Halifax to Vancouver on the Train
26/4/17
Got up, had breakfast, went back to bed woke up and about 1230pm get dressed and went for a walk into town. Halifax is a small town and most tourists things are shut. We had dinner at 2 Doors down. Tacos and a hot soup. Mark had the chowder. Came back to the motel and slept. Needed sleep. Lazy day. The motel has a jug and I am drinking tea after tea, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Shampoo leaked in Marks bag and has got into my contacts case and they are all stretched out of shape unable to use them. Watched a few movies.
27/4/17
Had a good breakfast. Salmon, granola and yoghurt, strawberries and a granola muffin. Walked to the Citidal and watched the canon be shot at 12pm. This has been happening for the last 100 years. Went to the Museum and found out that the Titanic sunk 700m from Halifax. Halifax sent ships to pick up the bodies and there was a number of bodies that were never identified and they were berried here at Halifax and some were sent to New York. Also not long after the Titanic sunk in 1912 in 1917 a ship ran into another ship at the port here in Halifax and it was full of explosives and the ship exploded and wiped out the town, 9000 lives were lost.
We then went and did the washing.
28/4/17
Got a good night sleep, packed the bags and walked down to the train station. Checked our bags in and went across the road and bought some Moscarto to drink on the train. Mark bought a Apple Whiskey and I bought Vanilla Baileys to take home. Got on the train. We had a small room with 2 chairs sitting in it and a toilet. We had a few drinks and then went for lunch. We walked around to the observation deck and the sights were a few little snow houses surrounded by brown stick trees. As we were coming to night fall there was a lot of snow in the ground. Our butlers name was Zac and he made up the beds for us and it gave us no room at all. We shuffled around and had a shower. I slept on the top. I must say that the beds were slightly bigger that the beds when we went from Chicago to Memphis. We met Myra and Rob from Canberra.
29/4/17
I didn’t get much sleep last night. I felt like I was getting rumbled back and forth and my neck was grinding and my head was staying still. We had breakfast and got off at Montreal. We were booked in for a city tour tomorrow but when we went to book in we got on it today. We saw the sights and learnt that the French migrated over here and most people speak French. There are a lot of male statues. I am beginning to think that us woman are just non-existent. I mean really do we need all these statues of dicks. Saw where they had the Olympics in the 70s, went to the lookout, some replica Paris building. They have the biggest cemetery I have ever seen. Had Thai for dinner. I had Chicken Chow Main and it was twice as big as our servings. It was delicious. It is not that cold today.
30/4/17
Not a bad sleep last night. Got woken up at bout 245am and saw the city lights. It is a good view. The sun doesn’t go down until about 9pm. Went down and had a yogurt/fruit/granola cup for breakfast. Went for a walk to the shops and they open at 10am on Sundays. The temperature has dropped today. Checked out and dropped our bags at the train station. It cost $5. Went for a walk into town and found a underground shopping centre. I got lost. Mark stayed back and used the internet boring!!!. Got on the train to Toronto and they have a free movie app but the movies only play for about 15mins and then they stop.
Montreal was a nice place especially if you wanted to learn French. I liked it, It was friendly but a bit expensive.
Got to the Intercontinental and had a spa.
1/5/17
Today was very cold and raining. We went up the CN tower and we were in the clouds. Couldn’t see much of the city. Then caught the hop on hop off bus around the city. We stopped at the Distillery district. And had a look at the old fashioned shops. I had a Persian Mist Tea Larta. It was delicious. We then went to The Mill for lunch. I had a Montreal Meat Special and a beer Cocktail. I couldn’t drink the beer. It was still disgusting. This was very old fashioned and beautiful. ½ the shops were open but we didn’t go into many as we were wet and our feet were getting soaked. We walked up to meet the bus and made a phone call to confirm our Niagara tour which had been changed to 945am. We got back on the bus and I am sick of being cold. My feet were colding up. They weren’t freezing just wet and cold. We then got off at the Huge Shopping centre and walked around to trying to find trinkets with no luck. All I wanted to do at this time was get these wet shoes off. Got back on the bus and finished our journey. Couldn’t see very much on the journey. Went back to the motel room and got the wet gear off. Went for a spa to warm up. Went to the Loose Moose for dinner. This is a pub that you see on the movies. It was packed and everyone was watching the basketball. They had TV screens up everywhere. Mark ordered the wings. They were delicious. I ate them all. I couldn’t stop eating them they has a hot spicy sauce on them they were just delicious. I ordered the Cesar Salad. Nowhere near as good as the wings. By the time we decided to go for dinner the rain had cleared. After dinner we went back to the CN tower and they let us in to see the city lights. We got to go outside on the observation deck and when we were walking around the deck there were gusts of wind that is you weren’t careful it would pick you up and you would head but the ground. If it wasn’t for the rain I think our time in Toronto would have been better. Its just one of those things
