Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Don't break down in the middle of the Prairies you might never be seen again...ever seen the film deliverance with Burt Reynolds?:thumbup:

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Wow some people dont seem to like the Prairies much :lol:
Is driving along I94 or highway 2 in North Dakota and Montana anymore scenic than driving through Manitoba & Saskatchewan on the TCH?

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Some of the smaller rural communities are quite unnerving. We stopped at a backwater diner last week and it was a little odd. The locals really did look inbred (some wore the stereotypical dungarees and wife beater vest), and after watching too many scary movies, in the back of my mind i expected to get back to the car where the engine had been tinkered with so we wouldn't be able to leave.

The food was really nice though :thumbup:

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

How WAS the other other white meat? :blink:

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

My husband and I thought that we'd get to know Canada after arriving here with our PR cards back in February. In May, we flew from Vancouver to Halifax and then from there to St. John's NL where we purchased a car and drove all the way back to Whistler where we're currently residing until we get jobs. I would totally recommend the journey from Halifax back to Vancouver, as would my husband! I don't know how long you plan to take to do the trip, but we spent 30 days on the road to get back to BC, stopping where we wanted on our way, but there were two of us driving, so it made it easier to rest whilst the other was gaining mileage. We did not go through the US, although so many people advised us to, as the whole point of the trip was to get to know Canada, not fly through the mileage/landscape.

A couple of things we would advise:

1) We looked at one-way rentals but nobody will allow you to do such a journey one-way, and on completing it, we can see why. It worked out only a bit more expensive to buy a second-hand car rather than flying from city to city, and we have our own car now that we've returned to BC.

2) We also really looked in to hiring a camper van, but they pretty much don't exist in Canada. It's all about the RV's which are the size of buses and you trail your 4x4 behind you! Crazy! No idea how much the petrol would cost for one of these?

3) Buying a car out of province is a complete hassle. We spent 6 days in St. John's trying to understand how this is done in a federal country, however, we eventually managed it. The problem is, being residents of BC, you can only get insurance with ICBC, who would only give us insurance for 31 days to get back to BC, hence the reason we took just the 30 days, arriving in Golden just over the AB-BC border a day before our insurance was up. (ICBC call this a 'binder' agreement). If you need any further advise about buying a car, let me know!

4) The Trans-Canada highway isn't a motorway for the most part, but more like a one lane road with frequent passing lanes and everything is really well sign posted (just head 'west'!!) We thought that the driving was a bit dodgy in Québec and Ontario, and only had one near-miss (not our fault) which isn't bad since in total we did over 6000 miles.

5) We hadn't really scheduled in the fact that we wouldn't be able to drive at night, but took local advice not to as the moose problem is a real problem. We saw a moose on the side of the highway within minutes of leaving St. John's, so I think that focussed us for the rest of the journey.

6) Driving in each province can be a little different (you can't turn right on a red light in Québec, you have the flashing green light in BC, etc), so just check a few things before setting out.

7) The Prairies were outstanding. We'd been told so much about how "boring" they are, "don't drive through them, drive through the US", "you can throw a stick for your dog and it will run for a week", but we loved Manitoba, especially after taking a detour to Riding Mountain National Park where I saw my first bears - a mother with 3 cubs :) and we headed to Saskatoon for a few nights too, although don't forget that until Calgary it's pretty much flat, but the clouds and the sky will amaze you. I agree that Ontario was really the longest days driving that we had and still being in Ontario after about 4 days was hard to get our heads around, but all the lakes are lovely, some with beaches which make for a lovely stop out of the car. I guess it depends what you're looking for from your road trip.

8) Gas prices weren't too bad: we always filled up when we had half a tank left so that we didn't run in to trouble. If you plan to just drive along the Trans-Canada highway (TCH), petrol stations are a plenty as are restaurants, cafés, motels, campsites, etc. I would advise not camping on a campsite on the TCH as it's too noisy! There are plenty of truckers who still drive at night without having to fear the moose, and then there are the longest cargo trains which feel like they're going through your tent!

9) We did a mixture of camping, youth hostels, motels and the odd B&B. Prices increased as soon as we hit the Banff area, which we expected. We've got a fairly comprehensive list of good motels/campsites/hostels/restaurants, etc, if you want any further information. Motels in Canada aren't like those dodgy motels you get in the US, where you feel like you're in some kind of slasher movie! They're pretty much 2 or 3* accommodation - clean but basic. The National Park campsites were good value and well-serviced.

10) Learn about bears! We camped in bear country in our tent (food in the car, everything in a ziploc bag, in a box, hidden under clothes and other stuff! Bears break in to cars for food and some in AB and BC have even learnt what a cool box looks like!) We'd recommend buying bear spray too and learn how to use it.

11) If you're planning on going to a lot of the National Parks, buy a Discovery Pass which lasts a year. We didn't know about this until we got to Manitoba and could have saved ourselves two lots of adult fees each day that we spent time in a National Park.

Hope this helps, but in summary: DO IT! :thumbsup:

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Wow, what a brilliant post! :thumbsup:

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Not quite driving but one year my middle daughter thumbed from Halifax around Cape Breton and then across to Vancouver. "After that, I couldn't see myself staying in Canada" she said, "I just wanted out". I thought that a powerful reaction as she and I had previously driven across the US several times without her developing strong views either way.

I suppose I'm warning that seeing all that Corner Gas country doesn't make everyone love the Canada. For a new immigrant such a trip might cause one to bond with the country or to want bond orally with a shotgun.

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

... ditto, LondonGirl32, what a brilliant post! Thanks very much for taking the trouble to pass on that information - all extremely useful. Also reassuring to hear from someone else who identifies that trip as a kind of Canadian induction.

It will be just me travelling. A small camper would have been ideal - interesting that it's not the Canadian way. I will look into the options - trailer tent's certainly a possibility - but may also end up mixing bricks and canvas.

I had imagined doing the trip on the way to BC - hadn't thought of getting out there first, then flying over to NL in order to drive back - seems a long way around, but I can see the logic.

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

... thanks dbd33 - I do take your point.

My chosen destination is the far west - probably Salt Spring Island. I could arrive there and settle down and never know my new country beyond what I see on news reports. The trip will only give me a glimpse of the rest of Canada, but at least I will have visited the main cities.

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Ah, are you a trustafarian?

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

... no, what's that?

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

It was a good post. If for nothing else, it points out that if you really are set about driving from one side of Canada to the other, you need to start in Newfoundland, as opposed to Nova Scotia.;)

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

trustafarian

priviliged white kids who subsribe to the hippie lifestyle (because they can) since they have no worries about money, a job etc. They can then devote their lives to eating organic, following Phish, and wearing dreadlocks (no need for job interviews).

Have you checked these 3 companies as they do one way rentals on the RV side
http://www.cruisecanada.com/rent/one-way-rv-rentals/
http://www.canada-rv-rentals.com/one...me-rentals.php
http://www.canadream.com/rv-rentals/

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

I say ....DO IT!!!! My wife and I did it twice (from New Brunswick to BC) in a six week period. It was a most enjoyable experience. Sure, some of the trip may seem dull and boring, but that is more to do with state of mind. How can the experience NOT be a positive one? Carpe Diem
Steve

Re: to drive from Halifax to Vancouver
 

Id rather do it in a V8 convertible and stay at motels and B&Bs... you'd use a lot less gas (cant often say that for a mustang), be more confortable and not have to troll along at 100kmh due to the wind resistance...


Seriously, what would the gas cost be in a Camper, coast to coast:eek: