Sunday 27th May
Woke early to another crisp, sunny morning (-2 deg C). We had to drop off the car in Jasper at 9.15 a.m. so left Sunwapta Falls early, stopping enroute at the very dramatic Athabasca Falls which, being early, we just about had to ourselves. The first tourist bus bus turned up just as we were leaving. We then drove via the less travelled route 93A in the hope of seeing some wildlife - & we were rewarded with a (black) bear sighting - at last!
I have to say, the Canadian NPs have been fantastic. Great facilities, trails & roads in good condition & washrooms everywhere! (clean, modern - & free!).
On arrival in Jasper, we get our laundry done (yay!), check our luggage in at the station & then set out to pay a visit to the museum. Jasper is a small, isolated, quieter town than it's more hip cousin Banff at the other end of the National Park. The exhibits at the museum provide some insight into why this is the case & help one appreciate the difficulties experienced by the early explorers & settlers; they were certainly a resilient lot. The fur trade, mountaineering & the building of the railway all came before tourism. (Interestingly, there was even a photo of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - of Sherlock Holmes fame - picnicking in Banff NP!)
The VIA train The Canadian (all 20 or so carriages!) arrived an hour late & took a great deal of time to be serviced (having left Toronto 3 days earlier) including a somewhat mystifyingly complicated shunting maneuver which created a further delay. It became clear that the railways involve lots of manual labour, high levels of unionisation & complex layers of ownership all of which seem to compromise efficiency. We spent an hour at least watching the myriad station activities including some staff using bikes to get from one end of the platform to the other.
We have been lucky our service has not been disrupted by the Canadian Pacific (CP) strike which HAS however affected the Rocky Mountaineer (which offers vacation packages by train through the Rockies) such that buses have had to be used for some sections.
Nevertheless, our train bumbles along seemingly unconcerned by trivialities such as timetables. There are numerous delays as freight trains, which are run by Canadian National (i.e. CN, the largest of the rail operators), are given priority. The Canadian uses track owned by both CP & CN, no doubt complicating things.
We have a couple of train buffs onboard who are more than happy to share their knowledge to anyone who cares to listen - & to those who don't! Some of the trivia is interesting. When asked why the train travels so slowly, one drawls: "Well, you know: this is not like a prairie train. This route has bends, & if you think of the train as being like a long piece of string, if the string is pulled too hard, the carriages in the middle can topple off ..."
Bear count: 2 black bears (Pam); 1 black & 3 grizzlies (My Friend)
Monday 28th May
We awake (after fitfull "sleep") to a bleak grey & wet day and the mighty Fraser River roaring alongside the train as it descends the valley which gradually widens out. The landscape changes to one that is more cultivated & there are more towns. Pretty clumps of white, yellow, pink & mauve flowers adorn the edges of the track amongst the grasses.
The train stumbles - finally - into Vancouver station after a dazzling feat of shunting maneuvers & deposits its tired & irritated cargo of passengers who then have to endure a tedious wait for luggage.
We deposit our luggage so we can sight-see. Fortunately we had changed our plans a few days earlier, eschewing the delights of the Butchart Gardens; the train delay would have put paid to this anyway. Instead, we got public transport day passes & put these to good use, exploring the waterfront including a ferry trip across to Lonsdale Quay on the North side of the city, admiring the port from Canada Place & a taking a spin around Stanley Park on rented bikes (unfortunately, My Friend broke his chain - & I suspect stuffed the deraileur - which meant some walking back).
We called it a day & headed out to Richmond where we are booked into a Days Inn (one of the ubiquitous chains) which turns out to be very nice: big room, quiet, helpful staff, good airport shuttele, etc. We had a funny time looking for a supermarket to buy some water & ended up on a local bus because we just happened to be looking at our map at what turned out to be a bus-stop! The driver was very nice & showed us where to go as did the return bus driver who even stopped at a non bus-stop near the restaurant we were looking for. We enjoyed a nice seafood meal. Wedding anniversary today.
No bears 😜
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