20th & 21st August, 2008 Calgary, Canada

What a long day! The bus didn’t leave at 6.30 am as 4 passengers on the group tour didn’t turn up until 6.40. Their tour leader didn’t even do a head count until 6.35 when she discovered 2 couples were missing. There was no apology but I guess this happens on a regular basis and they allow time for it as the train didn’t leave until 7. While we were scheduled to reach Calgary at 9.30 pm, we didn’t make it until 10:15 so that it was 11:15 by the time we got to bed. Fortunately, we had made a reservation for a hotel that the train’s shuttle service set down at so it was straight onto a coach and to the downtown hotel. Our luggage had already been forwarded to this hotel. Very handy.

Today, we were well versed in the train procedures and luckily were still in the first dining sitting. Everyone was a lot more relaxed and moved about the carriage more trying to take photos and chatting to other passengers. You order souvenirs from the catalogue on board and they are picked up from a warehouse in Kamloops overnight and are waiting on your seat the next morning except that the two mugs we ordered were out of stock. This didn’t worry us as it was less to pack but the attendant, Charity made a mess of our Visa account, charging for it as well as our Calgary shuttle tickets. After a couple of attempts, she referred the matter to the Train Manager and eventually .by the afternoon, the bill was sorted out. We are not surprised they make mistakes as they are very busy all day and get very limited sleep at night. At Calgary tonight, they will only get about 3 hours sleep as they take the train back in the morning with westbound passengers. They started at 5.30am for us yesterday morning. I think it would be a great job but not with that limited amount of sleep. Still, they say their employer treats them very well and they do stay in top quality hotels overnight. Apparently, this is only a summer job and in winter they travel overseas, attend university and play a lot of sport.

Leaving Kamloops was a protracted exercise as we had to give way to a freight train. This happens a lot so that the time of arrival can vary quite a bit from that advertised, After all, it is easier to stop a small passenger train in a siding than find space for these long goods trains with over a hundred wagons. Furthermore, our train was shorter today than yesterday as the rear carriages are peeled off and do the route to Jasper. Despite knowing that Kamloops is indeed a very spread out town, it seemed to take ages before we passed the van park we had stayed in, so long that David thought we had missed it when we still had a while to go.

Bill, one of our attendants, agreed Kamloops was spread out and uninteresting but assured us that we would have a different view of the area when we saw Shuswap Lake over 60 km away. This unusual W-shaped lake covering more than 120 sq miles is indeed a pleasant place and quite different to the desert surrounding Kamloops Lake but it didn’t change our minds about Kamloops itself. The water in Shuswap appears to be warmed by geothermal springs as it can be very warm in summer, has beaches and is a popular spot for houseboats which can ply the various arms of this weird shaped lake. We left the lake at Sicamous, an attractive beachside town with a very large RV park and headed up the Eagle River to Craigellachie where a cairn has been erected to mark where the last spike in the Canadian Pacific line was inserted in 1885. This appears to be quite a popular stopping point for road tourists as numerous people were there to wave to us as we moved by. Revelstoke, named after Lord Revelstoke, an English aristocrat whose bank assisted the new railway, is an attractive spot siting alongside the Columbia River. Its main shopping centre is marked by three large bear sculptures that have been known to fool passing train passengers with aging sight into thinking they have seen the real thing.

The Rocky Mountaineer trip from Vancouver to Calgary is divided into 5 segments of about 125 miles (2 on day 1, 3 on day 2). The second segment today covers the climb into the Rockies culminating in the Spiral Tunnels that we had unsuccessfully tried to trace from the roadside lookout weeks before. The tracks climb over 2,500 feet over this area using bridges, tunnels and snow sheds. Heavy snowfalls in Rogers Pass presented a problem for trains so in 1913-1916 they just tunnelled through Mount Macdonald constructing the Connaught Tunnel at the same time shaving the gradient down from 2.2 % to 1%. Our train passed through this 8km long tunnel and then some ten kilometres later the Stoney Creek Bridge, a beautiful arched steel bridge built directly above the bridge it supplanted since no better route could be found. This bridge spans 147.6m, crossing 99m above Surprise Creek.

Outside the town Golden (originally Gold City to attract miners from Silver City) we saw a black bear enjoying an afternoon snack. This town brings to mind a local description of a mine since this is an area that had produced gold, silver and copper amongst other minerals. “A mine is a hole in the ground owned by a liar.” Perhaps resources investors should keep this definition in mind.

A couple of kilometres further on, the train begins to follow the Kicking Horse River and we are approaching familiar territory. The route crosses this river seven times in 48km through an excellent canyon until you reach the town of Field. We had stopped at the tourist information centre there in our van but this time we stopped on the other side of the river in the township to take onboard an engineer whose job is to pilot trains through the Spiral Tunnels.

Charity did an excellent job of describing the Spiral Tunnels and gave us good reference points so that, instead of being lost, we knew exactly the directions we were travelling in as we rose up the mountain and through switchbacks and the Lower and Upper Tunnels, all in the shadow of Mt Stephen and the “Fifer Glacier”! To our left David easily picked out the turn off we had taken up into the Yoho National Park where we saw the Takawakka Falls and the Wapta Icefield. Mt Stephen is apparently named after George Stephen, the first president of the CPR who took the title of Lord Mount Stephen when he was knighted – an interesting twist naming yourself after a mountain that was named after you!

As the passengers crowded to the left of the carriage to enjoy the views over the Spiral Tunnels area, I glanced to the right and was rewarded with a short viewing of a pika sitting prettily on a rock surveying our train. Definitely cute.

Afternoon tea was not merely drinks today. The cooks had baked some large chocolate chip cookies. Again the tea was served long before the cookies so we requested a second cup of tea to consume with our cookies when they arrived.

After crossing the Continental Divide we entered the Bow River Valley, in which Lake Louise and Banff sit; the train is in the Rockies Trench, formed by erosion of the fault line. You see very little of Lake Louise since the lake is 5km from town. The top of Mt Victoria and its upper glacier are visible above the town from the height of our dome carriage but by this stage it was getting very dark, too dark for photography. If you thought this train trip would introduce you to Lake Louis and Banff, then you were in for a shock. At Banff those in the Gold Leaf carriages behind us left the train to stay in Banff. Some in our carriage were going on to Calgary before working their way back through Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise. For us, it was reminiscing time as we saw vans queuing up to enter the Lake Louise campground (we laughed) and passed through the swish chalets of Canmore under the dark silhouette of The Three Sisters. So much had happened, we had seen so much in the intervening time.

Although the views were decreasing rapidly as the cloudy sky darkened, we filled in some time with pre-dinner appetisers. These we had in our seats, not the dining room, which was already reset for the new crowd tomorrow morning. Besides drinks, we were treated to 2 tiny quiches, 2 prawns and a pot of freshly made hummus with two toasted pieces of foccacia. Then, to keep the hunger pains away (as if we could have possibly had any), there was a chocolate brownie to finish with.

The last portion of the journey into Calgary was in darkness although a lovely round moon hung low over the city. Earlier, Charity had challenged us to a poetry competition and we had reached performance time. Luckily there were two good poets on board – the Texan husband across the aisle and the lass from Adelaide. This was rather light on so I volunteered a rather weak salmon limerick and our nutty train enthusiast, naturally, had to speak. Unfortunately, it seems only Texans and Aussies have any courage or ability! As a reward, we were all sworn into the Order of the Salmon and given another lapel pin to accompany the Gold Leaf pin we were given on embarkation. Being a member of this prestigious order entitles me to greet other members stupid enough to wear this salmon pin with a silly handshake that represents two salmon tails flapping each other! Terry, the photographer from England, made a short speech of appreciation to the crew and presented then with a rubbish bag full of gratuities although we had paid ours earlier via Visa to preserve our remaining Canadian cash; we did not wish to cash another traveller’s cheque at this late stage.

Our detraining (yes, you do not disembark here) was simple and quick as we were directed by staff straight onto the shuttle bus to our hotel, the Sandman. Briefly reviewing our journey with Terry and his wife, who are also staying at this hotel, we agreed that while the scenery and photographic opportunities were not brilliant on this trip, we would much rather have paid the extra for Gold Leaf class than sit in the one seat for two whole days in the cheaper Red Leaf cars. Going to the dining room, having a viewing platform and the benefits of the domed higher level are definitely worthwhile and then there are the benefits of how your luggage is transported. But would we recommend the Rocky Mountaineer? We certainly wouldn’t do it again and think the money is much better spent on road travel. We could do three weeks in a van, for the cost of two days on the train, and have the benefit of being able to stop and enjoy the scenery in depth whenever we want. To us, the train puts a barrier between you and the scenery despite the large glass windows. If however, you want a bit of luxury and a pleasant way to travel in a group just gazing out the window at the sights as the drift by, rather than being a part of them, then perhaps, you’d rave about it. Still, we had a pleasant time, an experience, a break from driving and another perspective on the Rockies (the railway is so fundamental to the development of Canada) but we will think twice before venturing on train trips again. Perhaps we could to do other “great journeys of the world” like the Nullabor by train but you have to approach them as journeys, experiences and not as touring or photographic holidays.

While our hotel is conveniently in the CBD, it is in need of a little maintenance, like shampooing the carpet. One of the main lights in our room didn’t work and the a/c wasn’t on. Even though we had it running on the coldest setting all night, I was still hot under a sheet. It wasn’t until morning that we discovered the secret to opening a rather complicated window system. It was much cooler outside.

I was too tired to do anything more than have a short shower and drop into bed.


Thursday 21st

I left shampooing my hair to this morning but still wasn’t really feeling up to it. I am exhausted by the last two days and limited sleeps in different beds and had a headache. So today we are just resting. I am doing the blog and David is reading and snoozing. We walked to the shopping area a few blocks from here to get a simple sandwich and drink for lunch but were not impressed. It is another small modern city with limited attractive lunch spots. There are isolated pubs and grills but the fronts are grimy or unattractive with a preference for the colour brown. In a climate like this, it is hard to have outdoor cafes but what about pots of flowers and bright, clean colours? We looked for a food court but found several small collections of take away establishments that didn’t inspire. There are far better food courts at Macquarie Centre, Chatswood and in Sydney’s CBD than here, it would appear. Tonight we shall eat at the hotel restaurant and save our legs. Besides, it is cold today – a maximum of 15 degrees – in summer! Then we shall watch the Olympics. We have a shuttle bus booked for tomorrow after ten so we can take our time in the morning. The bags are already repacked to meet the airlines requirements. Tomorrow night we shall be in Hawaii’s warmth and on the start of our way home. We have gone back into winter here when sillily we had thought we would experience 3 summers in a row.

19th August, 2008 Kamloops, Canada

“The World’s Most Spectacular Train Journey” (the Rocky Mountaineer) is all about the journey, not just the scenery. For one thing, although they slow down a lot at important points, you can’t stop the train! So at first, there are tantalising glimpses between the dominant trees to accompany the food, more food and still more food. Luckily, our half of our carriage went down the spiral stairs to the dining room first so we missed out on the filler courses like raspberry scones before the late breakfast or the wine and antipasto plate before late lunch. As it was, you could have had 3 courses for breakfast and three for lunch just a few hours later.

