Alaska - Juneau

Glorius day in Juneau which typically sees rain most of the year but was scorching. Again, pretty touristy like the towns of Skagway and Sitka but rather larger and with a good selection of bars and restaurants. This is actually the State capital of Alaska. Met up with Mike Cook who used to work with Lee and now lives in Anchorage, Alaska. We spent the afternoon catching up, drinking beer and eating, so straight back into usual stuff then! Mike didn't look to pleased to be getting his picture on the blog!

Alaska - En route to Glacier

Even before we reached the glacier the scenery, and sunshine was pretty impressive.

Alaska - Closeup of tip of Glacier

The Glacier from the 13th deck to give an idea of the scale, and a closer look.

Alaska - Tip of the Glacier

Alaska - River of Ice

Alaska - Hubbard Glacier and Whales

Wow, what a day. We got up early in anticipation and were not disappointed. We stood watching
the approaching glacier from 8am and stood in the freezing cold, heated periodically by some hot
chocolate, until 1pm. The sight was magnificent. As we initially approached the glacier the Captain announced that due to compacted ice we might not be able to get too close. We then saw a cruise ship in front of us turn around without getting very close. Well from then on the boat proceeded very slowly through all the floating ice field, making it to within touching distance of the glacier. We saw several crew members come down from the bridge to get photos taken as this was the closest they had ever been able to get to it. All this in glorious sunshine, completely atypical for Alaska.
The Hubbard Glacier is the longest river of ice in North America and one of the most active glaciers in the world. We got about 120 photographs as we approached. One of the most spectacular sights we didn't get on film was the glacier calving. Large, very large, chunks of ice falling off the glacier into the water, with the sound of an explosion. We even saw one massive piece of ice just appear shooting out of the water without warning. The ship gives a great view from the 11-13th floors!
The ice looked very blue and dwarfed the ship as we got up close to it. It was truly an awe-inspiring sight, which made us completely forget the bitterly cold wind being supercooled as it travels over the glacier. After a while we heading back through the ice to see some another cruise ship that had not braved the ice-pack and was watching from a distance. I bet the passengers felt a little cheated!
After a filling lunch we were just relaxing watching the ocean when we saw more dolphins swimming right next to the ship. Coming in groups of five we just kept seeing them for about an hour. We also saw lots of pairs of whales, with the tell-tale plumes of water shooting up, and the occasional large body and huge tail splashing out of the water. Although we have seen them in aquariums it is not the same as just spotting one in the ocean swimming by.
The day finished with another lovely meal sat by the window watching a beautiful sunset over the mountains and glaciers across the sea. The cruise is exceeding all expectations in terms of the views, the facilities, the friendliness of the staff and the quality of everything!

Alaska - Cruising

Vicky on the jogging track.

Alaska - Cruising

Alaska - Cruising

Alaskan Cruise - Sitka

Stopped at our first stop - Sitka. This involved tendering - getting a lifeboat from the ship to the shore. Very scenic place with glimpses of the mountains covered in snow coming up. We saw a dolphin playing just next to the ship, and also saw eagles flying around. Vicky took a tour around the town photographing the churches and views of the ship from the shore. We continue to be amazed at how enjoyable this all is, although it would be very easy to come back weighing 20 stone.

Alaskan Cruise - Cruising

Had dinner last night, a little apprehensive about who we would be sharing a table with for the week but it turned out to be another English couple from near Liverpool who are good fun. Enjoyed a nice nights sleep in our stateroom. We opted for an inside cabin, which means we don't get any balcony or window, but we spend so little time in it and there are so many great viewpoints thorughout the ship that it doesn't matter. Also means the room is really dark at night. We would rather watch the view from one of the hot pools on deck, open 24 hours a day. Although compact the room is really comfortable and has everything you need. We tried some escargot last night, which were very nice for dinner at the formal dinner. Lee played in a poker tournament and came third, just outside of the prize money though! We also went for a body composition evaluation and both were a little disappointed with the outcome! Although it did not stop us putting away the champagne cocktails with the Formal dinner. The trousers that Lee had bought for his formal outfit were about 1 foot too long, it was quite funny sticking them up with plasters!

Alaskan Cruise - Ahoy!

