ROCKY MOUNTAINEER - CANADA
Rocky Mountaineer - Canada - Luxury Travel Magazine
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But Where Are The Bears? | |||||
| By: John Lundy - Issue 43, Winter 2010 | |||||
| (Rocky Mountaineer – Canada) | |||||
| DO A QUICK WORD ASSOCIATION ON CANADA AND YOU’LL TRIGGER IMAGES OF MAPLE LEAVES, MOOSE, NEIL YOUNG, JONI MITCHELL, HOCKEY LEGEND WAYNE GRETZKY AND ALMOST INEVITABLY THE SWEEPING VIEWS OF SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS AND ENDLESS RIVERS VISIBLE FROM THE EPIC RAILWAY JOURNEY THAT IS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINEER …. BUT JOHN LUNDY REALLY JUST WANTED TO SEE GRIZZLY BEARS. | |||||
| Before I left Australia for Canada everyone to whom I mentioned the Rocky Mountaineer replied “That’s the train with the glass roof, isn’t it?” Indeed it is. The roof allows panoramic views of the Canadian landscape that makes the traveller feel almost part of the natural world outside the train. But more of that later. Vancouver is home to the Fairmont Pacific Rim, a recently renovated luxury hotel sitting right on Vancouver Bay with its magnificent mountain backdrop and views out to Vancouver Island. There is a vibrancy at the hotel that sets it apart. On checking in I mentioned that I’d seen a bar advertising live blues that evening on my way in from the airport. I returned from a walk a little later in the morning and found a list of the concierge’s favourite jazz and blues haunts shoved under my door. I stopped at the bar in the hotel’s lobby for a beer and a listen to the next Joni Mitchell wannabe and I found myself chatting to Canadians, who seem to think you are lonely if you’re by yourself. It’s quickly established they are proud of Vancouver and Canada in general. They have a right to be. The hotel’s location in Vancouver’s Stanley Park area is home to many species of trees hundreds of years old. It’s well worth the walk from the hotel to see the Douglas-firs, western red cedars and western hemlocks. If you wish to see an even greater range of tree life, take the Tsawwassen ferry trip to Hornby Island where magnificent grand firs and lodgepole pine adorn the island. The island was settled by U.S. draft dodgers during the Vietnam war who liked it so much they stayed long after it was safe to return home. With no development on the island, it has remained an environmental haven. The Rocky Mountaineer runs from Vancouver stopping overnight at the historic town of Kamloops before travelling on to Banff and Calgary. Many couples make the trip together, often to celebrate an anniversary or simply because this was a trip they’d always wanted to do together. One of the on-board crew told me she loves her job because of the number of people each trip who tell her they have saved for many years to fulfil a lifelong dream of this railway trip. It’s not possible to do justice to the kaleidoscope changing scenery as the train moves through its 1000km route to Jasper. From Hell’s Gate, on the mighty Fraser River, where the river squeezes through a passage as narrow as Kate Moss’s waist, to the mindboggling engineering feat of the Spiral Tunnels; the glass lakes, moonscaped deserts and ancient glaciers; nothing stays the same on this journey for very long. The onboard crew provides an invaluable commentary as the train wends its way from Vancouver and heads towards the Rockies. At one point a crew member rushed to the microphone to tell us to look to the right, where the river had reached a strong waterfall. “Look closely and you’ll notice the salmon ladders underneath the waterfall, built by the government to help the salmon on its climb and increase numbers.” It’s a small detail, but one I would have missed on my own and am grateful to hear. He later tells me privately that salmon stocks were decimated by over fishing and poor river management policy but have now recovered to 80 per cent of their peak numbers. Later, when we get our first sight of the huge glaciers that sit both sides of the train, we are told that they have diminished in size quite sharply in recent years and urged to play our own small part in preserving this beautiful planet. Passengers are informed before the journey begins that the chances of spotting bears from the train are very high, with bright prospects of also seeing moose. There are a number of false alarms along the way and while everyone bravely tries to be pleased when we encounter deer and osprey nests, in our heart of hearts we know it isn’t the same as a grizzly. The on-board staff join in this and you can almost feel them willing the bears to emerge from the trees and show themselves. Bear and moose spotting is almost a national sport. Everywhere we stopped along the way a local would proudly tell our tour guide, “I saw a mother with bear cubs just off the highway this morning,” or something similar and go on to describe the experience with awe and wonder. Canadians have a robust and dry sense of humour that will make you feel right at home. Waiting for my helicopter ride over the Rockies in the Banff National Park an attendant told me that a Swiss family had reported seeing seven bears on the road that morning. “If it had been an Irishman, you’d figure maybe one or two, but those Swiss…you’d have to believe that.” The helicopter rides can be arranged from the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise. The chopper takes you high above and across the glaciers before descending into the valley below and landing on the shores of the Cline river, which flows through the mountains. While you’re looking up at the glaciers and attempting to drink in the immensity of this natural cathedral, the pilot pops open a bottle of French Champagne. There’s something to be said for French champagne at the bottom of a glacial valley. A lot to be said, really. Back on the train, there are three meal sittings a day in the dining car with all ingredients sourced from British Columbia and Alberta. This includes prime Alberta beef, wild salmon and some interesting local game. The selection of local wines are distinctive, with the whites tasting familiar to an Australian palate. The Rocky Mountaineer courses alongside the expansive Bow River in Banff, which bubbles like a witch’s cauldron as it makes its way through the beautiful Bow Valley. The area was once home to Calgary Zoo’s celebrity grizzly “Skoki”, a bear which lost his fear of humans back in the late 90s and was continually making contact with people in a quest for food. At the time Canadian Parks and Wildlife had a “three strikes” policy and when Skoki was caught red-handed scoffing himself in the back of a Lake Louise bakery things looked very grim for him. Calgary Zoo heard Skoki was on death row and offered to take him. Now 22, he’s been there ever since and it’s worth paying a visit to the zoo just to see him. The on-board commentator points out natural rock formations that the First Nation tribes believed were the repository of the souls of the dead. Canadians speak with warmth and reverence when discussing the First Nations, the aboriginal Indian tribes which populated Canada before the coming of Europeans. It’s impossible not to note with a little sadness the difference between this acknowledgement of the importance of the contribution of the First Nations and the often fractured debate that continues to take place in Australia. If you stay at the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise, make sure you take the guided tour of the lake conducted by the hotel’s ranger Mike Vincent. A knowledgeable and passionate environmentalist, Mike makes the point that 96 per cent of travellers to the lake don’t walk any further than the shores of the lake adjacent to the hotel, satisfying themselves with photographs from here of the imposing mountains shadowing the lake. Given that a two kilometre walk takes you from there to the end of the lake, it’s hard to disagree that it seems a shame not to walk a bit further. Take one of the hotel’s canoes out on the lake. They’re sturdy and safe, providing breathtaking views of the mountain glaciers all around. I never did see a grizzly bear, but far from disappointed I’m secretly pleased. The timid bears have given me a good excuse to return to Canada one day. The Rocky Mountaineer once featured on the BBC program titled 50 Things to do Before you Die. I suppose there are as many lists of those 50 things as there are people, but I’m more than content to have this one ticked off my own list. It’s an unforgettable journey with majestic scenery, gentle Canadian reminders that we all have a role to play in preserving the beauty of this planet, and French champagne. What more could you ask for? | |||||
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| Rocky Mountaineer | |||||
| Fairmont Hotels + Resorts | |||||
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