Day 28 - Prince Rupert

Today it was still raining without stopping now for the third day. Since there is not too much you can do in Prince Rupert in rain I slept in a bit longer before preparing for my afternoon seaplane flight to Queen Charlotte's Island (QCI). But when I went to the seaport they told me the flight was canceled due to bad weather at the destination. I quickly browsed through my options in my head as I had to be on the island tomorrow noon to join my 3-day tour I booked. They had a flight tomorrow morning 8am so I would be able to still make it from Masset to Queen Charlotte City (QCC) for noon with a cab. Their was no flight to QCC so I could only fly to Masset which is at the northern tip of the island, QCC being 100km south from it. I ordered a cab to Masset seaport for tomorrow to be sure.

Since I had the rest of the day in Prince Rupert and it was still raining I went to the Museum of Northern B.C. where I got a taste of the Haida art and culture which I will see more of on QCI. The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. I really liked the Haida carvings on black argillite, a rare sedimentary rock that occurs only on QCI. In the gift shop I was looking at a 10cm long canoe carving until I saw the price tag with four digits on it.

I booked the same guestroom for tonight and then headed to Cow Bay to have a local seafood dinner plate in a port restaurant that has stood there since 1934.

Day 27 - Inside Passage ferry to Prince Rupert

Today morning started at 4:45. I had to be at the ferry terminal at 5:30 to not loose my reservation. The boarding took about an hour and we were scheduled to leave at 7:30. Wandering around on the outside deck of the ferry at 6 in the morning and listen to the eagle cries is really an experience. As a boatman told me this is the time when they hunt for fish.

The weather was not a bit better, it was raining all day long. The ferry had a rain and wind covered outside deck so you were able to enjoy the fresh air without getting wet and too cold. Inside you hat comfortable full-length seats next to the windows if you were rather the inside type. I started with a full buffet breakfast as being up for 3 hours without eating is nothing for me. There was also a tourist guide on board who gave a little introduction about the touristic spots of B.C, making sure that you don't just look at the window of your Prince Rupert hotel waiting for better weather. When asked if anybody is going to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte's Island) I was the only one raising my hand. He said I made a very good decision because that place is paradise. This was already a good sign that my 3 days there will be well spent.

On the way the captain announced whenever we went by some scenic area or when a whale has been spotted so people could go look at them. Good luck with understanding marine terms like port and starbuck side. Although the weather was bad, I was outside as much as I could. You don't get to see the literal west coast of Canada from the sea too many times. The ferry goes through a passage between the west coast islands, so mostly you are traveling on calm waters, but at the first part the ferry was on open waters and you could feel and see how the waves move this enormous ferry up and down. I am not the seasick type though so I just enjoyed the ride.

The ferry eventually arrived in Prince Rupert at 10:30pm before we passed by the new multimillion dollar container port of Canada that speeds cheap tat from China to bargain-desperate Americans, as Prince Rupert (pop. 15,000) is closer from Asia than Vancouver is. The hotel I booked turned out to be horrible so I canceled my reservation and booked a room in the Black Rooster Roadhouse, which is one of the nicest and best maintained hostel/guesthouse I have ever seen. I learned about it only from some folks on the ferry as it wasn't on my radar. The level of their separate room for $75 beats most of the hotels in Prince Rupert.

Day 26 - Telegraph Cove, Vancouver Island

Today was whale-watching day. It was raining in the morning so I called the tour operator to change my booking to the afternoon tour. Little did I know that in the afternoon it is still going to rain. So I brought my rain jacket with me and my umbrella so that I still can use my video camera. The boat was a medium-sized boat, not a zodiac, so who didn't like rain could sit in the dry but on the expense of a good view. I of course was on the top level getting all the rain, but with a good view on the sea. The fog around the harbor with the rain and clouds together was quite misty when we left.

We didn't need too much time to see the first pod of Orcas, or killer whales if you like. Telegraph Cove is one of the best points in the world to watch for Orcas because there are both resident and transient Orcas here. Chances are you will see the resident ones. Resident Orcas live mostly in this area and transient Orcas just travel through here during their usual migration cycle. As I learned the two types have a very distinctive feeding habit. Their were plenty of Orcas to watch and they were not too far away from the boat so you could clearly see them. I also filmed a full breach. They seemed pretty playful, sometimes swimming on their back and striking heavily with their tail fins.