Each carriage of the Gold Leaf service, which we selected, (afterall, this is a once in a lifetime trip so we might as well do it properly) has three attendants. One stays upstairs and looks after drinks and the commentary. Another stays downstairs to serve meals and check that no one falls down the stairs on the rush to the food. The third alternates between the two. It’s rather nice to see the person who is giving the commentary and have the personal touch of the same attendants for the two days.

The trip commences at the wonderfully restored station in Vancouver where history mixes stylishly with the contemporary furnishings. Compared with airports, it seemed relaxed and well under control when we checked in our 4 bags. The one-hour wait passed quickly as we took some photos, surveyed the souvenirs, drank the complimentary tea and used the very attractive washrooms before boarding.

Boarding was a happy experience as the train tooted in response to the call to board and a good- natured cheer went up. On board in our allotted seats there was a toast of orange juice and / or champagne. Then we moved off in the wrong direction! Well, in reverse, until we reached the Wye where the train does a virtual 3 point turn. For the first hour we travelled through Vancouver’s more industrialised areas, passed right by our Burnaby camping area so becoming one of the noisy trains that annoy the campers and crossed the Fraser River Bridge. We passed the timber Fort Langley, the third one built on the site after 1827, but one that now looks a little strange surrounded by houses and not in an American western movie. Originally, it was built by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a trading fort for furs and provisions, but the natives proved friendly.

Suburbs gradually give way to rich green fields where corn, grown right around houses leaves just the upper walls and roofs exposed. Here we saw a coyote cross a paddock but it was brown, a quite different colour from the one we saw in the Grand Canyon area. Some people thought it was a fox but Charity, our attendant assured us it was too large for a fox and had to be a coyote. It certainly was too large for a fox but too red brown for a coyote so what was it? Perhaps coyotes have varying colours like bears. Interestingly, she pronounced ‘coyote’ as 2 syllables, not 3 so I wonder if this is a Canadian/American difference.

Fraser Canyon was the highlight David was waiting for but was disappointed. Perhaps it was because we were having breakfast at the time and the view would have been better from the upper domed-glass level but it didn’t appear to be as dramatic as expected. Hell’s Gate is a very narrow section, worsened by the blasting activities of one of the railroad building companies, is interesting from the perspective of a salmon. Numbers dwindled to a fraction of normal after the railroad was built. Salmon races had to be built to restore the spawning path for the salmon so vital for the economy of British Columbia. These concrete structures are clearly visible and unattractive unless you’re a salmon desperate to get upstream since they apparently were extremely successful in restoring the salmon numbers. Perhaps it would have been more spectacular in spring and early summer as the water level can vary over 24m when up to 909 million litres of water per minute pour through the narrow gorge. The other disappointment, is that being on a train, you cannot stop and savour the moment, which rather reduces its impact.

Avalanche Alley, 8km long, proved much more interesting as the vegetation couldn’t grow between the steep slip-prone walls of the canyon and the train tracks. In fact, trip wires (called slide detection fences) are constructed here, and at various other places along the tracks, to alert Canadian Pacific and Canadian National train companies when the lines are obstructed. Trains are halted and a maintenance crew sent out to rectify the slip. There are also rock sheds constructed so that soil and rock from common slip sites pass harmlessly over the shed.

Soon, the train passes through the Jaws of Death Gorge for another 8km. The rapids of the Thompson River are among the features of this steep, narrow gorge. Apparently, the twisting gorge gives the impression of a set of jaws but it must be more visible from the air because, from the train, the impression is more of a zig-zag shape.

I found the Black Canyon, despite its short length, attractive although, by this stage, David was snoozing! Here black silica darkens the cliff face and the river cuts a deep gracious curved bank. Then, it was looking out for eagle and osprey and their nests. Osprey nests are easy to spy as they build substantial twig and branch nests on top of exposed poles while bald eagles like more security among the branches of tall pines. They usually sit on a high branch in a nearby tree protecting their nests. We saw several birds and nests from here to Kamloops as well as some big horned sheep visible above the train through the wide domed roof.

Our carriage deserves some blog space. It is a steep step up onto the lower level but two attendants stood either side of a temporary step to reduce the depth of this step up. They even take any hand luggage off you and hand it back at the top so you have two hands free to grasp the handrails. At the station yesterday when we made our unsuccessful trip to pick up our tickets, we were told we would have to put our hand luggage in the limited space under the seat in front of us and thereby lose the use of the footrest but this turned out to be incorrect. They actually have a little roofless lift about a metre by a metre and a half that takes your hand luggage from the ground up to inside the upper domed level. So I was able to put my bag with our pottery there and my handbag tucked unde the seat in front. David could push his backpack under his seat so we had good leg room. In fact, the room between seats was fantastic and puts airlines to shame but then we were paying a high price, the equivalent of first class.

Once on the train, you are actually in the open balcony area at the back of our carriage. Here you can stand and take photos but you couldn’t hear the commentary outside so you were in the dark about what was rapidly passing by. Hence you would not know what to photograph unless it was mentioned in the on-board newspaper. In this paper, there are brief descriptions of major points and milepost numbers are given. These can be seen beside the track but you have to be on the lookout. If you spend all your time scouring beside the track for the mileposts, then you miss the views! It also wasn’t warm outside even though it was summer. In fact, we were cold in the carriage and tried getting the a/c turned to warmer which was only partially successful so many had rugs over their knees and I decided that tomorrow I would wear socks and shoes, not sandals.

Two roomy toilets are on the left as you enter the carriage providing quite a welcome contrast to the tiny, cramped toilets on our previous trains from Durango and Skagway. On the right is a smart looking timber and stainless steel spiral staircase to the upper level. It was very narrow and steep so you had to hang on to both side rails and, when a meal was announced, one attendant stood at the foot of the stairs as if waiting to catch anyone who fell!

Beyond the toilets and stairs is the dining room, which consists of manly 4 person café dinettes, but there were 2 tables for two at the far end near the entrance to the kitchen. Comfortably padded seats and white damask tablecloths give us a first class dining experience to complement the food. Breakfast started with fruit juice and fresh fruit. Then there was a choice of several hot dishes or pancakes while cold cereals and toast could be acquired on request. While there was tea or coffee there was some dispute over the quality. One English couple declared Canadian coffee inferior to American but drank it anyway as the tea was “undrinkable” due to the taste of the water, they said. Still, tea proved more popular than coffee in our carriage. Our view of the matter was that the tea was okay but not hot enough but we guessed it was to avoid burns if the train jerked. Also, tea and coffee were served at the beginning so that by the time the hot breakfast course and toast arrived you had drunk it or it was cold. We learnt quickly to ask for a second, unnecessary, cup but it meant drinking tea with our first course of fruit, which somehow didn’t taste right. The food was excellent especially considering the cramped conditions of a train kitchen and the servings not too large. I tried my first eggs Benedict, which I have always wanted to try while David had the Gold Leak special which included smoked salmon and caviar on his scrambled eggs!

Upstairs is the spacious dome level. The a/c ducts run down the centre of the roof and on a shelf under the windows while the natural light was supported by lots of down lights in the roof centre, which were handy as we went through a large number of tunnels. The windows are wide and high so that the view is far superior to that of the cheaper class, the Red Leaf. Admittedly, the curve of the dome roof does distort the view a little but we thought it was worthwhile. Reflection on the glass was a bigger problem for photography so that if you couldn’t reach the glass to place your camera right against it, then your pictures would be ruined by them. It was almost impossible to get a good photograph if the sun was shining on the glass and the train not crawling along but, as I stated at the beginning of this blog, this trip is not about photography; you have to accept that it is about the experience of the journey.

At the front of the carriage are a drinks preparation area and a microphone for the attendant. No sooner were passengers of the second sitting for meals back up in the dome but drinks were offered, which was a bit unnecessary. Alcohol is free provided you drink either the house wines or the limited brand of spirits offered. We learnt they would serve tea or coffee too if you asked but they did not supply milk or sugar, you had to tell them this in advance and they sugared your tea before you got it. One of the best things about this area for David was that we were the first of the Gold Left domed carriages and this gave us a view over the top of the 9 single-decker Red Leaf carriages, so that he could stand at the front and take picture of the engine and these carriages as we entered tunnels or undertook sweeping curves on the track.

Our carriage had an interesting mixture of international passengers. In front of us were a Catalonian couple; the wife taught English in a large language school in Barcelona. In front of them were an English couple; he is a commercial, industrial photographer while she is a bursar in a school. I guess we’d say she was a school secretary. So we had lots in common with them. Further up were an Australian couple, and a single lass, all from Adelaide. Opposite were a Texan couple in their mid seventies. They were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. It was the second marriage for both of them so they had 18 grandchildren and a couple of great grandchildren. Behind us on both sides were a London couple with their two young children, James and Georgina. This could have been a disaster as cooping up two little kids in a train for two days isn’t ideal but these two are world travellers. It is James’s sixth birthday today so the crew gave him a Rocky Mountaineer wooden train of an engine and two carriages valued at $25 according to the souvenir catalogue, which was a nice touch. Last year, this family travelled to Noosa, Melbourne and Sydney and James said he’d been to Africa on safari when he was two! They were going to stay at the Fairmont Lake Louise and had already been to Tofino – definitely a rich yuppy couple but very nice to talk to.

After lunch, James entertained himself by setting up a restaurant and we were all requested to “eat” yet more! He was very into drawing plates of food he gave us but thought giving anyone a bill and asking for money was beneath him! I wasn’t quite sure I needed salad with my fruit but he seemed to believe salad should be consumed with everything. Georgian spent a lot of time further up the cabin with the Canadian niece of the couple form Adelaide who was very taken with her. They were lovely, if somewhat precocious, children.

In front of the Texan couple was an unusual man with a mental problem who also happened to be from Texas. The Texan accent is extremely grating and this young man thought he had the right to comment on everything and butt into every conversation. After all, he is a regular on these Rocky Mountaineer trips having done some of them 10 times last year alone! Given the cost of the Gold Leak ticket and the state of his clothes, this amazed us. He is apparently an ex-rodeo player (hence the denim and cowboy hat and boots) who now takes train photos and sells them. As David admits, many train fanciers can be downright nutty! Eventually, we discovered that his grandparents owned land on which coal, oil and gas are found and that he inherited all the royalties! Fortunately, he spent most of the day outside on the viewing platform taking pictures and we were able to avoid sitting with him over meals.

The majority of the remainder of our carriage were on a conducted tour with their guide – nice job if you can get it! Mostly, they were women in their seventies who liked to doze! However, they could set up a racket if they decided something was particularly funny. Still, by the end of the day, we had decided things could have been a lot worse and our group worked reasonably well.

From the air conditioned, luxury train, Kamloops looks better than it did the first time round when we arrived in searing heat and stayed in dusty gravel van park kilometres out of town. This time we drew into the attractive station area, greeted by 3 “cowpersons” on horseback dressed in red shirts. Attractive apartment blocks and flowers adorn the Station Plaza and the downtown area is a buzz with cafes, shops and the music of a few buskers wends its way down on the strong cool breeze. Coaches took us the short 5 minute journey to The Thompson hotel for our overnight stop where all our luggage awaited us in our room. They apparently send it via road during the day. There is no hassle with check in as they give you your room keys before you get off the coach. We took a short walk to the riverside park before sitting down to eat more! A dinner voucher pays for your evening meal. It certainly is easy and efficient but it’s time for an early night as we have to be on the coach at 6.30am. Thankfully, it is getting dark now and we don’t have to look at the frightfully ugly roof outside our room window.

18th August, 2008 Vancouver

Observing the Olympics in a foreign country is an interesting experience. For once, it isn’t Aussi, Aussi, Aussi. With Canadians not doing well in the first week, it was amazing how many ways the media managed to avoid using the word ‘failure’! Apparently, the Canadian media joke in Beijing went something like this: “Just talked to Michael Phelps, he says he’ll trade you two golds for Manitoba.” (The Vancouver Sun, 18.August, 2008, p. A3)

Also, we saw a lot more competitors other than Australians, which is probably just as well with our World Record holders in swimming coming up with silvers. Then, the medals started for Canada. So the newspapers went from, “All is lost” to “What a weekend!” The jokes dwindled to a trickle as soon as they had more medals than ‘the Stans’ (eg. Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc). “Our national nightmare is over” exaggerated one journalist, so the Australian media is not alone.

About 25% of Canadians aren’t interested in the games at all according to a survey. Apparently, it’s a combination of pro-Tibetan feeling, suspicion of drug doping and rejection of prejudiced judges – I know how they feel. While enjoying the competition, I’d add the corruption in the IOC to the list above. The best person doesn’t always win the gold medal, it can be a fluke, and when there is one athlete far above the other I immediately suspect drugs are involved.

Today, we rose late and eventually hiked to the Rocky Mountaineer Station to collect our tickets for tomorrow. Unfortunately, they sort of misled us; you can’t get your tickets until half an hour before boarding! They don’t even keep the tickets at the station, which was virtually deserted! So our one hour walk to there was a waste except that we did find out that we will be served breakfast as soon as we get on the train. That will save us time in the morning as we have to be there around 6.30am.

However, we did have some interesting experiences on the way there and back. Firstly, we saw our first fully automated public toilet. When one person leaves, the toilet room locks and not only does the loo flush automatically, it and the hand basin are disinfected and the floor is washed. So there is no point in queuing for this toilet; you’ll be there all day! We gave up and walked to the Railway Central washrooms nearby where we had got off the bus yesterday.

On the way there and back we circled False Creek; it’s the city’s inner harbour, much like a big Darling Harbour. Last time we were in Vancouver, we walked through Yaletown to False Creek and along the expensive waterfront towards the bridge to Granville Island. This time we went in the other direction. Here is the metal dome of Telus, the Canadian equivalent of Telstra, and, on the southeast bank, the Olympic Village for the winter 2010 games is being constructed. At least 15 medium level buildings will later become private residences with some units set aside for community housing and a few for rental. In front, the walking and bike tracks are continued so that the entire foreshore of False Creek has this public access. The landscaping is looking very attractive with an interesting footbridge, inlets and a rehabilitated island, Habitat Island, which is connected to the path and now being replanted and irrigated to establish a selection of native plants. Like Sydney in 2000, the village is to be ‘green’ but here ‘green’ includes green roofs. They appear to be the in thing here as I saw articles on them in a magazine in the library yesterday. The library even has one that is supposed to represent the Fraser River Canyon that we will travel through tomorrow on the train. First they extend the roof parapet about 30 cm, then, line it with waterproofing material before adding rich top soil and finally, the plants. Grasses, sedums and drought tolerant ground covers are popular for these exposed sites.

Crossing False Creek via the Cambie Bridge we, once again, realised that around the water too many of Vancouver’s high rise buildings are boringly the same; building after building have a greenish tinge and similar structure. There is more variety in the CBD and in the upper reaches of False Creek, near the stadium and Telus dome, but to the north from the bridge the view is modern but depressingly repetitive.

Also depressingly familiar, are the homeless but today we saw not only the shopping trolleys with their possessions but bikes pulling little two-wheeled trailers! There is already debate about what will be done by the city to clean up this problem before 2010. Victoria with its “best climate in Canada” also attracts its share of beggars standing on corners with their dirty baseball caps extended and calling out for your change. Vancouver is a modern, vibrant city but some architectural variety and social improvements would help.

Then there is that weather! They have had it hot and sunny for a week but as soon as we arrive, it is back to cool and cloudy – still, it was good walking weather as we walked for nearly 3 hours today.

17th August, 2008 Vancouver
We headed back to our familiar hotel at Vancouver and got a free upgrade to the 21st floor. This gives us a king size bed, 2 TVs and a balcony, none of which we want. Perhaps this was because we have booked in three times in under 4 months or because the hot water system sprung a leak and no one has any hot water until it is fixed. So we will be living in luxury but having hot washes! At least we missed the drama of last night here when the leak caused a night time evacuation of the whole hotel. It is nice having some idea of what to expect as this new motel, new bed every night caper is what I dislike about travelling. Avoiding this is one of the greatest advantages of a motorhome where the bed stays the same and you only have to worry about the showers. This may not be the best hotel in Vancouver, but we know the neighbourhood and can find food, wine and the internet within easy walking distance and it isn’t that far up Robson St to the main shopping area.
A basic breakfast was included in our hotel price at Nanaimo so after that we checked out and headed for the Greyhound bus terminal just down the road. We knew we had to pick up our tickets before 9am but return the hire car before 8.30. So David dropped me and our luggage off, collected the tickets and then left me there to return the car, virtually on an adjacent corner.
Unfortunately, Greyhound seems to presume that everyone is a local, used to the ferry system so they failed to tell us there is a luggage limit, where to board the bus and what would happen when we reached the ferry terminal about 10 minutes north of the bus terminal. Luckily, I saw a woman getting luggage labels and weighing her bag. Then I read the instructions. We had five bags and that meant excess luggage to the tune of three bags. So David raced back to pay the charge while I placed the luggage labels on the bags all while the bus was loading. The driver accepted our tickets so we must have been in the right queue but a sign on the front of the bus or an announcement of which bay to approach would have been handy. On board the bus, there was by now only 1 place with 2 seats together, the single travellers all want to sit by a window! I sat down there only to discover that my seat back was broken and could not be placed in any position except fully back and the seat had a badly indented seat. The buses are rather well-used.
Thankfully, when the bus stalled at a set of lights, the driver managed to get it restarted and, to my relief, we made the ferry terminal where we realised we would not have to disembark and get on a new bus at Horseshoe Bay. Driving straight on to the Coastal Renaissance, passed lines of queued cars to the front of the ferry on Deck 2 was a breeze compared to lining up to bring a car onboard. There are 7 decks with the passengers encouraged to leave their buses and vehicles and go the upper three decks but given only Exit signs to direct you. Two lifts we found by following others did not respond or open so we trudged up the stairs we stumbled across in the centre of the ship.
Once underway, we were directed to the port side where an orca glided by but through the salt-crusted windows it was hard to take a photo and we were passing each other quickly so that we managed only a glimpse or two of the whale. Still, it was a male so David got to see a large fin slicing through the sea.
After an uneventful hour and forty minutes we were back on the bus and off to Vancouver’s main railway station where the bus terminates. It is possible to get off at a couple of stops before then but we would have had an eight block walk to our hotel so it was much easier to stay on until the end, get our luggage off without hassles and grab a taxi. Of course, we were too early to get into our room so we left our luggage locked up and made for the public library. I believe I explained its design in a very early posting. We knew there were cafes in the protection of its blade wall and there we got a sandwich each and a pot of tea. Then we moved into the library where David could plug in the lap top and I could peruse some magazines I have no intention of buying. While I enjoy interior design and architecture magazines back home, North American decorating is usually over the top with pattern layered upon pattern and too many ornaments which are often hugely over sized. In the library, we discovered that we could log in for 1 hour if we applied for a number at the main desk so we shall do that which will save us a whole $2 at the nearby Internet shop.
After a cuppa in our 3-roomed balcony suite, which gives us a great view of the library’s structure, it was off to the local supermarket for dinner. There’s not much point in paying for a kitchen and paying a high price for dinner as well. Besides, after Tofino, a little simple home cooking will be a nice change. You can have too much of rich living.

