Travelling to Canada has become a highlight and a must for many foreign travellers. If you recall a story that ran back in March of this year, in the Star and Times, a couple from Chile were travelling from their home country to North America. Macarena Orozco and her family fell in love with the Valley so much that they made Birch River their home. Through connections, they had a friend travel from Argentina to come and visit them while documenting the journey here.
“I’m originally from Patagonia, Argentina, and a couple of years ago, I started a project to restore a 1970s Ford Falcon, which is a vehicle made and very common in Argentina, and undertake a road trip from Ushuaia in Patagonia all the way to Alaska,” said Fabián Viaja.
“I went to Birch River because I knew that a family of Chilean travellers was living there. My plan to reach Alaska is divided into two stages. These Chilean travellers have spoken highly of Birch River and the Swan Valley, so in the past few days, I have been exploring the area and getting to know more about the local community. I have been documenting the entire trip on my YouTube channel, FABIANVIAJA, which to date has nearly 50,000 subscribers.
“The first stage is to reach Canada and leave my Ranchero, that’s what I call my Ford model, in Wadena, Saskatchewan,” said Viaja. “This is where there is another family of Argentine travellers residing and they will take care of the vehicle during the winter. After leaving the car, I will return to Argentina and then fly from Argentina to resume my journey to Alaska when the weather permits.”
Viaja has been on this journey for quite some time and has gone through five countries, from Central America to North America.
“I have been travelling for almost a year,” said Viaja. “My journey has taken me through Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Then, I crossed Central America by boat to Mexico and subsequently travelled through the United States, where my wife joined me to explore various places across the country.
“After that, I entered Canada through Saskatchewan and stayed a couple of days in Wadena at my Argentine friend’s house. Later, I coordinated with La Maca and El Gabo, the Chileans, to reach Birch River and get to know the area. It took me nearly a year to arrive at the Valley.”
There has been so much for Viaja to see and take in as he made his way to Birch River. He has had nothing but positive experiences in his interactions with Canadians.
“Overall, it has been a very pleasant journey without major setbacks, only some mechanical issues that I have been able to resolve along the way,” said Viaja. “I have been pleasantly surprised by Canadians. They have been very kind and friendly. They have shown great interest in getting to know my vehicle, and despite my limited English, I have managed to understand their good wishes for my adventure.
“This is my first time in Canada. Although I have only been here for a couple of weeks, I have a lovely and positive impression. People are truly friendly and always willing to help. They have been very curious about my car and have stopped me more often than in other countries. The forests I have encountered are truly beautiful. While I have visited very small towns in Canada, my stay has been very pleasant, as there is a sense of tranquillity and silence, something highly desired in large cities.
“I have visited many towns and cities that have caught my attention,” said Viaja. “Due to the uniqueness of their landscapes, I could highlight the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Grand Canyon in the United States, and the Canadian Prairies, which remind me of the Patagonia region in Argentina because of their vastness and sense of solitude.
“I have spent very little time in the town of Swan River,” said Viaja. “I have been mainly in Birch River and its nearby lakes. Although it is a very small town, the neighbours have been very kind and affectionate with me. Some have even come to where I have been staying just to greet me and welcome me. Such a lovely gesture!
“Additionally, I have participated in some antique car shows in the United States, where I won the Most Unique Car Award, and also in the Sturgis motorcycle shows in the USA. Regarding Canada, although I have travelled little, the lakes north of the Swan Valley are very beautiful, complemented by their lovely forests with autumn colours.
“In the second stage of my trip, I plan to explore more of Canada,” said Viaja. “My car is not prepared for winter, so I hope to return to Birch River in April next year to continue my adventure when the weather conditions permit.”
Viaja’s stay in Birch River seemed like a short one, but he vows to return next year.
“I stayed in Birch River for one week and then returned to Wadena to prepare my car for the winter, and subsequently travel back to Argentina,” said Viaja. “In Argentina, I will continue with another project I have. I’m remodelling an old Mercedes-Benz motorhome and will be travelling through Patagonia. As winter ends and the good weather returns to Canada, I will come back and visit the Valley again with the Ranchero.
“I hope to return in April to resume the second stage of my journey. Perhaps around that time, you might see the Ranchero parked somewhere in the Valley.”

A Canadian author with local ties to the Valley has transformed her mother’s life story into a National Best Seller. Roxana Spicer is the daughter of Eric and Agnes Spicer and started out as a documentary filmmaker and former CBC investigative journalist. She has travelled to various parts of the world to track down a story, but the greatest story she’s ever uncovered was that of her own mother. She knew from an early age, her mother had a story to tell.
“It seems I’ve been a storyteller all my life,” said Roxana Spicer. “I did my first public reading of original work when I was ten years old, a budding playwright in the village of Netherhill, Saskatchewan. I would take over our family veranda, rig up blankets for stage curtains, and even charge 25 cents a show.
“One new kid arrived on opening night, stayed for the performance, then left without paying. I shot her with my brother’s BB gun loaded with grain. A couple of minutes later, her mom showed up on the doorstep. ‘I understand Jewel owes you 25 cents,’ she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out two quarters. ‘Here’s fifty cents. The second quarter is for you to promise never to play with my daughter again.’ I probably should have been sent to reformatory school for that! But fifty years later, Jewel arrived at this week’s Saskatchewan book launch in Kindersley near Netherhill, laughing about the incident. In fact, she paid for everyone at the table, including my three Spicer relatives who’d made the trip from Swan River.
