9th August - Kamloops to Vancouver

We were picked up from our hotel and coached to Kamloops station about 7.30am today. The staff were waiting to greet us with flags and the red carpet rolled out again for us to board the train.

I had been expecting another day of snow-capped peaks and glacier-fed rivers, but the climate on the west side of the Rockies is actually semi-arid desert and the landscape was completely different from what we saw yesterday.  It looked more like I'd expect some of the southern states like Nevada, or Arizona, to look. 

In some areas mineral deposits tinted the ground, and it looked almost otherworldly

Lots of other points of interest today, including an Osprey nest - that red thing perched on the bridge, which various pairs of ospreys have been using for over 100 years. 

There were white water rapids, Hell's gate and the joining point of the Fraser and Thompson rivers where one river is full of silt - and the other isn't.

Nearer to Vancouver we emerged into yet another different landscape - the Coastal Rainforest.

Today, there had been no delays, and we pulled into the Rocky Mountaineer train station (not the main Vancouver station) on time, at about 6pm.  All the staff at the station were lined up waving flags for our arrival.   Even though we'd only be on the train for 2 days friendships had been made with the other people in our coach.  It's a small world.  There were 2 guys in our coach from Swansea, and Denise met a guy who lived in the street she used to live in, in Great Sommerford. 

I can't say enough good things about the staff.  Upstairs we had Rebecca (from Cheltenham) and Naomi (from Wicklow) looking after us.  They were constantly up and down the aisles serving us wine and cheese, or scones and jam, or various drinks from the bar or the galley. They gave us hilarious commentary about the points of interest en-route, and were endlessly cheerful on days that seemed long for us - and must have been even longer for them. Downstairs in the dining car we were served with a smile by Julia (from BC) and Kyle (I never did find out where he was from). 
So I'm going to close with a photo of these great people who really made the trip special: