Saskatchewan, Manitoba & Ontario

Canadian provinces have such cool names.  We woke relatively early this morning, although we both managed a pretty decent sleep.  Just as we were getting ready to go for breakfast we pulled into the town of Saskatoon and everyone still tootling about in the station got to watch us in the dining car.  We must admit that although three cooked meals a day while sat on a train doing nothing much is not very good for us, it is nice to be waited on and the food is very good.

After breakfast we headed up to the dome car to watch the Great Plains roll by.  This was great fun, especially after only a short time up there our view was significantly obscured by a snow storm.  In the middle of April.  Because there are only a few things to do on the train, you have to ensure that you don’t do all of the exciting things at once.  So, having seen it snowing, we went back to our cabin and had our showers.  The shower on the train is actually very good.  Better than a number of hotel showers we have experienced.  Although not quite as roomy. 

 We have since played cards (Cribbage), read, and otherwise tried to occupy our time.  Lunch was finally called (we were in the 3^rd sitting) and we met some more interesting people and had more yummy food.  The afternoon has seen us bathed in bright sunshine watching the prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba roll by.  It has also been a chance to write up the blog for the day, although not sure when we will get to post it.

The opportunity arose when we got into Winnipeg.  After our Jasper experience of being locked off the train, we were a bit wary of being locked out again.  Counterbalancing that was the fact that we were keen to get off and stretch our legs.  We decided to go for it on hearing that the train station had Wifi so we could upload our most recent entry, and hopefully Skype the kids or Mum.  Plans made, we were in the middle of having dinner when the train rolled into Winnipeg earlier than expected.  Once we were done, we headed in there about 8.45pm.  It was still light (just) and we wandered around the area around the train station.  It is very beautiful with a lot of sculptures and public spaces.  They are also in the final stages of completing a Museum of Human Rights.  Canada seems to be making similar efforts to NZ in terms of their “First Nation” and it will be interesting to return here when it is complete.  We wandered around and got back to the station about 9.40 and got to upload the blog.  We didn’t get to talk to anyone on Skype (sad face) but did get to check out Facebook for updates on what people have been up to.  Back on the train at 10.30, we both had a great sleep lasting through until the morning.  Not sure if we are getting used to sleeping on the train, or just getting so tired that we’ll sleep anywhere.

We woke to forest, snow and lakes - a change from the prairies of yesterday.  That has continued throughout the day ceaselessly.  You would think that we have been on some form of loop, going around seeing the same thing all day, but it has been slightly different all the time.  Not much to report on the wildlife front either, except for the Bald Eagle that Siobhan spotted.  We also saw some footprints in one of the many iced-over lakes / ponds too, which we were assured were otter tracks.

We stopped for about 30 minutes at a little place called Hornepayne.  It used to have a railway station, but it has fallen into disrepair.  Our only option to stretch our legs was to walk up and down a muddy track beside the train that had about a foot of snow piled to the side of it.  The walk in the cold air was very refreshing and a much needed change from the sitting around in air-conditioning on the train.  We also had cell phone coverage which meant that I could Skype Mum and find that Dad is probably getting out of hospital on Monday.  We are all looking forward to that – him and Mum more than any of us I expect.

We reached the end of the day without reaching our goal of spotting more Canadian wildlife (we have become blasé about such things as Canada geese, crows and hawks; these no longer count), but we did enjoy a pretty sunset in the Park Car.  This is the lounge car at the end of the train where the old folk and the knitters gather.  I, armed with my lovely purple knitting, gained access for both Grant and myself (we are too young otherwise).  Of course, it may be we were welcome simply because we are in a sleeper car and that’s who the lounge car is for.  We stayed on for a little while after sunset but eventually returned to our cabin for our last night of train-sleeping.