Later on we have spotted a humpback whale but you couldn't see too much of it other than its hump and tail fin emerging from the water. They tend to dive deep and stay there when a boat is in the near. There was also a sealion head sticking out of the water at one point.

Coming back from the tour I continued my road north on Vancouver Island with destination Port Hardy. I skipped Cape Scott Provincial Park as it was raining heavily all day long and I have to get up early tomorrow to be at the ferry station 5:30am.

Day 25 - Horne Lake Caves, Vancouver Island

Today morning I went to the bakery close by to pick up some quick breakfast as I had to rush further north on Hwy 19. Funny that while paying for my coffee and two cookies I was asked if I was the guy from Toronto. They already heard about me from the bar. Anyway, my first stop today was at Horne Lake Caves. There are two caves that you can explore by yourself and a third one is only accessible with a guide. The guided tour was fully booked so I went for the two self-guided caves on my own. On the map the caves are drawn as a pretty straight hollow so I thought you can easily walk in and out. No you can't, it's tougher than that. I found myself quickly squeezing myself through 1 feet narrow crevices and crawling on all four or on my but to push myself through small spaces I never could have imagined possible. Definitely nothing for claustrophobic people.

And then you can go multiple ways - over or under rocks - and you will find out if you chose the harder way only when it's too late. Halfway in you realize you just have one flashlight and you start praying that the batteries will last, else you are in pitch dark. It was quite and adventure I have to say and that I was alone in the cave (well, not counting the scary pairs of eyes that were following me in the dark) gave even more thrill to the adventure. Of course I recorded everything with my head camera with some entertaining narration. The walls were full of cave crystals, which is basically precipitation water but it shines like that you will think you found silver.

Once out of the cave my clothes were all dirty and ready for washing. Similarly my car as the road leading to the caves is 15km of dirt road. Didn't know that when I was washing the car the day before in Victoria. Anyway, it was just dust, so a sudden 0-100 accelaration on the highway cleaned everything off again. My next stop was Telegraph Cove, which is a 4-5 hours drive further up north on the island. I booked the whale-watching tour for tomorrow but both accomodations there were already full. Telegraph Cove is basically 1 restaurant, 1 bar, a marina for boats, a whale-watching tour operator and 2 possibilieties for staying overnight. It's a resort town with basically no residents. I went to Port McNeill to find a a place to stay. Port McNeill is nothing fancy, mainly port industry buildings, and couple of motels for the tourists that came for Telegraph Cove. And imagine rain, lot's of rain.

Day 24 - Vancouver & Victoria cont'd

Today my parents were flying back home from Vancouver but before the afternoon flight we went to Stanley Park. Due to not finding a parking spot in time we had the chance to cross (twice) the Lions Gate Bridge that connects Stanley Park with northern Vancouver. We circled the Lost Lagoon pond where rackoons live and learned the technique of begging for food with their eyes, sometimes accompanied with a reaching hand. Poor guys don't have an easy life there but it's forbidden to feed them as they are considered a nuisance. But seeing people eat from their paper trays, something falls down anyway for them.

At the airport we had our farewells and then I had to go to the ferry terminal to Victoria once again. My route will continue north on Vancouver Island and today I wanted to reach Nanaimo to stay there for the night. Being in Victoria again, I went to shoot some pictures from the multiturreted Craigdarroch Castle. I didn't have time to explore it from the inside as it was after 8pm then and I had a 2 hour drive to Nanaimo ahead of me.

On the road I called ahead to book a room in the Painted Turtle Guesthouse and let them know about my late arrival. After I got there I quickly went for some late night pizza slices and to the closest bar, downstairs at the corner of the guesthouse, where I chatted with the local folks and ended up getting free shots from the bartender girl. I shared with them some of my stories from my trip and they don't see frequently people coming all the way from Toronto. Was a nice experience, met some friendly people here.

Day 23 - Victoria on Vancouver Island, Vancouver cont'd

We had an early start today wanting to reach the 9am ferry to Victoria, the capital of BC, and it takes about an hour to reach the ferry landing from our hotel. The ferry ride takes about 1,5 hour, so we should be there before 11am and then you need another 30 minutes drive to Victoria...yeah, it's not a downtown to downtown connection. A smart thing I have seen on the highway leading to the ferry are signboards reporting to how much percentage the next ferry is full (runs hourly). So if it's full you know you don't even have to bother rushing there.