16th August, 2008 Nanaimo
Just as our hostess predicted, the fog came right up the sound this morning so that we saw a heavy band of it from our window when we rose about 8am. But, within minutes of seeing it, the fog just vanished with the sun. So we hoped the coast would be free of it today as we drove south to Ucluelet (pronounced you-CLUE-let).
Val excelled with a huge scrumptious breakfast this morning. After fresh fruit and yoghurt accompanied by lemon cake, we had a small bacon omelette with grilled tomato, followed by croissants and jam! Naturally, there was fresh orange juice and tea or coffee too.
Fuelled up, we drove away from our restful B&B in its gorgeous location. We were so happy to have found it and its friendly hostess via the Internet. She has run B&Bs for 19 years in Tofino and, in fact, was the first B&B here. While for us, there wasn’t a lot to do at Tofino but eat and walk beaches, it is a great spot to relax and I feel we are now at that point in our holiday. Breakfast isn’t served until 8.30am providing an excellent excuse for a lie in.
Ucluelet is a larger town than Tofino and, with a larger area available for housing, there are more hotels and cabins here as well as new expanding housing estates. Some parts were nice, like Fraser Park near the marina on the sound side, where we had lunch, but mostly Tofino is the more attractive town at present. What Ucluelet has is some dramatic coastline rather than beaches. The Wild Pacific Trail is being constructed around kilometres of its western coastline. We walked the southern shorter section around the lighthouse peninsula although the lighthouse is a squat construction lower than the trees behind it. Still, it’s typical red and white colours provide a colourful contrast to the blue sea, black rocks and green forest. Two buoys sit among small rocky islands. Atop one is a bell while the other appears to hold a foghorn. Both sound with each bob in the waves. Luckily, the bell’s ring doesn’t travel too far but the mournful tones of the foghorn can be heard kilometres away and would drive me crazy. It put me right off wanting to buy among the attractive new homes at that end of town. The coastline is a mass of black basalt rocks forming a ship’s graveyard. In storms, this coastline must be dramatic but today is was attractive as the trail wends its way through shaded forest broken by sunny vistas of the coast.
Along the way, we saw a banana slug. It was about 15cm long, yellow with large black splotches. Then we watched a deer delicately move across the black rocks, through shallow water and then onto a rocky outcrop to a patch of green grass. Luckily, no hungry black bears accosted us on the way.
The trail ends on a boardwalk through deeper forest where the floor is predominately littered with a fine fishbone fern. We were glad we walked this path in the northerly direction as it descends to a car park via a step set of stairs before you walk back along the road to the starting point.
After lunch shivering in the shade of Fraser Park’s trees, we set the compass for Nanaimo via Port Alberni retracing the road I had mostly dozed through. I’m glad I had had a good night’s sleep at Tofino as I was awake the whole journey, for a change, and did enjoy the scenery much more this time. While the road winds dangerously around hilly foreshores, it is a very attractive drive. With a speed limit of 80kph, a passenger has plenty of time to enjoy the scenery however the poor driver has to keep a keen eye out for logging semis which have a habit of crossing over the centre line in an effort to turn the sharp bends. Being warm and sunny (It reached 30 degrees C in Nanaimo today.), meant the lakes shores at Kennedy, Cameron and around Port Alberni were dotted with people and their colourful summer paraphernalia. No wonder Canadians are good at rowing and kayaking at the Olympics; that’s predominately all they can do with this summer abundance of water.
Finding a hotel / motel is a little challenging as David had not pre-booked our night’s accommodation. Of the three he had picked out as possibilities, the first two did not impress being rather old while the third, very convenient to the bus terminal we need in the morning, was fully booked but we had passed a new Ramada and we turned back to check it out. As it had only been open 4 months, everything was very nice although not complete as a fridge was missing from our room. We wished we had known about it a few days earlier when we stayed the night at the Days Inn on the south side of Nanaimo.
Being a light sleeper, I had informed the receptionist when she asked that the floor number didn’t matter but we needed a quiet room. She gave us one on the main road! At first we thought it would be fine, as surely the traffic would eventually stop in such a small place. It didn’t. The air conditioning was too noisy and close to the bed next to the balcony door so we opened the windows instead, thankful that we had opening windows. Still awake after 11pm, we closed the windows, turned the a/c back on and moved to the other queen-sized bed. The maid will have to change two sets of sheets in the morning, thanks to the receptionist but we finally nodded off. I would have loved to stay up for the 1500 men’s freestyle race to see how Hackett went and I probably would have ended up with the same amount of sleep!
Earlier we had gone slumming for dinner. Despite its population of over 70,000 and its importance as a transport interchange, Nanaimo doesn’t appear to have a variety of good restaurants. The hotel guide directed us to the Muddy Waters Pub and Restaurant as the nearest establishment. The word ‘restaurant’ should be dropped forth with. If we couldn’t have sat outside on the shaded deck, we would have left immediately and perhaps we should have. Our food took ¾ of an hour to arrive. Perhaps they were waiting for us to consume large amounts of beer as we nestled among the boats of this working marina; it couldn’t have been wine since, when we requested a glass with our meal, we informed that, despite having a bottle shop attached, they only served one house white and one house red. The sloppy waitress couldn’t tell is the type, nor the winery, but assured us it was a “dry white”; it was chardonnay! I ordered a salad since there isn’t a lot they can do to ruin it while David ordered fish and chips with the plan of sharing our meals. The fish was so overcooked and oily that only its batter kept it together while the potatoes hadn’t even been peeled before cooking the chips. Twice the waitress asked me what dressing I wanted for the salad and then a different one was delivered so I repeated my initial request once again. A broken glass stayed pushed up against the base of an outdoor gas heater the entirety of our stay even though most patrons were wearing thongs, while a dirty wine glass lay on it side just near the deck doorway. What a contrast to Tofino and The Tides Inn! We put it down to experience.
By the way, in the “world” category, Nanaimo calls itself the “World Headquarters of the Bathtub Race.” Just thought you all should know that.

15th August, 2008 Tofino
What do Canadians do on the beach in summer? At the national park visitor centre, we overheard a ranger telling visitors not to swim in the Pacific! It’s too cold and you need to wear a wet suit. Apparently, if you want to swim, you should do it in a lake even at the height of summer. So what do they do instead?
We walked the length of MacKenzie and Chesterman’s Beaches as well as most of Long Beach spotting some unusual activity. At the northern end of Mackenzie Beach, a man sat on rocks about 3 metres above the sand playing a native wooden flute. By about 2.30pm it was warm enough for a few beach umbrellas to appear. One gentleman even brought his full-sized garden spade along to dig the hole for the umbrella. Admittedly, the sand isn’t soft and golden but grey and very heavy. This means it creates some very solid looking sandcastles but in dark grey. Long Beach, exposed to the full force of the Pacific storms, has layers of huge tree trunks at the back of the beach. These make excellent back rests, lean-to shelters, tent frames and towel drying racks. One lady used two smaller logs to slip her boggie board between while some surfies erected several vertically to prop surfboards against. Another young man brought down a plastic outdoor chair that he continued to sit in even when the tide started to come it and it developed a Leaning Tower of Pisa stance.
These beaches are very flat especially at low tide so, with the hard sand, beach walking is easy. The sand is also beautifully patterned even if the colour isn’t too exciting. The dull yellow sand is mixed with what appears to be rutile. As the waves wash softly across the flat sand intricate patterns are formed that we tried to photograph before footprints obscured them. It is hard to imagine these beaches subjected to winter storms that throw the tree trunks to the very back of the beach.
In summer, it is the fog that rolls across the beaches here. When the land warms up but the sea remains cold, fog develops. So here we were walking the beach and seeing the wispy fog moving over the sand. As you survey the beach, people in front of you disappear into the fog despite the sunshine! Val, our hostess, predicted this and said it would be worse tomorrow morning.
Naturally, we did see surfers in their full wet suits but only at Long Beach since the surf was too flat elsewhere. When finished, they often removed their arms so that the tops of the suits flap around their backsides and legs as they walked the sand. Meanwhile, by mid afternoon, people were venturing out in their swimsuits despite the chilly wind as if determined to at least get them wet once in the summer. None stayed long. Several children opted to try out their skid boards so only their feet froze!
Climbing Radar Hill is another of the top ten things recommended to do in Tofino. This mountain top was cleared as a radar station in 1954 in the midst of the Cold War, being the southernmost line (the Pinetree Line) of defence against Russian bombers. Unfortunately, not long after, someone invented the intercontinental ballistic missile, which made it redundant. From the top panoramic views are available to the Pacific and of Clayoquot Sound to the east. Well, according to the out of date tourist information. Only Clayoquot Sound is visable. The other two lookout platforms are now surrounded by tall trees. Their tourist information needs updating or the trees removed to restore the views.
After a large, delicious breakfast, we ate just a roll for lunch but indulged in 2 courses for dinner. Oh, dear! We are rapidly putting on the weight we lost with all our park hiking. Val’s breakfast at the B&B consisted of fresh strawberries, peaches and blueberries with hot blueberry teacake and bacon. There as freshly squeezed orange juice and tea or coffee to drink. This was all served together so, in future, we shall have to consume the hot items first so they don’t get cold. We preferred the Shelter Restaurant to our previous night’s restaurant. Upstairs, we had a nice view of the sound and the food was nicer, I feel. We had their specialty, a pork chop, which is a bit misleading as the chop is 3cm thick. For first course, I had a warm goat cheese salad with a lovely mixture of flavours including thick balsamic vinegar and caramelised onions, which I really enjoy. You could dine at a different good quality restaurant every night for a week in this tiny community. At the 6 star spa resort at Wickaninnish Beach, which has apparently just been voted the best spa resort in the world, their restaurant meal can cost $300. Hopefully, for that price two people get fed!
Everything is very expensive here. Campsites are hard to secure and cost at least $46 a night. One take away wanted $11 for a burger! In fact, nothing is cheap here and that is a result of the rich moving in. John Travolta has a house here and all the houses along the Chesterman’s Beach frontage are now in the hands of the wealthy (one flies in on his Lear jet) and so empty for most of the year, which is such a shame as there are some very beautiful homes there. In fact, we can see a new, very beautiful huge timber and glass home across the cove from our B&B, which would make a lovely hotel, which is actually the holiday home for a couple who are now separated. Until the property is settled it looks like it will remain empty. They push homes out of the price range of most people and then criminally don’t use them.
On the Olympics, there seems to be a collective sigh of relief here – medals at last!

14th August, 2008 Tofino
We had chosen not to have a kitchen suite in Nanaimo to avoid the traffic noise on the main road, consequently, we had to buy some paper plates and spoons so we could have our cereal for breakfast. However, some activity went on under spotlight down at the water’s edge all night. We couldn’t see what it was, even in the morning, but it must have had something to do with the logs floating in the water. (Timber logged here is often left in the rivers or bays so it does not dry out and split.) So, while my back appreciated the better bed, I started the day very tired.
Consequently, I dozed a lot of the way from Nanaimo to Tofino but not before passing 15 malls of various sizes on the outskirts of Nanaimo! Each attached to their large open air parking areas. We did stop at the Qualicum Falls Provincial Park where a narrow river cuts a canyon with walls covered in mosses and lichens. The path we followed took us over the river at the Lower Falls, along one cliff face to the longer Upper Falls, across the river again and back down the other side – overall, a pleasant walk.
Pleasant is the adjective we’d apply for most of the rest of the day too as we drove along the edge of Cameron Lake and through the tall timbers of the MacMillan Provincial Park. Here the trees aren’t as tall or as close to the road as in the Jedediah Smith State Park we travelled through in California at the start of our vanning days.
The road climbs through forests to 411m and then descends to Port Alberni, which is situated at the head of a long inlet. Unfortunately, Port Alberni cannot claim to be a pleasant looking town. Its modern hospital looked impressive as we drove in but the houses are in need of maintenance and gardens. Nowhere could we see hanging baskets of flowers of Victoria and we only spied a couple of small garden beds of flowers in public areas. This is a working port based on fishing and timber and it shows, so we made our way downhill through the city centre to the quay. Here we were able to enjoy the inlet as we ate lunch in the small park near the quay. While an attempt had been made here to improve the space with grass and trees, seats, food shops and statues, some colour, like the painted tartan poles of Maclean in NSW, would have really enlivened the spot. The inlet was indeed a busy spot and we watched a tug boat dragging logs from one side to the other to be loaded by cranes into a cargo ship directly from the water.
Port Alberni calls itself the “Salmon Capital of the World” and “Gateway to the Pacific Rim” meaning the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and that’s where we were headed. From the Port, the road heads west via Lake Sproat where one of two surviving World War II troop transport sea planes was on show at the Martin Mars Water Bombers base. From this base these planes are used to dump 6,000 gallons of water on fires.
After Lake Sproat, the road climbs to 240m over the Klitsa Mountain and down along the Kennedy River valley towards the Pacific Ocean. Dozens of creeks flow into the gravel-based river filling it with crystal clear water so you can easily see the gravel and boulders through the water even form the road. At Wally Creek, numerous cars had taken advantage of a rare widening of the road to stop and survey the changed river at this point. Here the river cuts through hard rock creating a strange smooth rock riverbed. People were scrambling over the huge rock areas and some even venturing into the pools of water. From here, the undulating road follows the U-shaped Kennedy Lake, the largest body of fresh water on the island.
The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is not one contiguous park but consists of three units spread along the south-east coast of the island. The section we were headed for runs from Kennedy Lake to just south of Tofino, a small 4-block town at the end of the peninsula. Once a hippy/surfie/artist community, Tofino is now home to some good restaurants and tourist operators. Kayaking and fishing charters are major activities but you can try whale watching (less successful than Juneau or Victoria) and visiting the hot springs. Seaplanes and small aircraft buzz in and out of town with noisy frequency. Seaplanes are dreadfully noisy machines. Fishing boats have traditionally used the bays around the town and the husband of our B&B hostess has his own boat.
Naturally, it is more salmon, halibut and cod they fish for around here but crabs, mussels, clams, squid and prawns are all available fresh in local restaurants. David had oysters and half a large crab for dinner tonight. I tried the calamari but, like elsewhere have tried it, the calamari is tiny and sliced extremely thinly so when it is fried for too long, as mine was tonight, it feels like you are eating potato crisps and the calamari taste is lost. However, the service was excellent and both David and I were given damp towels to wipe our hands on during the main course – mine was hot! Very nice. Still, I find it difficult to get a glass of sauvignon blanc in North America. They are still into Chardonnay while Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are often on the wine list. Restaurants usually only offer 1 wine of each type by the glass. Apparently, Pinot Fume is the equivalent of sauvignon blanc.
Beautiful, scalloped Duffin Cove is at the base of the garden of our B&B here, The Tides Inn. Val welcomed us when we arrived about 3:15pm rather worn out by the twisting, bumpy road. It is so frustrating when you can’t stop and take photos because the road is so narrow and winding. What’s more, David saw two black bears by the road but it wasn’t safe to reverse the car back to where he first spied them. Then, after giving up, he noticed they crossed the road behind us and the other cars had stopped so perhaps we could have reversed and seen them up close.
Val informed us that a black bear is on the loose here and one was shot in the town a couple of weeks ago. If they get the taste for human food or attack then they have to be destroyed. On the TV news, black bears are major news right now in Vancouver where 4 bears have entered suburban gardens recently. One bear attacked and started to eat a woman working in her front garden in Coquitlam (she survived.), the suburb where we picked up our van! It is hard to imagine what a bear is doing in suburbia. Those on Vancouver’s north side near the treed areas around Capillano Bridge are more understandable. Val says these attacks are relatively new and a worry.
Our room is very nice with a lounge and a comfy chair and looks out over the garden and rocky cove. It opens onto our own balcony from where stairs lead down, around the end of the house, and out the front to our car parking space providing us with our own entrance. There’s a hot tub in the garden but we won’t have time to indulge as we only have two nights here.
Our evening was spent watching the Australian World Record holders in swimming fail to get gold medals – bad - and the American girls beating the Chinese in the individual gymnastic all-around competition – good. We go to sleep tonight to the soft sound of waves in the cove.

