Saturday 5 March
Having checked into our modern but comfortable ‘harbourfront’ hotel in Toronto (it’s actually on Lake Ontario but the Canadians call that the harbour!) we rugged up and strolled around the lake, and the old part of town. Ice skaters, lots of snow and ice and we knew we were in a winter wonderland. We even saw a snow beach and a sunbaker!
We didn’t have to go far for dinner as we found a great little Japanese restaurant which served lovely food and green tea. Guess what, an alcohol free day- not to be taken as a precedent.
Sunday 6 March
Today we did the touristy thing and took a bus tour to Niagara Falls. It was a fantastic day and we learned so much. We drove the golden horseshoe which takes us around Lake Ontario from Toronto to the town of Niagara Falls. Once again, they’re saying what a mild winter they have had. The lake did not freeze this year which is unprecedented.
Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls which straddle the border between Canada (Ontario) and USA (New York). We were at Horseshoe Falls, and the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are on the American side, but they all sort of join up which makes them pretty spectacular.
For Cherrie, this visit was the trifecta. She has now seen the three great waterfalls of the world – Iguazu Falls on the border of Argentina and Brazil (she saw them from the Argentinian side), Victoria Falls and now Niagara.
Christine last visited the falls 41 years ago, and saw them from the American side. Somewhere she has a photo of herself on Rainbow Bridge, with one foot in America and the other in Canada. It’s a little (read that with the expected cynicism from the editor) more commercial these days. Casinos, every known major hotel brand, tacky upside down houses, water slides, scary house (“’000s have chickened out”), every side show attraction known to mankind, and some not thought of yet, except at Niagara.
But, the water is amazing, and at this time of year the ice, oh the ice. It’s just magical to these Australian eyes.
Christine can’t get enough of the snow and ice, like a child she steps into every little bit she can. Cherrie is a skier, and a little more blasé about such things.
We stand in Canada and look across the falls to the USA and Buffalo.
Christine is reminded of the song from ‘42nd Street’ which goes I’ll go home and get my panties You go home and get your scanties And away we’ll go Mmm-mmm-mmm Off we’re gonna shuffle Shuffle off to Buffalo
To Niagara in a sleeper There’s no honeymoon that’s cheaper And the train goes slow Ooh-ooh- ooh Off, we’re gonna shuffle Shuffle off to Buffalo
Ah, the memories….
Buffalo also boasts a building with a large electronic signboard, reminding us of Cherrie’s impending birthday
After leaving the falls, we drive along the Niagara River, where there are two massive hydroelectric power plants, one on the Canadian side and one on the American side (bigger, of course).Here we are with the Niagara River behind us
We went to the most charming village called Niagara on the Lake, originally the capital of Ontario. It reminded us both of Port Fairy in Victoria, but bigger.
It was a long day but just beautiful weather, 3◦ and sunny, sunny. Spring has sprung.
Monday 7 March
Another beautiful day, 5◦ and sunny again. The snow is starting to melt and you can see the spring in the step of the locals. They know they have seen the last of the snow and scarves are a little lighter, gloves a little thinner.
Cherrie’s computer screen won’t light up. The computer turns on but the screen stays black. It’s a sickening feeling (Bryan, you know what that’s like, don’t you?) so we find a local computer technician to take it to. He puts it on diagnostics and we leave it with him while we go to explore the city.
Yesterday’s bus shuttle to pick up passengers from other hotels was very useful to us. We were the first pick up and there was another 45 minutes so we not only got the front seat in the bus, we bonded with the driver who sort of gave us a personal city tour. It was a great help today in our decision where to go. Except, of course, it’s Monday so no galleries or museums are open. We’d forgotten the curse of Monday in the northern hemisphere.
Toronto is a lovely city of 2.6m (6.1m in the greater Toronto area) with a great arts scene. There are theatres and concert halls everywhere. This is the home of the national ballet and opera companies, the symphony orchestra and where all the major theatre productions happen, both local and imported. Lots of public art all over the place too.
Evidence of just how cold it does get here is found in so many trees around town which are wrapped up in hessian for winter.
And their boats
Christine’s back is playing up again, so we found a chiropractor who clicked her back into shape. She has a chiro in every port does Christine. Even has an appointment with her New York chiropractor (who she discovered in 2009) on Thursday of next week! The computer shop rang to say they had fixed Cherrie’s computer. Hallelujah! It was a recalcitrant BIOS for you tech heads….it’s all gobbledygook to me. Pick up the computer, walk more around the Harbourfront, buy a ploughman’s selection at the local supermarket and a picnic dinner in the room. Enough of the green tea though – fortunately a local bottle shop provided a very respectable local Cabernet Franc.
Tuesday 8 March
What a wonderful time to be in Toronto. It was snow covered when we got here on Saturday and practically thawed out now. That local spring in the step has positively increased overnight and the duck down is being put away for spring. Unbelievable how quickly the city thaws out. Mind you, you take your life in your hands walking down the street.
That hessian will be coming off the trees this week I reckon.
Boarded the train at 11.30am for the trip to Montreal.
The journey takes us through the progression of the season. The snow increases as we nearer Montreal and we see more iced up lakes and snowed in cars.
We arrive at 4.50pm. Booking.com and TripAdvisor continue to astonish us with their recommendations….this is another wonderful hotel in old Montreal, a great position for a very reasonable rate.
Tuesday 1 March Vancouver
Repacked into a little bag each for the train, checked out of the hotel and stored our luggage for collection later. A wet wet day so our plans to get all the way out to the Museum of Anthropology went by the wayside. Vancouver is renowned as a city of much rain and the annual rainfall is 116cm (46”). Instead we got our wet weather gear on, borrowed umbrellas from our most pleasant hotel and walked down and through Gastown. Even found a good coffee shop which served good coffee. The rain finally got to us so we caught the 1.30pm screening of THE LADY IN THE VAN, a film with Maggie Smith adapted for the screen by Alan Bennett from his story/play. Just a lovely film, with great performances (of course) from Dame Maggie and from Alex Jennings playing the two Alan Bennett’s (the writer and the man). Beautiful direction by Nicholas Hytner. Highly recommended.
It was a little drier when we got out of the cinema but still umbrella weather. We walked back to, and beyond, the hotel and parked ourselves at a table in an Italian restaurant in true tourist style at 4.30pm for dinner. Having ordered a single glass of wine each, we were advised that our orders would be taken once the kitchen opened at 5pm! With the cost of a second glass of wine each, we might have well have bought the bottle but as Cherrie reminds me so often, restraint is not a bad thing. I’m not sure I agree.
Whilst in Vancouver we had hoped to catch up with Cherrie’s niece Emma, who is working as a ski instructor in Whistler. However, Emma could not get time off to come into town, it’s the busy season!
Collected our luggage from the hotel and took a taxi to Central Pacific Station and ViaRail’s The Canadian. Boarded at 7pm and departed at 8.30pm. Four nights on board here, in a sleeper obviously, and our 5000km trans-continental journey to Toronto. We will travel 4,466 kms through five states – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. Our little cabin has a lovely big window, perfect for viewing the snow. We were surprised that there is no wi-fi on board, so we are out of touch until Saturday. It takes some time to get used to sleeping on the train…..hope we do better tomorrow night.
Wednesday 2 March Vancouver to Toronto
7am breakfast (because that’s our sitting). The dining car is pleasant and each table seats four. This morning we share with Kathy from Toronto who has been in Vancouver for the birth of her 4th grandchild. Kathy is very nice and we enjoy her company. We moved on to the lounge car which has an upper level dome roofed viewing car. It’s in the lounge car where you meet the characters. Sue and Nicola from north of Liverpool in England. They travel together a lot as Sue’s husband Chris is not a traveller. Sue is thrilled to be on the train and wants James Bond to smash his way through the window to solve Agatha Christie’s on-board murder. Or, at a pinch, David Suchet will do. And there’s the Drunk, we don’t know her name but it’s almost certainly slurred. She’s absolutely tiny and boy, does she like her chardonnay. She sways a lot, but then so does the train. Joy from Ontario who wears rollers in her hair most of the time, and Jane and Jake who used to live at Lake Tahoe in California but once they retired they resented having to pay state taxes so moved 20 minutes across the border to Reno. Nevada has no taxes. Jane is not sure how Nevada pays for anything without taxes but it offers all they want. They travel a lot – 96 countries over the 36 years they have been together and they have never checked baggage….they only take hand luggage. One must admire that, but then their dress sense leaves a little to be desired. There’s the Parasite, who latches onto everyone at some time and tries to flog her hand crocheted necklaces. Yes, folks, hand crocheted necklaces. We resisted a lot. My English is not good, Aboriginal being my first language. There’s the 40ish Minx travelling alone who has opened a tab in the diner and one at the bar and who chats up every lone traveller of the male variety, I reckon in the hope that she will never have to pick up her own tab.
The train took us through timber, oops lumbar, country with lots of mills and huge piles of plastic wrapped lumbar. We climbed mountains;saw rivers (some flowing but most frozen);
the spectacular frozen Pyramid Falls,one of the greatest sights in the BC Rockies and which can only been seen from the train;
frozen Moose Lake where men were drilling holes for ice fishing. They drill holes using a hand held auger and then put a hut over it to preserve the hole as well as themselves whilst fishing. Moose Lake is one of the deepest lakes in Canada, they say it is bottomless, and is apparently emerald green.
Deep ice fishing will yield the perfect trout apparently, whilst the shallower waters under ice will give perch and pike. Kathy’s husband is an ice fisherman so we learned a little about it from her.
We passed Mount Robson which is the highest peak in the Rockies at 3,954 metres.
Around 4pm we pulled into Jasper
where we had an hour and got off the train and pottered the main street. Everyone is saying what a mild winter it has been – from Alaskans to Washingtonians to British Columbians. Winter hasn’t really visited, just spring. Nonetheless we Aussies were rugged up in our duck down, wind jackets, gloves and hats (Cherrie’s Harris Tweed which she bought in Covent Garden, Christine in something that Mrs Khrushchev might have worn).
Joe: Cherrie wants to know if you had one of these when you lived in Canada. She wants one!
Jasper is, of course, one of the tourist towns of the Rockies renowned for its skiing, hiking and outdoor sports and has beautiful scenery. It’s in Jasper that we saw our first wildlife – there were elk on the track. This is apparently a common sight, and depending on who you listen to – Rose our wonderful steward or Joy of the hair rollers – they come in for the grain which spills off the train (Rose) or the salt which is spread onto the tracks to prevent ice build-up (Joy). Likely a bit of both, but this is a whole elk family comprising grandad, mum, dad and several kids.
The passenger trains in Canada are obliged to give way to the freight trains, which are very much longer, often too long for the side tracks, and so the schedules are always a bit fluid. Sometimes we can be stopped on the siding for up to an hour, waiting a very long freight train. The passenger trains are limited to a speed of 79kms per hour, and their speeds are monitored by satellite. A driver who exceeds the speed limit is summarily stood down without pay. So, if we are delayed by freight, then the driver really tries to catch up but only within the limit. We can really feel the train go! That’s when we are grateful for the VERY narrow corridors in the carriages, so that we are thrown around a little less. The only certainty is the departure time from the station, so had we arrived in Jasper 50 minutes late then we would only have had 10 minutes there. However, had we arrived 20 minutes early, then we would have had an hour and 20 minutes. The Canadian is renowned for not sticking to its schedule and all passengers are advised not to have connecting travel at journey’s end as the chance of missing it is high. So far we are pretty well on schedule.
At dinner we sat with Stanley, a 90 year old widower from Pennsylvania. He is extremely slow on his feet and his waistband is up around his chest but he is sharp of mind indeed. Used to be a lawyer, father of four children, all of whom are highly accomplished in the fields of law, medicine or academia, as are their children in the same fields. The great-grandchildren will also excel I’m sure. Stanley loves train travel “men have their hobbies – hunting, golfing, fishing, cars…..mine is trains”. He particularly loves The Canadian – indeed this is his 10th trip! We were amused to see the Drunk try to make a runner from dinner without paying but it didn’t take the steward long to catch her – chardonnay can slow one down so. We moved to the bar post dinner and there was the Minx chatting up poor charming Stanley who is probably gentlemanly enough to ensure she didn’t pay for her own drinks.
A better sleep tonight…we are acclimatising to the train.