Last minute panic about not having the right clothes to wear for the formal evenings involved an emergency shopping dash for a suit before heading for the port to catch our boat. We arrived in a taxi about 5 hours early. As soon as we got out the taxi someone took our bags, asking what cabin we were in and that was the last we saw of them until we found them in our "stateroom" later in the afternoon.
The check-in process and immigration was really quick and friendly so we were on the ship eating lunch by about 12. The ship "Serenade of the Seas" was awesome. Everything is very luxurious on board, verging on decadent in some cases with really friendly service. There are cafes, restauarants and bars serving a gigantic selection of great-looking food all day (and night long), and boy some of the people on this cruise appear to be making the most of each meal-time! Including us! There are three swimming pools, three hot tubs, a huge fitness centre, a spa, a cinema, library, basketball court, climbing wall, cigar room, nightclub with a revolving floor, casino, mini golf, and countless restaurants and bars.
On the first night we enjoyed the view as we sailed out of Vancouver, under the suspension bridge. Vicky tried out the climbing wall, reaching the top almost as quickly as some of the kids! We also played some pool on one of the self-levelling tables. They are based around a gyroscope and automatically adjust to any moves in the ship to keep a perfectly level playing surface. This gives the impression that the table is flying around with all the balls staying perfectly still, when actually the table is still but the floor is moving up and down.

Vancouver - Adieu

Our last day in Vancouver, we spent the day playing golf in Elizabeth Park the highest point in the city. Vicky won convincingly although it was only on the back nine that she started kicking butt. The players behind us suggested that I should pay her for lessons, grrr! This evening will be spent preparing for our cruise, this may be the last internet update for a week depending on the internet situation onboard. We are both very excited and can't wait to see the glaciers up close. Also looking forward to meeting up with a friend who moved to Alaska recently on one of our stops.

Vancouver - Shopping

After checking the details on the cruise we realised that we could not just spend the whole cruise slumming it in jeans and T-shirts, so today we did some bargain hunting. Fortunately we found a bargain shop which provided some smart shoes and a cocktail dress, we also discovered where our ferry terminal actually is and got our train tickets to take us from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon - which will be the start of our West Coast road trip after the cruise.

After browsing the shops and riding the SkyTrain we decided to check out the much-touted GasTown - a renovated district of Vancouver that is meant to be almost as good as Granville Island. This turned out to be a big disappointment, very touristy, full of people trying to beg or harrass you into giving them money. We didn't bother with a single photograph!

Did find a Best Buy - which is a supermarket just full of electrical goodies. Everything is much cheaper than the UK and we (Lee actually) were very tempted by just about everything.

Vancouver - Stanley Park

Another beautifully sunny day. We took the bus to Stanley Park, 1000 acres of parkland, just a few minutes walk from downtown Vancouver. Predominantly we followed the 6 mile seawall. Due to some REALLY bad weather last year, part of the trail is closed. We wondered what really could be so bad to close it. It was only when we saw hundreds of massive trees uprooted, think trunk diameters of about 1 metre, and splintered and part of the pathway washed away that we understood. The views as we walked around were great, there were several beaches, the largest family "paddling pool" that we have ever seen - think Olympic sized pool. Many people running, cycling, rollerblading in the sun. We came across several racoons just walking on the paths, we took photos - the locals looked at us like we were crazy, also saw lots of squirels- the black ones looked the strangest. We also got some great views of the big suspension bridge that we drove over to enter the city.

After a long walk, we decided to visit the Port where we would be setting off on our Alaskan cruise in a few days time. It was great to watch these massive ships leaving, with all their excited passangers waving back to the sightseers. We are both very excited now about the weeks trip which should take us close to some massive glaciers that are breaking up into the sea. Fortunately, we checked what time we should arrive for our cruise on Saturday. I say fortunately because we found out we actually leave from a different Port somewhere else in the city! Next to the Port was a dock full of seaplanes, it was funny to watch them taking off and landing in the sea. They also have gas stations just floating in the middle of the sea for boats and seaplanes to fill up.

Vancouver - Seaplanes and Racoons

Vancouver - City life the way it should be!

