On his way to work Andrew dropped us off at the Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver.
The Rocky Mountaineer Station.
We were able to check in and then sit and have coffee or juice.
They had a special ceremony with bagpiper and introductions and one little child calling 'all aboard'.
We were escorted onto the train and found our very comfortable seats.
As we were in the Goldleaf section this meant we were up on a higher level with domed windows which meant we had a much better view. When it was time to go for meals we moved to the next section down which still had big windows but the view was nowhere near as good. From the point of view of having to travel this way on the other classes this would have been much harder for Dawn as the scenery seemed to move so much quicker when lower.
As we left the station all the station staff were in a line waving us goodbye and flying the Canadian flag.
John was on the window, Dawn on the aisle and Steven on the opposite aisle. As Steven said, he was in for a quiet trip as the adolescent boy next to him spent most of the trip sleeping. His parents were normally sitting behind him and his other two siblings were across the aisle. Every now and then they tried to coax him to wake up and take in the view (what a waste of money as you have to pay extra to get the Goldleaf service and he certainly wasn't taking advantage of it).
During this first day we saw dramatic changes in scenery as we would go through the city and some industrial areas into the beautiful scenery of the Fraser Valley.
Temperate tropical rainforest.
There was a film crew from the Rocky Mountaineer doing a documentary for the trip for a promotional video - we were not selected :P
The narrowest section of the Fraser River is 'Hells gate' at Yale - this has a gondola that goes down to the water from the roadway above.
The Fraser River & Thompson Rivers meet at Lytton. The Fraser River is muddy whilst the Thompson is quite clear.
When we reached Ashcroft we could see the stark change there has been in the landscape with this area being the driest places in Canada with only 25cm of rainfall per year. This is a large cattle ranching area and there is also a copper mine.
Avalanche alley - they have built sheds to protect the line in the most prone areas.
Our tour hosts Lars & Alitha were always at the ready to give us some history of the area we were travelling through although Lars did enjoy making up some stories of his own too - however this just made it all the more fun for everyone and gave us all a laugh at times.
Osprey in flight.
Osprey in a nest on a telegraph pole.
Black canyon - from the dark shale.
Kamloops Lake
Rainbow Canyon is a reflection of the minerals in the rocks, copper turning green and purple when oxidised, iron turning orange and red and the yellow is due to sulphur deposits.
Some "Long-Horned" sheep.
A Bald Eagle on a rock near the river.
Finally we pulled into Kamloops - being welcomed by the Royal Mounted Police. We were given our room cards and bussed to the hotel for the night. We arrived around 9pm and walked down the road hunting for a bite to eat. We managed to get pizza and salad and then went back to the hotel to sleep.
The view at Riverside park.
The approximate GPS route - the windows were interfering with the signal.
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