Picked up from our hotel in Jasper at 8am, we were in for a full day of fun and adventure travelling through the Jasper and Banff national parks to Banff, first stop the Athabasca waterfalls. Despite being summer, a cold snap two days earlier had brought a fall of snow on the mountains and a light scattering in the valleys. The air was fresh and the ground crisp underfoot with a light frost. The waterfalls were roaring and a beautiful sunny day meant a perfect ra...

I initially thought the three days we were to spend on the train from Toronto to Jasper was going to be the most boring part of our great adventure, how wrong I was. Boarding our west bound train, 'The Canadian', at 9.30pm we were given a 'what to expect' and 'safety' briefing before the train pulled out of Toronto station on the dot of 10pm as scheduled. After welcome drinks in the dome car it was time to settle into our cabin bunks for ...