Boarding at 'stupid' o'clock in Toron-o...
Why you ask...why would we do this? Good question. We arrived in Toronto, Couchsurfed, had a great time hanging out with Jim and Janie whom we met in Laos a few years ago and then drove to Michigan, U.S. to see Jens family but knew that Toron-o wouldn't be the Canadian place for us. There just wasn't the natural beauty aspect we have now been spoilt with in New Zealand!!
So we were off again! The plan was to hit the Greyhound for a 70ish hour, 4,500km/3,000 mile bus ride for around $300 CAN for the two of us. Much better value than flying and better for the environment. The scene was set!
Tues 30th March 2010 at 22:00 in Milton, an hour outside Toronto and we set off with our friend Janie giving us a lift to the bus station in the city. The bus was planned for 01:00 Weds morning. Nightmare number one...a majorly 'late/early' start. Nevermind.
We arrived at Bay Street terminal and said goodbye to awesome Janie. We immediately kicked into overdrive, something I believe you subconsciously do when moving from one place to another. Security, surroundings and possessions all become ongoing concerns. We introduced ourselves to a couple of nice German guys heading East. We then met a really chilled early pensioner age Canadian guy heading to Whitehorse (about a million miles away) and 'crazy' Heather. What a character she was and it transpired she was on our bus all the way to Vancouver!! This should be interesting.
Whilst waiting for our 1hour late bus to arrive we were also 'blessed' by a hilarious local who walked around the terminal doing a semi Michael Jackson/Preacher/Mime-act impression. He individually blessed us all like a priest would and moonwalked away. Brilliant. Just what we needed at 2am! It did make us laugh.
After boarding the pretty crap bus with no reclining seats and no tv, we tried to sleep a bit. Unfortunately crazy Heather sat opposite. Now Heather clearly has a big heart. Shes about 60, quite large, extremely talkative to everyone she meets and gave the impression she could rub some people up the wrong way.
We tried our hardest not to engage her too much and focussed on sleeping whilst heading north into other parts of Ontario. It would take us more than a day to get out of Ontario alone! We started to get a bit of taste of the rural/wild Canada.
English in Saudi Arabia and first police incident...
At one of the stops past the Great Lakes, we met an English couple. We were probably 5hours into the drive now and loved hearing the amazing travel stories these teachers had. They were currently teaching in Saudi Arabia. Crikey.
At the same stop we met these guys, it turned out a young guy on the bus had his wallet stolen whilst exiting the bus. The police were offered to be called by Greyhound but he declined. I spoke to him and I think he lost around $60. Not good for a semi-paranoid security conscious guy like me!! It was back to full alert.
Tim Horton's all round...
As the first few hours passed a pattern emerged. A 'Tim Hortons' cafe/restaurant/iconic coffee place would appear at every stop. Im sure Greyhound have some kind of deal with them.
During our first lunch break on the bus (Weds 31st around 1pm), we stopped at Saint Marie, still in Ontario. The Greyhound bus actually pulls a trailer behind it full of courier items for stop to stop. The stupid driver, whilst loading the new items, let the trolley go, it rolled down a hill and smashed into a ladies car. She was not happy I can tell you that. It had done quite a bit of damage and we were delayed whilst they resolved the insurance issues.
Yep...Heather is definitely a character....
Twelve hours into the journey and the first ipod charge faded. By this point, we'd been offered sweets, mascara, a bbq, $10 and a hospital admissions wrist band (with your personal details) by Heather. And yes, we were thinking the same thing...wtf!?!? Lol.
Heather had also run through the full script for Forrest Gump by now and so upon the next bus stop, we 'strategically' recommended a new passenger sit next to her. She proceeded to run through Forrest Gump over the next 20minutes. We were truly in stitches. What a character.
As we passed Lake Superior, we were greeted with a beautiful sight. There were stunning, huge sheets of ice melting away from the surface, a bright blue sky and forrest as far as the eye can see. Strangely, it felt a little like NZ, most likely due to the overwhelming natural beauty. Crossing icey river one after another, we enter Pancake Bay and pass some tipi's being constructed at the side of the road.
