Day 50

19. June 2000, Rest Day in Smithers

At last we get a rest... there is not much to do in Smithers, other than in winter (skiing!). But that is just fine with us as we really feel like not doing anything. Around lunchtime there is a parade organized for our cars but not many of us participate as most are busy with repairs. The parade ends in the main street of Smithers where the cars are parked for a few hours and we talk to many locals. People are very friendly here and Karl gets invited by an old Silesian. He shows him the area and even invites him back home. He tells him that when he first came here, after the war, there was nothing in this area, just wilderness.
So we spend a relaxed rest day: doing our laundry, maintaining the car, taking photos of the cars, talking to other competitors and just taking a break.

Overall 1 hour 11 minutes penalty

The official results can be looked up on this website

Main street of Smithers is nicely decorated and has some nice shops/restaurants but having just come from the Yukon, most of us are still looking forward to the more urban areas of Canada.

How tough were the roads the past days? A good indicator to answer that question is always the number of cars under repair in the hotel. We actually only saw about a dozen being worked on in the parking, but this is misleading: Most cars are out in the various garages where they often treat the more severe cases.

  

The beautiful mountains surrounding Smithers.

This Chevrolet was christened "The Jam Tart" by one of the mechanics working on it. It had tumbled over in a sloping curve on gravel yesterday, in front of the TV crew. Ever since then, the British have started to call it "The Jam Roll". Noone was injured, the passengers got away with the shock. One thing we have learned in this rally, is that whenever we see the TV crew, we step on the brakes and go slower, as they always look for the most "interesting" spots.