MyWestworld

Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer: The Rockies Under Glass

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson.

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During a trip aboard the transcontinental in 1886, the wife of Canada’s first prime minister insisted on riding atop the train’s front bumper. The engineer played along, but he must have been sweating bullets. The first lady had chosen the steepest section of track to be out on the cowcatcher – the drop between Hector and Field known as the Big Hill.

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New Westminster’s Build-a-Boat Program

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson.

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The Fraser River Discovery Centre’s Build-a-Boat program (February 6 to May 15) offers the chance to help construct a 12-foot, flat-bottomed, wooden dinghy called a Fraser River skiff, with volunteer coaches from the Vancouver Wooden Boat Society (FRDC) assisting aspiring mariners.

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Interview: Parlaympic Sledger Greg Westlake

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson.

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In Sweden, in the 1960s, a group of paraplegic hockey fans decided they weren’t ready to hang up their skates, so they sat on them — and the sport of sledge hockey was born. Players in this fast, hard-hitting, low-to-the-ice game sit on metal frame sleds, which are in turn mounted atop two hockey skate blades. The athletes hold mini hockey sticks in each hand, using the metal-tipped, butt-end of the shafts to propel themselves across the ice. Surprisingly, Canada has been late in achieving dominance in this sport. Paralympic gold did not come our way until Torino in 2006 . . .

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Vancouver to Seattle: The Amtrak Special

Posted on 19. Feb, 2010 by Rob Howatson.

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Ammtrak’s two-train schedule is the only way to provide a schedule that’s amicable for both southbound and northbound travellers – at least those who want to spend a night in either city and have some fun.