Day 27 - Dawson Creek

Our day started with a breakfast of sausages, scrambled eggs and pancakes with maple syrup and butter at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch in Fort St John. For 77 years this branch has been a social gathering place for veterans, active members of the Canadian Forces and the RCMP. Our vehicles were on display next to the building and down the street.

Fort St John was a bigger town than what we first thought and the streets extended much further back than was visible from the main road. Obviously the gas and oil industry is a major player in the employment of the people in this town.

We travelled once again through Taylor and over the magnificent Peace River Bridge to Dawson Creek. A delicious lunch of soup, sandwiches and desert was provided by the community of Dawson Creek. Jim was interviewed by a reporter from the local TV station who wanted to speak to the Aussies on the trip. He was also interviewed by the female reporter who had interviewed him at the beginning of the trip to ask what he thought of the trip.

That night was our final farewell banquet dinner at the George Dawson Inn for all of the convoy members. It was a great social event with delicious food, good company and lots of stories to share. I was fortunate to win a jumper in the raffle!   We had 5 convoy members in their teens and 3 in their 80's and they received a loud round of applause from everyone. There were lots of photos taken, books, flags and convoy signs autographed, emails and addresses exchanged and a great feeling of comraderie amongst everyone.

This has been a very well organised convoy and our thanks go out to those who have put in hours and hours of their own time to make sure this convoy was the success it was. We have had such a good time and thoroughly enjoyed the company of our fellow convoy members along the way. The scenery has been superb and the friendliness of the local townspeople in welcoming us into their communities has been overwhelming. When you drive along this highway you are constantly reminded of the achievements of the men who built it in 1942 in such a short space of time, under extreme weather conditions and with the old vehicles that some of us are driving today. We are certainly in awe of their achievements.