Kim & Greg's journey across Canada!

Our talented Challenge Canada competition winners Kim & Greg have travelled by train across Canada during the months of July and August courtesy of VIA Rail! They were set a series of exciting challenges that they had to complete along the way. They were asked to document their incredible journey through a "LIVE" travel blog and video diary.

The Route - East to West

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Bathurst, New Brunswick - Charny, Quebec City - Montreal - Niagara Falls - Toronto - Winnipeg - Saskatoon - Edmonton - Jasper - Vancouver

Kim & Greg's Journey

Date: 2 July 08
Challenge Canada 'The Prep Work' : 11 days and counting!!!!
Right well, where do we start? Its been a gruelling few months since the Challenge Canada final. Despite all the weeks counting down, we have not been fully allowed to get excited ... Read more >>>


Date: 8 July 08
Challenge Canada 'The Prep Work' : 4 days and counting!!!!
4 days!!!!!! So as you can tell, the excitement is building up, and so is the prep work. Lots to do and we are running out of time! We now have our backpacks, and I am desperately trying to see what will fit, and how ruthlessly minimalistic I can be! Gregs fine, but i'm a girl, and I have 10 times as many shoes to narrow down ... Read more >>>


Date: 13 July 08
Day 1 CHALLENGE CANADA - Journey and Arrival (Halifax)
Ok, so a start this morning so early that we felt sick (a disgusting 5.30 am), until a sausage and egg McMuffin turned me into an excited little boy at the airport. This morning is the beginning of something that I have been looking forward to for it seems, as long as I can remember. Today is the day that Kim and I fly to Canada... Read more >>>


Date: 15 July 08
Halifax: Land & Sea
We woke early due to our jet lag, decided to have a relaxing day wandering around the city, seeing what it had to offer. Preparing ourselves for the first challenge still with no real idea as to what it could be, and with the weather forecast predicting rain and thunder, we are starting to get quite anxious! Read more >>>


Date: 19 July 08
New Brunswick: Wind and Water
You join us now as we move from Halifax on our first leg of the journey to New Brunswick. Our train arrived at Bathurst and typically with the trip, we had no idea who this strange man was, to pick us up ... and even less of a clue as to where he would take us... As we reached for our baggage, a French sounding voice behind us asked... Read more >>>


Date: 28 July 08
Montreal: Bike, Boats & Bagels
Ok, so just a quick stop here. We roll into Montreal in the evening, catch some grub at the station and make our way to our accommodation. Tonight we are staying in the UQAM residences (the university dorms). As far as hostels go, these rooms are pretty sweet - private, clean, modern ensuite with kitchen and all for a mere $73... Read more >>>


Date: 31 July 08
Quebec City: Nets & Ropes
We left Bathurst on the night train (The ‘Canadian’) to Charney near Quebec City. The trains are ‘Via Rail’ and if you where ever to cross Canada by rail, it’s with these guys that you will do it best. There are many different ways to travel on these trains - we traveled in the economy class called ‘comfort’ and they weren’t lying... Read more >>>


Date: 4 August 08
Toronto & Niagara: Wheels & Water
After drying off on land we sadly had to make our way back to the station for the last train, missing the maid of the mist ride, but we felt that we probably got closer than most people to what it was like to be in the falls. All we can say is just make sure you leave a full day for it, plan ahead, be prepared to get absolutely soaked! Read more >>>


Date: 8 August 08
Winnipeg: Cats & Canoes
So we boarded the train and said our goodbyes to friends, family and stationary ground, as we climbed aboard the big shiny train on a non stop, 31 hour mission to the heart of North America... Winnipeg. Being only about an hour away from smack bang in the centre of the continent, we wondered how it might feel being so far away ... Read more >>>


Date: 9 August 08
Saskatoon: Build, Cook & Dance
Just enough time to rest, talk over the amazing time we had in Winnipeg, and scratch our heads (not literally, we have stayed relatively clean up until now) over our next challenge, building houses? UH-OH! ... Saskatoon station in the wee hours of the morning. It was like a ghost station (literally there was tumble weed)... Read more >>>


Date: 10 August 08
Edmonton: Rides; got to do em mall
Another landscape flys past our window, still the familiar flat lands, lakes and trees of the priaries as we head into Alberta for our next stop, Edmonton. Here we land at the station we befriend yet another yellow taxi guy, who tells us about the mall in which we are going, and just how crazy the hotel is we are staying at... Read more >>>


Date: 11 August 08
Jasper: Beers, Bears & Beautiful Glaciers
We roll through the start of the Rockies, just as night creeps in, giving us an eerie welcome into the last landscape change of our journey. We arrive at the train station in complete darkness and struggle, momentarily to get our bearings in this new town, an empty, quiet, Jasper. It's roads are wide and climate is very warm, even for this time of the day. Read more >>>


Date: 12 August 08
Vancouver: Challenge 13 + 14 Final Challenges!
We have a while in Vancouver to really scope out the place, so this blog is just a taster of our visit here (for now, we'll update next week) and to complete the final challenges! Also at the end of this blog you will find out who the winneris, who has won their very own CanRail passes to follow our footsteps! So keep reading guys... Read more >>>




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