Around the World with Hardy(T)

Canada - In the Rockies

I left Vancouver on late on the 24th April and headed up towards Kamloops and the Rockies on the excellent Silver & Blue train. When I booked this train journey from Australia, I'd assumed I would be in cattle class with all the other smelly backpackers. But, no, upon boarding the train, to my amazement I was shown to my cabin and told what time to report to the restaurant for dinner! And if that wasn't enough, the frightfully nice porter then showed me to the rooftop observation dome and the BAR. I was going to enjoy this journey...

Unfortunately the trip up to Kamloops was made during the dark, but this gave me time to familiarise myself with the facilities. Unfortunately I familiarised myself a bit too well with the bar and, come about 1.30am, I discovered just how hard it is to go for a pee in a room the size of the average broom cupboard. For future reference, here is the procedure:

1. Leap, gazelle like, out of bed and into the 1' x 2' gap between bed, door and sink.
2. Remove Walkman, reading material and any other unsecured objects from the bed
3. Fumble with array of catches until bed is unlocked
4. Fold bed up against the wall, thus revealing the cunningly concealed toilet
5. (Ensure curtains are drawn prior to switching on light, although given the trackside population density of this part of Canada, this step is perhaps unnecessary)
6. Further fumbling with catches to release toilet seat
7. Pee
8. After first ensuring train is not in a station, flush
9. Fumble once more with catches to release sink cover
10. Wash hands
11. Replace sink cover
12. Return bed to horizontal position taking care not to knock carefully hung clothes from the hook on the wall and making sure you stand in the aforementioned 1' x 2' gap, lest you should flatten yourself
13. Lock bed back into position and retire
14. Retrieve Walkman, reading material, &c

Total time taken, about 30 minutes

Anyway, all toilet unpleasantness is forgotten the next day as the train trundles through the spectacular Rockies snowscape around the Mt. Robson area and eventually on to Jasper in early afternoon.

My request for "something cheap" on the accommodation front soon has me knocking on the door of Mr & Mrs Bowen's modest home. This small semi-detached is home for the night for seven backpackers. Being the last arrival, I get the special treat of the curtained off area of the living room with a single child's bed and a picture of the Pope grinning inanely down at me. Nice!

Before heading off from the tourist information office for my afternoon walk, I'm warned of the dangers of ticks at this time of year. So, with every sleeve and trouser leg tucked into every conceivable sock and glove, I bound off towards Old Fort Point for a view of Jasper and the Athabasca River area... only to be confronted by a sign saying "Beware of Bears". Why hadn't the lady at the kiosk warned me about bears? Presumably ticks are much more dangerous. Anyway, the views were worth the abject fear I endured and I lived to tell the tale over a few cranberry vodkas (an acquired taste) in the Athabasca Pub later that night.

The next day I decided to get the bus down to Lake Louise, thus discarding in ten minutes the weeks and weeks of pre-trip planning I'd done in Melbourne...