Before
we parted ways, Casey and I were discussing our expectations of our impulsively
chosen destinations. I casually mentioned a half-hearted desire to see a polar
bear to which Casey replied “I will give you $10 if you see a polar bear”… My epic
quest had begun to see the ice bear and claim the spoils of victory, a small
sum of money, yet an immeasurable amount of pride.
This
time I was allowed to leave Egypt, even though I did have a few issues caused
by the lack of a departure ticket from Canada, which I had to “promise” the
airline I would pay for if required. I boarded the flight excited by the
awaiting possibilities. I arrived in Toronto, Canada with slight relieve I
could easily communicate with everyone. My first impressions of Canada were
fantastic! Not only did Toronto seem like Melbourne, but everyone I talked to
was so incredibly friendly, I started to see truth in the stereotype. Trying to
adjust to the climate, which heavily contrasted to my previous location, I made
my way to my hostel in the heart of Toronto. It would be here that I
strategised my acquaintance with the arctic predator. Toronto was a fantastic city
that resonated Australia in so many ways, from the shopping malls to the people
in the streets, I really felt at home. Amongst the similarities I saw, I
definitely saw some differences that only North American culture could provide.
To give you a small example of this, after purchasing a 14” super burrito and
trying to ingest it in a small snow-ridden park, I spent about ten minutes
chasing squirrels around the park trying to get a picture, which I think either
amused or slightly scared the other park goers who hopefully assumed I was a
tourist…
The
hostel I was staying could easily have been the best hostel I’ve ever stayed.
Even though the facilities and location were great, this wasn’t the highlight;
it was the small group of people I met, my Toronto family. This group of people
included Nans, Flora, Jas, François, Mo and Rob, resulting in a French, German,
Austrian and, of course, Australian combination rivaled by none! I experience
my first NBA game, an entertainment spectacle that is incomparable to any
sporting event in Australia due to the heights they’ll go to continuously
engage the crowd. GO RAPTORS! Yet, in all this fun, I had not forgotten my
Canadian calling and had determined exactly where I needed to be for my Arctic
encounter… The self proclaimed Polar Bear Capital of the world, Churchill.
Taking
a slight detour passed Niagara Falls on my way to Montréal, I had the
pleasurable opportunity to experience this Natural wonder. It was a miserable
day, shrouded in mist, yet the falls still impressively channeled an
unfathomable amount of water, a beautiful sight to see. I was a little
surprised to see the sheer number of casinos around the falls on both the
Canadian and American sides, but like many other naturally occurring
attractions, people have successfully capitalised on the popularity of the
location. I arrived in Montréal not realising how incredibly cold it was going
to be, which slightly debilitated my adventurous spirit. I instead utilised my
time preparing for the coming journey I was going to make across the country by
train. Montréal was a beautiful city though; you could feel the French
influence, unfortunately the same could not be said for my fingers or toes… I
had organised a train from Montréal to Toronto, to Winnipeg, to Churchill, to
Winnipeg and finally to Vancouver. A journey that would see me spend eight out
of thirteen nights on a train. I jumped on the first leg of the trip to
Winnipeg. Winnipeg was an incredibly lifeless city, granted when I arrived it
was in blizzard-like conditions and after slipping twice with my pack on, I came
to the realisation that I was unequipped to deal with ice or any real
temperature below freezing… Staying only a night in an unexciting hostel, which
I was the only guest, I was ready for my next leg of my journey. The two-day
train to Churchill, a small isolated town that could only be reached by train
or air, the destination that offered me glory or horrific defeat.
Before
I’d visited Churchill I thought I had experienced cold weather, but I ended up
thinking about those times to revisit warmth. Arriving into -35°C with
wind-chill, I yet again realised I was completely out of my depth and the
winter clothes I had dragged with me all year, whilst we tracked summer around
the world, were inadequate. Donning six layers and a borrowed pair of boots, as
the hotelier didn’t think my $10 Kmart shoes were suitable, I walked around the
tiny town. Visiting the Eskimo Museum and National Parks Canada, I saw a
stuffed polar bear at both locations, but it had been specified that the polar
bear had to be alive and outside of captivity… Semantics. I booked an
exuberantly priced tour for the following day, giving me one opportunity to see
what I’d come so far to see.
I
was collected the following day by my guide as we started driving around in
what seemed like an old stereotypical American school bus that had icicles
forming inside the cabin. He told us a history of the town and the area, which
was all very interesting, yet a distraction from my main goal. I was told that
I had missed the season by about a week, but we might be lucky enough to
stumble across some stragglers. First we headed to the local tip, where a polar
bear and its cub had been rumoured to be lingering. We searched, but to no
avail. We then continued away from the town into the open plains and yet again,
no luck. I did get to see numerous sled dogs and the beached tanker, The
Ithica, whilst on the tour, but the true search continued. With the tour slowly
coming to an end, we headed back to the tip to try our luck. As we slowly
approached, the only other person on the tour shouted, “Stop! I see two of them
running!”. The driver had gone just too far so tried to reverse, but the tyres
had lost all grip, and we were stuck. We ran out of the bus to at least get a
fleeting glimpse of the fleeing animals, but, today was not my day. Eventually
another vehicle came to pull the bus out of the snow and we continued to search
for the bears, but we saw nothing. My companion, the only other person on the
tour, had seen the mythical ice bears, yet I had not. I had been defeated. The
following day, I boarded the train for the two-day return journey to Winnipeg.
There was a bitterness in the sub-arctic air, but that could have been the
remorseful feeling of disappointment…
I
returned to the same lifeless hostel in Winnipeg, where I had to stay for a few
nights due to the train schedule, and due to a lack of resolve, I wallowed in
the again deserted hostel until my final two-day train to Vancouver. Vancouver
was an incredibly vibrant city, void of snow, a meteorological phenomenon I
once glorified, yet could now do without. Visiting Stanley Park was the
highlight. A huge park by the ocean, which offered a large variety of
vegetation and, my personal favourite, docks littered with houseboats and
luxury yachts. I then headed to Victoria on Vancouver Island, getting there by
Ferry. It was here that I was meeting with my good friend Nans whom I had met
whilst in Toronto. It was great to see him again as he showed me around the
sights of Victoria, most of which was the beauty of the location itself.
Victoria was my final destination in Canada as I would be catching the Ferry to
the US to meet up with Casey in the following days, but not before I visited a
highly publicised location that I could not avoid.
From
Victoria, Canada I caught the ferry to Port Angeles, USA. Port Angeles is a
very small port town, but knowledge of this town has started to build in the
last decade due to the release of the Twilight books. As I was in the area (and
to appease my cousin Princess Zazzles) I caught the local bus to Forks, the
main setting of the Twilight books. The town itself wasn’t very big, but it was
obvious that they had welcomed and even fostered the Twilight sensation. I
visited the information centre and was presented with a “Twilight map”, so I
could go and see all the sights that are discussed in the books. It was a shame
I didn’t have more time in the area, because it turns out that there are
numerous national parks worth seeing. I walked around the town ticking off all
the ‘sights’ even though I had never actually read the books. I was curious
about what people would have thought about an adult male taking photos in front
of Edward’s and Bella’s houses… From Port Angeles I jumped on a bus to Seattle
where I would catch a bus the following day to meet Casey in San Francisco. The
Greyhound buses seemed to attract a certain type of people, which made the
24-hour journey to San Fran very interesting…
Alas,
my solo journey had come to an end. I had failed to see a polar bear, but I had
the opportunity to travel through the beautiful country that is Canada. Now, I
just have some unfinished business… Keep posted.
