Jetlag is a terrible thing and we were awake at 3 am this morning. Nevertheless, it's amazing how time flies and we were only down in the lobby a few minutes before we were due to check in for our trip on the Rocky Mountaineer. Once issued with our boarding passes we boarded the coach for a short trip to the railway station and our first glimpse of the train, very impressive! To our amazement we had a 'welcome aboard’ ceremony which included toots on a train whistle and a performance by a Scots piper. We boarded our carriage, J5, and found our seats upstairs in the dome. Very excited and waiting for our journey to begin! We reversed out of the station and the staff all turned out to wave us goodbye which was a nice touch. Soon we moving in the right direction and our two day train trip had begun.

As we left Vancouver we crossed the Fraser River Swing Bridge which was built in 1904 and then passed Fort Langley which was originally built by the Hudson Bay Company in 1827 as a depot for collecting furs and provisions. Feeling hungry now we were lucky enough to be in the first sitting for breakfast and went down below to the dining car to enjoy a hearty meal. Back upstairs we were pleased to find that the bar was now open so we ordered our first Sauvignon Blanc of the day, a local Canadian variety which was surprisingly good. Travelling on we passed some small settlements like Mission and Yale, and moved into the Fraser Valley where we could see a variety of crops growing alongside the track including berries, vegetables, orchards, bulbs, hops, seedlings and Christmas trees.

We travelled on through some glorious scenery with the flat lands giving way to tree covered mountains. Before we knew it it was lunch time and we were called down for our first sitting lunch. We shared a table with Tom and Sue and were so engrossed in our conversation that we didn’t notice that the train had come to a stop. Apparently we were held up by a train in front and could have been stuck there for up to two hours. It was quite a while, although luckily not as long as that. We had good lunch, and rushed out onto the viewing platform to take photos of the renowned Hell’s Gate. This is the narrowest part of the Fraser River with 200 million gallons of water per minute pushing through a 110 feet wide gorge. It was named in 1808 by Simon Fraser because it reminded him of the Gates of Hell. We then passed on by Skuzzy Creek, named after the boat built in 1882 to transport railway supplies up the river through Hell’s Gate. After many unsuccessful attempts, a complex system using a steam winch and ring bolts attached to the canyon walls, along with the manpower of 150 Chinese labourers successfully moved the boat through Hell’s Gate at last.

After another delay while a goods train trundled past we continued our journey towards Kamloops, only to stop again soon after as once again the train in front has to stop to fix a broken knuckle. When we were finally on our way again we came to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers at a place called Lytton. The muddy Fraser and the clear Thompson travel side by side for about two kilometres before mixing together and we now leave the Fraser River behind and follow the Thompson from now on.

We have left behind the temperate climate and rainforests of Vancouver and are now in hot, arid desert area. In Rainbow Canyon the minerals in the rocks reflect many colours giving the canyon a painted look. Copper turns green and purple when oxidised while iron turns orange and red and the yellow is due to sulphur deposits. The banks of the Thompson River become quite steep round here and the river has become very turbulent and is a favourite spot for white water rafting. We’re feeling quite hot and the water looks very inviting. Perhaps we’ll come back here later and have a go ourselves!

Some time later we passed by an area called the Black Canyon and then went through the Black Canyon Tunnel. Just afterwards we came upon a large osprey nest on top of a telegraph pole and noticed a little head peeping out. This area is referred to as Osprey Alley and we saw many osprey soaring above the river on the lookout for fish. We learned that osprey like to build their nests on flat surfaces like bridges and bald eagles like to build their nests at the top of dead trees. We saw plenty of both kinds of nests during our journey.

We stopped briefly at the town of Ashcroft to change drivers. This is one of the driest areas in Canada and is a large cattle ranching area. It also produces about 4 per cent of the world’s copper. Travelling onwards we saw many birds and lots of wonderful scenery along the Thompson. I spotted a couple of large brown deer and there were some big horned sheep on the mountainside.

Today we learned a new phrase which we have never heard before but which was used many times today and that is ‘First Nation People’, for example FNP words, customs, legends etc, etc. It seems to be a very handy catchall word covering any peoples indigenous or otherwise who were here or came here before the main people who are here ‘now’ or came in the last 2 or 3 hundred years. Interesting thought: Are the Romans and the Vikings First Nation people in UK or do we draw the line at Picts, Scots etc? Just too many different groups to choose from!

Eventually the river widened out into the Kamloops Lake which is about 25 miles long. Dusk was falling and, as our journey was running several hours behind schedule, we were served some dinner at our seats. The chef had rustled up some chicken curry and rice. No mean feat for this number of people. They must keep some extra food on standby in case of emergencies. Kamloops is not far away now but it seems to take a VERY long time to get there, in fact the last 5 miles takes about 45 minutes which felt almost like going backwards. A couple of glasses of red wine helped smooth the way and the chef brought up some freshly baked cookies to soothe our stomachs. We eventually pulled into Kamloops at about 9.30pm, past the Roman Catholic church and the war cemetery, and drew into the station to the salute of the local mounted police.

Off the train and onto the coach, we were at the hotel within 15 minutes. They had already pre-checked us in and given us our keys and the luggage was already in our room. It’s been a long day so time for some sleep!!