As you may remember, O faithful blogophile, I loved the Kuranda Railway ride on the gold-trail, built with hand tools. The thought of the work reminded me of the Toonerville Trolley I took up the Jungfrau, with tunnels through the mountain, built before bull-dozers. The longest tunnel on the Kuranda line was built, we were told , in three or four different sections simultaneously and it was a spectacular feat of engineering that they met! I remember an ice palace carved in a glacier at the end of the Jungfrau line and a young woman in stiletto heels skating on the frozen floor. And I remember having a sudden craving for French fries and chocolate, two calorie-laden items I try to avoid. I read later that my desire was triggered by my body's need for salt and sugar at that height. Do you believe that? It's a comforting thought. What is comforting and sustaining is the fact that I remember this without a photographs to jog my memory. (it's a major reason that I have trouble coping with cameras: I remember mine too late and just went to look and remember what I can.)

Our own Canadian railway was another feat of engineering, the political plum offered by John A.McDonald, and built on the backs and lives of Chinese immigrant workers, who died in mind-boggling numbers. I have one across the country, west from Winnipeg to Vancouver long ago, and once from Montreal to the Maritimes, some time after that, and several times fromToronto to Banff. Just a year agoI took a train from Toronto to Saskatoon, as close as I could get to Eastend, Saskatchewan, making the rest of the journey by car and bus. I enjoyed two nights and two days on the train and loved it. Such a journey wraps a cocoon around you, ensconced in creation. So with this cruise, and so I am looking forward to three Sea Days.

More anon....