30-31 July:  This morning we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer for two exciting days’ travel.   We only had to take a small bag each for the day as our other luggage will be taken by truck and waiting for us each night at our accommodation.

Most of our group chose Goldleaf service but some of them went Silverleaf which meant that they ate their meals from trays at their seats on the lower level.  Whereas Goldleaf guests are seated upstairs and go down to the restaurant car to dine.  It was an extra expense, but we thought it was worth it.

The journey so far has been excellent; the staff could not have been more attentive, and the food has been plentiful and delicious.  What luxury, travelling along sipping wine and admiring the scenery.  The chairs are most comfortable and can be adjusted into many positions, including a leg rest.  The landscape looks fairly dry so far, even though we have been following the river.

At the end of the day, we arrived in Kamloops and were taken to our hotel.  The weather was very hot; around 40 degrees Celsius – we weren’t expecting that!  We were told that there was music being played in the park opposite, and we headed over to have a look.  But it was so hot and humid (with lots of mosquitoes) after a few minutes we decided to go back to our air-conditioned hotel and get our bags ready for tomorrow’s train journey.

28 & 29 July:   Vancouver – home to 2.26 million people.  We had two days here.  Saturday we did a city tour in our coach with John the driver, Jeanette our Canadian tour guide and Sherrie the WorldMark representative.  Our group consists of 24, which is a good number as it leaves us plenty of room to spread out in the coach.

Lots to see in this beautiful city and we are staying right in the middle of town.  The weather has been very nice so far, and locals and visitors are all out, walking, jogging and cycling.

Lionsgate bridge

This is a steam clock

Sunday was a free day, so we did some shopping and a lot of exploring around town, eventually making our way to the seawall and walked to Stanley Park, where we boarded a paddle wheeler for a cruise on the harbor.

One of many float planes landing in the harbour which is a designated airport

Sulphur used to make fertilizers

We really enjoyed Vancouver; lots to do and we’d like to visit here again.