Thursday 3 March
No breakfast served today but brunch instead. This appears to be a hangover from the summer period when there are many more passengers on board, indeed up to 3 dining cars (we only have one) and they can’t manage three meals a day before the big (scheduled) stop at 8.45 tonight in Winnipeg. This is where there is a crew and food change and it’s a big turnover for them. So, we slept in a bit but were showered and dressed for our (scheduled) 25 minutes stop at Saskatoon at 9am. We actually pulled in at 8.25am, so had an hour there, to keep us on schedule! We had to stay just on the platform but nice to stretch the legs, even though it was -10◦C.
The fine dusting of snow on the trees is particularly pretty in this area.
This is prairie country (prairie, a French word meaning meadow….see we learn something every day….). Lots of graveyards here
In the Lounge Car we meet Alan, a fascinating if pompous man from Saskatchewan, who boarded the train at 11.30 last night in Edmonton. A former teacher, who then spent some years with an international IT company, he has now retired to a small town in the south of the province 20 minutes from the USA border. He is the mayor the town of 900 and is on his way to Ottawa to meet with Government Ministers to beg for an exemption to the law forbidding them to dig for their own water. They currently get the town water from the river but that has now been declared unfit for human consumption due to the chemical run off from farming. Their standby clean dam was rendered empty by huge winds at the end of last year and the town was without water altogether for 2 days. This has turned out to be an advantage for their government negotiations and Alan is hopeful that his trip will bear fruit. He is a font of all knowledge and from him we learned a little of the history of this train and the trans-continental route.
The original railways in Canada were privately owned and it was Canadian Pacific Railway who built the first east-west rail connection. It was a runaway success and lots of other rail companies wanted a piece of the action and competition was fierce with the building of other east-west routes. Lots of companies went by the wayside as a result and the government was eventually forced to step in and combine the survivors into Canadian National Railways, in direct competition with CPR. But then the airlines got in the way in the ‘60s and the railways started to suffer. So in the late ‘70s the Canadian government formed VIA Rail Canada to operate passenger trains on both CP and CN lines, as well as the freight trains. And then in the ‘90’s (I think) Prime Minister Joe Clark, whose home was in the north, insisted that the southern and northern routes be separated, the south going to freight exclusively and the north to be shared between freight and passenger. This makes no sense, since 93% of the population lives in the south and apparently that is by far the prettier route. Via Rail vehemently objected to the move but they were overruled by government. Everyone in the lounge car, including Kathy, Stanley, Jane and Jake, Joy with her rollers, the Parasite (the Drunk who was still sleeping it off and the Minx was probably opening a tab elsewhere) agreed with Alan on this point and all lament the move of The Canadian from the south to the north. To add insult to injury, Joe Clark was dispatched from office within 12 months and the railway was privatised.
We passed lots and lots of potash mines. Saskatchewan is the biggest producer of potash in the world, by a long shot. We continued across the uninspiring prairies and grain country, evident from the many silos and mills. Cattle and horses are the only animals we saw today. The cattle feed on rolls of hay but the horses seem to subsist on snow. We assume there are stable for them at night, with decent feed. We did see some bee hives on the prairies, protected by huts.
Following dinner we stopped for an hour in Winnipeg. We got off the train and strolled through the most beautiful railway station, as so many North American train stations are.
We ventured down the street a little, watched folk ice skating on the (frozen) river but it was cold, and dark. Well, it was 9pm. So back to the train for us where we heard stories about life in Winnipeg. The most delightful of which is that it is quicker for so many kids to walk to school in winter than summer, or indeed for others to get places, because they just walk across the river or the lake rather than around it!
Dave, the retired airman, has joined our little group along with some others. We feel a bit cheated having to induct new people. Haven’t sighted the Drunk all day…perhaps she got off the train earlier in the day. Perhaps she had reached her destination, or she forgot to get back on the train. Who knows?
