The National Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Out train, as long as several football pitches, rolls through vast spaces filled with trees, lakes, marshes and the odd settlement of run down hill billy cabins.

The sun shines on the white trunks of the omnipresent stands of birch trees, on the conifers, and melts the plates of ice lingering in the shallow pools of water.

In between the trees and lying at the side of the track are the remains of this winter snows- lingering much later this year.
Now and then we cross a wide tarmac road, deserted of any traffic, not a solitary car visible. Here and there amongst a clearing in the trees a dirt track appears, seemingly leading into a wilderness.

For islanders, for that is what we British are, the land is on a scale almost to vast to contemplate. Even our homespun wildernesses seem cosy and familiar in comparison. It is not possible to ever be this far from human habitation in our tiny island.

We pass huge lakes covered in ice, with the edges beginning to melt to yield peat coloured water acting as a mirror to the surrounding trees, and the clouds above.

A goods train passes us, piled high with containers- it must be a mile long. We pull in to let it pass, the rail line is commercially owned and this passenger train only rents it, so we have not got right of way.

We pass through places on the way to Winnipeg with names redolent of pioneering days- McKees Camp, Hornepayne, Mud River, Sioux Lookout, Flindt Landing. Hornepayne is a logging community of 1,500 people with a school and sports centre. It also has WiFi, which allowed me to post yesterday's blip when we were allowed off the train for 15 minutes to stretch our legs.

Today we have a 3 hour tour of Winnipeg before reboarding our train for the exciting approach to the Rockies.

The National Canadian Museum of Human Rights is still under construction