Thursday 4 July 2024 to Saturday 13 July 2024, 2676 Miles
It’s a startling fact, flying from London UK to Halifax, Nova Scotia is 2830miles, travel by road from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver is 3718miles. When you talk to Canadians about travel they measure the journey in hours not miles, or their case kilometres.
Thursday 4 July 2024, Saguenay to Camping Panoramique, Portneuf just to the West of Quebec. The journey was uneventful apart from the terrible traffic jams through and around Quebec.
Camping Panoramic was a good site, although a little expensive, with a a shop for beer and an outlet to sell food. The site was mainly aimed a RV”s, we were the only 4 tents on the site. This was my first chance to try Poutine, chips covered in brown gravy and cheese curd, I am happy I tried it but won’t be rushing back for more.
Camping Panoramique
Friday 5 July 2024, Portneuf to Arnprior, today was going to be a day of motorways to get past the large cities of Montreal and Ottawa. The traffic around these 2 cities was very congested, unpleasant in the heat on a motorcycle, made worse by the fact that filtering is not accepted practice in Canada.
In the queues we managed to loose Al and wouldn’t be meeting up with him again until tomorrow.
The weather forecast is for heavy rain tonight, we found a small motel for the night, the owner Max gave Phil and I lift to a local sports bar for dinner and a drink, the portions in Canada are too big for me, I shared a starter and a main course with Phil, these were more than adequate for the both of us.
Saturday 6 July 2924, a day of heavy thunderstorms as we continue our way West on our journey to Calgary. At a stop in a fuel station a lorry driver came to talk to me and warned me not to drive at night because moose crossing the road at night are a serious hazard . From what I have read a collision with them in a car can be very serious, I assure him I have no intention of riding at night, hitting a moose on a bike will end badly for me. From that point on signs at the side of the road warned about the dangers from Moose at night.
Sunday 7 July 2024, today we crossed the halfway point of the Trans CanadaHighway that runs between St John’s, Newfoundland and Victoria, British Columbia. Today the weather was better so we camped for the night at Marathon on Penn Lake Park and Campground, a good campsite apart from the mosquitoes. The staff at the campsite warn us we are in bear country, they give us a leaflet that contains advice on camping and preparing camp food, we prepared some food and made sure all waste was disposed off away from our camp and all pots and pans were thoroughly washed. All spare food, toothpaste, deodorant etc was packed away in the bike, in the early hours of the morning I woke up remembering I had a packet of mints in the pocket of my bike jacket, which was in the tent, I got up and locked them away in the bike panniers, just in case.
Camping at Penn Lake, Marathon
Monday 8 July 2024, a day of heavy thunderstorms as we continue our way West on our journey to Calgary. After a day of rain, and more promised over night we stayed in Thunder Bay at a hotel named Valhalla, disappointingly we didn’t run into any Vikings, the hotel was comfortable enough, the staff were friendly and there was a reasonable choice of food, Despite this it was a forgettable faceless hotel, just a place to rest before continuing our journey.
Tuesday 9 July 2024, a steady ride today making progress across Canada, Phil and I decided to camp a Falcon Lake, a beautiful spot spoiled by the dreaded mosquitoes. We decided a a hotel was a better choice so we could get away from the horrible biting insects. We watched the final of Copa America between Argentina and Canada, met some interesting people most of whom had drunk too much.
Wednesday 10 July 2024, the battery on the bike is deteriorating and restarting the bike after a stop is a nervous moment. After negotiating the ring road round Winnipeg Phil went to pull into a filling station, changed his mind and carried onto the next filling station, after filling the bike it wouldn’t start. Across the road was a large motorcycle dealership advertising Triumph and Kawasaki. Fate, or what? I walked across the road, negotiating my away across 4 roads and some ditches to find the dealership was also a BMW franchise. They didn’t have a BMW battery, thankfully they did have a suitable replacement. 3 hours later I have a new battery charged and fitted, what a relieve it is to know with confidence that the bike will start after a stop. Thanks to the very helpful and friendly staff at Headingley Sport Shop. Phil needs to be in Calgary on 12 July, no point in him sitting around waiting for me so we have a discussion and despite some reluctance he moves on.
Thankfully they had a battery suitable for my BMW
While I am waiting for the battery to be fitted I find myself talking to a local farmer who has just returned from what he describes as a very enjoyable trip to the UK. He has a common story about how changing weather patterns are affecting his world, lower than normal snow fall last winter which he expected would mean a dry year to come, he tells me that hasn’t been the case, unusual and excessive rain has left the ground very wet. As I ride through Saskatchewan I see evidence of flooding in the fields.
When I leave Winnipeg I pass a sign that tells me I am crossing the central Longitude in Canada, when I did an internet search later it tells me I already passed this point to the East of Winnipeg, I can’t say which is right. Tonight I stop in a Travelodge at Brandon.
Thursday 11 July 2024, today I am heading to Moose Jaw, its a very sunny and hot day so I book a hotel in the centre of town, in Canadian terms this is an old building with an air of grandeur, its not expensive and is an elegant place to stay for he night. I head out to to find a local bar and educate the bar staff how to make a shandy, I don’t do a good job at the first attempt, my first pint is half beer and half cloudy lemonade, not ideal although it quenches my thirst.
I start a conversation with Lindsay, a local builder who has been building cabins in what he describes as the bush. He shows me a video of him fighting a fire at a location of one of the cabins. From his stories that follow I am left with no doubt that to survive in the bush, isolated far from other people surrounded by very dangerous animals, bears, wolves, moose etc you have to very resilient and self reliant. A very enjoyable evening.
A grand hotel for my nights stay in Moose Jaw
Friday 12 July 2024, today I am heading to Brooks. I am nursing a thick head from the evening in a local bar with Lindsay. I have some time before I depart Moose Jaw which gives me the opportunity to take a run, the distances to be covered and time restraints have denied me the opportunity to take my usual morning run up to know.
The blue sky is clear although the temperature is pleasantly cooler. The countryside changes with rolling hills and the large arable fields give way to fields that contain cattle. If you look at a map of this area shows lots of water, as I ride through it the landscape there is little visible evidence of the water around me.
I ride at the side of a goods train at one point and count 150 carriages with 2 engines, one at the front and the other 50 carriages into the very long train.
Saturday 13 July 2024, heading to Calgary where I plan to spend 2days relaxing and catching up with the world. The bike is being serviced on Tuesday so I take the opportunity to ride to dealer to introduce myself and check out the location, This is a large dealership a franchise for BMW, Triumph, Ducati, KTM, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki.
The Airbnb we had booked in Calgary was giving us concern, no money exchanged hand so there was little risk in turning up. We arrived at the prearranged time, no one was there and our telephone calls didn’t get us any closer to getting access into the property. We decided to book alternative accommodation in Calgary and moved on, Phil was getting apologetic messages saying they were getting the property ready for us, too late we have moved on.
