Must have been tired – slept right through till 10.00 am
!! Got up, breakfasted, and was on the
road by 11 am. Even the camp maintenance
lady stopped at my site while I was having breakfast to chat about my trip, and
to wish me a Happy Canada Day !! Very
nice of her.
Not the most exciting day of travel, but it certainly
turned out to be interesting nevertheless.
Alberta seems to be rolling fields and agriculture and cattle – Not
really a lot to see. Oddly enough there
were several signs off to cross country ski areas but I couldn’t see any hills,
and as we were only at about 500 metres ASL all day, not sure where they do it
– Unless they just do it across the rolling fields !!! A hazy morning cleared to fairly clear
sunshine all day, with a temp of about 24 deg C. Very pleasant driving with the windows down,
and my music playing all day !!
At about 2 pm I arrived in “small town USA” – Or should I
say “small town Canada” ! Bonnyville –
But nothing to do with Triumph motorbikes (for those who “get it” !!). But being Canada Day today, the whole town
was done out in flags and bunting, and they had bbq’s going on down the high
street, and some classic cars cruising around. I drove around for a while, topped up with
fuel while it is still relatively cheap before I head further out into the
country, and then went to Tim Horton’s to try and get wifi. I am not particularly enamoured with TH, but
at least their coffee and an apple strudel was only $3 !! Once on wifi, I started trying to book a
train from Thompson to Churchill – And I tried and tried and tried. It kept saying “No train on the day requested” – But
I tried every day for a week !! I
eventually managed to get hold of a Canada Rail person on my US phone (which
doesn't work very well in Canada), and found out that due to heavy rain up there
for the past month or more, the rail line is down and there hasn’t been a train
to Churchill for 3 weeks, and they are not sure when they will start running
again !! Oh dear……….What to do ? This was a major part of my trip, to go and
see a polar bear and beluga whales !! I later got hold of
someone from Tourism Manitoba (how, I am not sure !), and we had a good chat,
and
he said that since I was this close, I might as well go to Thompson and see
what I can do. He checked some local small plane airlines and said they are
currently offering specials to try and entice tourists to Churchill, so I
decided to go for it. I then called a
place in Churchill called the IceBerg Inn, and the owner Dick said for me to
come on up, they are desperate for tourists, and he would promise me a bed
whatever happened. So that clinched it –
Off to Churchill it is. So I left TH’s
and got on the road towards Green Lake, or Lac Vert as some signposts
confusingly put it. Luckily there was no
sign post which pointed to Green Lake one way and Lac Vert in another !!
Arrived at about 6 pm and everyone was having a bbq in
the park by the river – and I saw a sign to “RV Park – Full Facilities” – Good,
could do with a shower. Go about 5 kms
down a dirt road, beside Lac Vert, and the office is locked up tight – Including
the showers !! A few campers said they
were all partying in town, so just to set up.
Sure enough, someone came round later, but the showers will be shut
today because the camp owners are all partying in town !! So far haven’t found a toilet either – Funny
“full facilities” out here in the wilds of Saskatchewan !
Went for a walk down to the lake and chatted to a couple
of fishermen coming in with their supper – Apparently it is called green lake
because in the heat of the summer the whole lake turns green with algae !! Sounds fun.
Anyway, good for the night, and will head for Thompson tomorrow – Have
to find the cops or someone to check on the condition of the dirt roads to the
north that I intend to travel across – The main road is south of here, but that
looks a bit boring so I hope to avoid it.
Will find out in the morning. Hopefully will also be able to have a shower in the morning !!
No comments:
Post a Comment