Despite the heat pounding at the Greyhound windows, sporadic patches of snow litter the side of the road and forrest paths. I notice a maple syrup sign; Ontario's largest product I was told by Janie a day before.
Wild Ontario....
Tall Canadian ferns stand competitively next to one another, all windswept in the same direction and overlooked by the odd hill/mountain as the road weaves its way further round the largest lake in the world.
We slow to an almost complete stop whilst the tired old bus negotiates an incline, the rocks put on a technicolour show with their deep reds, striped black and white and then silver dotted with bright brown.
Jen awakens from her nap and grabs a bag of crisps; every bus dwellers must have, and remarks that she keeps imagining dolphins breaking the surface of the lake. I'm reminded at that point by a coastal Peruvian drive we did with Oasis Overland back in September where a random schools of dolphins appeared to be following our route playfully on the shoreline. Jen feeds me some potently flavoured salt and vinegar crisps and I look up to see another 'Danger, Moose Beware' sign. One of many in the last few hours.
We finally reach the crest of the small mountain and start to descend as beautiful Crescent Lake appears to our right; the one a darker blue and more ice laden than others. We really feel like we're entering the wilderness now as fewer cars join us on the road and more trees surround us. As if thats even possible!
We drive pass Kenny Lake into Wa Wa, the birthplace of Winnie The Pooh I'm informed across the bus by friendly-but-definitely slightly crazy Heather.
Mankind is the problem...
Its a strange old world. One that does show its beauty every now and again. One that we hope to restore our faith in too. Well, to be honest, its mankind thats the problem.
Canada is beautiful. Its a fact. Our initial impression back in 2008 was a romantic city (Toronto), a good vibe and some pretty chilled people. And we were there during the summer, which was great too. But then we were spoilt with natural beauty and we haven't been able to get it out of our heads since. So the question is, does Canada compare to NZ? Too early to tell.
Since we've left the city life of the East Coast behind us heading out West, initial indications are good. However, as with any move we've done, the test is going there for yourself.
Hang on, we'd be travelling how far?....
As the wind picks up and noticeably shakes the bus, we attempt a few more rounds of nap tennis, each taking our turn for a 20minute snooze. To no real avail of course! Its hard to believe we're almost travelling from one side the other other of Canada on a 3,000 mile journey, in a country of 11,000,000 (11million) SqKm's. Its only second to Russia. Our good friend Jimbo said we'd be travelling from the equivalent of Spain to Khazeksthan. LMAO!
Suddenly the bus comes to a halt and the driver exits with no explanation. Chatter amongst the happy long haul bus dwellers erupts and crazy Heather immediately nominates herself as the new driver should ours be eaten by a bear. Now thats a far scarier prospect than the prospect of a repeat 'beheading' (referencing the 2008 Greyhound beheading!).
Luckily the driver re-appears and with no explanation, continues the windy drive.
A few hours later and it was 20:30. We'd been on the bus for 19hours and were witnessing our first Canadian sunset. What a sight it was. It was truly amazing. Bright, bright red across an almost cloud free sky turning into vivid yellow at its base where it meets earth. Gorgeous. We were around 200kms from Thunder Bay at a random restaurant with the backdrop of a raw, wild forrest around a solid iced lake.
32 hours into the bus journey....
We were now 32hours in, bascially half way and it feels like an eternity!! As a halfway summary, we've had 2 bus changes, 6 driver changes, 2 police incidents, 3 bus ejections and in theory, we've travelled 2250 kms. We've seen countless lakes, the best sunset in the world and our first bit of wildlife...a deer!
Only one more night and two full days on the stinky bus. Only, probably 20 more arguments between crazy Heather and the rest of the bus due to her disruptions. There's already been a number of incidents whereby shes been threatened with being thrown off! In general, she seems to have a big heart, but is not impressing a few tired people on the bus! It also turns out that the beheading incident from 2008 happened where we were...in Winnipeg and so they'd introduced airport style security.
Why oh why would you tell us that Heather...
