Roger and Lynda and their Canadian Odyssey

Having experienced the heavy traffic in Vancouver city we decided that another early start was the best option.  Checked out and picked up car before 7 am and were on our way to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal to get the ferry across to Vancouver Island. This drive was uneventful until we arrived at the ticket booth. Roger managed to frighten the life out of both of us and the lady issuing the tickets when he hit the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal, fortunately there wasn't anything in front of us and the nice lady came out of her booth her comment in a broad Canadian accent and said with a big smile "I bet that scared the crap out of you, don't try to reverse, just stay there and I'll sort your ticket out". This is the route the ferry takes - Ed A cautious drive onto the ferry and we were parked and made our way up to the restaurant for well earned breakfast.  The crossing was very pleasant and disembarking was quite easy. A short and easy...

Having seen how busy Vancouver could be traffic wise we decided to delay picking up the car until early evening and do our sightseeing on foot. This was no bad thing as we piled on the calories during our train journey and the chance to walk a few off could not be missed.  On the previous evening we had found a nice bakery come cafe so we went there for breakfast.  we also picked up a box of cookies to take to the offices of our fantastic travel agents Fresh Tracks Canada ( link - Ed) . We found the office block with some help from a passer by and were warmly welcomed by the staff, unfortunately the two main ladies who helped in planing our adventure were not available but the cookies were greatly received by everyone there. Vancouver is a fantastic city with a wonderful seafront. Again with some help from some friendly Canadians and local maps were certainly put in the miles exploring from Gas Town at one end to Stanley Park at the other stopping off on the way fo...

The earliest start yet! We were being picked up at 0705 in the hotel just next door. This meant we needed to be up by 0600 to enable us to pack bags and grab a quick breakfast. Unlike our experience in Toronto when booking on the train the people and systems for the rocky mountaineer were flawless and ran like a military operation. Coaches took us and our luggage to the train where we were met by our team of hosts and hostesses who were going to look after us for the next two days. What a fantastic bunch of people they turned out to be, totally professional and really friendly to boot. Our blog editor in chief (Gareth) will put in the links that will give you an idea of the route taken and the level of service. ( Experience the Unforgettable and prepare to be truly moved! A great overview of the whole train/experience. - Ed ) The root that the train takes! Roger and Lynda started in Banff.  We went for Gold Leaf  ( an over view of the whole "Gold Leaf" packag...