Vancouver to Toronto - Help a thick aussie | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vancouver to Toronto - Help a thick aussie

Inphered

Inphered

Active member
Hey all,

So the wife and I have paid for the airfares to move to Canada in April next year. We're headed to Toronto by way of Vancouver. We're looking into the idea of hiring an RV out of Vancouver and taking a winding drive through Whistler, Kamloops to Calgary via Banff, up into Edmonton then Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and down into Toronto (I'm paraphrasing a bit here) over the course of 2 weeks.

Can anyone give me a heads up in regards to road closures around that time of yeah in the Banff area? Been a person who comes from a place with one 2 seasons and no winter not sure about snow etc etc around that time of year.

Oh and scoring a rental in Toronto or the GTA, been looking at craigslist and Kijiji but are there any other sites that people would recommend for our search for a home?
 
Wow, sounds like quite the intro to Canada! I'm jealous

With respect to finding a home, the best site for me was www.mls.ca I also found that www.viewit.ca worked pretty well, too (though maybe for rentals only)

I can't help you out with Banff weather (never been there) but enjoy the journey, and be sure to keep us posted with pics
 
Buy parkas! Trust me. Unless you get a super mild Spring, you'll need them right through to Manitoba and probably Northern Ontario.

Aside from that; if you like to ski, see if there's good conditions to hit up Sunshine Village when around Banff. I used to Spring ski there in March, it's beautiful! Be sure to check out the Hot Springs (in town) and pop by Lake Louise.

April won't be a particularly good time for 'viewing' Sask and Manitoba outside checking out the actual cities (it'll be snow-covered fields), although, Sask almost always has beautiful blue sunny skies, no matter how cold. So at least it won't be a depressing grey drive.
 
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@Tricky: Thanks mate, hadn't seen those ones before, seem to have a fair few listings I haven't seen before.

@Nyx13: I've been warned that no matter how much I think I know what i'm getting in for with winter, i'll have no idea until we actually go through one.

Those hot springs sound good though
 
You have no idea what you're in for. Having driven from vancouver to calgary countless times i suggest you rethink the idea, or reschedule until mid june :lmao:

Here's a short glimpse of what im talking about

[video=youtube;Mh_Pc0SFoz8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh_Pc0SFoz8[/video]
 
@paul, recommendations on altnative routes then, ive had people say that it's still doable, just have to be prepared to wait out any snow storms and temp road closures.

Were stuck with April as our work visas will expire if we don't cross through immigration before April 18th.

Maybe we hire a car for the Vancouver whistler part, fly to Calgary or Edmonton and hire and rv from there?
 
The last time I was there Banff banned RVs from town because they caused traffic jams trying to get into parking lots. I'm not a RV person so a bit biased. Most serious RVer's tow a car because the RV's a re pigs for general getting around.

Strickly my opinion but I'd rent a car and motel it. RV parks aren't free and a lot of public lots don't allow overnight stays. Camping in Canada isn't cheap.
 
@Nobbie48: I can understand banning RV's from the centre of town, it's a pain where i'm from as well. I've found heaps of RV parks near where we want to go and from doing the numbers, it'll be a better use of our cash to get and RV and stay in parks than a car and motels. In Banff Mount Tunnel Village 3 RV sites are $30 a night with full water, power and sanitary hook ups
 
I think that if you really want to enjoy the greatest country in the world by RV, maybe extend your trip by an extra week. Or even a couple days. 2 weeks would mean a lot of driving instead of enjoying, factoring in the white stuff and the amount of stops you foresee. There's a lot of great stuff in the middle too. Skiing or doing some kind of mountain resort thing will take a good chunk of time.

Glad to hear you guys are coming over. Plans for a bike?
 
Inphered said:
Oh and scoring a rental in Toronto or the GTA, been looking at craigslist and Kijiji but are there any other sites that people would recommend for our search for a home?
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Check out www.padmapper.com ... great site for rentals. It's map based so you can focus on the areas you're interested in easily and it will give you the average rental price for similar units.
 
deejizzle said:
...Glad to hear you guys are coming over. Plans for a bike?
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Hell yeah, i'm on a cruiser at the moment due to the fact i've got long open roads here, but looking at a sports bike, something litre sized :)

Thanks for the help everyone, defiantly going to be a lot of reading and more planning, if we can stretch another week we will.