After the early morning scenic drive we arrived to some beautiful sunshine in Vancouver. Driving over Lions Gate Bridge was a very inviting introduction to Vancouver, as was the lovely cooked breakfast for about £2.50 each. Finding the Car hire dropoff only involved one illegal right turn and a little swearing. Now you are waiting for the punchline, the silly thing we did. OK, to try and keep under budget for just one day we decided to walk from the car hire place to our hotel. Needless to say we took the long route, it was a very long, uphill walk, and we had all our luggage with us.

Finally we stumbled in, far too early to check-in and had to drop off the luggage and kill five hours before relaxing. After a refreshing Frappachino in the sun we found our second wind. We explored the "seashore" and Granville Island. Vancouver looked awesome, with the harbour in the foreground filled with yachts, the skyscrapers behind, framed by the distant snow-capped mountains, topped off with a perfectly blue sky. Downtown is located just a few minutes from the Sea and the great walks, now that would be a nice walk home from work.

Checked out Granville Islands market, and sampled some of the lovely food and cakes there, lying in the sun. We also found time to fit in the Space Museum. Now we were very reluctant to visit any more museums but it turned out to be a great afternoon, appealing to the child in Lee very much. The displays were extremely interactive, one involving landing a space shuttle, the kids didn't get a look-in.

Farewell Car! 2100km together

Sea to Sky Highway - Goodbye to the car

We woke up at 5.30am, first time for a while, because for some reason we had arranged to drop off the car in Vancouver about 150km away at 9am, rush hour in an unfamiliar city! We woke to a glorious morning and saw some of the best views of Whistler since we had arrived. The Sea to Sky Highway was a lovely drive beginning in the snow-capped mountains, and then suddenly, unexpectedly you see the Sea emerge on the horizon. Then you cross the sea by driving over the huge Lions Gate suspension bridge leading to Vancouver. Ferries and seaplanes milling around below you, and on such a beautiful day. We stopped a couple of times to take in the sights of Whistler, and also got a last sighting of a black bear. Content this time to pull over on to the side of the deserted road and watch from the car window as it fed just about 10-20 metres away, we both would love to go back to this part of Canada again.

Whistler - Lake Alta

Enjoyed a nice walk around Lake Alta, with some sunshine today. Whistler certainly looked a lot more picturesque without the low clouds blocking out the great views of the surrounding mountains. Heading off to Vancouver tomorrow where we will have to say a fond farewell to the Hyundai. We drive along the Sky to Sea Highway, starting the journey in the mountains but finishing up in Vancouver and right by the sea.

Whistler - Relaxing

Vicky started off the day as she meant it to continue, visiting the spa for an hour, followed by some yoga stretching. I watched the poker on TV. Another cloudy day although no rain, we wandered through Whistler Village, which must be awesome in the Winter. The Village was very pleasant with lots of bars and restaurants. There are also lots of activities for the summer, although we are going to see if it gets a bit brighter tomorrow before taking part.

They have what looks to be an awesome mountain bike track. The riders take the main chairlift up to the top and just ride down one of about 30 tracks. The part of the course that we could see had huge jumps.

Whistler - Yum, Yum

Didn't fancy these much, they looked like little hands and made us laugh a lot. Also the mountain biking track with the chairlift to take you to the top.

Whistler - Out comes the safety car

We did the fairly long drive from Sun Peaks to Whistler, about 400km. We set off in pouring rain and alternated between rain and just cloudy. We drove through Kamloops and the cowboy country, we also passed through several Indian (First Nations - they are called here) Reservations. The road got distinctly more exciting as we got closer to Whistler. We began driving on narrow roads over the mountains. Most of the time just below or in the clouds. The roads were also not in the best condition. At one stage they brought out the "Safety Car". No joke, we had to wait at some roadworks for the "Pilot Car", a car with flashing lights on it, which then navigated and led the way for a line of traffic. It was very funny given all the rain.

A little later we were travelling over some particularly hairy roads, when we came to a sign warning of cracks in the pavement. Actually the whole road had buckled, there were massive cracks and big bulges and this was on a very high road with a steep drop down into the canyon below. Surviving all this, we continued to see magnificent scenery while driving on very steep mountain roads, although visibility dropped to just a few metres at times in the clouds. Throughout the journey there were avalanche and landslip warnings. We did not heed these until a pretty big rock just rolled down the mountain and hit the side of our car while were driving.

Got to Whistler in one piece and checked in. Now we have been failing miserably on our budget so far, Whistler was meant to be cheap given that it is a ski resort in off-season. Except rather than booking a cheaper room, Vicky saw how cheap nicer hotels were and nicer rooms and booked those instead! So for the second time we have a suite in a really nice hotel but are at best on budget! Oh well, hopefully we'll balance it all out with the camper van in New Zealand:)

Kamloops - Walking by the river

We drove to Kamloops todays, ears popping as we left the ski resort for the day and drove into the valley. Kamloops was the busiest town we have seen since Calgary, although pretty unremarkable. Mostly dominated by bars and some restaurants. Oh yes, and the Dollarama which was a supermarket where everything cost 1 Canadian Dollar or less (less than fifty pence). The store was gigantic and we considered buying some joke souvenirs to send home, but the postage would cost too much. There was a train track cutting the town in half, most of the time we were there we heard the ringing of the crossing. The freight trains here are enormous, anything up to 100 wagons. By pure luck we managed to drive across the crossing without waiting.

It was a lovely sunny day and we enjoyed walking through the park by the River Thompson, which we had driven beside while on the Yellowhead highway between Valemount and Kamloops, watching it grow larger and slower. We have driven about 1500km so far, with a six hour drive to Whistler tomorrow, about another 500km.

Sun Peaks - Lazing around

Continued to relax. We are off to Kamloops tomorrow to look around the city and then a fairly long drive to Whistler on the following day. Walked around the very small village, played some more golf, with scenes reminiscent of "Caddyshack". Gophers were everywhere on the driving range, popping up and scurrying away when the ball went close to them. Found a mountain bike track that is meant to be one of the best in Canada but unfortunately it's not open until after we leave.

Sun Peaks - Driving

Hurray, we have left our dingy hotel in Valemount with the loudest, most sleep-disturbing plumbing in the world. We set off bright and early for 320km through the mountains. It was a lovely journey although we are finding ourselves becoming numb to the awesome sights and the wildlife. First stop to get some petrol. Now most of North America is in uproar at the massive recent increases in petrol prices. How much? We are paying about 55p litre. We are laughing everytime we fill the tank because it costs so little versus the UK. And there is none of this fancy unleaded stuff it is Leaded regular, Leaded premium and Leaded Super-premium. Our muscle-car (Hyundai :)) seems to be doing just fine on the regular.

Logging seems to be one of the primary activities here, and we certainly passed a number of massive trucks carrying monster tree-trunks on the journey. Quite exciting overtaking on the single-lane mountain roads, particularly in an automatic Hyundai, they certainly seem very long when you are alongside them. Vicky might disagree with the word exciting!

Found the Sun Peaks resort with the help of TomTom which found it quickly, although it did try and send us down a logging track with no through road signs on first, sure it would have been a shorter journey but not sure how the car would have liked it. Sun Peaks is a ski resort with lovely scenery, although no snow right now. One thing we love about Canada is that all the hotels seem to have pools and hot tubs, even the really small ones. So we relaxed after our journey sitting in the hot tub, in the rain, admiring the view.

Valemount - Counting down

Still in Valemount, managed to avoid the rain for a couple of hours or so this morning to visit Mount Robson again and get to the golf range to hit some balls. Was great seeing the mountains in the distance while you play. Although nothing can disguise the fact that this place is more of a truck stop before the 320km drive to Kamloops tomorrow. We decided to have a BarBQ to avoid our usual food dilemma, went to the supermarket, got everything ready in the trolley and then asked about disposable BBQ's. That's when we were told everyone in Canada has a barbecue and loves barbecuing food... GREAT... so there is no need for disposable one...GRR, empty the trolley out again. So we had to settle for trying again at a local Chinese restaurant. Within ten seconds of walking in, all the power failed. Ok, no problem the kitchen was using gas so we ordered and waited in the darkness. Then it came time to pay, as we got out our credit card it suddenly dawned on us that the machine wasn't working with no electricity. Fortunately we had some USD which she accepted, actually thought our USD10 note was USD100 and tried to give us loads of change. We were kind and pointed out the mistake.

