Bill and I walked to the station and caught the train into Burrard, but left the bags for the others to bring with them in the cab as we couldn’t all fit in one cab, Congregated outside the Hyatt where Miki met up with us with her brother Jeff
Soon we were on the bus and on our way. Took a while to get out of town as roads were closed due to a marathon
We were given a bit of a running commentary about points of interest that we passed by in the town but we were soon on our way out on highway 1, the main highway that runs right through from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland in the East
We covered quite a distance quite quickly, with the tour guide offering up information along the way, such as the fact that Abbotsford is known for its fruits, especially raspberries cranberries blueberries and cut flowers
Long bus trip passing through ever changing magnificent scenery, with tall trees, mountains in the mist and rivers,
We passed through Chillawack where corn is grown.
Our first stop was for morning tea at Hope, The town that used to be a supply centre but since the lumber mill shut down it relies heavily on the tourist trade. It is well known for its chainsaw carvings, of which there are many around town.
The town is also known for the Rambo movies being filmed there.
We left Highway 1 and continued on H’way 5 which is known as the Highway to Hell. Apparently it used to be the route of the Kettle Valley Railway.
We passed through an area well known for avalanches
Where a bridge had been built over the road to protect it
Next we passed through Nicola Valley, and the town of Merritt a ranch town with a copper mine,
Lots of Ponderosa pines around. The town isn’t as green as it is in the rain shadow
We then crossed the valley to Fraser Highlands
Reaching Kamloops for our lunch stop. We were dropped off the bus at a shopping centre - Aberdeen Mall, with a food court but no drug store, as I was wanting to get some throat lozenges. We purchased lunch in the food court at Subway.
Apparently there is a law in BC against the erection of billboards but the locals here seem to be able to circumnavigate the law due to their indigenous rights and hence there are quite a few billboards in Kamloops.
Kamloops is a stop for the Rocky Mountaineer train and we passed one in the station
Next we headed into the north Thomson River Valley
alongside the North Thomson River, named after David Thomson the map maker
We passed evidence of the logging industry in the area
We passed through a place called Barriere that had catastrophic bush fires 12 years ago and are still recovering.
We had another brief stop at Wells Gray where they had a statue of a moose. I had my photo taken with the moose as I said this was probably the only time that I would see a moose!!
After Wells Gray there was quite a distance till our next stop so they put on a wildlife DVD for us to watch,
Then suddenly the driver noticed cars stopped on the other side of the road and saw a bear, so reversed back up the road for us to see it. Unfortunately not a good photo, but it is there
Next stop Mt Robson, the highest mountain in the Rockies
A bit cloudy but still sort of visible with snow on the slopes
The next section of the journey took us past the beautiful Moose Lake, where we could see the rail line,
We passed a few trains, some of them can be as long as 4 km long!!!
We finally arrived in Jasper at 8:30pm, having lost an hour. We were booked into the Tonquin Inn, so after being dropped off and allocated our rooms, we just dropped off our bags and went straight down to dinner, However, unfortunately the restaurant was full so the only option for us was to walk quite some distance into town and found somewhere open - The Dead Dog. Very welcome dinner, yummy shepherds pie.
I walked back to the hotel ahead of the others as I wasn't feeling too good, so too tired and unwell to make the most of the room. Since we had in fact been allocated an apartment which had 2 rooms both with big beds I ended up taking one of the other rooms so as not to disturb Bill with my coughing and sneezing!!!
Will post pictures of room in tomorrow’s post
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