Monday 5, May Rocky Mountaineer

Didnt get a lot of sleep last night so was certainly up and ready for the 5.30 baggage collection from our room. All aboard for our 7am departure to head to the Rocky Mountaineer rail station.

We were barely there 5 minutes and it was time to board. we are in the gold leaf carriage so have a birds eye view with a glass roof. We are seated near Janine and her 90 year old mum, Penny, who we were seated with at dinner on the first night. We already have a good relationship with them and have a few laughs. There are about 70 passengers on the top floor of the carriage. the dining room below seats 36, so dining will be in two sessions. Jo and I are in seats 33and 34 which is the demarcation line so we are the last of the first group to head down to the dining room once the train is underway. We are seated with Patrice and Ian from Sydney. We all got on really well and had lots of laughs. As soon as breakfast was over(I had eggs Benedict which were really good but I dont know why they insist in putting potatoes with every meal), we all headed up stairs again. The ever changing scenery was just excellent. Photos dont do it justice.

Throughout the day we experience excellent service, with drinks being offered along with snacks. It might only be 9.30 am in Vancouver, but Ive been up since 5.30 so I reckon it is definitely wine time! More changing scenery and lots of wow moments. I know it sounds really snobby, but Im so glad we are in the gold leaf carriage as I doubt the silver leaf without the glass ceiling and not being higher up, aren't seeing as much of the fabulous landscape as us. Time for lunch and I have a perfectly cooked medium rare strip steak. I couldnt fit in dessert but that look great too. Oh, and I had wine too! Back upstairs again and more scenery to keep me engaged, plus chatting to our newly met travel companions.

As it is now getting on into the afternoon I decide to opt for Baileys on ice and they go down really well. I say 'they' as I did have more than 1. Early on in the day I advised my nearby fellow travellers that if the driver needed me to fill in for him, I would not be available as I stick to the 8 hours between bottle and throttle rule... so I felt most comfortable in imbibing whatever I wanted. Our service manager is a wealth of information and keeps us informed of all the sights, locations, history, background, etc. We can see the remaining impact of the wildfires and or floods. Litton is one such place that was decimated and is taking years to rebuild.

More great scenery and as we get closer to Kamloops we see a lot of longhorn sheep standing precariously on the sides of mountains. My photos didnt pick them out so you just have to take my word for it that they were there and there were a lot of them! We pass lots of very long freight trains heading to Vancouver.

Saw a couple of osprey nests. Likely to see more wildlife the more we head inland. The mountain sides, rivers and blue sky backdrops are picture perfect. We even saw someone para gliding. Heaven only knows where they set off from.

We finally arrive into Kamloops a bit before 7. The Coast Kamloops is a big hoteland our room is good. We probably dont need much for dinner, but decide to head to the hotel restaurant Romeos, for a light supper. We meet Penny and Janine in the hallway as they are heading to the restaurant so we have dinner with them. I had Padthaway with prawns and it was delicious even if I couldn't write finish it. Back to the room. catch up on the blog. Lights out as it is another very early start in the morning. Today has been an extra good one.