Oh yes we also noticed warning signs everywhere today telling residents not to drink tap water and to buy bottled water. It also warned that tap water must be boiled for a few minutes just to brush your teeth, something to do with the recent flooding... Okay so guess what we've been drinking since we started out, you got it, tap water. Every morning we fill our four or five bottles with the stuff before we head out for the day. Touch wood, neither of us are ill yet, but we have switched to bottled water or cups of tea. Can't wait to move on tomorrow, even looking forward to the long drive.

Valemount - More relaxing

Stayed in a lovely log cabin last night by a lake with a roaring fire. Vicky got carried away and used a couple of weeks worth of logs in one night, in fact it was so hot we had to move into the bedroom to escape the furnace.

Today we drove to Valemount as a stop-over for our next destination: Kamloops. We passed by Mount Robson the highest mountain in the Rockies at 3900metres. So big it generates its own weather, it was certainly changeable driving beside it. We saw deer, three elk grazing by the side of the road, and a family of black bears. The big bear was eating beside the road, and three small cubs were up in a nearby tree. We stayed near to the car this time so the photos are not as clear. It was very strange when driving to see a road sign advising motorists to check the time and move clocks back one hour. It shows how big Canada is to change timezones when just driving. Unfortunately it does mean we get one extra hour in Valemount which doesn't appear to be much more than a truck stop on the long journey between Jasper and Kamloops. We are considering whether to go to Wells Gray Provincial Park tomorrow. The park is so wild that mountains remain un-named and unclimbed within it.

Valemount - Baby Bears

Not very clear but the black things are the bear cubs in a tree.

Jasper - Whistler Mountain

After a relaxing day yesterday in the springs we decided that we needed some activity. We decided to climb Whistler Mountain. There is a cable car that rides to the top and we figured that we could use that to catch a ride down. The hike was very strenuous and took almost three hours at a good pace to complete. Towards the middle of the climb we encountered a boggy area which was quite humid and were bitten several times by big flying insects. Later in the climb we hit the snow again which completely obscured the path, at times we were almost waist deep in snow just aiming for the top.

The views were fantastic and so was the sense of achievement at reaching the top (2450metres). It was a shame we had to mingle with all the shorts-wearing, perfectly clean people who had taken the cable car the whole way up, all seven minutes!

Jasper - Mid way Whistler Mountain

Jasper - Miette Hot Springs

After a pretty full day yesterday we decided to kick back today and relax, it is Saturday (had to check that) after all. We visited the Miette Hot Springs about 30miles outside of Jasper and were treated to our first glimpse of a wolf on the side of the road and slowed down by goats grazing on the road (in the middle of 90km/h highway). Driving through more beautiful scenery we got to the hot springs. The water is cooled down as it leaves the earth to a relaxing 39 degrees with views of mountains all around you. It could have been idyllic, in reality it looked just like a couple of swimming pools. I guess we had visions of a boiling hot muddy pool of water in the middle of some rocks. It was lovely and relaxing, and we even tried the cold plunge pool.

This evening we went to get a Chinese. Lee quickly ordered his usual multitude of dishes only to be told by the waiter that it was too many, and he had some better choices. The waiter disappeared, brought back two beers (we had ordered diet cokes). Then brought back two completely random dishes with one from our original order instead of the five Lee had ordered. Okay, the waiter got the quantity right but we didn't exactly get the food we wanted. Still it was very funny not to be given a choice.

Icefield Parkway - Driving to Jasper

Well we did one of the best drives in the world and it truly lived up to its name. We set off at 9am and just arrived in Jasper at around 5pm. The driving was not too strenuous just 232km but there were so many beautiful viewpoints along the way, so many trails to check out, and so much scenery to admire. We felt we could have made the drive last a couple of days and still enjoyed every minute. We had to miss out many of the longer trails to get it done in one day. The scenery changed from being above the tree-line with a rugged snow-capped mountain theme and some scary looking drops, to driving at the bottom of the valley dwarfed by the mountains in beautiful sunshine.

The moment finally came when we got to see a black bear. Just driving along and there it was playing at the side of the road. What are you told to do if you see a bear...? Stay in the car. Yeah right, we got out and took some photos. Although we did beat a hasty retreat after this photo when the bear turned towards us and started ambling over. We got to within about five to ten metres of the bear before it turned around and we sprinted back to the car. Certainly wouldn't have got out the car if it had been a big grizzly bear, we aren't stupid.