13th August, 2008 Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, Canada
The Butchart Gardens, north of Victoria, would have to be the most beautiful flower garden in the world. Fifty five immaculate acres take your breath away. Such colour and beautifully daring colour combinations were stimulating. There were usual combinations of whites and blues, and grey with red and blue, but it was the daringly bold yellow daisy nestled among the red begonias, yellow and burgundy pansies with touches of purple/blue heliotrope that was really astounding.
The fountains were lovely. One in particular is an immense moving fountain and looking down on it as it sat in a peaceful small lake with rich red flowers in the foreground was stunning. Yet even the simple little waterfall in the Japanese garden, surrounded by unmarked ferns was beautiful.
The most famous part is the Sunken Garden, a transformed limestone quarry. The walls were planted with ivy to cover most of the rock walls. Mounds created in the quarry and lawns and paths meander between them. Here flowerbeds are backed by standard fuchsias, manicured shrubs and trees of varied sizes, colours and shapes, from weeping greys to red maples, purple plums, yellow-green robinias, as well as numerous shades of green.
There is an Italianate Garden in vivid colours that has a large star shaped pond that Mr Butchart had constructed for his ducks! I loved the begonia garden with its gorgeous hanging baskets of not only begonias, but also fuchsias and the lovely fibrous begonias are also found in a small conservatory surrounding a simple tiered waterfall. The rose garden surrounding a sunken lawn is lovely but having the rose bushes punctuated by various shades of Pacific Giant delphiniums made it special. The dahlia garden reminded me of a relative in England, Dr Gareth Rowlands, who is a recognised dahlia breeder and judge. Some were up to 25cm in diameter, others displayed the pompom shape and there were simple vivid purple ones with unusual dark purple foliage.
Some plants were new to me; a climbing hydrangea covered the walls near the dining room and I loved the deep veining of the bright coloured salpiglossis, also called Painted Tongue. What we didn’t see was the strong blue meconopsis or Himalayan blue poppy, which was specially imported by Mrs Butchart. It flowers in May and June. The gardens sell seeds of this plant but naturally, I don’t want to try and bring any plant material through Australian Customs. I had hoped to find some lovely flowered items suitable to bring home, especially with this blue poppy, the special flower of the gardens, but there was only a postcard. They have missed a marketing opportunity here.
There wasn’t a weed to be seen and all the matching grey, green and white buildings were freshly painted. Throughout the garden are plenty of seats and picnic areas on impeccable lawn. Food is available in several venues of differing price ranges so that we didn’t have to really queue for lunch or ice creams. It is so rare to see any tourist attraction of this age (100 years old) so beautifully preserved and maintained. In the gallery there were a few lovely bronze garden sculptures including one of a little boy with a great grin that would make me smile no matter how many times I passed it in a garden.
If there were any criticism, it would be of the lack of topiary and a knot garden while the Japanese garden certainly didn’t measure up to that at Portland we saw earlier in our travels. But for flowers, it would be hard to imagine anywhere better.
The garden is the result of Mrs Butchart’s wonderful vision and determination despite having no previous gardening experience but, given her husband’s wealth and workforce, which she drew upon, and her team of gardeners, I guess she had the wherewithal to achieve it. Then possessing a large block of land that contains a former quarry and a beautiful little swimming cove helps as well. That the family have continued with the garden and improved upon it with some great sculptures and fountains is a great credit to them all. No wonder this garden was declared a national historic site on its 100th birthday.
To get to the garden, we hired a car (a silver Nissan) from Budget in Victoria only to discover that it did not have the air conditioning we had ordered and paid for. So, after the garden, we had to drive back to Victoria, top up the petrol and swap our luggage over to a metallic bronze Chevrolet Cobalt. This one had cruise control and air conditioning but the seats are absolutely dreadful. My back was already bad enough from 4 nights on a bad mattress at the Royal Scot Suite Hotel so that David had to drag out my back support pillow from the luggage.
From Victoria, we then had a long drive late in the day to Nanaimo where we had not pre-booked accommodation. Eventually, we chose to stay at the Days Inn, which was adequate but definitely below the standard we have enjoyed to date. We had their inexpensive beef roast buffet for dinner but the waitress was surprised when we didn’t opt for the included desserts. Chocolate cake squares in patty case papers, mousse and jello (jelly) didn’t inspire. The word ‘jelly’ here seems to be reserved for clear jams. We did take a couple of ‘cookies’ back to our room to have with a cup of tea.

12th August, 2008 Victoria

David finally got to see his orcas (killer whales) today but it wasn’t a brilliant experience. For one, the weatherman got it wrong again. Yesterday’s, and today’s, forecasts were around the wrong way so the sky was grey and the wind increasing. Consequently a black fin in a photograph of grey sea and sky isn’t that interesting. Furthermore, although we had a good position on the boat, you are almost out in the open sea and it was, and usually is, choppy. It is really hard to photograph well when you are struggling to maintain your balance on a boat. What you thought was a reasonable photo turned out to be out of focus or a view of the sky, not the water! Perhaps the zodiacs, where you are strapped in your seat, would be better but then you are too low in the water, can’t move around and get soaked. It was too cold to ride the choppy seas in a zodiac; it’s for those seeking an adrenalin rush rather than wanting to see the wildlife. Besides, you have to sign a document saying you have no back problems, which counts us out. What’s more the orcas were all females with fins half the size of the males; obviously, it was the boy’s day out! While we saw several orcas from a residential pod called L they weren’t doing anything much. Although one breached as soon as we reached the area, we didn’t have time to get our cameras set. From then on it was just backs and fins – not tails, no breaching. Humpbacks are far more vigorous while it is mainly juvenile oracs breach. Four females cruised around in a tight circle for a long while as if not sure of what direction to go in so overall, Juneau is a better area but they do not have orcas very often. Perhaps further north at Campbell River, where we are not going, would have been better. Still, there were over 35 vessels out whale watching in our area, which incidentally, was in US territorial waters.

Orcas fall into three groups. The resident ones live on fish and there are three groups in the Victoria area – labelled pods J, K and L. The killer whales that attack seals and dolphin are transitory ones who roam the world. Then, there are the offshore large pods, which feed on a mixture of fish and mammals and are rarely seen here.

We saw some more seals, some unidentified sea birds (the captain wasn’t interested in birds) and a couple of bald eagles but at a distance. While we have been fortunate that God granted us this privilege of seeing the fantastic scenic wonders of US and Canadian national parks, they really do exaggerate their wildlife. What they have is often limited in number and very distant. Close up we have seen a lot of bison, one humpback whale breaching, a coyote, one grey wolf and 2 black bears; that’s not a lot of wildlife in three and a half months of national park touring. Thank goodness we have loved the squirrels! We have, in the past, been spoilt by wonderful TV documentaries that show the wonders of wildlife in amazing detail.

However, we did see the Olympic Mountains, opposite Victoria, where we started our national park journey over three months ago and Mt Baker, on the US mainland. This mountain, still with its snow despite the summer, is the symbol of Paramount Pictures.

This afternoon, we searched for some free Internet places only to be disappointed. At the public library, you have to log in as a member, at cafes you have to buy drink and food and at the seaplane terminal, you have to have a passenger ticket number. The hotel wants $10 a day! So it was no blogging or accessing emails today.

I found a little knitting and cross stitch shop in a curious little street called Trounce Alley. I wish we had such interesting knitting yarns available back home. Besides lots of cotton and cashmere, there is linen and even yarn made from corn! Wool yarn isn’t as common. They also sell hemp yarn, which is knitted into cloths used to wash dishes. They claim they are naturally anti- microbic and can be repeatedly washed by machine – sounds environmentally very friendly. However, I couldn’t find the lovely cross stitch patterns I saw on theInternet before we left home. The patterns were too American country. Once again, I found had some really attractive and different buttons too but I think I have purchased enough of those.

All in all, a disappointing day. Hopefully, the Olympics will provide some highlights.

