Having decided between a off road jeep or a sports car (I wonder which of those environmentally friendly options Bill Oddie uses on his own bird watching adventures) you drive around the board between different habitats in order to spot different birds.
It’s clear that a Rocky Mountaineer train can’t set off from a station without someone standing on the platform waving goodbye to the passengers. Kamloops’s staffing levels however are a bit lower than Vancouvers, leaving just four people to stand and say goodbye to us as we leave the station for our second and final day of train travel as we head to Jasper. The train has also shrunk a bit overnight; several of the coaches and at least one engine have been left behind somewhere, presumably on a nearby railyard. From Kamloops the Rocky Mountaineer can go in one of two directions. Some trains head over the Canadian Pacific lines to Banff, but ours is going the other way to Jasper on the Canadian National line. It will take us into the Canadian Rockies proper. But first there’s breakfast to think of as the train crew work once more to put the pounds on their passengers.
"All aboard!" chorus the Rocky Mountaineer staff loudly as the train hoots in sync in a slightly cheesy way. Passengers are invited to make their way to their seats. The Rocky Mountaineer is getting ready to depart.
"One of the World's Ultimate Experiences" says the Lonely Planet about the Rocky Mountaineer. There's just the matter of the picket line to cross first.