2/5/17
Up nice and early for our trip to Niagara. Yogurt cup for breakfast. Went down and waited for the bus which was 15mins late. We set off for Niagara Falls. Judy our tour guide was very informative. She told us that there are more and more condos going up in the city which are no bigger than a double garage and they were selling for $500,000. It is a cold cold cold day. Not raining. We went to a winery and tasted some Ice wine which is very sweet and the grapes are harvested at night by hand at -8 degrees whilst they are frozen on the vine and squashed that night before they have a chance to thaw out. The wine was delicious but not $65.00 + tax + tip delicious. We then pressed on to this little village that sold village stuff. We bought an icecream. I had Chocolate chip and cookie dough / Maple and cinnamon / roasted walnut. We then pushed on to Lunch at Niagara. This was a buffet and mark ordered a beer for $9.00 in a wine glass. I asked him not to leave a tip as it was a rip off. The food was pasta buffet with cakes for desert. We then went on the Hornblower and went through the mist at the bottom of the falls. It was windy and wet. It had to be done couldn’t go without it. There was a ziplining that wasn’t open and the helicopter was not operating due to the weather. We then went to the top of the falls and took photos. We then pushed on home and had some Cesar Salad at Hoops which was the street behind the intercontinental. The cesar was nicer than yesterday at the Loose Goose and it was dearer. Went and picked up our bags and headed to the train station and were told that our train is delayed for 3 ½ hours so I am filling up on free tea. Hopefully I get straight to sleep when on the train. Chatted to Myra and Rob.
3/5/17
What a night. We got on the train at about 2am and were taken to the tent section. We had so much junk which should have been put in the big bags before we checked them but no one would listen to dumb old Tracey. All our junk was on the top shelf and we slept on the bottom bunk. The male that was sleeping in the opposite bunk was snoring all night and we didn’t get much sleep. Woke up and had break at about 7am and we got the room sorted. We moved to another room where we are still in the tent situation but by ourselves and not near the toilet or other people across from us. Rob and Moyra came to say gidday. Calmed down and started to enjoy the rest of the day.
4/5/17
What a good sleep (needed). Got up and polished Mark off. Omelette for breakfast and hash browns.
We saw beavers, horses, cows, dears and a Moose. The terrain changed from ½ dead trees and green trees to farming paddocks then to a valley which was all different colours of green and brown. I had a veal chop for dinner and salmon for lunch.
5/5/17
Not a good night sleep last night. Got up and went to breaky by myself as mark was still asleep. finshed off the journey whilst coming into icy fields. Arrived in Jasper and it took about 30 mins to get our bags off the train. Everything is estimated time around here. We did washing at the snow dome coffee shop. This shop is downstairs with a small coffee shop with a big room full of washing machines and dryers. The toilets have showers in them. It is set up just for the traveller. We walked the streets and looked in the shops. Went for dinner at the Jasper Brewery. Had the wings in buffalo sauce and Cesar salad. Then went to the candy shop and I asked what the caramel apple was and I got the reply of the shop assistant pointing to the sign and sayng caramel apple. She was just a bitch and yelled at me like I was a thick head. I left. Got back to the motel and something has happened with our accommodation and make just acted like a meat head and treated me like a child as if don’t know anything. I didn’t talk to him for the rest of the night and I went for a spa by myself. The spa is outside on the 2nd floor and the mountains as the view. The snow is still on top of the mountains and it is cold. It was still light at 10pm. Whistler Inn is just across the road from the train station.
6/5/17
Went on our Lake Maligne tour and saw different animals such as eagles, ospreys, elk, dear and the frozen lake. We walked through snow. We haven’t seen a bear yet but I know here in Jasper they eat berries. They fatten up during the summer as the fatter you are the more cubs you bore that season. So if the bear is skinny it does not have the body to keep the cub alive during the hibernation period. The cubs stay around for the first 2 years and then the male cubs get kicked out because the older males will come and attack them. The females are safe. The females usually only go for the biggest and fattest bears to mate with. It got colder and colder as we got up the mountain. We were then dropped back and caught the tram up to the lookout point. It was snowing first time in snow. I haven’t made an angel yet but when the time comes I will do it. Today was very cold. I am starting to get a sore throat so we went to the chemist and bought some cold and flue tablets. We had Tom Hortons for lunch. I had a chicken, lettuce, tomato and cheese crasant with Mexican soup to warm me up. We went to the shops and bought some gifts. We then come home and had a spa. Bought some Chicken for the drive tomorrow.