11th August, 2008 Victoria

High Tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel - now that IS an experience. Overlooking the Inner Harbour on a beautiful summer day, under ornate high ceilings and hanging lights, listening to live piano music and working one’s way through a huge pot of fresh tea and delicacies is a treat you remember for a long time. Hang the expense. The Fairmont opened as a luxury hotel in 1908 and has seen several royal visits. You have to have reservations and the dress code is smart casual. On being led to your table, you are given a tea menu, not so you can choose what to eat but what tea to drink. There are about 8 varieties to choose from and David chose the Margaret Hope while I chose an Assam blend. The tradition of High Tea in England was started by the 7th Duchess of Bedford, Anna Maria who invited her friends to visit her at the country estate for “tea and walking in the fields” and continued this increasingly popular custom when in London. The craze caught on. Traditionally, it is cucumber sandwiches and other dainty sandwiches accompanied by small cakes. At the Empress, the first course, however, is strawberries and cream, very English too, served in a glass goblet. You can have champagne with it if you choose but champagne, and in the afternoon, is not our style. Tea is served in large, very heavy silver teapots, which is great as it takes considerable time to eat your way through the goodies and the heavy teapots keep the tea hot for about 50 minutes. You can have more tea if 6 cups per person is not enough! The crockery is a special Royal Doulton pattern made only for the Empress Hotel although you can buy some items at the gift shop. Basically, the elaborate pattern is of 2-toned pink flowers and two-toned blue scrolls and trellising with a similarly coloured large crown inside the cup. It is very similar to the English coronation crown. The same pattern, but only in blue and white, is on the three-tiered cake server that is next brought to your table. On the lower level are 5 different sandwiches per person. While the curry, and the mushroom and truffle oil ones were very nice, the dark brown bread with salmon and cream cheese was scrumptious. Of course, there was one cucumber sandwich each. The middle tier contains 2 scones, two tiny jars of strawberry jam and a small pot of cream. While the scones did not come up to mine, according to David, they added to the variety. Lastly, you have the sweets at the top. There are 5 each: a small lemon curd tart topped with half a strawberry, a shortbread biscuit, a chocolate and almond checkerboard cake slice, a chocolate truffle and a piece of mud cake. All were very moist but the truffle with its liquor cherry was definitely the piece de resistance. Finally, they sweeten the bill with a souvenir tin per person of 10 tea bags of their own special tea blend. With the 15% tip, this afternoon tea is more expensive than a three course meal but you can find restaurants for that any day of the week. Now, we have to find somewhere to put the tins in our luggage or use them before we get on the plane to Hawaii and David has just finally found some Twinnings teabags! The hotel gave us some more today as well! They didn’t yesterday. Drowning in teabags!

After tea, we had to do our “walking in the fields” which involved a stroll through the hotel shops. Obviously business is bad as many grossly oversized jewellery items, and cashmere sweaters, were on sale at 50% off but still too expensive. Then there were the large, basically ugly, Inuit carvings in granite, Canadian jade and ivory mainly from northeast Canada. Naturally, they ship overseas but you have to be rich not only to pay over $6,000 each but then the huge cost of postage for such heavy items. Then we wandered through the adjacent rose garden and home – to do the washing! How mundane!

Our morning was the opposite of exclusive as we took an hour’s tour of the inlet north of the Inner Harbour on one of the tiny ferries they have here and in Vancouver. (See a previous blog for a photo.) The pilot sits high in the middle of the boat and, I guess, about 15 passengers can sit on the flat timber benches at the ends. This is called the gorge tour as the inlet narrows appreciably, which at the change of tides can cause a reverse waterfall. The tides vary here by over 3 metres and the water has a great deal of difficulty rushing through the gorge so that the water level on one side is higher than on the other. We didn’t see it but we did have an interesting an informative trip with our pilot, a retired civil servant. He had also spent time in Sydney as a journalist many years ago.

Graydon pointed out some historic buildings but unfortunately, Victoria has lost most of it Victorian mansions that were built along the east bank of the inlet. The area eventually became so polluted that the rich sold out cheaply to avoid the stench and before the river was cleaned up, developers built soulless, plain condominiums in their place but a couple of the plainer ones do survive on the west bank. Other historic buildings were left to rot so now the government has introduced legislation to force owners to maintain historic properties. So hopefully, buildings like the original post office and the oldest hotel will now be restored. The short historic iron bridge over the inlet to the Market Place is a weird shape in baby blue painted metal. It was designed by the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver but this is an opening bridge. Two very large concrete counterweights on one side of the opening span drop down with the use of only a 75 horse power motor so that the bridge opens to 90 degrees on one side only. It is not graceful nor attractive but interesting.

Basically, we wanted to do restful things here in Victoria. It has made a nice change and we can recommend Victoria. It is such an attractive small city of only about 250,000 and the weather is drier and warmer than elsewhere in Canada which increases its popularity as a retirement area. However, it isn’t cheap and is becoming increasingly popular with wealthy Vancouverians, who are buying up weekenders both here and in places like Tofino, once an artist/bohemian/surfing/hippy community on the west of the island. Locals fear it will become Whistler on the Water as the old timers cannot afford to live there any longer and now there is talk of connecting Vancouver Island to the mainland with a series of bridges, which appears to be unpopular locally.

I am not looking forward to the next two nights. The bed is too soft here and my back is worse than it has been all trip. The floor is too hard to lie on and do my back pain relief exercise. Ah well, time to rescue the clean clothes from the drier in the basement. I should really go for a swim tonight to help my back and waistline! But will I? Probably not.

10th August, 2008 Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Victoria is a delightful city with its inlets, trees and flowers. The Inner Harbour area is awash with flowers in hanging baskets and flowerbeds. I guess with cold winters, they really celebrate their short summers with colour. Even our hotel has a blaze of colour in red and white out front. It goes with the Scottish tartan worn by their polar bear mascot, which stands by the entrance. Incidentally, this polar bear, Stewart, sports a brown curly moustache! While the temperature didn’t reach Victoria’s average summer temperature, today remained fine and mostly sunny, which was a lovely change.

After rising late, we found the nearest supermarket so we could stock up on supplies. Three day’s meals cost us less than one evening dinner in the hotel restaurant which isn’t that expensive. It also means we can go back to eating simply and less.

We stowed our food in the kitchen and took off on foot to explore the city around the Inner Harbour. At the end of our street is the provincial parliament building for British Columbia, which is most attractive with its old grey stone walls and green copper cupolas - a classic European building. In front, naturally, is an imposing statue of Queen Victoria. The ground drops away to a lower level next to the water. The granite wall separating these two levels has a large number of bronze plaques celebrating famous local mariners, world circumnavigators and visiting ships. A statue of Captain James Cook stands near the wall, opposite the entrance to the Fairmont Empress. Interestingly, he landed here on his final voyage and on board his ship were William Bligh and Midshipman Vancouver after whom the island is named. Actually, the island originally was named after two men, a Spanish explorer and Vancouver but that was a bit of a mouthful. Below the wall on the lowest level is a lawn area with “Welcome to Victoria” in large letters of flowers. There are stalls, music and performers making the area a lively precinct.

The Inner Harbour is a little like a small Circular Quay except that it is crowded with pleasure craft rather than state ferries. Some of these craft take tourists on whale watching expeditions. Orcas are found regularly south of here in the Juan de Fuca Strait and to the north around Campbell River.
On the far side is the Tourist Information Centre where we picked up brochures on different whale watching companies. We are looking for a small vessel in the hope that David will eventually see the orcas.

We walked the streets admiring the flowers, popping into a few shops including bookshops. While David picked up some cheap novels, including Colleen McCulloch’s latest ancient history novel, I discovered that Victoria’s residents aren’t particularly interested in the crafts. After wandering down a famous 1 metre wide alley in Chinatown, we stumbled across the Sunday markets that take over a block of Douglas Street so there are some craftspeople about but nothing particularly exciting.

On the way back, we found several wine retailers. Boy, is wine expensive here. I think we only found one bottle of white wine under $16 plus tax. A lot of British Columbia white wines appear to be over $24 a bottle. David stopped in at Miniature World where a variety of dioramas (historical, literary, military and scenic, but he was disappointed in the amount of trains) were on show under the Fairmont Empress Hotel while I wandered off to photograph some of the flowers. Adjacent to the Empress Hotel is a great little rose garden so I tried to get some close ups without David and his camera around. His more expensive camera takes much better close-ups of flowers than mine. The Empress Hotel is a development of the chateau style architecture we saw at Lake Louise and Banff.

We relaxed in front of CBC TV, watching the Olympics tonight. Poor Canada doesn’t do too well in the summer games. The winter games are far more their style. Luckily for us, they seem to show a lot more of non-Canadian events because they haven’t got a lot of competitors. For example, they have only 1 boxer in the games and he was eliminated in his first match.

9th August, 2008 Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

While not supplying a view of a moose from our room (it happens apparently), the Holiday Inn Express at Anchorage gets the Best Bed of the Trip Award. Unfortunately, we had to get out of it early to return the car to Hertz by 7am but, not surprisingly, we were there early! Flying Alaskan Airlines had its good and bad points. The service at check in was great. The assistant at the First Class check in saw us waiting and asked us to come to her to check in our baggage. The flight was smooth and the plane looked relatively new but it is a no frills service and they were pushing their sandwiches and credit card. Fortunately, they spoke too fast for us to understand most of it and we had new books to read. I read for the three hours while David alternated reading with snoozing.

But getting to the plane, we finally experienced what others had warned us about, we were selected for the full security treatment. Not only did they frisk us from head to toe, they investigated our shoes for explosive traces and began unpacking our hand luggage that had already been through the x-ray machine. Eventually, the officer unwrapping my pottery gave up; they were wrapped in so many layers and secured by masking tape, she was taking too long. When we got our luggage to the hotel, they had opened and investigated one of our bags. They left a note inside that we had a “prohibited item” in the bag, which they had returned to our bag. Since when is a knife or a pair of secateurs “prohibited” if it goes in the hold? If either was a “prohibited” item, why were they not confiscated? Silly people.

Once at Seattle, our transfer point, we grabbed some lunch and made our way to the opposite end of the terminal. We needed to; that was only the beginning of our trek. Down two escalators, onto a train, through the underground to another terminal and then finding our gate for the next leg – Horizon Airlines to Victoria. Our hearts were temporarily in our mouths when they announced that the flight was over booked and offered free return tickets to Alaska if one person would not get on the plane! No, thanks. Fortunately as we boarded, at least 5 people had not turned up to have their passports verified before boarding via the wet tarmac.

I do not like small planes! This was a twin-engine propeller plane with about 80 seats, which vibrated strongly at take off and landing. Furthermore, when it was time to begin the descent, the change in angle was alarming.

Still, our luggage (which was checked through from Anchorage) all arrived together, thankfully, even if we had to walk through rain to get into the terminal and pick it up. We were the second last group to go through Canadian Customs but it was again a simple matter. Then, we found the airport shuttle quickly and were on board within minutes. It is cheaper than a taxi. However, we saw virtually nothing on the way into town until passengers eventually asked the driver to turn on the air conditioning as the windows had quickly fogged up.

Our hotel is in an excellent spot. We are one street back from the waterfront and only one street separates us from the provincial parliament building overlooking the Inner Harbour so we can walk to the main area in the morning and to our High Tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel on Monday afternoon. This is an expensive tourist treat we have promised ourselves. As well, the Royal Scot is a suite hotel so we have 4 rooms, including a kitchen; we can save on meals even though the suite is relatively expensive. The rooms are dark though as two large trees outside our balcony reduce the light. However, we have 2 comfy chars and a lounge to sit on and we have found the Olympics on the TV. Here, McDonalds is advertising itself as the “official restaurant” of the Olympics! Now, that’s an oxymoron.