There were so many sights we are going to break down today's blog into some of the highlights and attach a picture or two. On the wildlife side we saw a big black raven everywhere we went, sure it was following us, some more deer, some bighorn sheep, and plenty of little creatures, but who cares, we only had eyes for the bear!

Icefield Parkway - Athabasca Glacier

This glacier was a small part of the biggest icefield outside of the Artic Circle. The mountains surrounding it all had impressive glaciers of their own coming off the same icefield. In fact the photos we posted today are only a couple of the 150 we took today of places which were of such varied scenery and each worthy of being on the page: Hector Lake, Snowbird glacier, Sunwapta Falls, Mistaya Canyon and Falls, Endless Ridge, Panther Falls, Saskatchewan Crossing, and others that made up this awesome journey. Truly four seasons in one day!

Icefield Parkway - Athabasca Falls

This was about the fourth waterfall we had seen on our trip today and each one looked and sounded spectacular. With Spring underway the melting of the glaciers and the recent rainfall meant that they were all swollen, fast and with lots of white water. Most of the waterfalls and canyons have catwalks suspended across them so that you get to see (and feel) everything.

Icefield Parkway - Tangle Falls

One of the smaller waterfalls we saw today, but with no trail leading up to it, this one is literally on the roadside. You are driving along, look out the window expecting to see more magnificent views of the Rockies and there it is a tropical looking waterfall!

Icefield Parkway - Weeping Wall

The weeping wall, a wall that weeps. Actually a cliff with lots of waterfalls just appearing to emerge from the cliff-face. Also one of the many big-horn sheep cheering us on our way, either from the side of the road or in it!

Icefield Parkway - Peyto Lake

How do you dress for this weather? A few days ago it was 30 degrees, even this morning it was T-shirt weather. Now we are hiking through the snow to see a lake! Boy, what a sight though when we had finished hiking up the hill. How did everyone else know that it needed snowshoes?

Lake Louise

Lake Louise - Hiking around the lake

We started off early this morning, earlier than expected as a power-cut for the village stopped us getting any breakfast before we headed out. We arrived at Lake Louise to see very little except a lake with a layer of cloud just above it. Not to be deterred we decided to go on one of the hiking trails anyway. So we headed up a very steep ascent through the trees and quickly were surrounded by cloud with visibility of about 5 metres. We also realised there was no one else around, all the Japanese tourists had just stayed by the shore of the lake. After what seemed like an eternity of climbing a very steep incline we made it to Mirror Lake, which looked like some scene from a horror film with dark water and mist everywhere. We continued climbing only to notice that perhaps we weren't fully equipped for this one. There was snow everywhere and we didn't even have waterproofs. Finally we did reach Lake Agnes at 2250metres and again could see very little but felt great for achieving it. Unbelievably in spite of the conditions the tea shop was open and we enjoyed a welcome break. Still no sign of any other walkers.

On the way down the cloud began to burn off and we were treated to some fantastic views. We also saw the first groups of other walkers once we were about half way down. They were all kitted out with waterproofs, hiking poles, bear bells and some were even banging saucepans to avoid encounters. Looks like we misread the bear risk again. Anyway Mirror Lake on the way down was completely transformed and the whole route down seemed more pleasant, nothing like the horror film scenes on the way up. Lake Louise was awesome in the long-awaited sunlight.

After that we went to nearby Lake Moraine, formed by a landslide which also looked magnificent. We took a long walk again up a very steep incline and enjoyed the views.

It was only on reaching the hotel (power still out) that we saw the Trail conditions noticeboard. The first trail warned of snow and advised snow shoes. The second trail we did in the afternoon visitors were advised not to climb because of a high risk of avalanche. It also noted that this time of year was the most likely time to encounter a bear, so make sure you make lots of noise and carry bear spray... Doh! Why don't we read these things before heading off.

It was a great full day with beautiful scenery and some strenuous hikes. Looking forward to a days driving tomorrow. The Icefield Parkway is meant to be one of the best drives in the world. A couple we met pulled over to video a bear on the side of the road. We saw two deer today, one narrowly missing our bonnet and loads of chipmunks everywhere.