Friday 4 March
Not a good night’s sleep for either of us. No water in the car this morning. The stewards don’t know why and can’t fix it. We are without water until the end now. We reckon we have a good idea why there’s no water – this is taken from the platform this afternoon during one of our little exercise stops (and there are very few of those) and is directly under our carriage
Totally different terrain today. We’re out of prairie country and into the rivers and lakes, all forested. These are the waterways which feed into the Great Lakes of USA…we’re not far from the border. Crossed into Ontario this morning and moved our clocks forward another hour – that’s three hours since BC. Our final time change for a while. The scenery is truly beautiful and this is real summer holiday country. Lots and lots of cabins by the lake, all covered in feet of snow and all the huge lakes frozen solid. It must be spectacular in summer but it’s pretty beautiful now to these Australian eyes. This is bear country but they’re snoozing for winter so we won’t see any.
The Drunk reappeared at lunch today so all is well!
Saturday 5 March
As we roll into Toronto this morning, only 2 hours behind schedule, we pass lots of barns.
Sunday 29 February
Today we left lovely Victoria. A 90 minute bus ride to the north of the island, where we boarded a ferry to take us to Vancouver. Boy, that was a big ferry. I thought we would traipse off the bus and lug our bags on board. But, no. The bus drove onto the ferry, along with many other buses and trucks and literally hundreds of cars. We got off the bus once it had parked on Deck 2 and took the lift up to Deck 6 where we sat in comfortable seats with good views of the coastline. Not sure which coastline, but it was damned pretty.
Another 90 minutes and we arrived in Vancouver. Back to Deck 2, back on the bus and the same bus, same driver, took us into Downtown Vancouver. We arrived at our most glamourous hotel at about 2pm, 5 hours after leaving Victoria. Booking.com have really come good with this hotel – it is gorgeous, and apparently legendary. Who has stayed here? Here’s a short list:
John and Ethel Barrymore
Marlene Dietrich (and her 40 suitcases apparently)
Errol Flynn
Laurence Oliver
John Wayne
Gary Cooper
and David, Prince of Wales (later the short lived Edward VIII) and his brother Bertie (George VI) when they were here in 1927 for the apparently famous gala event (which fame has passed us by) the Seaforth Highlander’s Ball. Bet they loved that…….
We have a slightly downmarket room from those which the rich and famous stayed in, but nonetheless a truly lovely one. Directly opposite the Vancouver Art Gallery.
We walked around downtown and then walked down to Gastown, the old part of town on the waterfront. However, that walk was cut short by rain and we hotfooted it back to the sanctuary of our room and a quiet dinner next door.
Monday 29 February
Better weather today, overcast but not raining. When one travels with Cherrie, one visits gardens. A lot. We went out today to the BC Botanic Gardens, which are in the grounds of the BC University. It’s quite a long way out of town and we were advised to get a taxi as we would have had to change buses and it would take a long time. So, we took a taxi. “Where?” asked the driver. “Botanic Gardens” we repeated, in our best British accent. “Never heard of it” he said, in his best Indian accent. “We’ll get out here” we said, but his foot hit the accelerator and we were stuck. However, he did manage to make a call on his hand held mobile (whilst driving) to dispatch (or DESPACH as his pre-loaded number recorded on his screen) to ask where the gardens were. “At the BC University” said the man at despach. “Where?”…..Anyway to cut a long story short, Cherrie took notes of the conversation (he was on speaker phone) and directed him. We arrived $35 later. We did not tip!
The gardens are pretty much dormant this time of year but we had a lovely three hours strolling through all of them. Lots of rhododendrons, some starting to flower, a north American alpine garden
Physic garden full of olde worlde medicinal plants
rainforest garden, a food garden which bounty is distributed to the homeless and hungry (they are still hungry at this time of year as the garden is barren) and lots of other treats including sweet little black squirrels.
We even saw a Glacial Erratic. That’s a large rock which was transported thousands of miles by a glacier about 18,000 years ago, during the last ice age. It really just looked like a very big rock but we knew we were looking at something special and we thought of you, Bryan, Tim and Signe)
Back to town via an uneventful taxi ride which the woman at the Gardens ordered for us. A different route this time, past vast properties with great views of Vancouver harbour. Back in time to spend another 3 hours at the Gallery and the MASHUP exhibition – a study of the birth of modern culture. Described thus “Something happened 100 years ago that changed the way we think about art and culture and the way we see the world. The last time this happened they called it the Renaissance, this time we’ve called it Mashup”. The exhibition takes up all four floors of the Gallery – their biggest exhibition ever – and includes works by some artists we have heard of (Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol) and many we haven’t (Jean-Luc Godard, Liz Magor, Isa Genzken, Hannah Hoch, Dara Birnbaum, Keith Haring, Barbara Kruger, DJ Spooky, Hito Steyerl). You learned lot reading this are probably aware of all these artists but we simple farmers from Berry were blissfully unaware. A really interesting exhibition, although no Picasso’s of note (well, not to us) so we only got really excited about these iconic Warhols.
