Day 253 100 Mile House - Prince George
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday 18th April
I started off the morning with a run – up to the Information Centre and then returning via the back streets of 100 Mile House. After showering we ignored the call of Tim Horton’s across the road and headed for the hotel’s restaurant, which had $5.99 specials. The servings, typical for North America, were massive!
About 10:30am we were in the car, heading to the Information Centre. After a touristy photo with the ‘World’s Largest Cross Country Skis’, we headed inside to ask for advice on where to go next. We had initially planned on heading east via Well’s Grey Provincial Park, but we weren’t sure on whether the road’s would be open or there’d be anything to do. The lady behind the desk assured us it was fine, and said we could actually make it to Jasper within 4-5 hours. Amanda and I pushed for heading north instead – we had plenty of time scheduled for the Rockies, so why not head somewhere different for a day or two?
Prince George was a 4 hour drive north, so it was agreed it would be our next stop. We started dreaming about heading all the way to Prince Rupert, or even further up to Alaska – what a cool road-trip that would be!
First stop was Quesnel, an industrial town with hundreds of coal burners blowing smoke across the town. We walked along the main street of town, all going separate ways for lunch. I was keen on buying some fresh bread to put my Vegemite on (can you believe, we have 4 jars of Vegemite between us?) but of course, being Canada, there was no fresh bread to be found. I settled for salad instead, eating it at Subway with Amanda and Luke.
Back in the car, we continued onto Prince George. It was really the last output before entering the northern Canada wilderness, a town of 70,000 odd people. We called in at the Travelodge downtown, settling for a large room with 2 queen beds for only $85 – so much cheaper than staying in a hostel! I headed out to explore the town whilst the others chilled out - the streets were amazingly deserted. I called in at the nearby mall and purchased a travel cutlery set and plastic plate – I found a knife in particular an extremely valuable travelling tool whilst in Asia, as it enabled me to make sandwiches for meals on the road.
The hotel had recommended a nice restaurant in town, but it sounded a little bit expensive – and like we’d have to dress up – so TripAdvisor guided us to an Indian restaurant. It didn’t look like a restaurant, and the service was extremely slow, with a doey waiter, but the 45 minute wait was worth it. I had a dosai (savoury pancake), which I don’t think I’ve eaten since I was in India – whilst the others sweated through their curries. We played tunes (Barbara Streisand has become the theme song to our trip) whilst playing cards, using the Monopoly cards from our Christmas crackers, as the sun set (being so far north, the sun sets extremely late).
I started off the morning with a run – up to the Information Centre and then returning via the back streets of 100 Mile House. After showering we ignored the call of Tim Horton’s across the road and headed for the hotel’s restaurant, which had $5.99 specials. The servings, typical for North America, were massive!
Prince George was a 4 hour drive north, so it was agreed it would be our next stop. We started dreaming about heading all the way to Prince Rupert, or even further up to Alaska – what a cool road-trip that would be!
First stop was Quesnel, an industrial town with hundreds of coal burners blowing smoke across the town. We walked along the main street of town, all going separate ways for lunch. I was keen on buying some fresh bread to put my Vegemite on (can you believe, we have 4 jars of Vegemite between us?) but of course, being Canada, there was no fresh bread to be found. I settled for salad instead, eating it at Subway with Amanda and Luke.
Back in the car, we continued onto Prince George. It was really the last output before entering the northern Canada wilderness, a town of 70,000 odd people. We called in at the Travelodge downtown, settling for a large room with 2 queen beds for only $85 – so much cheaper than staying in a hostel! I headed out to explore the town whilst the others chilled out - the streets were amazingly deserted. I called in at the nearby mall and purchased a travel cutlery set and plastic plate – I found a knife in particular an extremely valuable travelling tool whilst in Asia, as it enabled me to make sandwiches for meals on the road.
The hotel had recommended a nice restaurant in town, but it sounded a little bit expensive – and like we’d have to dress up – so TripAdvisor guided us to an Indian restaurant. It didn’t look like a restaurant, and the service was extremely slow, with a doey waiter, but the 45 minute wait was worth it. I had a dosai (savoury pancake), which I don’t think I’ve eaten since I was in India – whilst the others sweated through their curries. We played tunes (Barbara Streisand has become the theme song to our trip) whilst playing cards, using the Monopoly cards from our Christmas crackers, as the sun set (being so far north, the sun sets extremely late).
Post a Comment