A big highlight was the visit to BHP’s Jansen Potash project. BHP’s Board recently approved the US 5.7bn spend to develop the project and there is palpable excitement on site. Gill was in the team that assembled the land and did the initial studies for BHP in the late 2000s and Bron has worked on the project for some 12 years.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Jansen came in the afternoon and after 87km.
The early morning gave us gorgeous skies, but many roadworks on Highway 16 to test our nerves and drivers’ patience as they had to wait to pick their way past us.
The pretty rolling landscape yielded some great wildlife – deer, a cougar in the distance and hawks that followed along hopping from post to post as well as four swirling bald eagles.
The storm that built over our left shoulders all morning burst as we rode into Lanigan and our well-timed brunch stop at the Lanigan Golf Course and Country Club. Here we spent a delightful hour chatting to a group of local women celebrating a birthday (and who shared a most delicious birthday carrot cake), and sharing the excitement of the town at the Jansen approval that will mean jobs and local business opportunities.
After the storm passed we enjoyed a quiet sunny ride to the ranch of colleagues Kevin and Carole, before our mandatory COVID tests for a tour of the project site. We both love being on site and chatting to the people who have worked so hard to make this development happen, so it was a happy couple of hours spent at Jansen.
But the day brought another plus – a wonderful evening in the hot tub and around the dinner table of Ann and Lloyd, wrapping up a day that reminded us this trip is a great way to see the country, but which is made so much more special for the people we get to spend time with along the way.
Today’s distance: 87km
Climb: 160m
Total distance: 3,181km
#transcanadatrail
Trans Canada Epic 