In Victoria we went to see the Provincial Legislature building. Oh yes, the last in the row. Interestingly there was a group of 20-30 people already waiting for the hourly tour. Wow, in the rest of the Legs there was nobody else just us being shown around, and this on a weekday. As you would expect with such a big group showing up every hour, the guide was less enthusiastic then the previous ones we met...well, she was like a tape being played. That was also the reason why I can't remember anything she said as naturally I lost interest after the second word and started to examine the surrounding with my eyes.

After that we went to the Emily Carr house. Emily Carr was a well-known Canadian painter amd author born in Victoria. We didn't go in though because in contradiction with my guide book, the admission was not for free. It was $7 for each adult and I think that's a bit overpriced for taking a look into two rooms.
Before going back to the ferry we went to see the Governor's house and garden. The garden is publicly accessible and you can stroll around freely around the residence. Just to give a feeling how close you get to the residence you can see through the windows. The garden is extremely beautifully designed and maintained, you can see some astonishing compositions of flowers, bushes and trees.

For me it was interesting to see this openness, there was even a washroom in the garden. Seems like here the message got through that without any realistic reason the public can't be closed out of places that are funded by the public. Try this at the Hungarian Parliament, which you can't even visit anymore, unless you are a member of a large (20+) group having a reservation months in advance. And I don't even dare to mention how overprotected our presidential palace is.

After going back with the ferry to Vancouver we went for some great sushi at the Waterfront. My parents never had sushi before so where else to try it in Canada than Vancouver. Plenty of local great seafood available and a bunch of first class Japanese restaurants around. We went to Hapa Umi and had a great variety from their menu. They liked it a lot. After dinner we did a last short walk around the greater block before returning to the hotel for a good night sleep.

Day 22 - Vancouver

In the morning we walked around the downtown area of Vancouver. Downtown Vancouver is basically a peninsula surrounded by water North, South and West and Stanley Park being the north-western tip of this peninsula. The northern shore is the most sought-after place, here is where countless high-rise apartment buildings overlook the Vancouver Harbour. The buildings look very similar to the Toronto harbour, only here there are much more of them.

In the afternoon we went to the Vancouver Aquarium. This place needs a lot of time to explore as there are quite fantastic exhibitions and lots of them. We have seen the Beluga whale show and seen how much posing these animals are willing to learn for food. It was sad to see that without the show they didn't seem too enthusiastic although they have been born in captivity. The animator asked during the show if anybody had the chance to see these animals in their natural habitat. Guess who was raising his hand there proudly. The seal on the other hand was a poser, when you came by he was jumping out of the water and was flipping his head from left to right to look perfect for those pictures, unbelievable. At home I realized I didn't take a single picture about the Aquarium but used my camcorder only. Anyway there will be videos available later on then.

Day 21 - Yoho, Glacier and Revelstoke National Park and off to Vancouver

It was still cold in the morning when we left. Today's list was Lake Louise, Moraine Lake and pass through the aforementioned 3 national parks on the way to Vancouver. Lake Louise is a tourist hotspot, think of hundreds of people within 100m distance. I don't know exactly why exactly this lake has been chosen by the crowd, they are literally 1000 other lakes that bring the same visual experience. Probably that the town Lake Louise is located at the intersection of the two busiest highways in the region (Icefields Parkway and Trans-Canada Highway). Park attendants are directing the traffic that comes to visit the lake...that tells it all. We didn't stay longer than needed to take some pictures and then checked out Moraine Lake, which was a bit less crowded and offered a same spectacular view.

Oops, I almost forgot to mention that we spotted the first grizzly bear while being on the trip. It was a mama bear with 2 cubs wandering not too far from the roadside and still causing a traffic jam by their sheer present. All the lake tourists stopped to get a picture. Our way was long, 800km, and there were quite a few stops to do in the 3 national parks, so I already thought: "Oh boy, when will we arrive in Vancouver?" Yoho National park is already in British Columbia province (BC), so We entered our third and last new time zone on the way. We stopped at Takakkaw Falls and then went on to Glacier and Revelstoke National Park. There are 3 short boardwalks along worth a stop where you have a chance to see some amazing flora. Hemlock Grove Trail and Giant Cedars Boardwalk will show you some more hundred years old and tall cedars and hemlocks. They were already here when Columbus just boarded his ship. Some are so huge that in their hollows black bears make their dens. I told you they were huge, right?

The Skunk Cabbage Trail introduces the visitor to this large sized cabbage plant that has a distinctive smell, hence the name "skunk". The boardwalk winds through a marshy area inhabited by some birds worth watching out for.

