Do You Have Your Bear Bells, Mel?

Day 4
August 5, 2014

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should write today. We are day 3 on the train, though it feels like we have been on here forever. It’s amazing how quickly things become routine and familiar. New people boarded in Winnipeg and we have found ourselves relaying information, and calming worries as many of the things that come up are old hat to us now.

One of the great things about train travel is all the people you get to meet. They fill the tables, so as we are three there is often a solo traveller who joins us. It is great to hear everyone’s story and to hear where others are going. We have been dubbed “The Train Girls”. People seem to love the idea that we met on the Trans Siberian and now are on our second train trip together. Maybe this will become tradition and we will hit the rails every summer.

Yesterday was spent whiling the time away. It was a long day made longer by an ever-increasing delay. The one good thing about the delay is that a lot of what would have been in the night while travelling was in the day. Northern Ontario is beautiful so I was happy we didn’t miss that. Manitoba was lovely too, but much of it was crossed while we were asleep, or at least whilst it was dark out. Everyone commented on how boring the prairies would be, but honestly, looking out at the vast expanse of butter-coloured fields has been quite peaceful and relaxing. There is evidence here of the flooding- large areas are still covered in water. I have taken a couple of videos. I am going to try to take at least 10 seconds or so each day so I can splice them all together in the end and make a short video of our trip. I think it could be cool. No worries, I am still happily snapping away in case the video is just a big flop.   

A lot of our conversations revolve around the things we hope to see and do on our trip. We all hope to see some wildlife, though perhaps not up close. Anissa asked if I brought my bear bells, which I originally heard as bear balls. I think I choked a little on my Peek Freans Fruit Cremes before I realized what she was talking about. Nina and I found the concept of bear bells quite funny. The next topic of conversation was around bear spray. I am not even sure bear spray is legal in Canada. Besides, my response was that I hope never to be so close to a bear that I could spray it in the eyes with a spray can. We had a good laugh at all this and so as soon as we find an outdoor store, we are buying Bear Bells for Anissa along with bear spray. We figure we will let her lead our hikes, jingling all the way. And we will breathe a collective sigh of relief as the bears scurry away back in to the mountains.

Speaking of Peek Freans Fruit Cremes, I think I have eaten the equivalent of an entire box on this trip. They are in the Park car, free for the taking, and we have been taking advantage of this quite regularly. It’s not often one of us goes down and doesn’t come back with at least one package. Someone knocked over our garbage bag yesterday and we all looked a little sheepish as the countless wrappers spilled out. This is what our days on the train are like- delicious meals- different every day with lots of choice, sitting in the Park car, watching the world go by, eating Peak Freans, reading, napping, talking, eating, napping some more…. It’s a lot of the same.

We have been reflecting on the comparisons between The Canadian and the Trans Siberian. I must say, having a shower on this train is a huge bonus! The shower is small, but it’s hot and the water pressure is great. And it’s clean! The train seems to really pick up speed at times, so whilst in the shower, you tend to get tossed around a fair bit if you are unlucky (lucky?) enough to be in there when the conductor decides to floor it. As well, night time seems to be the choice time to make up for lost time. I was thrown around so much in the upper berth last night that I actually worried I might be thrown right out. There is a hanging mesh basket for your stuff in the top berth and with the rocking of the train, it swung about wildly last night. I lay awake most of the night waiting for something to go flying. Nothing did, other than me!

Yesterday our big stop was Winnipeg (or as Dana would say, Vinnipig- but so fast you can barely make out what she is saying). I told the story about Winnie the Pooh and how he was named after a bear from Winnipeg, but of course, no one believed me. Thanks to Union Station’s free wifi, I was able to connect, google, and prove that I was right. 

We were supposed to have a 3hr45 min stop in Winnipeg, but they told us they hoped to shorten it to 45 minutes so we could make up some time. They were changing crew and restocking the train, as well as changing /adding carts. Unfortunately, their estimated time was too optimistic and we ended up being there for an hour and a quarter instead. Not too bad, considering all they had to do, but not great considering they still had two sittings left for dinner (they managed to serve the first before we stopped). We finally ate around 9 and it was a little bit chaotic. New people came on the train and wanted to eat right away, but we all had reservations so they were asked to wait. People were unhappy and already complaining- I felt bad for the crew. They really work very hard and I figured they must have been tired. We were fortunate to have the second sitting for dinner because not only did the third sitting start around 10:30/11 but the kitchen also ran out of food.

The girls are renaming the country, we now have None-of-it (Nunavut), New Finland (Newfoundland), Vinnepig(Winnipeg), and Sewiks Lookout (Sioux Lookout). Apparently the reason for their mispronunciation is my accent. We’ll see who’s laughing last when they are lost and can’t get anyone to help because they refuse to pronounce things “properly”. 🙂

Now we just wait anxiously… we are getting closer and closer.

Jasper, hold on to your hats ’cause here we come!!