quite a lot of land and did the great Circle Drive through the interior of the Island via Lake Cowichan, which follows logging routes through some spectacular scenery and very very few signs of civilisation. I also went on a whale-watching trip and am afraid to say it was a unmitigated letdown.
The annoying thing being, this year I have been to loads of places where it's possible to whale-watch but had been saving myself for the Orcas of Vancouver Island! Que sera sera... Even on the ferry making my way back to the mainland I kept one eye out on the off chance but it wasn't to be. Nor did I see any bears. Sods' law, as soon as I landed in England I received an e-mail from Sue complete with pictures of a mother and baby bear in her garden taken just days after I left! I did however have a very special moment with a bald eagle on a deserted beach. He was sitting about 50m away from me on the shore, very big and majestic. When he noticed me he very gracefully and unhurridly alighted and flew away.
Back in Vancouver I met up with the lovely Rachel, whom I had met in Africa in October. We had bonded over a mutual love of dolphins and writing and when I told her about my planned trans-Cananda rail journey, said she wanted to come along. True to her word, 8 months later here she was in Vancouver! As I think I've said before, friends met whilst travelling can very quickly become as close as childhood friends and Rachel is a perfect example. We spent a glorious day exploring Vancouver in the sunshine, chatting about Africa (our shared favourite topic), getting acquainted with the local wildlife (skunks, racoons and storks) before boarding The Canadian at the grandly named Pacific Central Station.
I was so glad to have a friend for this part of the journey - it was going to take 4 nights and 3 days and if our first impression of our fellow travellers was anything to go by - and it was - I would be in need of sane conversation. They say that only foreigners and weirdos travel by train in Canada - throw in a few oldies, and you have The Canadian. There were 3 classes of travel - 2 sleeper sections, with berths and showers, all meals included in the buffet car etc etc... and cattle class, where you have to bring your own food and sleep in your seat. Which of course, is the one we took. A year on the road has left me poorer than ever - but I comforted myself with the fact that 3rd class here was still a damn sight more luxurious than the '1st class' sleeper carriage i'd had on my train journey through Tanzania and Zambia last October! Luckily Rachel and I bagged 4 seats so managed to make a fairly comfortable sleeping space, and Sue had loaded me up with home made bread, cookies etc so we weren't going to starve. The journey took us through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world - the Canadian Rockies.
The opportunity to view wildlife was fantastic, made even better by the cool glass-roofed viewing cars. We were lucky enough to see not one, not two but SIX BEARS during our trip. In each case they were just ambling along the side of the rail tracks, obviously accustomed to the roaring train hurtling past. We also saw a moose, a beaver, some elk, bison, mountain sheep and a grey wolf.
We stopped off in Jasper and also Edmonton, where I had a short but sweet reunion with my two cousins, one of whom I haven't seen since I was 7 years old! After leaving the Rockies we entered Prairie land - mile upon mile of cornfields, the flatness punctuated only by the occasional grain store or farm. In a way it reminded me of the Dengie (my home area - a very flat farming area on the coast of Essex), just on a much larger scale.
We had a fairly uneventful stop in Winnipeg for dinner - apart from standing on officially the windiest street corner in the world, there wasn't a great deal to do - then travelled on to Toronto through endless miles of forest and lakes. Unfortunately the photo's just don't do it justice. Canada really is as beautiful as you imagine. Toronto, however, was just another city. I feel spoilt, but I have been lucky enough to visit some iconic cities this year - Cape Town, Sydney, Auckland, LA, Vancouver - and Toronto just didn't have anything to make it stand out. In fairness I was only there for one day and didn't have time to visit Niagara Falls. But Rachel did, and reports that they are only half as impressive but twice as touristy as Victoria Falls in Africa.
I had one last lovely surprise before I finished my trip - my friend Lauren was flying into Toronto to spend a few days there with Rachel, and I was lucky enough to be able to meet her in the airport for a coffee as our paths crossed.
So, on 14th May I boarded my final plane and headed for Heathrow. Rachel will attest to the fact that I was a bag of nerves. I was fidgety and just didn't know how I should be feeling. One one hand I was excited to see my family and friends who I had been away from for so long. But on the other, my whole raison d'être of the past year was about to come to an end. Had I achieved what I set out to do? Had a learnt and grown as a person? Had I made a difference? And more importantly, was I browner and skinnier than when I left?! Luckily, the answer to all these questions was generally agreed to be a yes.
I have now been home for just over a week, and have been caught up in a whirlwind of seeing family and friends, looking for work to pay off my travelling debts, thinking fondly of all the places I've been and the people I've met, but mainly trying not to get sucked back into the mindset I had before I went away. As mushy as it sounds, I really have learnt what's important to me in life. I am now looking at courses to become a qualified English teacher, which will enable me to continue my adventures and help others as well as being able to support myself without reverting to being just another wage slave in the rat race.
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