Day 7 - In and around Kamloops

After last night's heavy rain we were hoping for a fine day, but the morning dawned cool with heavy cloud cover, as seen from our motel balcony.

We'd already decided to visit Kamloops Wildlife Park, and we were there early. The little train wasn't running yet, so the girls did Julian impressions (if you know Julian, you'll know exactly what I mean!)

Soon the train did run, and Bridget took a turn at blowing the whistle

But of course the main thing was the animals. The reindeer just couldn't be bothered to get up

while the baby moose looked a bit wobbly.

The grizzly was a late riser, but no-one was going to argue with him!

After lunch we returned to town and visited the Kamloops Museum; then, while the girls visited the art gallery I took a walk about town. As if to prove that

I snapped this view if the huge ploughs used to keep the line clear of snow, along with the CPR tracks through town. In the early years, the tracks ran down main street, getting it the epithet "the longest streetcar in the world". Kamloops was made the divisional HQ for CPR, and also has a CNR line, so it's an important railway town. Every few minutes, it seems, a long train of oil, coal, wheat, lumber or containerised freight rumbles through, accompanied by the "ting-ting-ting" of the bells of the level crossings.

Kamloops gets its name from the Shuswap Indians' word for the meeting of the rivers: the north and south Thompson rivers merge here, into one big river. Later in the afternoon we crossed to the northern side of the Thompson river, and caught this view downstream.

On the way back, we stopped to look over the edge for the complementary view.

As you can see, the sun had come out at last, and as I write this it's a pleasant evening. Here's hoping for a warmer day tomorrow.