My father flew from Halifax to Toronto, and from there we flew to Winnipeg together. Everything went according to plan, and before we knew it, we were in an Uber on our way from our hotel to Union Station to catch our train that, for three days and two nights, would bring us ever closer to our target, Churchill, Manitoba.
We checked our bags and awaited our boarding call as we heard a loud, strange sound that we found out was the fire alarm. Per instruction, we exited the building from the back and found a bench in the park across the street on which to listen for the all-clear. About 20 minutes later it came, and we re-entered the building. Not long afterwards, we were on our way to board the train and begin our adventure.
The ride would be a long one, for sure. The reason for this is that the train doesn't just go due north from Winnipeg to Churchill. There is a large detour that brings us west across much of the width of Manitoba before curling northwest to cross the border of Saskatchewan. The route then turns north before eventually turning again, this time in a northeasterly direction. While some might not agree, the idea of such a lengthy train ride appealed to me. I felt we were going to see countryside, and small rural communities the likes of which I had yet to see. I was right. To get there, I recommend it highly. The staff were great, and the dome car provided some wonderful views of the passing scenery.
As we traveled further and further north, we could see the geography changing. The thick mix of trees gave way to more swamps and coniferous trees. The topsoil began to thin, exposing more and more rock along the way. Eventually, even these stunted and thinning clumps of trees would all but disappear to give you stunning views of hundreds of square kilometres as we began to cross the so-called "tree line".
While this lengthy transition took place, we were treated to amazing scenes of wide rivers, inland waters and jumping fish. And to put the icing on the cake, a stop in Thompson provided us the opportunity to obtain one of the most amazing pizzas I've ever had. So good, in fact, we would get another on the return trip.
At Thompson, we took on a number of new people who had found other, speedier, transportation at least that far. With more people, of course, comes some minor challenges. People who felt they were the only ones on the train, and acted accordingly. We did our best not to allow them to ruin the adventure thus far and tried to tune them out.
Frustratingly near Churchill, we stopped on the tracks. We soon discovered that this was to turn the train around using a spur. I watched the operation take place using the map on my phone and GPS. The satellite image for the area seemed to reveal that a small subdivision once existed near the tracks. There were no houses anymore, but you could clearly make out foundations and driveways all around the maps labeled streets. Nothing on the map gave away what it had been, and I promised myself we’d go take a look later during our trip.
After we pulled into the station and retrieved our bags, I was greeted by the man from whom I’d arranged to rent a truck. He brought me outside to see a canary-yellow Nissan Titan that would be our means to get around not only the town itself, but also the rougher surrounding roads on which we’d find so many new and exciting things.
We checked into our hotel, and began the adventure.
| Â | The Experience - Part 1 --> |
Â
