My last post. Not of the 'At the going down of the sun, we will remember them' kind of post, but nevertheless the final day of the holiday had to arrive and gave rise to lots of chat about days spent, highlights, most memorable activities etc.
As for the final 24 hours, we awoke on yet another delightfully bright day. The view from our room looked fresh and washed clean by overnight rain and we were determined to make the best of our final full day.
The whole valley is evidently well suited to agriculture, there being examples of large fruit farms, with significant distances between pockets of settlements, the occasional rodeo and cabins for anglers (we imagine - not much else to do here other than pick or eat fruit!)
After swapping drivers at Princeton and now a passenger again I amused myself for a while trying to capture photos of the fabulous iconic trucks through the car windscreen as they charged towards us. Aren't they wonderful?
Our main rest stop of the day around lunchtime had been chosen in hope - literally. Just outside the town of the same name, so called in 1848 as the 'best hope' for finding an inland trade route that bypassed the Fraser Canyon, and at the confluence of the Coquihalla and Fraser Rivers, are located the Othello Tunnels.
In Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park outside Hope, a short but fascinating walk passes through a spectacular granite canyon where 5 incredible tunnels were blasted.
An engineering marvel completed 100 years ago this year as part of the Kettle Valley Railway, the tunnels were conceived by Andrew McCulloch. Undeterred by the challenges facing him to find a route through the rock, McCulloch was lowered down over the cliff edge in a woven basket with surveying instruments and from there was able to determine the perfect place to set explosives. With 5 tunnels and 2 bridges finally in alignment this created a way through using only 1/3rd of a mile of track rather than a precariously winding mile. When you see the height and thickness of the rock as well as the depth to the Fraser River below you would appreciate the sheer enormity of the task. Now decommissioned as a railway, you can walk through the tunnels which at times are incredibly dark.
Perhaps even more interesting for some is that this location, as well as several others in the nearby town, was used in the filming of 'Rambo: First Blood.' Remember when Rambo clung for his life to the rock walls and where the police officer falls out of the helicopter? The Othello Gorge, between tunnels 1 and 2. Although never acknowledged as Hope in the film there are 13 other identifiable locations in town which, with more time, we might have investigated. HRH appeared to know them all.
Moving on.
A final push saw us arriving in Vancouver's city limits at around 4.30pm and with a bit of skilled navigation and patient driving (I'll let you guess who was in which seat) we said goodbye to our trusty wheels and headed to our last hotel. With a sigh of relief I greeted the Receptionist's words when she mentioned we had a large corner room NOT adjacent to the elevators! HRH's reaction as we opened the room door?
"Bit of a long way to drag the cases! ....... Joke :-)"
Farewell Canada. It's been a blast.
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