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johnfowles · 06-07-2007, 12:23 PM

Having just made our expensive foray down under I doubt that we will be one of the party
plus as you will see below "been there done that"
my main recommendation is to pack a few packs of cards and gen up on a few card games
as a never ending succesion of vistas of prairie rivers and lakes does get tedious
This topic had been ominously neglected for a while but I was reminded of it by a fine article that I spotted in my weekly Travel Telegraph email which brought a link entitled
"In the tracks of Canada's luckiest settlers" at:-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma...tcanada104.xml
It describes travelling from Halifax to Vancouver,
Here are a few quotes from that article and I will add few slide scans from my return journey from Montreal to Vancouver by car and back by CNR (now VIA RAIL) in July 1966
A transcript of my father's notes from this, his "holiday of a lifetime" is at:-
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/1966/
We drove 3750 miles in a "drive-away" 1964 Buick Wildcat that had to be delivered to a dealer in Vancouver

The Wildcat at a dominion Supermarket in London Ontario, note the skyline of Detroit in the background.
Then after an enjoyable few days visiting old friends of my parents in Vancouver it was time to load our luggage on the CNR train for the somewhat tedious journey back East

my fanmily plus Gordon and Irene Dowty behind the luggage cart.
"I chose the later dinner seating so that I didn't miss the views of Mount Robson, the Rockies' highest peak, from the dome car"

My view from the dome car
"Jasper - at the heart of the one of the Rockies' four major national parks - is, with the exception of the gorgeous Jasper Park Lodge, a plain little town. The surrounding wilderness is the attraction. As I disembarked four elk were grazing on the platform

CNR diesel 6782 at rest at Jasper station in July 1966.
Note no elk visible!! But can you smell the fresh mountain air!!!
"We were scheduled to arrive in Vancouver at 8am. That $23 fare bought the 1938 traveller a ticket to what has been called "the village at the edge of the rainforest".

Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea on Vancouver Island

A view on the way to the Daintree (rainforest World Heritage site's Discovery Cantre)
where the Daintree river flows into the Coral Sea on the Queensland shore (the famed GBR Great Barrier Reef is just over the horizon)

"and.. it was on its way to becoming Canada's "lotus land" - the dream destination of every cold, bored prairie dweller and every hard-up kid from the Maritimes."
Ron Jones take a bow!!

[ June 07, 2007, 14:15: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

06-07-2007, 12:23 PM	#7
johnfowles Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: New Jersey U.S.A. ex UK and Canada Posts: 4,846	Having just made our expensive foray down under I doubt that we will be one of the party plus as you will see below "been there done that" my main recommendation is to pack a few packs of cards and gen up on a few card games as a never ending succesion of vistas of prairie rivers and lakes does get tedious This topic had been ominously neglected for a while but I was reminded of it by a fine article that I spotted in my weekly Travel Telegraph email which brought a link entitled "In the tracks of Canada's luckiest settlers" at:- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma...tcanada104.xml It describes travelling from Halifax to Vancouver, Here are a few quotes from that article and I will add few slide scans from my return journey from Montreal to Vancouver by car and back by CNR (now VIA RAIL) in July 1966 A transcript of my father's notes from this, his "holiday of a lifetime" is at:- http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/1966/ We drove 3750 miles in a "drive-away" 1964 Buick Wildcat that had to be delivered to a dealer in Vancouver The Wildcat at a dominion Supermarket in London Ontario, note the skyline of Detroit in the background. Then after an enjoyable few days visiting old friends of my parents in Vancouver it was time to load our luggage on the CNR train for the somewhat tedious journey back East my fanmily plus Gordon and Irene Dowty behind the luggage cart. "I chose the later dinner seating so that I didn't miss the views of Mount Robson, the Rockies' highest peak, from the dome car" My view from the dome car "Jasper - at the heart of the one of the Rockies' four major national parks - is, with the exception of the gorgeous Jasper Park Lodge, a plain little town. The surrounding wilderness is the attraction. As I disembarked four elk were grazing on the platform CNR diesel 6782 at rest at Jasper station in July 1966. Note no elk visible!! But can you smell the fresh mountain air!!! "We were scheduled to arrive in Vancouver at 8am. That $23 fare bought the 1938 traveller a ticket to what has been called "the village at the edge of the rainforest". Where the Rainforest Meets the Sea on Vancouver Island A view on the way to the Daintree (rainforest World Heritage site's Discovery Cantre) where the Daintree river flows into the Coral Sea on the Queensland shore (the famed GBR Great Barrier Reef is just over the horizon) "and.. it was on its way to becoming Canada's "lotus land" - the dream destination of every cold, bored prairie dweller and every hard-up kid from the Maritimes." Ron Jones take a bow!! [ June 07, 2007, 14:15: Message edited by: johnfowles ]