We're moving back in with my folks for the 6 months before we go so that'll save us a ton on our rent too, might be enough to score that extra week without eating into our funds for when we start looking for work.
 
My question would be, if you're leaving Australia who is going to take your place there? It sounds like torture but depending on where you're from I'll sign up for the duty :lmao:

As I tell my friends in Sydney and you said it. What ever you think you're in for with winter, imagine in 5 times worse. 0 and needing to put on a jumper or a doona isn't winter. As someone who's lived in Alberta for a long time, people in Onterrible have no idea what real winter is about. Your drive from bc to ab can be unimaginably bad if the weather picks up. It's not like it will snow and you'll just drive slow. Those mountain roads get bad fast and they'll just close them and you're stuck where ever you are. That said, as long as it goes well you'll really enjoy the drive until you hit sk at least. If there's anything you need help with that you can't find out or what not feel free to shoot me a message and I'll try my best.
 
The other thing is that there is no way to predict weather-related road closures. If the weather is good, the roads will be cleared and open. If the weather is really really bad, you will not be going anywhere (all roads closed other than within cities). There is a middle ground in which the weather is bad, but not enough to close the roads. You had better be prepared for winter driving on snow covered roads with possible ice patches. No idea how familiar you are with such conditions, but I would guess, not very. If you are on vacation and don't absolutely have to get to your next destiination on that very day ... staying put in the hotel for that day until the roads are clear is a very good plan.

April is usually past the coldest part of the winter but it's certainly possible to have winter storms and cold conditions.

A good many people here have two sets of tires for their car ... one for three seasons of the year, and a set of winter tires (deep treads and soft compound for grip in cold conditions) for the other one. Around here, April is usually when the winter tires come off.

If you pull into a parking lot anywhere between Alberta and northern Ontario and you find an electrical outlet at each parking space ... that is for plugging in your block heater so that you have a hope of getting started in -40 degree weather. Conditions like that are unlikely in April but possible in some areas. Southern Ontario normally doesn't get THAT cold, but you'll be driving through the cold parts to get here.
 
deejizzle said:
I think that if you really want to enjoy the greatest country in the world by RV, maybe extend your trip by an extra week. Or even a couple days. 2 weeks would mean a lot of driving instead of enjoying, factoring in the white stuff and the amount of stops you foresee.
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I was thinking this too...the drive through the prairies isn't terribly long unless you make a tonne of stops but you'll want to spend time checking out the Banff area I expect (it really is beautiful and don't skip Lake Louise!), 3-mile Gap, etc. and further East, the drive through Ontario alone takes a couple days unless you go non-stop and don't stop to see anything.

Another note, you keep referring to 'alternate routes' I'd highly advise staying on the TransCanada whatever you do! You'll be far less likely to come across weather-related issues. What an exciting trip for you!

Saskatoon recommendations: The Berry Barn *drool* http://www.sasktourism.com/Berry-Barn (you'll be just catching the beginning of their season) and for an amazing coffee: The Broadway Roastery. 614 Broadway Ave. (There's one on 8th street as well, it's the 2nd location and larger but the vibe and the location of the original are part of the experience).
 
Oh don't worry, I wasn't planning on leaving major roads, last thing I want to do is end up on a one way logging or backwoods road I can't get back out of lol.

Thanks for everything so far guys, I'll make sure to put up a thread once we're ready to leave with pics and updates right into Toronto.
 
We're looking at Toronto initially as I'm doing my pilot licence conversions there, then off to look for work, so we could end up anywhere.
 
Just stay in Vancouver.... I moved out here 6 yrs ago.... WAY better for almost EVERYTHING
 
Inphered said:
@Nobbie48: I can understand banning RV's from the centre of town, it's a pain where i'm from as well. I've found heaps of RV parks near where we want to go and from doing the numbers, it'll be a better use of our cash to get and RV and stay in parks than a car and motels. In Banff Mount Tunnel Village 3 RV sites are $30 a night with full water, power and sanitary hook ups
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A basic tent site is $40 in Ontario. Too bad you can't travel through the USA. Budget about a third less for everything.
 
thebronze said:
Just stay in Vancouver.... I moved out here 6 yrs ago.... WAY better for almost EVERYTHING
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+1

Don't know if it is everything, but the Greater Toronto Area is sucking more and more, it was never what the locals think it is...
Some people say Toront is great? Sure.
But is it all that to think it is Centre of the Universe? Ha ha ha, no way! It is not, and it never was.
 
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