Last night in Anchorage, I watched a US baseball match – the Tampa Bay Rays versus the Seattle Mariners who had only lost once this season. What a bore! More happens in cricket! Only one home run was scored in three quarters of the match after I started watching. The Mariners certainly did not deserve to win but virtually no one got to first base; it was strike, or caught, and out. No one got to walk to first base. It may have been great work by the Rays, but it wasn’t great to watch.

Still, it was better than the news programmes. There were only three stories they hammered to death on every channel – a missing child who may have been killed by her mother, Edwards’ adultery and the invasion of Georgia. Nothing was happening but they were over analysing each story, using “experts” including forensic and political scientists. Morning television, on in the breakfast room of the hotel, was the absolute pits. As we sat there eating breakfast for over twenty minutes, two products were being promoted - non-stop advertising, no non-promotional interviews, no news, no weather, no music, just telling you all about two products. They call it “true television” – what an oxymoron. We had to laugh and shake our heads. Kerri-Anne, Mel and David look like magnificent entertainers in comparison.

Still, I didn’t stay up to watch the news from Beijing; I was so exhausted after too many 5am mornings recently and was in bed before 9pm.

8th August, 2008 Anchorage, Alaska

Having slept under just a sheet because of the high heating, we woke to another cold wet and miserable Alaskan day. We needed our umbrella to protect David as he got our luggage into the car and then, after breakfast, we left the inn, drove over the potholed dirt road, down the highway, through the canyon and Denali for the last time.

We refused to fill up on petrol at Denali prices- $5.679 per US gallon (about $1.50 US a litre) and waited until we were back at Sunshine where the price was more reasonable, in Alaskan terms anyway. Today, the local newspaper headlines are that the state parliament has just voted to give Alaskans $1200 to help pay their energy bills. This is a retrograde step at a time when they should be encouraged to use less energy but if I had to live in this cold and winter darkness, I’d be using up a fortune in heating! Still, there is no need for them to have their houses, inns & B&Bs so warm. What’s wrong with wearing a jumper inside?

After an hour, the weather began to improve, the mozzies returned and we saw sun on the distant mountains. Mt McKinley, however, still had its head in the clouds at the two viewpoints further south. We took a couple of photos but really the view inside the national park at Eielson is superior as the foreground is much more dramatic.

We had picked up sandwiches at Sunshine and later ate them down the road overlooking Kashwitna Lake, which also affords a very distant view of Mt McKinley. Not only did the sun come out, the temperature increased until, by the time we got to Anchorage, we needed the air conditioning on! Outside in the sun, it reached 16 degrees C; after what we have been experiencing, it felt like summer! In fact, around 5pm Anchorage had a short summer thunderstorm!

Driving towards Anchorage is more attractive than driving north from it as the mountains of the Chugach State Park provide a dramatic, peaked backdrop until well pass Wasilla where you drive around the north west side of the park. Here, there is a huge army base fenced in for kilometres but all you can see is thick forest. Two large planes circled overhead before Wasilla; they looked a little like Hercules transports we have back home so we presumed they were from the air force base also north of Anchorage. Anchorage, and especially its centre, looked a little more attractive in the sunshine but we have no desire to live in Alaska, even in what they call summer.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express near the international airport ready for our departure for Vancouver Island in the morning. We like the room because it has 2 comfy chairs, a large opening window and we can turn off the heating! However, the limited tea making facilities are in the bathroom near the loo! I think we’ll move them into the lounge area. You have to drink your tea out of a paper cup, a small paper cup. Breakfast is complimentary but we have to go to the breakfast room like we did in Moab. Still it is just down the hall. No games of lift yoyo here and no washing machines in the hallway outside our door.

After struggling with the coffee machine to get enough hot water for a cuppa, David discovered we had overweight bags! We can have 2 bags each but none can be over 23kg. We had 3 bags and one was over, so it was off to Wal-Mart to buy yet another bag! He’s now spending considerable time juggling what goes in what bag so we meet the requirements. So tomorrow we will head to the plane with 4 bags, one hand luggage bag and one backpack plus my shoulder purse and David’s camera and hat. On top of this, we have posted home 3 packages weighing just under 9kg each!

The Olympics in Beijing began today. We turned on the TV but despite all the channels available via cable here in our hotel, not one word was mentioned about China. It was all on the political sex scandal around the vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats and the Russian invasion of Georgia. Still, it was probably only the opening ceremony and we have days ahead to get sick of the games.

7th August, 2008 Denali

A sleep in was on the agenda because we hadn’t planned much for today, until the people upstairs started their morning routine at 5am. Besides, it is wet again and the cloud is low but perhaps it is a little warmer today. But not much!

As the rain was lighter at the park, we embarked on one of the trails around the entrance area. Monty assured us that there were more moose there as it was safer for calves, away from grizzlies. We saw none all day! Yesterday, a woman on the returning bus said she’d seen lots of moose around Anchorage, even in her niece’s backyard. She believed my story about the moose I saw north of Anchorage even if David doesn’t.

The first trail, the Taiga, was an uninspiring trek through mud and trees. Not surprising really considering the weather and the name of the walk but the next leg to Horseshoe Lake was better. Firstly, it crossed the railway line, undulated with a few steeper sections and then there was more than forest to look at. Although the wildflowers are largely finished, there were fungi, bearberries and some autumn colour in the ground cover leaves. A partially obstructed view was possible of the Nenana River and its canyon to the north of the township of Denali. This is a dangerous landslide area and I have looked anxiously at the loose cliff faces several times as we have driven through it, especially since one morning the road workers held us up so they could clean up one such slide. The view of the township was highly restricted by trees. Then we descended to the lake. Some interesting reflections were possible but what most caught our eye was the large beaver dam at the northern end. However, our hopes of seeing a beaver or two were not met. A pika, a mouse sized creature, granted us just a glimpse or two as it darted across the pathway. Still, it was much needed exercise.

On the way back, we saw the train from Fairbanks arrive at the Denali Rail Depot with its double-decker carriages emblazoned with the names of Princess and Holland America, the cruise ship companies. They have their own ships, hotel, buses and train carriages!

After a large hamburger, chips and vegies at the park’s grill, we were off to see the Alaskan huskies kept in the park to pull sleds of supplies and patrolling rangers in the winter as all park roads here are covered with snow then. Alaskan huskies are not a breed but crossbred with other dogs to gain desired characteristics. Racing sleds require dogs that love to race at high speed while the park requires dogs that are good with people and prefer to pull heavy loads at slower paces. Actually, the dogs sort out what role they want to play in the sled team. Some show great leadership skills, others prefer to follow leaders and still others prefer to be the start up guy at the rear who gets them off to a good start. Dogs that fail to make the grade as sled dogs, or get too old, are adopted by families. Between 10 and 15 dogs are usually harnessed together for a winter trek.

Except for old Blue, who had a demonic expression, most of the sled dogs here have intelligent faces similar to that of German Shepherds. In colour, they vary from sandy to grey or black. With three hordes of visitors a day in summer when they are supposed to be resting after their winter chores, most seemed disinterested in the tourists. If they want their privacy, they stay in their wooden kennels. Some lay on the top of theirs and accepted pats with resignation. Others were limited by a sturdy short chain attached to a post in the ground.

However, as the ranger was finishing his introductory talk prior to a dog sled demonstration, the dogs went wild. Frenetic activity, barking and jumping sounded as if they were all yelling out, “Pick me! Pick me!” Without firm control the whole exercise would have been chaotic. A husky can pull up to 150 pounds, which means it can pull an adult human off its feet. So when selecting a dog for mushing, that’s what it is called, the rangers grab the dogs by their neck fur and pull them up leaving on the dogs’ hind legs on the ground. This reduces the strength of the dog but it also allows for a dog’s front feet to be out of the way. If a rangers trips over, he or she doesn’t wish to break a dog’s front paws.

When 5 dogs were harnessed to the sled, the ranger took them on a very brief (too brief) circuit of a short rack near their kennels and then I worked out why they were so eager to be harnessed up. Sure, they love to pull sleds, that’s what they are bred to do, but what they really like is the treat they get at the end!

The sled used today is a traditional old wooden one but these days they use as lighter weight ones as well as very light-weight ropes and harness so that the dogs usually only pull about 50 pounds each. Not like the good old days!

There was time for a few questions, which were interestingly answered, and then a few minutes to greet this season’s puppies that are now 12 weeks old and more like teenagers than babies, which we were sorry about. Cute puppies are much nicer and easier to photograph than boisterous teenagers wrestling and sparring. Then, it was piling back onto one of the four buses for the short trip back to the visitor centre. You can only feed one dog, that’s Buck (a statute); he only takes money before you leave! Otherwise, the whole excursion is free, including the bus trip.

After some photographing of the shops of Denali, we stopped off for a pizza on the way back to the inn. We only wanted a light dinner after our big lunch. As our room has a microwave, as well as a toaster and coffee maker, we reheated it when we were ready. The pizza restaurant was an older style log cabin so that it was warm and cosy inside as a storm hit with heavy rain and more cold winds. The cashier groaned. It was proving a terrible summer and even the locals are sick of it.

6th August, 2008 Denali, Alaska

It wasn’t hard getting up at 5am; the people upstairs were up at 4.45 and woke us with their footsteps and showering! While we got to the shuttle bus stop early, we had a small queue in front of us. Still, they hadn’t got the inside info that the inn people here gave us – sit on the left! So we got seats where we wanted them and were very grateful of the advice given at the inn. There is one main road into the park and it is over 90 miles long. After Mile 15, only park buses and vehicles with special permits are allowed so virtually everyone travels this road, or some parts of it, by bus.

We chose to pay for travel by shuttle bus to the Eielson Visitor Center, which has only just been completed. (It’s ecologically designed to slot into the hillside and even has dual flush toilets just like home!) It is 66 miles in and the return trip takes at least 8 hours with a break for lunch. We were told by one driver that unless it is an absolutely perfect day, there is not much point spending the time (11 hours) and money to travel to Wonder Lake where Mt McKinley is sometimes seen reflected in the lake. From Eielson, the land seemed to flatten out so we felt this advice was probably accurate. Whilst the shuttle bus drivers provide varying amounts of commentary, these buses are only meant as a means of getting to specific stops along the road. You are allowed to get off where you wish and pick up another bus later, however, in the cold few people bothered, which made us reluctant to be the only ones doing it. What is more, we were concerned that since the buses were almost full there may no be space on the next bus and then we would have to wait in the cold for 30 minutes. You can take shorter narrated tours which stop more (Tundra Wilderness Tours) but only go in up to 53 miles to Toklat River and then you miss any opportunity of seeing McKinley if the cloud lifts. The Natural History tours only go to Mile 17 and you miss the wonder of Polychrome Pass and McKinley.