7/5/17
Got picked up on time. There was a bit of confusion as to what bus to get on but it got sorted. We headed off to the Ice fields and visited the Glaciers. We got transferred into a bus with big wheels and they drove us around the ice field and down a very steep hill and we came to a stop and all got out and walked around on the ice. I had singlet, skivvy, jumper and jacket on. I am getting sick of this cold. We then went to the Skywalk which is a glass bridge over a canyon. It was great I loved it and Mark faced his fears and got out on it by himself. He enjoyed it. Then we got to the Fairmont Lake Louise and the lake was frozen. It is cold and I am not liking it. You walk inside and it is hot and you are pealing layers off. We had the king room and they and a lake view. We went for a walk along the lake. The view was magnificent. We had dinner in the lounge and got 2 glasses of ice wine for free. I am starting to get sick cough etc. We were driving along and Mark spotted a bear sitting in the bushes near the road. The driver reversed back and the bear walked to the side of the road and started eating grass. It was so cool I wanted to go out and cuddle it.
8/5/17
Got up and hopped on the bus at 10am. The sun doesn’t go down until about 10pm and the small towns don’t wake up until 10am. There is not much by the way of wood fires. There are some gas fakies. We went to Johnson Canyon and hiked up to see the Waterfall which has a ice crossing over the top of it. It looked really cool. There was a small cave that you could walk through to get a better view but some chick got stuck so I didn’t go up. It is funny how the snow is so soft and it just doesn’t melt. We are meeting a lot aussies and I am finding it hard to distinguish the accent as there are so many. We then went to the natural rock bridge where the waterfall used to go over it but eventually the water corroded it and now the water goes under it. I am really liking the scenery shame it is too cold for me. We then got delivered to the Moose Hotel Banff. We were walking back to the motel and I turned around and mark was talking to someone else. I went into the shop and waited for a while and he didn’t even turn to look for me. I walked up to him and the girl who he was talking to called me Chriss. Her name was Judy she was a nice lady just a bit pissed. Ian was the guy Mark was talking to and odvirsley he was talking about fat guts. We had some drinks with them. Judy worked for dept of housing in Mount Isa.
9/5/17
Had a bit of a drama with our bus this morning when it was early so we had to walk to the bus depot to get the tour. I done like this prearranged tour things. Did the Banff Tour and went to Tunnel Mountain which was still frozen. The ice was melted around the edged and it looked like the ice was very thin but when rocks were thrown onto it the ice did not break. Then we went to Bow River which was melted and flowing down the river. Then we went on the Gondola Ride to Sulphur Mountain. It was a good clear visible day and we saw the whole city of Banff. We met 1 Canadian in Banff. The accents are just too hard to distinguish, They are all starting to become a blur. Went shopping and bought trinkets and gifts for everyone. We went to the Rocky Mountaineer checkin desk and they arranged for the bus to pick us up tomorrow morning. She visited the motel tonight and gave us our boarding passes and bag tags and booked us on the bus to be picked up at 0705am to be taken to the train. Mark decided to have drinks with his mate. I had a shower and washed my hair and then went down and met them. I am tired by now and felt as if I was being ignored by Mark. We had dinner and the bill came and it was $127.00 for dinner and I was pissed that he had 3 drinks before I got there. I was pissed off. We then went back to the room and Mark acted like a 2 year old. I didn’t help him pack and he was just a fuck head. Had a bad night sleep for the second night in a row and I haven’t had a cup of tea for a while. The tea is discussing.
10/5/17
Got up to board the Rocky Mountaineer. I am tired, craving tea, my breath stinks of discussing tea. We had some breakfast t]at the motel and then waited for the bus. The bus came and we were at the train station. Our bags were taken on the bus and we didn’t see them until the night. Got on the Rocky Mountaineer and we had a cheers for the trip and then they served breakfast. I had heart burn so i had some fruit salad,, small croissant and a yoghurt parfait. The mountains still have snow on the tops of them. We saw 5 bears on the right. We are travelling along the Canadian Pacific rail. The other rail is Canadian National rail and they are arched rivals. The rivers are greenish adn they are flowing rapidly on the top there are lots of swirls and rapids. There is no still water. The trees are starting to become different colours of green there is only small patches of snow on the ground. It is melting. We passed through Lake Louise where it was white. We went through the spiral tunnels and my ears started to block up. I slept for some of the day. We had chicken and rossotto for lunch and the snacks were chocolate coated raisons and peanuts. I was drinking Baileys and Mark was drinking a new mixture we called a white russhen. We reached Kamloops and the snow has disappeared. It is a lot warmer. Our Hosts names are Alex, Dylan and Julia. They are fun, they tell us when the wild life are coming and the history of the place that we are going through. The lakes are becoming a lot browner like the Brisbane river but they are still moving quite swiftly. We got tt Kamloops and put on a bus to our motel and out bags were already in our room waiting for us. We went for a walk and had dinner at the Frick and Frack. It was nearly the only place open. This town reminded me of Townsville. It is spaced out and deserted. Interesting fact: The rivers run north. Went home to the Thompson and had a shower and Mark realised that he has left his B2V jacket in Banff. I went to bed and he dealt with it. That is Kama. The 2 nights we associated with those people and something out of the regular happens.
11/5/17
What a good night sleep. Slept through until about 5:30am I feel refreshed and ready for the next train trip. The snow has gone, the river is brown and still gushing. Not very good swimming rivers. And we are going through the canyons. Pre breakfast was fruit and a sweet fruit scone, I had Omelette, potatoes, and tomato for breakfast. I have had 2 cups of tea already. I feel a lot better. We have seen a couple of eagles sitting in the trees along the way and one of them was flying with the train. We saw a Grisley and lots of eagles. We went through Hells Gate. The trip came to an end and most people were being shipped off to there motels with the train but not us we had to catch our own taxi to the Rosedale on robson Vancouver. We went for a walk and there are a lot of homeless begging. Not a nice part of town.
12/5/17
Slept in today and had a bludge day. Went for a walk to Yale town which was nothing much. I was expecting it to be like the Distillery area in Toronto but it wasn’t. It just had a lot of shops and restaurants made out of warehouses. It is raining in Toronto. I am not a fan of the coasts die to the rain and cold. I am sick of being cold. Arranged to hire a car to drive to Hells Gate tomorrow. I have put on a bit more weight. That diet will start when I get home. We went and bought a Pizza from the IGA and added tomato, cheese and chicken. The pizza was delicious and so was the heartburn. I still had it after 3 mylantas.
13/5/17
Got up nice and early and picked up the car. We couldn’t find Hells Gate so we headed off to Whistler. It is still cold. I cant brush my teeth in cold water, I have to use hot water. We made it to Whistler and it is a little village. There was one snow slope still open but we cant ski and we didn’t have time to learn. We did some shopping. This is where they had the 2010 parra winter Olympics. We took our photos. Mark bought a fluffy moose for Andys new baby. We bought jackets to match. We then adventured north to this winding road through Indian reserves, snow avalanche shuts. It was a lovely drive. We went for a bush walk to the Niera Falls. We took the top road and then started heading back to Vancouver. It was about 7pm and it started snowing. There were little drops of snow in the windscreen. Then a Grizley Bear jumped out in front of the car and ran across the road. It was a big fluffy light brown monster. It ran into the bushes and stopped and looked back at us and then went on its way. Then another couples of Ks along there was a big black bear standing on the road. We stopped. It looked at us and then ran away. How exciting was this we saw 2 bears within ½ and hour. It was starting to get late so we pulled into the Old Towne Cafe. This cafe was so unique and it had number plate from all the states in Australia. I had a sirloin steak with chicken veggie soup and Caesar salad. It was delicious. We made it home and Mark had a spack attack so I had a spack attack back. Long day.
14/5/17
Up early and had breaky. Headed off the Hells Gate. We went for a walk down to Hells Gate which was very steep. We learnt that this is where Simon Fraser built the tunnels for the salmon to swim up as they were dying and couldn’t reproduce. About 10 years after Simon Fraser had they found gold in the area and everyone flocked there. I had Chowder for lunch and Mark had a Ice Cream. I bought some Hells Gate Fudge. We then headed back to Vancouver. We stopped and went for a walk to the Alexander Bridge, this was the original road in the Gold rush days.
We made it back home and Mark did not want to take the car back. I was tired and I didn’t want to drive around endlessly but we did and got lost. I was pissed.
The motel that we are staying at has a little kitchen, micro, and a fridge. We had food there to eat for dinner.
15/5/17
Last day. Mark got up and took the car back. I went of breaky and Mark joined me. We then went for a spa, packed our bags, had a quickie and left the motel in the rain, Walked the streets and went into the most expensive shop ever where a leather jacket cost $10,000. We then went to gastown and bought a souvenir. We ended up at the end of the town where all the homeless and mentally ll people were. I thought we were going to get mugged or something. We made it through and headed back to the centre of town. We went to Maccas where some nut case was opening the door and preaching something and then another nutcase came in saying that he was robbing the joint it was a stick up and everyone ignored him. This town is full of nut cases. We then went and had a hot dog and headed to Yale town. I got sick of the rain my shoes were wet so we went back to the motel and I had a shower, washed my hair and dried my hair, shoes and socks. The driver came to get us and took us to the airport. We bought some Ice Wine and Royal Whisky and Smoked Salmon. We are all set for home and waiting to board the plane.
