Page 31 of The Trip of a Lifetime

There was a sign showing a map of the town and how to get to the gondola ride. It looked walkable but then, there was my knee again, quietly throbbing, reminding me I was pushing myself far beyond my usual daily efforts.

I noticed an older couple who had just walked out of a bakery and were unlocking their car.

‘Let’s hope for a lift or at least a point in the right direction,’ I whispered to Erin.

‘We’re staying in the Rimrock Hotel which is right next to the gondola,’ the man said when I asked him for help. ‘We can give you a lift.’

‘Are you sure? Thanks so much.’

Priya looked on as we made our arrangements. She didn’t seem best pleased and even though I’d heard her and Tara talking about running towards the checkpoint, they now began to look around to see who might be able to offer them a lift.

‘You’d better be quick if you do want to ride the gondola with us,’ I said to Cally with a grin, and Noah chuckled behind the camera.

Cally jumped back in her producer car as we piled in with Noah on the back seat of our ride and I resisted the urge to wave at our fellow contestants as we sailed past them. We were nice women; it wouldn’t have been kind.

We were dropped in the car park of the Banff gondolas and Erin raced towards the ticket booth. I tried to race too but my left hip seemed to have joined my knee in some sort of protest and I had to hobble.

‘A hundred and seventy-one dollars for the two of us?’ I asked the young lad behind the counter to repeat the amount as I couldn’t believe it would be that expensive.

‘That’s right,’ he said.

‘How long is the ride to the top?’ Erin asked.

‘Eight minutes. You can take the trail and walk up if you’d rather.’

He looked bored now and was glancing over my shoulder at the queue of people gathering behind us.

‘We don’t have time to walk,’ I said, handing over the cash. I watched it being pulled from my fingers by the young lad and wondered how on earth we were going to get all the way to the other side of Canada with such limited funds.

‘The views are amazing,’ he told me. ‘Worth every dollar.’

‘What, all one hundred and seventy-one of them? Well, thank goodness for that,’ I said and slid my jacket back over my money belt.

The gondola ride was amazing, I had to admit, and even Erin decided it was best done with her eyes open.

‘No way I’m missing out after parting with such a large sum of money,’ she said.

I was so pleased we wouldn’t be last to sign in. I had to assume Femi and Liz were already there, what with their taxi, but Harrison and Sam were stranded somewhere and Priya and Tara were back in town. Even with a quick lift, it was impossible for them to overtake us on the gondolas.

The view across the mountains was breathtaking and Banff opened up below us like a miniature village.

‘Is that the famous Banff Springs Hotel?’ Erin asked Cally.

‘Yes, and that is where you’ll be spending the next thirty-six hours,’ she said.

‘No way!’ said Erin. ‘That’s amazing.’

‘It looks big, and beautiful,’ I said.

‘It is both of those things and we’re all looking forward to staying there,’ said Cally.

‘I have a jigsaw of it to do,’ Noah said. ‘Feel free to join me.’

‘I will,’ Erin said.

‘I’ll mostly spend the next thirty-six hours with my eyes closed in a luxurious bed,’ I said. ‘Sorry, Noah, count me out.’

It wasn’t lost on me that they were doing the same race as us; Cally and Noah. They might have free accommodation and funds far bigger than ours but Noah still had to be cramped in with us on coaches and lift shares. Cally had it a little easier in her own car but even that wouldn’t be comfortable for thousands of kilometres.