At the western end of Revelstoke Nat. Park the town Revelstoke is a good spot to fill up the car for the long trip to Vancouver. It was after 6pm when I had my last bites there before we hit the road. Oh boy again. Fortunately the new Hwy 5 between Kamloops and Hope, which is a shortcut to the more winding Trans-Canada Hwy, was the best highway I have ever seen in Canada. Most of the time 3 lanes, intersections are supported by road lights and wildlife is constantly fenced off from the road, plus cateyes on both sides of the road. Pretty much looks like European highways unlike the rest of the highways I have seen in Canada. Before midnight we reached Vancouver which seemed like a sea of lights from the far and high. The radio just played the "This city" song for the first time which gave the arrival to Vancouver a nice composed touch. I reached the downtown hotel we had booked 3 minutes before midnight so I could keep my plan of still arriving on the day that was planned. :)

Day 20 - Icefields Parkway

In the morning we spent some more time around Jasper, especially with the black bear that was going through the bushes along the road and didn't mind us watching him. Our trip for the day was to go down south on the Icefields Parkway down to Banff. Having a late start from Jasper and a bunch of things on the watchlist I already pictured a late arrival. Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, Weeping Wall, Athabasca Glacier, Peyto Lake...all worth a stop.

We have also seen some mountain goats next to the road, again very resiliant to bystanding people. Of course with horns sharp like those I wouldn't worry either.

The parkway gets its name from the 30+ glaciers that can be found in this area. Couple of decades before the ice reached the highway, now you have to climb a steep trail to get to the bottom of the glacier. At this part of the road, you are around 2000 m altitude and those mountain tips are well above the 3000 meter mark.

Since we were running out of time heavily (sooo many things to stop for) we decided to go only until Lake Louise and spend the night there in a lodge. After the last freezing night tenting was not an option. The weather was not much better, the car showed constantly single digit temperatures along the road. And this was an August afternoon. Brrr...

Day 19 - Jasper National Park

Jasper (and Banff) National Park are the most popular mountain holiday spots in Canada. I think it was fortunate that we arrived at Sunday night, so the weekend fighters have already left, making the places not too crowdy. Once you enter the park chances are low that you won't see wildlife. Deer and elk are in abundance and a sure thing to see. After setting up the tent we went for a quick hike to Maligne Lake. The first surprise on the road was a herd of big-horn sheep running in front of us on the road. From the far I didn't know they were sheep, I just saw a bunch of white butts hopping in front of me. It seemed this was the regular way to the feeding area, because they were not too afraid of the cars and stuck to the road. I have everything on video. I also finally had a chance to catch a deer with my photo camera as this one at Lake Maligne was really not too shy and kept on grassing couple of meters away from me, until a fellow tourist pushed the limits too far by trying to get one step closer than possible and the deer ran away. I think you shouldn't get closer to the animal than what he is comfortable with. You can see it on him if he gets nervous about you. Taking one step more for a better picture is a lack of respect towards wildlife for me. Buy a better lens instead of stepping on his dinner plate, I would say.

Lake Maligne is usually a very bright-coloured lake but since it was cloudy this day the colour didn't really was picture quality. The hike to Moose Lake is a really easy one, almost no elevation and leads to a very calm lake. It had a nice refleaction of the surrounding mountains.

Actually Jasper was less overrun by tourists then I expected and delivered the typical mountain town look with some nice wood and stone buildings lining the main street. Although they say Banff is more crowded, we will see tomorrow. Tonight it's very cold so I am guess I am going to be a bit freezing in the tent. They said it will be 3-4 Celsius during the night. Fortunately my sleeping bag keeps me warm in these temperatures as well.

Day 18 - Edmonton

We headed north to Edmonton in the morning. Edmonton has basically two cores, modern downtown and Old Strathcona which is a spot preferred by the hip crowd. Tattoo saloons and pubs line the main street of Strathcona, people sitting and watching the people on the street, or the other way around. We had lunch here and I tried the local specialty, jambalaya, which is a risotto-style dish with a little bit of everything in it. There isn't much more in Strathcona than to just to walk the street one way and that's it.

We then went back to the modern downtown just to find that pretty much everything closed down at 4-5pm. We wanted to see the Legislature BUilding (I know, again, but once you started to watch all the Leg's in the other provinces it becomes a series that you want to complete) They supposed to close at 5pm, but at 4:30pm the doors were already closed.

