down though, but queuing in line, we manage to get down with 10 mins to spare.
On the journey back to the Hotel, we're told we'll need to pack an overnight bag for the train journey. We're told, 2 socks, 2 undies, 2 shirts, wetpack and any essentials you may need. Tomorrow is the start of our Via Rail adventure.
Wake up at call at 6am, but I'm already awake. Get ready and dressed before giving Evan a wake up call and finds he is already up and ready. We head down for breakfast at 7am and find that most of our tour group is already down having breakfast, so we find a table and have our big buffet breakfast. We've been told to fill up on breakfast, because lunch at Niagara will be short. Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs, toast, sausages or bacon (tough as leather), pancakes, as well as cereals, pastries and fresh cut fruit.
First we make a pee stop at the Whirlpools. Have to queue. Only 20 mins to look around, but spend at least 10 mins in the queue to the ladies while the men just go in and out. Having been there already with Derek, we don't take many photos, but only a few with the coach.
We head out on the coach to the CN Tower. It's like our Centrepoint. We need to go through security check where they test to see whether you have any foreign substances on your bag. On the restaurant level which is the 4th floor, we are seated in our own booth. For starters, JT has the mushroom soup, ES has the Caesar salad and I have the choice green salad. This is followed by the entre, JT has the salmon, ES and MT has the prime beef. After which this is followed by a light cheesecake.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)