Christine is exhausted so room service and an early night. We have tomorrow in Vancouver before boarding the train – The Canadian – for our 4 day journey over to Toronto.
3 days in Vancouver is not enough. A lovely city with more to see. Shame we didn’t allow another couple of days. Tomorrow we hope to get back to Gastown and up to the Museum of Anthropology – also in the BC University grounds…oh goody, another taxi ride, or 2.
Thursday 25 February
A pleasant 2 ½ hour ferry trip from Seattle to Vancouver Island, and Victoria – the capital of British Columbia and the political home of PM Justin Trudeau. Here is Parliament House taken from our hotel room
Spent the afternoon at Butchart Gardens. In 1904 Robert Butchart developed a quarry and built a cement plant on Vancouver Island. His wife, Jennie became the company’s chemist and after the limestone deposits were exhausted Jennie created a sunken garden in the disused pit. This was the beginning of the wonderful gardens, still family owned but now a national historical site.
To those of you reading this blog, please note that in the past we have kept a hand written diary of our travels. This blog now replaces that, so these are our personal notes and may not interest you. We understand.
Friday 26 February
A lazy day in this truly lovely city. A balmy 14◦C made it very comfortable to be out an about. An unscheduled visit to a chiropractor for CD as a result of a twisted back from a recalcitrant suitcase which did not appreciate the cobblestones of Seattle’s waterfront, a surprisingly delightful nibble in an Italian deli and a terribly boring movie with Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay called 45 Years. Like watching grass grow. Fabulous dinner at Ithica Greek Restaurant. Better than the typical North American food
Saturday 27 February
Gosh, Victoria is a lovely place. Cooler today and overcast, but a long and pretty walk around the waterfront all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf, which is largely a settlement of house boats
A taxi ride back to town
where we were picked up by a sailor
And a quick visit to the Museum where John Lennon’s roller dominates the foyer.
Wednesday 24 February
A much cooler day in lovely Seattle, but an unexpectedly eventful afternoon. As Christine took her first mouthful of the baby spinach salad she had ordered for lunch she was horrified to find a tooth in it. She spat it out in disgust and then was even more horrified to find it was in fact her own tooth. So the afternoon plans were detoured to Simply Dental in downtown Seattle. We had hoped for a supa-glue remedy but alas no. The tooth is now in a plastic bag and the remainder filed off. Only $60 though, so that was a nice surprise.
Prior to lunch we took a stroll through the fish markets which revealed a fish unknown to either of us. Here it is. Does anyone recognise this?
It’s a monkfish. Of course, the fishmonger had a string secreted to its tail and hidden under the ice on which it was lying. Just as I got up close and personal to take a photo the fish lurched at me. They heard the scream blocks away!
Over the past week in our arctic conditions, Cherrie has been experimenting with the several pairs of gloves she bought with her and has unequivocally decided that the pair she bought in Peru in 1979 are by far the warmest. Something to be said for hoarding after all! Vix and Ming, this photo is for you.
We posted a 10lb box home today containing our arctic clothes which are too bulky to carry around. The Peruvian gloves stayed with Cherrie.
Walked past cute ducks on the harbour foreshore…this really is a most liveable city
And a great window display in Ermenegildo Zegna store which took Cherrie’s fancy as these are seed suppliers she uses to grow our yummy veges at Quamby. We were too underdressed to go into the store!
We capped off our delightful Seattle stay with dinner at Aqua, on the harbour. A gorgeous bottle of 2012 Zinfandel from Storybook Mountain Vineyard in the Mayacamas Rangers of the Napa. A lovely wine. Why is Zinfandel not grown in Australia? Marg?
Early start tomorrow with a 7am check in to the Victoria Clipper and a 3 hour ‘cruise’ to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Pity CD gets sea sick.
all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf, which is largely a settlement of house boats
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