There is really not much going on in this city. Never mind, just a quick look at the architectures in downtown is just enough then and in turn I can get to bed early. Being on the road for so long this can feel very good now and then, believe me. I have seen Edmonton, nothing there, believe me. If you feel otherwise, tell me what did I miss.

Day 17 - Calgary, Royal Tyrrell Museum Drumheller

We had a beautiful day for strolling along the downtown area. Calgary's downtown is dominated by the business towers similar to Toronto, but you recognize the unique style of this city instantly. Hard to describe, but I think city development is not happening here without much planning and design. Business towers mixed with some old-town architecture, never forgetting about some green area and keeping all this relatively clean. And I didn't even mention the Plus 15 system, a channel of enclosed walkways 5 meters above the ground covering most of downtown, mainly popular in the winter I assume (similar concept to Toronto's PATH system).

Prince's Island Park right next to the downtown is perfectly used by the suites coming down from their sixty-something floor office to have a jog at lunch break, or at least to show off their tanned upper bodies (with jogging being the excuse for it). The park was packed with joggers and walkers seemed to be just an obstacle minority for the flow of the running community, not to mention that particular wood staircase at the end of the bridge, where you are the _only_ one not running up or down the stairs.

About 100 km northeast of Calgary is a town called Drumheller which boasts a renowned Dinosaur museum. They are open until 9pm so it was enough to leave from Calgary in the afternoon and still enjoy the exhibit. Drumheller area is called the badlands and the word describes it well. Nothing really grows here and you can't really do anything with the land (like farming) other than finding the best dinosaur fossils in the world, but you can certainly enjoy the visual beauty and uniqueness of this geography. Small rocky hills kind of layered one above the other and the resident ground squirrels keeping a close eye on you, makes this area just perfect for thinking about the movie "The Hills Have Eyes"

The museum started of with some introductory fossils explaining the story about their findings. I first became critical whether this would be the same in the whole museum. Well, I wasn't quite interested in learning who found the bone on which fishing vacation, but rather to learn about these giant creatures that once ruled the world. My critic became unnecessary as the following exhibits were only about the species, not the finders. They have truly a quite big array of fully available (or partially restored) pre-historic skeletons on display. However, a tattood (what do I say, a paint-decorated) man grabbing the 65 million year old well-preserved skeleton with full hand while wondering "Is this real???", before being limited by his partially embarresed wife saying "Honey, there is a big 'Do Not Touch' sign in front of it" seems to be an evergreen museum cliche.

As every attraction in North America the exit leads through the gift shop. Sadly they had all the useless stuff but they didn't have Darwin's book that was referred in the exhibits multiple times, and that I honestly thought of buying. Useless might be harsh, but isn't it sarcastic that in a museum that houses one of the most prominent pre-historic research lab and emphasises the importance of science throughout the exhibits, your best option of buying a book is Disney's Dinos?

Day 16 - Waterton Lakes National Park

One thing you can't get run out of in Waterton are hiking trails. I planned to do the famous 18km Crypt Lake hike that begins with a boat tour that takes you to the trailhead which is on the other side of the lake. In the morning we had some angry looking clouds and a forecast suggesting a thunderstorm for the day so we decided to change the Crypt Lake hike for a shorter one and for an early start to Calgary. The Lineham trail leads through a foresty and grassy mountain hill area to a 150m high waterfall view.

The way there had already some smaller water falls and esthetic creek crossings before you started to hear the roaring of the big last one couple of corners before you see it, making you think: "Ah, this is it!" I have seen some droppings on the trail, seemed not too old and that it comes from a well-sized animal. Then again a dropping. After the third one I honestly started to question which wild animal is so badly willing to follow the trail before the lightbulb went off and I figured out that people do this trail by riding horses. We spent roughly 5 hours for the return trip and in this time did see some birds and some very diligently observing ground squirrels. Interesting that you see the bigger animals rather next to the road than deeper in the forest.

After having a well-deserved and much-needed lunch at the waterfall we returned to the car, had a coffee at the Prince of Wales and then hit the road to Calgary. There was a very bad thunderstorm on our way, I was glad we hit it only after being in the car. The whole sky was pretty much black and since it was ahead of me I saw myself driving directly into its center. It was short storm though, rough and short. Just before sundown we reached our hotel for the night and went out for a dinner in downtown. What else would you eat in Alberta than it's very own beef steak?