“In the half-century between these two stage performances, my career has primarily been that of a documentary filmmaker,” said Spicer. “I have travelled the world for all the major Canadian television networks. The story of my mother remains the most compelling story I have ever undertaken.”
This is the first book Spicer has written and published. The story of her mother’s experience in WWII has captivated readers and critics alike.
“The Traitor’s Daughter is my debut into the literary world,” said Spicer. “Since its Canadian launch in late August, my memoir about Mom and our story has remained on the National Best Sellers’ list as one of Canada’s top ten non-fiction books. It has also been included in the Globe and Mail’s Fall book preview of 62 new titles to read this season.
“I first told my mom I was going to write a book about her right around the time I was packing heat in the 80-person village of Netherhill and performing little plays on our veranda in 1965. Mom was a Russian combat soldier fighting Nazis on the Eastern Front during World War Two. She could pitch a handful of kitchen knives across the room and form a perfect pattern around a frying pan hanging on the wall.
“She was the most fascinating woman I ever met. How could I not write a book about her?” asked Spicer. “The Traitor’s Daughter, however, began as a documentary idea for Canadian television audiences shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. It grew into a rich, complex, multi-layered story of a mother-daughter relationship as well as a war story, told through a woman’s very specific point of view.
“Writing a book enabled me to share all those layers with readers. I travelled to ten countries and three continents over thirty years to write this book.
“The Traitor’s Daughter is published by the largest, most prestigious publishing house in Canada,” said Spicer. “Penguin Random House also publishes Margaret Atwood and several other brilliant Canadian voices. It is beyond my literary abilities to describe what a thrill it is to run into Ms. Atwood recording her audiobook in the booth next to mine on the 14th floor of the head office in Toronto.
“The last two years of working with my brilliant executive editor Lara Hinchberger has been the highlight of a fifty-year career. I only wish Lara had been able to join me this week on our book launch in Saskatchewan, back to Netherhill, Kindersley, and Saskatoon, where The Traitor’s Daughter pulled in standing room only crowds. Every book was sold before I stepped onto the stage to read.”
The experience of writing a book, especially one so personal, has been a remarkable endeavour. One that has brought a lot of hard work to life but also something to be proud of, for it was no easy task.
“I have been writing this book one way or the other since I was ten years old,” said Spicer. “The actual full-time writing took seven years; however, I did eight drafts before I was satisfied I’d found the voice’ of the book. It’s a woman’s story, a war story, and the story of Canada’s only officially registered war bride among 47-thousand European women who fell in love with Canadian soldiers and followed their new husbands back to Canada after the war.
“There were two enjoyable experiences in writing this book. My twin brother Victor wrote it was the most profound experience of his internal life to read this gripping, largely unknown story of his mother.
“Then my older brother Harold flew from Calgary with his wife Diana, to be at the national book launch in Toronto, and when I scanned a packed house of book buyers, literary agents, television executives, and Canadian cinema directors, former war correspondents, and a real who’s who of Canadian literati,” said Spicer. “It was the sight of my brother’s eyes welling up and his grin as he stood to join a standing ovation that will remain a real transcendent moment.”
“However, to write a book is to live it. Every minute I was writing about details of my mother’s capture by the Nazis, imagining her terror at the hands of knife-wielding German captors on the Eastern Front during World War Two, relying on her cleverness and resolve to survive, took me into the darkest corners of my imagination. Then, to take these scenes, fleshing out the context of what was happening all around her while resisting the temptation to stray beyond what I knew to be true, to find the right words and to bring the highest standards of journalistic rigour to every sentence, that was a minute-by-minute challenge that lasted seven years.”
Spicer’s novel has been gaining momentum and popularity. Not only is it a best seller, but it has become the topic for many radio and television shows, giving Spicer and her mother an opportunity to talk about it.
“The Canadian public has fallen in love with my mom,” said Spicer. “The Traitor’s Daughter hit number two on the National Best Sellers’ List the first weeks after it landed in Canadian bookstores in late August. The momentum continues.
“The highest-rated CBC Radio program, The Current with Matt Galloway, gave Mom and me half an hour on prime time radio, describing the book as compelling, a page-turner. Zoomer Magazine did a multi-page spread with photos, echoing Penguin’s words: A masterful narration. I appeared on the CBC National, as well as the Bell network radio show, hosted by Richard Crouse.”
Writing this book has been a dream come true for Spicer and the support she has received from people purchasing the book has been overwhelming. The Traitor’s Daughter can be found on bookstore shelves as well as be ordered online.
“The Traitor’s Daughter is now available in all major bookstores across Canada, including Costco,” said Spicer. “Look for it on the Best Sellers’ shelf at Indigo Chapters, as well as McNally-Robinson in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. It’s also available to purchase on Amazon and Penguin Random House Canada.
“Every single book sale keeps Mom’s story alive. This was the promise I made to my Russian mother in Netherhill, Saskatchewan, during the Cold War. Today, it is readers in Swan River and beyond who help me keep that sacred word.”