20-21 May 2010

The Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Calgary to Vancouver

Mountains, water and green forests surrounded us as we became passengers on the famous Rocky Mountaineer train to travel from Calgary to Vancouver. We booked to travel on the Gold Leaf class of this train and it proved to be a decadent experience, from checking-in at Calgary to arriving in Vancouver.

We were warmly greeted at the train station at the base of Calgary's Sky Tower after being wonderfully driven there by Sue and Dan - a cup of fresh coffee, a comfortable lounge and our rather heavy suitcases being taken care of. At 6.10am we boarded this grand, custom-built train and proceeded upstairs to the glass-roofed carriage, which can be seen in the photos we have uploaded.Plenty of leg room, little pillows and blankets awaited us - but we knew we would not be sleeping on this train as the scenery that awaited us would be spectacular.As we cruised through the countryside outside of Calgary, through the farmlands, we were served coffee, cinnamon scones and fresh fruit at our seats as we headed up into the Canadian Rockies. We were lucky to spot a coyote wandering through a paddock, probably hunting for a vulnerable lamb.

We proceeded through to Banff where the train filled up with tour groups of Aussies and Poms - it was the first time in 8 weeks that we had come across Australians in our travels - and they were quite a noisy mob! After Banff we went down to the dining room which was located on the lower level of our carriage and was served an awesome breakfast.The highlight of breakfast was seeing a black bear beside the railway track on our side of the carriage - yey!!!!!!

A bonus of travelling in the Gold Leaf carriage was having access to an outdoor vestibule that gave us the opportunity to see, smell and feel the outdoor environment - and it was perfect for taking photos!! Mind you, there were times when the pushy Aussies made it difficult to see or enjoy this space (winge! winge!). the wind was very cold here, so it was essential to have a beanie, gloves and thermals - but the experience was sensational and invigorating! During our journey we saw quite a variety of wildlife, which is quite a challenge from a moving train - these included a wolf, bald eagles, ospreys, elks, deers, loons, Canadian geese, ravens - these were the ones we could identify. The glass-roofed dome carriage enabled all passengers to have a 360 degree view of the surrounding environment - no pushing or shoving to get a view!!!

An amazing engineering achievement of this railway line is the construction of switchback tunnels as it travels through the steep and mountainous Rockies. Prior to the construction of these switchbacks, trains would often derail and crash - very expensive in terms of human lives and trains. The switchbacks enable the train to travel at a lower incline across a steep gradient and retain control, particularly going downhill - they are fascinating and a great testament to brilliant engineers. These railway lines are used intensively by freight trains across Canada - it is amazing to pass freight trains that are up to 2km in length!

There were quite a few osprey nests in hard-to-reach places alongside the railway line - such as bridges, power poles and trees. The remarkable aspect of these nests is that they belong to a breeding couple, who mate for life, and return from South America during breeding season (Spring) each year to lay their eggs and raise their young. Osprey mates share a 5-month partnership period each year. The nest design is essential for survival of the young and ospreys won't breed until their nest is ready. Each year they build on more structure to the nest to repair any damage and strengthen the nest - Amazing and magnificent birds!

Another natural phenomenon that occurs along this train route is the mass migration of salmon, unfortunately it was not the right time of the year for us to see this migration, but it is an incredible journey.At 3 years of age, something is clicked on in the salmon's brain that drives it to leave the sea and travel back to the fresh water streams where they were born to lay and fertilise eggs and then die. We travelled along two rivers, the Thompson and the Fraser, where these migrations take place during autumn. We passed alongside the gorges where the water cascades and rolls rapidly over rocks, especially in the narrower gorges, such as Hell's Gate and the Jaws of Death. During the salmon migration, the salmon propel themselves up and over these rocks, against the violent and intense water currents to get back to the stiller waters of their birthing place. As salmon move from sea water to brine and fresh water and get battered about by the rough water, they lose their silver outer skin and become a vibrant pink - apparently, at the right time of the year, these rivers are pink due to the density of salmon present. If you haven't seen a documentary of this amazing journey, do yourself a favour and get your hands on one and watch it - talk about an incredible journey!! No-one really knows how this process is triggered in the salmon, and how they survive (survival rate is approx 10%, we think) long enough to reproduce and then die is a natural wonder.

Meal times were a great opportunity to meet some of the other travelers - we met a lovely couple from the UK (Essex!) who were on their honeymoon after being married in the Empire State Building in New York. We also met two American women, Patricia from Houston Texas and Fran from Honduras. These women were lovely and so very interesting. We were particularly impressed and inspired by Fran, who was 85 years old and had lived in Honduras for 40 years - she had lived there through four military coups! She was the former wife of a World Bank banker and had established a foundation to fund Honduran children to go to school. Over the last 15 years the foundation has increased its sponsorship from 10 to 300 children per year. She talked to us about her recognition of the need to make the foundation sustainable and managed by Honduran people as she is getting older. She has worked with a Honduran women's NGO to hand over management and governance and has maintained an ex-officio role. Now, at 85, she wants to achieve a lifetime dream - to get a University degree. So she has enrolled into a distance-education course at an American University to obtain a Bachelor of Arts - how impressive and inspiring! As you can imagine, we all had a lot to talk about!!

The first day we travelled for about 12 hours and when we weren't in the dining car we were being offered refreshments in our seats (water, juice, soft drink, wine, spirits, tea/coffee). We spent overnight in the city of Kamloops in the "interior" of Canada. It is located in a desert region, we guess it is a desert by Canadian standards, but it looked very fertile compared to deserts that we are more familiar with. One of the other benefits of travelling Gold Leaf was not having to carry any luggage. Once we checked our bags in at Calgary we arrived at our hotel room in Kamloops to find them waiting in our hotel room. Then the next morning we left our luggage in our room and then they materialized at the train station in Vancouver - what a way to travel!! This may be Sally and John's style, especially as many of the travelers were then jumping onto a cruise ship in Vancouver to travel up to Alaska after getting off the train! Our night in Kamloops was lovely as were had a fab Japanese dinner in the Main St and collapsed into bed early, after our 4.30am start and a strenuous day of looking, eating and drinking!!!

The second day of travel was just as spectacular as we travelled through the Columbia and Cascades ranges through to Vancouver. We saw how the forest logs are transported via the river systems - a huge industry in Canada.

We hope our photos capture much of the diversity of the environments we had the privilege to travel through - we can see how it has been ranked the #1 railway journey of the world - it is impossible to stop looking at everything! It has been a trip of a lifetime that we will always remember so fondly. We want to thank Mark Dudek for encouraging us to take this train journey - Cheers Mark!

Bye for now………….