Day 15 - Road to Waterton, Alberta

Since we arrived late last night, we slept in and got on the road only at noon. Waterton is the center town in Waterton Lakes National Park. The drive there was 6 hours long, so we were scheduled to arrive only for the night. Waterton Lakes National Park is in the very south-west corner of Alberta, close to the border with British Columbia. With entering Alberta today we entered into the next timezone but since Saskatchewan doesn't use Daytime Saving Time the time on the clock didn't change. The road through Alberta was different from the one in Saskatchewan. Huge wheat plains changed to huge herds of the famous Alberta beef. After being through the heart of Alberta, the silhouettes of the Rocky Mountains started to appear.

Waterton is a lakeside resort town in the lower Rockies of Canada, and the park around it a pocket of tranquility and mostly untouched. Bears roam here freely, frequently crossing the roads. We have seen two bears right next to the road, they seemed to be used to the cars by now. One of the bears was literally next to the shoulder of the road when I stopped next to him. I lowered the window and turned on my video camera. He is used to cars, but seemingly not to camera noises. My camcorder's turn on sound made the bear stay up on 2 feets looking around. He is so much taller then he looks normally when he stands up. Amazing footage on my camcorder, but no still pictures though, sorry. Have to extract the video from my camera first.

Day 14 - Grasslands National Park

Grasslands National Park is a 5 hours drive from Saskatoon, south on Hwy 7 and Hwy 4. I had this idea in mind that I want to stop for lunch only at Val Marie, the entry point to Grasslands National Park. I read about a country inn in Val Marie, so I was sure about my meal. The way down south was the usual prairie picture. Endless fields of wheat and sometimes a grain elevator filling up a 100+ car long cargo train. Arriving in Val Marie at The Convent, the owner said they don't run the restaurant anymore...ooops. There I was at the furthest end of Saskatchewan (maybe also the world) in a small town boosting a population number of 150 and the only restaurant listed doesn't exist anymore. Lesson 2 learned on the road...very similar to the empty tank lesson: If you get hungry, eat at the first spot you have a chance to eat. Don't be picky, it might be there is nothing else around within 100km. Luckily there was another hotel in Val Marie having a restaurant. Well, it's the pub, billiard room and meeting room of the town. You know, it's the place where everybody has his own seat and you eat what is prepared, not what you want. And now we were sitting at somebody's table.

The Grasslands National Park entry is next to Val Marie and you can do a self-drive tour on a gravel road leading you through the park. You are warned that there are rattle snake, black widow spiders and scorpions in the area. However, the first animal you will meet is the black-tailed prairie dog. They have a huge network of burrows across both sides of the road and once they spot you they begin their alarming system. Prairie dogs look like ground squirrels but are bigger. They usually stand tall on their hole looking out for danger (you), and the closest one to you makes a funny barking kind of noise, signalling with this to the others. Once you get too close to this fellow, he gets too excited and escapes into his hole and another fellow starts squeaking/barking. They are so funny and entertaining...imagine a field of 100-200 holes.

The park is a treeless and a desert of grassy hills where you wouldn't want to get stuck. The sunshine is hotter than anywhere and burns your skin. When you spot the first cactus you know that this is a different geographical setting than where you started your morning.

We couldn't see the bisons that supposed to be here, but the road crosses only a small part of the park, so chances seemed low that the bisons will be in viewing distance. But I already saw some already at Riding Mountain. I also couldn't find any rattle snake. I was actually getting out of the car at stops and trails and wandered through the area but couldn't find any. Although I am not sure if I am lucky or not that I didn't see any.

We spent too much time in the park, and didn't notice that we have a 4-hour drive to our next stop, Cypress Hills Provincial Park. The road was quite adventurous as I took some short-cuts through gravel backroads to make it there faster...2,5 hours instead. But farmers might have reported a red arrow stirring up the dirt on the roads way too much that night.

Day 13 - Saskatoon

In the morning we headed to Saskatoon on Hwy 11. The drive was around 3 hours so we were at our hotel at noon. Fortunately they let us check-in early. Saskatoon is called the Paris of the Prairies, and is the biggest city of Saskatchewan by population. There is definitely some European influence in architecture in this city, I could see that on some apartment buildings and houses. This for example is one of the houses that stood out.

