All aboard the Canadian!!!

On Friday we headed down to the impressive Pacific Central station to board our overnight train to Jasper. The guards took pity on Alice & Barnaby and gave them cardboard trains to make (they clearly don’t know Alice!) and we all got to sit in a ” Prestige Club Lounge” waiting room (first time for everything!), much to the annoyance of the considerably older passengers, who arrived late and tutted at the youngsters taking up their seats!!!

These trains are notorously late but we weren’t too bothered, as we enjoyed sipping on free bubbly, munching on cheesy nibbles and getting to know our new best friends – Mike, a retired school teacher(!) from near Melbourne, who was off to see his kids in the States and Colin & Bev from Auckland, who were “spending their grand kid’s inheritance”.

Our sleeping arrangements were much more spacious than expected and we all slept pretty well, despite the rocking. Breakfast was before 8.30am and I had to wake them all up to get us down there on time!

The scenery on the journey was stunning, especially as we headed closer to Jasper through the Rockies. Alice & I sat in the carriage with a glass-domed roof, which gave us incredible views of the mountains. I’m afraid that Yosemite has been replaced by the Rockies as my favourite place on earth – the scenery is simply breathtaking! We even got to see two black bears at the side of the track (but couldn’t snap a photo of them quickly enough!) But if you read on to the next blog, you might see one…….!!!

We eventually arrived in Jasper 4 hours late, which is considered to be “on time” here! We still felt like we were moving on the train long into the evening, so goodness knows how we’re going to cope when we board the train again in a few days for a 3 night journey to Toronto!!!