Heather just told us she had a 'quickie' in a taxi on the way back to catch the bus in Winnipeg as we had a few hour layover. Shes about 60...very worrying. Why would she announce this to a bus full of strangers? Who knows. Lol. I didn't fully believe Janie when she told us back in Toron-o that the bus journey was full of sketchy people. They are!
The prairyland...it goes flat...
The land goes flat and the bus load of Greyhounders lay subdued as we cross the prairyland of Canada. This time around, we strategically position ourselves at least 6 rows from crazy Heather. Sensible. As we become more familiar and therefore more relaxed with those in it for the long haul, we 'slightly' drop our guard. One thing I have noticed however, is that the food is becoming more expensive! I (stupidly) purchased a small bag of nuts and a mars bar for $2.35! Rip off!
The hours flow into one, long, repetitive start-stop of Tim Horton's cafe's/diners and randomville (apologies to any avid Regina cyberdwellers). As the repeat bus stop blends with the average coffee, we gradually say goodbye (without an actual goodbye) to members of the original Toron-o departees.
Dramas and crap pizza...
A few more dramas and a complete crap for value pizza is the dinner choice and then we're in the dark once more snail pacing it forward across the fertile land.
Heather becomes increasingly erratic and starts to forget we're the same people she told the same story with different critically important information (such as $ values and whom was involved) to. An example of her calamity was during a (suggested to the rest of the bus by me) game of Chinese Whispers where only the rear four rows partook. In my mind, this immediately made it 'the' place to be on the bus. Lol.
I live in a tent....I really do...
As if, without warning, darkness fell and the now silver surfer majority on the bus enforced its will. The bus fell almost silent and the lights dimmed as a random "I live in a tent" (no, seriously...this guy does live in a tent) Canadian, hunkered down under his friends double seat; down to the quite skanky area under peoples seats where their sweaty, 2/3 day old dirty feet were. Nice dude!
Calgary arrived...
The next morning came, and after another sleepless, cramped night on the Greyhound we found ourselves in Calgary. One word...wow! There it was, our first mountain wow. It was in fact our second wow of the journey but this one, for me, was more potent due to the way it reminded me of the Patagonian region of South America.
After that, the mountains just kept on coming! Snow cap after snow cap, piles of snow all around and chalet style buildings everywhere. Crazy Heather is nearly left behind at the Canmore stop and learn that the young, super chilled guy who lives in a tent has in fact been carrying an elaborate 'bong' set up in what appeared to be a violin case. He remarks that hes a lot more relaxed now due to it being completely legal in Alberta and BC apparently.
Wildlife bridges in Alberta...
The stunning view persists and the wildlife only bridges start to dot the highway. This is my kinda place! Time zone changes taken into account and we only have 12hours left on the bus! The end is in sight.
We enter avalanche territory, 30-50 metre potential avalanches that could bury the bus in an instant. The softly spoken Canadian guy in front of us who's been acting as a bit of a tour guide points out some round concrete 'turrets' that the Canadian military use to fire missiles into the mountains from in order to avert avalanches. Awesome! Definitely youtubing that. What a beautiful part of the world this is.
The countdown had begun. Rather than saying 'we still have...hours left', we were now pointing out that we only had a few hours left. Five hours to be more exact. Although the countdown had begun, so had the rain. And man this new driver (about the 15th so far) was slow. We're in desperate need of a shower and some food that isn't crisps or chocolate.
That's the beauty of travelling though, take the rough with the smooth.
Will Bruce be there?
Vancouver was just around the corner and we'd planned to meet up with Bruce upon our arrival. We'd me Bruce in Halong Bay, Vietnam, back in 2008 on a four hour boat trip and have kept in contact since. A few emails, many thousands of miles later and we were from the UK waiting at his local bus station. We were truly knackered, must've smelled pretty bad and looked worse, but Bruce was there!
A lady from our bus informed us as we left the terminal not to hang around the area too much as she'd seen a couple of dead bodies outside the last time she was there. Nice. It was also night time and so didn't give us the mountain view we were looking for. Wait for the morning, we'll be human again and will get to see what we've been looking for!
Goodbye Greyhound...probably never see you again on this kind of journey!!