After checking out the Broadway of Saskatoon we went to the Western Development Museum, a unique Museum that recreates Saskatoon from 1910. It displays the longest indoor street of any Museum in Canada and you can roam through the buildings. There is everything from a scary looking dentist office to a pharmacy with countless vintage bottles, there is even a grocery store that looks like if it would be straight from Dr. Quinn's town.

You could spend quite a while here checking out all the stunning details and hidden treasures. To top it off they have a collection of vintage cars, including a 1972 Cadillac. At the end I didn't have enough time for the interpretive tour that introduces the development of a farmer family's life from the early 1900s to modern day, so I just rushed through pressing all the shiny buttons.

Before returning to the hotel, we walked along the shore of the South Saskatchewan River, that cuts through Saskatoon, stopping shortly at the Mendel Art Gallery. Tomorrow we will go to the grasslands down south (picture a rattle snake and stuff).

Day 12 - Regina, Saskatchewan: RCMP Heritage Centre and Provincial Legislature

Today we were about to leave Manitoba and enter the next province, Saskatchewan. Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan, though not the largest city by population. Regina is also the home and training center of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada's iconic police officers, also called Mounties.

At the RCMP Heritage Centre you can find out how the Mounties always get their man, emphasis on always. Several exhibitions chart the past, present and future of the RCMP and vintage uniforms and technologically cool displays show the whole story. There is an interactive CSI-style murder investigation walk-through and a 27 minute Hollywood-level introductory movie about the RCMP shown at their theater.

After that we went to check out the Provincial Legislature building, an outstanding structure around Wascana Lake in the city center. There were free tours organized every half an hour and we caught the last one at 7pm. Did you know they are able to provide a live tour in German and Spanish language (besides English and French)? The building's structure has similarity to the Manitoba Legislature, though its specialty are green marble pillars from Cyprus (which supposed to be not available anymore) and some nice wood carvings.

Wascana Lake is a nice place to walk around before one returns to his comfy hotel bed.

Day 11 - Riding Mountain National Park

In the morning I walked down to the beach to shoot some pictures and check out the clearness of the Clearwater Lake. Campers were lowering their motorboats into the lake.

Then we took the road south on Hwy 10 towards Riding Mountain. You cross The Pas, another gateway to the North. Not much to stop here for. Riding Mountain was the first National Park to visit. There is a park office at the boundary of the park and admission fees for the parks are collected. The park is a natural gem in the middle of the Manitoba prairies. Green forests and blue lakes rise above the plains. It is a sure bet to see wildlife. We spotted the second black bear crossing the road, again too quick and shy for the camera.
Wasagaming is a sensitively designed resort town on the south shore of Clear Lake where we made our base for the night. Apart from this everything is wilderness in the park. There is a 20km long gravel road to Lake Audy that has bisons. The area is surrounded by a fence but the bison live relatively freely on a extensive grassland area. There is a bison lookout where we were lucky enough to spot a grazing ~1 tonne bull bison. He was really close so when he became aware of us and looked back at us very alert, everything froze in me. Even though the lookout was raised half meter above the ground that animal was massive and his look was measuring.

Then another bison sounded from the forest next to us but we couldn't see it. It turned out there was a whole herd in the woods and this bull was the only one out on the grass yet. Eventually the herd came out to graze. There is a drive trail around the bison's area and it is strongly encouraged not to leave the car. We drove along the trail and so we could see the herd from a closer spot.
The bisons were the definite highlight of the day, tomorrow we will head for Saskatchewan.

Day 10 - Clearwater Lake Provincial Park

The train back to Thompson was not a minute shorter, same 3,5 hour delay. The 550 km distance is accomplished in 20 hours. That makes an average speed of 27,5 km/h. There was no severe weather or whatsoever so this seems to be the usual traveling time of this train.
Next night's stay was at Clearwater Lake Provincial Park, which is known of it's - guess what - clear waters. On the way there, not too far from Thompson on Hwy 6 is Pisew Falls, which looks like a smaller version of Niagara Falls. There is a suspension bridge close to the fall, sponsored by the Thompson Rotary Club.

Taking Hwy 39 and then Hwy 10 we eventually reached the campground quite late. Fortunately at 9:30pm there is still daylight here. Surprise: the showers were coin-operated and the park office was already closed. I was lucky I had enough loonies with me.
On the way we spotted a black bear crossing the road. Yay, first one! He was fast so no chance to catch a picture of him. He looked back at us half scared half curious while running for the trees.

