Next Stops: Manitou & Saskatoon

We jumped back on the train in Winnipeg and got comfortable for what was meant to be about a nine hour train trip to our next stop, Watrous. So far we had been doing pretty well with the trains. Being 10 or so minutes late is pretty forgivable after dealing with Sydney transport. We had been warned however and heard of horror stories where trains broke down in the middle of nowhere and didn't move for 24 hours. Thankfully our train breakdown wasn't that bad...but we did get concerned when we were stopped just outside a small town and they unhooked the front engine and it was taken off into the distance. It returned 2 hours later and seemed to work just fine after that, but it meant that our scheduled 9pm arrival in Watrous was almost pushed out to midnight. No fear, we had the number of the local taxi and called them as soon as we got off the train. No answer, number disconnected - we later found out the taxi company had called it quits 6 months ago! Not a good start at almost midnight in a very small town.



We went investigating and found the local bar open where the lovely waitress behind the bar ended up taking mercy on us and drove us the 7km from the train station in Watrous down to Manitou Lake where we were staying. Another example of how helpful and friendly the Canadians we have met have been.

Manitou Lake is a pretty odd place. It is beautiful but not in a traditional sense - more in a dramatic, barren kind of way. The lake is so salinated that it has killed off most nature within a couple of metres of its banks and produces a white salty foam that when the wind catches it, makes it look like it is snowing. The permanent population of this place hovers around the 2000 mark - made up of a combination of retirees and young guys who work in the nearby pot ash mines. Other than the mines, tourism keeps this place afloat. It is still warming up in Canada so the summer time camper vans haven't taken over the lake yet, but this place is popular year-round with visitors coming to the lake and mineral spas for their healing properties.

We spent the first day walking around the lake and trying not to get swept away by the gale force winds. The next day, the sun was out and the wind had settled down so we headed out to explore further afield. Next stop...the golf course. It was so cheap compared to playing golf anywhere we have ever lived, so we thought why not? Well, it was more of an excuse to hire a golf mobile and hoon around the course. Good fun despite the 36 par course taking us 87 shots to complete. Yikes! Between our total lack of knowledge about which stick/club/bashing object to use for each shot and the need to be constantly swatting the billion mosquitoes which followed us relentlessly around the course, I feel we were somewhat at a disadvantage. Don't think we will be ready for next year's Dubai Classic, but you have to start somewhere!

After the stress of 9 holes of golf, we took ourselves to the local spa house which has a series of cool, warm and hot baths with the mineral rich lake water. There was a bit of an odd smell, and the colour wasn't particularly inviting, but bobbing around those pools was incredibly relaxing and I think we both drifted off to sleep at some stage. Pruney but relaxed, we headed back to our hotel to freshen up for the final activity of the day....DANCELAND

What is Danceland? We are told it is one of the few places of its kind that still remains in Canada - an impressive 5000 square foot dance hall, built in the 1920s that has a cushioned dance floor built on top of 6 inches of horse hair that gives the floor a light spring.I can only imagine that 50 years ago this place would have been packed each weekend, drawing young couples from towns right across the prairies. While we are told that Danceland can still pack in a large crowd when they get the better-known large bands in, on the night we went, the 5 piece old time/country band was sadly playing to a crowd of less than 100. What they lacked in numbers, they made up in dancing spirit and it was great watching the couples float across the floor (and also being taught a dance or two by some of the resident smooth talking retirees!) I wonder how places like this will survive over the next 2 or 3 decades.

We were meant to leave that night to get to Saskatoon but lack of bus / train or any escape route meant that we ended up delaying our departure to the following day. We ended up meeting back up with the waitress that we met the first evening we arrived in town and she was driving that night to Saskatoon so we hitched a ride for the 1.5 hour drive.

Our delayed arrival in Saskatoon meant we had just over 24 hours in town but we made the most of it by walking nearly every square inch of the place. It is a beautiful little city (despite being the biggest in Saskatchewan) that is divided into east and west by the South Saskatchewan River. A series of bridges span the river allowing cars, trains and pedestrians to cross from one side of the city to the other (one of the ones we crossed being no more than a series of wooden planks that was very high and seemed incredibly unsafe). We spent most of the day meandering along the river side walking tracks and admiring how green this city was.

Next stop on the train has us arriving in Edmonton, Alberta's second biggest city and home to North America's largest mall (5.3 million square feet). Let's see how it compares to Dubai malls!

   //Kate