published 5th of june, 2022
When you experience so much in such a short time, you can lose track, don't you think? In my last blog post I actually embezzled a waterfall find at a late hour on July 20th, 2022. I can't leave it unmentioned, so I'll catch up here: It was already 9 pm and we were still "on the road" when I discovered the Provincial Park "Kakabeka Falls" on google maps on our route (Trans-Canada HWY). . The good reviews from past visitors urged not to miss this park. The park itself was really very small, didn't have any trails in the usual sense, but offered the opportunity to see the falls from many different perspectives, which I thought was great. Even though I couldn't always get the best viewing angle because of the stairs, it was once again the last light of the evening that transformed the scenery into a dreamy atmosphere.
The power, this beauty but also the violence is simply fascinating.
We spent 2 hours getting intoxicated and left the parking lot punctually at 10 p.m. – end of opening hours. We spent the night at a nearby truck stop on the highway. Over time, even I'm becoming less picky about the nightly pitches, especially when you've already seen so many beautiful things during the day and are dog-tired.
And not every day is packed with great places either... Tuesday, June 21st, 2022, for example, was one of those with nothing but nothing exciting to report. Unless you're interested in how desperate we are sometimes in search of WiFi. That was our only declared goal that day: publish an internet connection to the blog post and update the navigation system. So it was a complete success. Even though! ...to this day the blog post "Canada we are coming" is the least read post on my site. I don't understand at all! 🤷♀️ So please catch up 😉
On Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022 we left the state of Ontario. Manitoba greeted us with better weather and fewer mosquitoes, a good start! Unfortunately, the area had also received a lot of rain beforehand and so the originally planned trip to "Whiteshell Provincial Park" literally fell through due to flooding. As an alternative, we stopped for a walk at West Hawk Lake. We passed the campsite there with its very spacious and beautifully situated pitches including a bear trap.
I don't have any photos of the lake itself because there would have been far too many people on it for my taste. We then continued our hunt for waterfalls. On the map, the "Seven Sisters Falls" caught my attention. I wasn't quite sure what kind of waterfall it would be, but then found out that the Seven Sisters Generating Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Winnipeg River. Still, I had no idea. We parked the bus in a small gravel parking lot when a small group of women in floral dresses with small hats on their heads, followed by their husbands in tree-cutter shirts and suspenders, approached the bus. I joked that the Amish community must be taking a trip. In fact, they looked like they just came off the set of Little Farm. The ladies were unexpectedly very open and interested in what the bus is all about, what it looks like inside, who we are, where we come from and where we want to go. After a small room tour, they also talked about themselves and their farmer community and where they all come from. Because only part of the group was from the Seven Sisters Falls area, the rest were from different regions across Canada. Before we said goodbye, one of the women gave us her address in Alberta. If our route allows it, we would be cordially invited. Very nice, I think, but who knows when we'll end up where. At least I don't have a clue.
Now it was time to visit the dam. The walkable bridge looked unspectacular from a distance, but the roaring water could be heard from afar. Once there, you could literally feel the pressure of the water rushing through the lock chambers. Lennox was very impressed but, brave as he is, he ran anyway.
After extensive consideration of what happened, we decided to follow the advice of the "Waltons" (I cheekily call the farmer people that) and drive to Jennifer's Picnic. The assurance that they had the best Wiener Schnitzel made us curious. We drove to the restaurant described - we would rather say takeaway restaurant
and ordered a Wiener Schnitzel for Seb'
and a wasabi chicken for me.
The "fast food restaurant" was very busy and the wasabi chicken was recommended by a well-fed regular customer. A good tip! When I thanked her for her advice, she suggested we visit Whitemouth Provincial Park. Since this was practically around the corner, we gladly accepted this suggestion. The park might not have been a mega highlight, but the "shallow falls" were still quite nice to look at.
On our search for a parking space at night, we made the acquaintance of the Canadian police for the first time. It had to happen at some point... but one could have avoided the occasion. Seb' doesn't really care about those things next to the road that have something written on them (called signs)... even if they're just numbers. I can write this here, he doesn't read the blog anyway and even if he does, I'm just telling the truth! 🤷♀️ So a young policeman stopped us because of "speeding". 70 km/h were allowed, we had 90 km/h on it. Luckily the young policeman was super friendly and saved us a ticket. Instead, he was curious where the number plate came from (we drive with our German one) and was happy that he was allowed to take a look inside the bus. As a farewell, he got my business card and I got a new Insta follower that same evening! 😊 We spent the night in front of the closed barrier of the "Brokenhead Wetland Interpretive Trail" because we simply hadn't found anything better. What the hell, it was late and we were tired.
On June 23, 2022 we drove to Winnipeg. Since neither of us are museum-goers and didn't feel like going to the city itself, we stopped at a barber and laundry visit before we drove north this time. We made a stop at "Stephenfield Provincial Park", where Lennox took the opportunity for a bath during our walk.
Before we left the park again we took the chance to drain our dirty water at the "dump station". We do that whenever we get the chance, because it doesn't cost anything and we have little less wheight again.
A little adventure was on the agenda for the next day, for which we had to drive almost to the US border. We wanted to stay close to the destination. However, it is difficult to find a parking space when driving on endless gravel roads where the only parking space is on private property. When we were fed up with wandering around, we stopped at one of the few houses where even people could be seen. We asked if they knew a place where we could park for the night. They were relatively reserved until one of them took pity on us and offered to stay on his property nearby. He pulled up, we followed... about 5 km until we arrived at a quarry. He briefly showed us where we can stand, then he was gone again. It was nice that we were allowed to stand here.... but I have to praise the Americans, they are much more open-minded and not as abrupt as most Canadians we have met so far. Anyway the night was still... until the rain drummed on the roof and the sounds of animals echoed miles away in the quarry... eerily beautiful!