Denali National Park covers 6 million acres with the Alaskan Range running almost down its centre and the twin-peaked Mt McKinley (20,320 ft [6193m] and 19470 feet [5934m]) dominating the range. To the south where the moisture-laden winds originate, there is snow and glaciers but on the northern side (where the road goes), the land is a rain shadow area. Here, while there is snow on many of the mountains, below this is green vegetation. Taiga forests along the rivers consist of spruce with some quaking aspen, paper birch, balsam and larch trees. More open areas are vegetated by dwarf birch, blueberry, lichen and moss a well as 23 types of willows much loved by moose. However, the spruce trees here are spindly and shorter than their southern cousins so that birds such as the Bald Eagle, America’s national symbol, cannot nest here as their huge nests could not be supported by these trees.

Above the taiga forests is the tundra. I was quite surprised to hear that there are wet and dry tundra since tundra is the vegetation of permafrost, soil that remains in a state of perpetual ice. The wet tundra supports low shrubs but above them ground hugging plants survive and while they appear unspectacular, these ground covers provide great nutrients to the animals. Above 7,200 feet, only lichen and mosses survive.

The views were not that impressive as we drove out the first few miles but the closer we got to Polychrome Pass, the more impressed we became. The tundra is not flat! It forms a beautiful curving landscape from the mountains and snowline to the gravel filled river courses. Furthermore, it is not merely a matter of white snow, green grass and grey rivers. The forests hold a variety of greens and greys and some of the lower mountains have exposed rock faces showing rocks and soils from chalky grey through to yellow and red. Nowhere is this more evident than at Polychrome Pass at Mile 46 where a stunning vista awaits. Here about 7 valleys formed by former glaciers carry melting snow in grey gravel incisions into the green valleys and enter the Toklat River system. To view this wonderful scenery, the buses climb along a narrow road carved out of yellow rock until you are at an altitude of 3500 feet. Sometimes, a bus has to stop to let another through; the road is so narrow and precipitous (ascending buses have right of way). Again, words cannot describe the beauty, scale and magnificence of this scenery but I can only try.

Perhaps David’s reaction at the Eielson Center will help give some idea. When we arrived at the centre, we walked to where the information graphic outlined the mountains in front of us. David was taking shots of the foothills covered in snow while clouds covered the remainder of Mt McKinley. However, I notice a break in the clouds and quickly urged David to capture the moment when I could see the right wall of the mountain come into view, then increasingly the north peak. David said he couldn’t see anything but cloud, “Higher, look higher”, I kept saying. “Look at the blue patch developing to the west”, I urged and finally he realised just how high this mountain is. What he thought was the mountain was just it lower third or quarter! Mt McKinley has another name; the natives call it Denali which means the “Big One” and that is precisely what it is. Unlike mountains such as Everest, whose peaks are often hard to pick out from those other towering mountains around them, McKinley stands thousands of feet above its neighbours. What a treat! Twice in the first hour we stayed there, this majestic mountain broke free of cloud and stood shiny white in the sunshine except for a shirt of cloud around its middle. People clapped in delight and David muttered at my side, “We came half way round the world to see this and we got it!” How fortunate we were! As Mrs Bennett said at the end of Pride and Prejudice, “God has been very good to us.” Those we travelled back with missed it and their bus left just an hour after ours. If people weren’t there for that one hour, then I don’t think they saw it.

But we did miss seeing the bear and her two cubs walk through the centre area. We were off on a walk below the centre to fill in time as we had just missed a bus and had to wait another half hour. Still, rangers made sure everyone was away from the animals. However, we got a couple of good photographs of Artic ground squirrels with their spotted backs just below the centre where they had a network of burrows.

Not only were we blessed with great viewing of Mt McKinley, but we scored the Grand Slam in the animal department as well. You get a Grand Slam when you see the five big animals of the park: bear, caribou, moose, wolf and Dall sheep. Our first sighting was of a female moose in a pond. Now female moose are just stocky, ugly horses in appearance and we failed to see another one, or a bull moose with its magnificent antlers the rest of the trip. They are rather hard to find even though they can stand more than 2 metres tall. If they are eating the willows in bush, then their camouflage is effective. However, standing in a pond provides great viewing for park visitors and tasty food and protection from predators for the moose. This one had obviously lost her new calf to bears or wolves as she was sadly alone in the pond.

During the day we saw about 10 grizzly bears. Adult bears here are usually a blonde colour (these are called Toklat bears) while their cubs can be dark brown to black. Our best viewing was on a very large mother and a cub on our return journey. Having seen so many around, people on the bus speculated on the stupidity of some hikers we saw trudging slowly across the huge landscape. We saw bears start to run and, on the open tundra, a human hasn’t any hope if a conflict occurs. Perhaps they were misled by the funny sign in the park grill – “No one has ever been eaten by a polar bear in Denali.” Our return bus driver recounted a hair-raising story of a fight between two bears around his bus earlier in the season. When wildlife gets near or onto a road, buses must stop. Animals have right of way. Anyway, during this fight a great deal of bear blood was spilt and both bears suffered serious injuries until the smaller bear retreated under the bus out of the reach of the larger bear which was defending its territory from the new bear. This smaller bear was probably searching for terrain once it had been driven out of its mother’s den. (This happens between the ages of 2 and 4 depending on the level of skill development of the cubs as judged by their mothers.) There were people screaming on the bus, being very distressed but in a national park life isn’t pretty-pretty. No one intervenes to save an animal; the laws of nature prevail as predators must eat others to live and often the survival of species depends on the elimination of weak animals. Unfortunately, the driver didn’t say whether the bears survived.

Actually, the bears will be struggling for the next year as the berries, which form their major food source in late summer, haven’t set because of the lack of sun and warmth. If female bears do not reach the ideal weight before hibernation, the sperm they received at mating will not be implanted. Cool when you think about it. They mate but don’t become pregnant until later unless they know they can give birth safely while seeping! Fancy sleeping through childbirth! If cubs are born underweight, they may be easy prey to male grizzlies that eat them. I guess it is one way to improve the gene pool.

We saw a lone grey wolf even though they usually hunt and live in family packs. It was just walking along the road. Two buses stopped and it walked straight down the side of our bus. It was just too close to get a good photograph, the complete opposite of the rest of the wildlife. Generally, it is very hard to see wildlife as it is miles from the road. You are supposed to use binoculars but David’s camera has as good a zoom as most binoculars. This is a little sad and depressing but the animals are usually smart enough to stay away from people. Maybe the theme song for this activity should be “From a Distance”.

The caribou we saw at several different times. Once they were silhouetted against the sky, standing high on a distant ridge but later we saw a small herd moving swiftly along the riverbank through wolf territory. They were obviously not taking any chances and one lone caribou in front of the herd nimbly threaded its way along a ridge giving itself a great view of the surrounding land. According to Monty, our return driver, caribou and moose suffer dreadfully from mosquitos but thankfully, the mosquito season is already over here and the two lots of repellent we stocked up on in Vancouver were not needed. Autumn is on its way with some of the ground covers already beginning to change colour. Mosquitos suck on caribou blood through their antlers, which have a rich network of capillaries enabling the antlers to grow quickly every year. In mosquito season, caribou can lose up to a quart of blood a day to these insects. Both male and female caribou have antlers and interestingly, according to Monty, the males lose theirs first. Males dig up lichen and moss under the snow and the females, still with their antlers, use them to push males out of the road and eat the food first. This ensures that the pregnant females get enough food for their developing calves. We women aren’t stupid! Flies also trouble caribou and lay their eggs up their noses! Caribou often go onto the ice and bury their noses in it for relief! Well, that’s if you believe Monty.

Lastly, there were the Dall sheep. They are long-horned sheep but white here, not brown as further south. You can see dots of white on the mountains sides but that was all. They are just too far away but interestingly, these sheep were the reason this park was set up. During the building of the railway, so many were killed to feed the railway workers that one man became concerned and lobbied for 9 years to have the area declared a park by the US Congress. Naturally, the government gave the park no money to work with for some years! These sheep keep their long curved horns; they are not antlers as they are not made of bone, but a substance similar to our fingernails. Fancy having fingernails growing out of your head! Nature is surely weird.

Of course, there were the little creatures too. Americans, by the way, seem to call all animals “critters”; it isn’t just the Beverley Hillbillies! Besides the ground squirrel, we saw mew gulls (like our sea gulls only slightly larger), ravens and snowshoe hares. Basically, these hares are just rabbits but, in winter, their grey brown coats turn white! Clever bunnies! In fact, when we reached our inn room, there was a snowshoe hare sitting nibbling grass outside our window and I obtained a great photograph. David also saw a ptarmigan, a pheasant type bird but our inward travelling group did not see the lynx or coyote that our return group had seen earlier.

Denali is a wonderful park, well worth visiting but its bus system presents some problems. As we found out, the guidebooks were right. The quality of your experience depends on the quality of your bus driver. On the way in, the bus driver insisted we all be seated with our seat belts on before he would move; he travelled so fast over the roads that we got to the Eieslon Center 15 minutes early and we could not take pictures out of the bus because he had it vibrating badly over the dirt roads. (The maintaining of dirt roads is a deliberate decision so that visitors gain a more wilderness experience.) This meant that the windows, clear at the beginning, were soon splattered with mud from the wet dirt roads. He also insisted we eat our lunch on the bus or inside the centre so no crumbs are left for the animals to find. I have no argument with this eating rule except that none of the other bus drivers seem to have thought of it! Park workers seem to think that all people are interested in is the wildlife while the fabulous scenery is neglected. Drivers seem happy to stop when animals are spotted but you can’t slow down the bus to stop and take photos every few minutes. You haven’t time to get off the bus and getting down the upper opening windows can be tricky as David discovered. Once you do get them down, you have to quickly take your photos and put them up again as there is always someone complaining about the cold air coming in. We got to the centre feeling very frustrated.

Then Mt McKinley came into view and we came back with a different driver who drove more smoothly, slowed down when he saw some one rise to take a photo, gave more commentary and didn’t mention seat belts once. I was able to take a lot of photos through one little clear patch in my window. We also stopped at different places on the way back but I guess the driver can’t take credit for that. We understand that they have to do something to protect the park from the hordes of homo-sapiens but they need to also promote their scenery perhaps with a bus that goes to the centre but stops more often for photographers.

Anyway, we celebrated our Grand Slam and McKinley viewing with a bottle of more expensive wine and 2 courses at the Nenana View Grille at the McKinley Chalet Resort while the wind blew and the rain poured down and the hostess told us snow was expected.

On our way back to the inn, we decided to travel a little further north to the town of Healy. Ian would not be impressed. Along with a log cabin café, a rundown liquor/grocery store and a few homes, we only found the fire brigade, a new chamber of commerce log cabin and two moose. A mother and her calf caught my eye as they browsed through the trees. They seemed unconcerned when we stopped and two other cars quickly joined us. It was rather surprising to see that they were a greyish colour rather than brown, but maybe this was because of the late grey light. They are such big and solid animals, the largest of the deer family, that you can understand why rangers say that if a male with its full set of antlers charges you – RUN!