Day 9 - Churchill

The night on the train was like as a night on a train usually is. I slept in all kind of positions on my double seats. I am sure there were moments where I slept head down and legs up. But I survived, so the day was on. The train arrived 3,5 hours late so I was a bit worried if I am going to make something of my day at all, and the same time I felt angry at ViaRail because the 9am arrival is nothing more than an aspiration. The departure time from Thompson was moved to 4 hours later a month ago after I bought the tickets, but the arrival time remained the same. I thought that the train will be able to catch up that 4 hours and ViaRail thought the passengers will be stupid enough to believe that. ViaRail was right. At Churchill station they told me that the train is 4 hours late since the schedule change. I somehow figured this out on the middle of the way that the arrival time has not been changed to not loose out on clueless passengers hoping to arrive in the morning. Approaching Churchill the whole train was looking out the windows to see a glimpse of what is awaiting them here at the end of the rail road, the end of the world, the beluga and polar bear capital of the world.

The whale tour operator was only 200m away from the station. Upon arrival they told me I can't do snorkeling with the whales on the afternoon boat tour (I booked for the morning tour) because the low tide brings in all the mud from the shore and I won't see anything. I couldn't feel more devastated. All the way up here and now this? Of course I couldn't accept this and persuaded the lady as long as she said: OK, let's try it. Yes! We had some time to pick up our rental 4x4 before the whale tour and check out the Eskimo museum.

Then we drove down to the port where I got my wetsuit. Getting on one of these is already half the fun. Frictious as it couldn't be more. Jamie, our boat driver navigated us to open water where the whales were. Occasionally there was a seal sticking his head out to check us out. And then you could see them, the majestic white bodies diving out and back again. And then you could see the white humps everywhere, they were so many. It took some time to see some of them close, as - naturally - they try to avoid the boat. But once you see a white blur right next to the edge of the boat, you know they came to make contact. Who are we? It was time to get into the water. Jamie explained me how the drill goes, and hush I was in the arctic waters of the Hudson Bay. My gentle entry into their kingdom made the whales swim away. It took some time until they dared to come back again. And then the moment came. I saw one of these white giants swim away under me.

He was about 3 meters below me. I got exited. And then another came, swimming along with me, with his belly up. I could see his eyes looking at me. And then I could hear their voices. It was unbelievable, there I was in their very home of these 5 meter long beasts and they said: Hello, who are you?. Indescribable...I winked them back and made some friendly laughter voices trying to communicate back. In the meantime more of them came and I could see 5 belugas at once. Time stopped for me there and I was a 6 year old child again. I could have stayed there forever but we had to go back because of the low tide. We were out 1.5 hours then, but I just wanted to stay more. No chance, Jamie was determined. I could understand her when we almost grounded on the way back, as the water was 2 meters lower than when we left. But it was totally worth it, even with the limited visibility...I was so happy I could do the snorkeling with them. Unfortunately the picture quality of my underwater camera didn't turned out too good because of all the mud in the water, but I could piece together what is on the video with what I have seen with my eyes.

After the whale tour we had 2 hours to check out the vicinity around Churchill. There is a gravel road leading out of Churchill, that one is called the highway. And then you have dirt roads branching off that will lead you to all the interesting things to see. These roads are only for terrain vehicles as you drive over big rocks and through deep pools of water and sometimes through high grass. So that's why we got the 20 year old Nissan Pathfinder. Rugged as it is I had no problem with it, you just have to get used to the fact that once you are off-road, don't expect a smooth ride. We went to the MV Ithaca shipwreck that stands out on the shore for 50 years now.

It was low tide so you could have walked there if you have time. It's about a 1-2 km away from the furthest point you can get with the car. The other discouraging factor was that they spotted a polar bear near to it, that day morning. Although I had bear spray and a hunting knife with me, I knew that once I was on that open ground (huge plain shore area) there is no easy escape from a polar bear. I didn't expect the bear spray to work on the polar bear. The bear spray is designed against that berry-eating sometimes camper's sausage hunting black bears (much smaller than a polar bear). This beast slays walrus and muskox so I didn't expect some pepper spray to deter him. People are using guns here as polar bear protection (Douglas, the teacher of the school kids carried also one for this reason). On the way back we checked out the research center (a former rocket site), the golf ball style radars, the polar bear jail and Miss Piggy, the downed aircraft near the airport.

Then it was to reach the train back to Thompson. Churchill had it's charm, and I have a feeling I will be back here again some time, especially to snorkel with the whales...unforgettable. Only I will take the plane next time.