As anticipated our resident Trainspotters Baldric & Lynn darted off to the Revelstoke Train Museum with indecent haste after arrival in town yesterday - Lynn appearing later with the tourist T shirt. Having said that, I also invested $10 to check out the exhibits and came away impressed with the effort and commitment required by early railway people.
Revy saw the tail end of us at 8am, having proven in a couple more ways that it really is a fabulous town. During the summer months there is a concert in the town square every night - unfortunately we arrived after dinner, and just a wee bit too late. Brian and Bree ended up at a restaurant that had a great blues band, but unfortunately kept Schtum until the place closed...nice one guys! Linda and I went to one of the two Japanese restaurants in town and had a reasonable meal, not nearly as good as our local in Half Moon Bay, but adequate. Another group went to the alternate Japanese and suffered an extremely disappointing meal. Not to worry, rather than the reconstituted eggs we've endured at every breakfast until now, today we were treated to the option of fried eggs over easy, a real treat. Unlike the great facilities and service at the Best Western in Revy, the breakfast room in Golden really was a below par, but you get all sorts. Today's ride was without doubt one of the most scenic- a big call bearing in mind every day has been spectacular. 45kms in we were treated to a ferry ride across the Upper Arrow Lake, a free trip that is provided as part of Highway 23 - apparently it works out much better to provide this ferry service, cheaper than providing a road that would have to go around the lake. A very pleasant sojourn and an opportunity to take in the view from the water. We shared the ferry with more motorcycles, logging and freight trucks, and of course the ubiquitous pick up trucks, some with big 5th wheel RVs, others work trucks loaded with what ever was required for the day. We stopped for a break and the enjoy a local market in New Denver (previously named El Dorado), but neither name changes the fact that this wee hamlet never fulfilled s the expectations early settlers imagined. Local artisans, bakers of biscuits and sellers of fruit, together with the occasional wanna be child musician desperately in need of more lessons all vied for the tourist dollar, and 17 Harley people from New Zealand were an interesting topic of conversation whilst also adding to the mix. The run from New Denver through to Kaslo was one of the prettiest rides I can remember anywhere in the world, river and road running side by side as we enjoyed gently sweeping turns through the valleys between the steep and rugged mountains on either side. That is what we signed up for. No description I can give would come close to doing the scenery justice. As the day progressed the temperature rose, and our arrival in Nelson was probably when the sun was at its hottest - most of us had stripped down and been riding in T shirts, but unloading the bikes and gear was a job best completed quickly. I have gassed up our bike, and can see from "Whatsapp", our means of group communication that some are doing washing or other chores, others are wandering around town, while your diligent scribe runs out of steam - cold shower required to wash sweat and road dust away before thinking about drinks and dinner. Don Malcolm +64 21 924 114 Comments are closed.
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Don MalcolmA perfect day involves being on my Harley with a long ride ahead.
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