KEY POINTS:
I was just wandering back from the dining car after another superb three-course meal when there were excited shouts of, "Bear on the left, bear on the left."
My sprint to the outdoor viewing platform was not quite fast enough to catch a glimpse of a mother bear and two cubs scampering down the embankment into the forest. But there was the consolation of a glorious view of the turquoise waters of the Kicking Horse River carving their way through a narrow canyon whose rocky walls disappeared into the clouds long before they reached the snowy peaks that we knew were up there.
David, one of the attendants in our coach, took the microphone to explain that the river's name comes from an occasion when James Hector, who discovered this route in 1858, was kicked in the chest by one of his pack mules and was unconscious so long that his companions gave him up for dead. "They were actually discussing whether to bury him or try to take his body back when he started breathing again." Good story.
And that little flurry of activity is typical of what you get in a trip on Canada's famous Rocky Mountaineer train: the service is outstanding, the scenery spectacular and the commentary fascinating, but they can't control the wildlife or the weather.
The idea of running daylight rail trips through the Canadian Rockies started in a small way back in 1989 and proved incredibly successful. These days the Rocky Mountaineer has its own special coaches. In gold leaf class, where we were luxuriating, they have two-stories with a panoramic viewing area up top and a dining room down below.
The service has also expanded on to several different routes but the most popular - and the one we were doing - is still the classic two-day trip from Vancouver to Banff with an overnight stop in a hotel in Kamloops.
For us this was the first leg in a Canadian Scenic Circle which took us on a spectacular journey from Vancouver to Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Port Hardy at the tip of Vancouver Island and back to Vancouver again.
It was raining as we chugged out of Vancouver before dawn on the start of our expedition and as usual the railside cityscape was a little seedy with graffiti, abandoned cars, sad houses and even a camp where a few homeless folk lived.
But there were also interesting views of the port at the mouth of the Fraser River with huge rafts of logs, giant barges loaded with timber, stacks of lumber and piles of woodchips.
And we were still passing through the outer suburbs when breakfast was served.
Food on the Rocky Mountaineer is nothing like the rock cakes, pies and mugs of stewed tea I still associate with train travel. It is designed by a chef, each coach has its own galley and the result is superb.
For this first meal I had scrambled eggs wrapped in smoked salmon and sprinkled with caviar. Yum. And after that it got even better.
Meanwhile the train had left the city and Claude, the other attendant, took the microphone to announce that we were just passing the town of Hope, chainsaw carving capital of the world, setting for Sylvester Stallone's first Rambo movie and entrance to the spectacular Fraser Canyon.
"So we are now officially beyond Hope." Collective groan.
By now we had entered the sort of landscape we would be enjoying for most of the next two days, the track running alongside one of a series of wild rivers at the bottom of a rugged canyon, pine trees sprouting from anything that wasn't solid rock, and the mountains peering through any gaps in the clouds.
At regular intervals there were more places with interesting stories: Hell's Gate, where 900 million litres of water a minute surge through a gap only 33m wide; Kanaka, named for the Hawaiians who panned for gold there in the 1850s; Murray Creek Falls, where according to legend a water spirit lives; groups of hoodoos, pillars carved from sandstone by the elements, and said to contain the souls of women who died childless.
There was also plenty of wildlife: thousands of bright red kokanee salmon spawing in the Columbia River; a magnificent male bighorn sheep standing at the entrance to a tunnel beside the Kicking Horse River; a large bald eagle - the most impressive of many - sitting on a log in the Eagle River; a huge beaver lodge under the bridge across the Thompson River leading to Kamloops; and statues of grizzly bears on the outskirts of the ski-town of Revelstoke.
At regular intervals we were plied with more food: fresh-baked muffins and coffee for morning tea; mushroom chowder, roast bison and cheesecake for lunch; wine and cheese mid-afternoon; tiger prawns, honey-glazed pork and chocolate gateau for dinner.
At Kamloops, where we stopped for the night, we went to the Great Canadian Lumberjack Show with a story loosely woven around displays of chopping, sawing and log rolling.
Even more entertaining was sharing a table with a delightful old Iowa beef farmer called Homer who asked where we came. "New Zealand? I've heard of it. Where is it?" Later he inquired, "What language do they speak in New Zealand? English?"
But Kamloops was really only a way of filling in the hours of darkness, when you can't see the scenery, and as dawn rose we were off again for another day of stunning landscapes, good food, delightful stories and fascinating wildlife which continued right to the end. Indeed, we were just approaching our destination, in Banff, when David took the microphone to explain they were giving each of us "a souvenir DVD of the trip and ... oh, bear on the left, bear on the left".
I missed seeing that one too. Fortunately I saw plenty of bears elsewhere in Canada ... but that's another story.
GETTING THERE
Air New Zealand now flies non-stop Auckland to Vancouver. There are now three flights a week, reducing to two a week in April, May, June, September and October. Pacific Economy class fares start at $2389 return, including all pre-payable airport and government costs. See airnewzealand.co.nz, call (0800) 737-000 or visit an Air New Zealand Holidays Store.
PACKAGES
House of Travel has 12-night packages around Canada's Scenic Circle from $8,449 per person, including twin-share accommodation and some meals, valid for travel 15 June to 23 September. The package includes return economy class Air New Zealand airfares to Vancouver, airport transfers in Vancouver and three nights accommodation at Sandman Hotel and Suites Vancouver, plus the 10-day Spirit of the West independent tour with superior accommodation each night.
The Spirit of the West tour includes the Rocky Mountaineer two day train trip from Vancouver to Banff in redleaf class (upgrade to goldleaf class for $1219); coach travel from Banff to Lake Louise and Jasper, including Banff Sulphur Mountain gondola pass, Banff Upper Hot Springs swim pass, evening wildlife tour in Banff, and visits to Emerald Lake, Yoho National Park and Takkakaw Falls, Lake Louise to Jasper Icefield Parkway tour, Ice Explorer ride on to the Athabasca Glacier and Jasper Tramway pass; two-day rail trip on the Skeena from Jasper to Prince Rupert travelling totem class; BC Ferry ride from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy via the Inside Passage; coach tour Port Hardy to Victoria; coach and ferry trip Victoria to Vancouver (or fly from Port Hardy to Vancouver at an additional cost). Contact a House of Travel consultant for more details.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Contact House of Travel on 0800 838 747 or www.houseoftravel.co.nz. For general information on British Columbia see
