Lady C

Sorry it's been so long. Had a great dinner at Taj Mahal restaurant in budapest as farewell to Andrew and Monika, friends Gabor and Kriszti collected me next day and took me walking in the hills above Budapest, leafy and green with limestone rocks and great views of the city and surrounds. Next day they drove me to- Vienna! where we toured the summer palace of the Hapsburgs, huge and opulent, too many rooms to dust! Friends I have stood in the room where Mozart gave his first concert aged 6 to the queen, and viewed the latest new toilet from England, used by no less than emperor Franz Josef himself ( although he was not enthroned at the time.) We picnicked in the formal gardens which were superb of course. We walked through Vienna Downtown ... read more

Here we are again, school´s out and I just found how to do apostrophes on a Hungarian keyboard! Recapping, watched Andrew and several more young men reliving their childhoods on a soccer pitch on Mon night before excursion with six year old class on Tues, hiking to top of Janoshej, Janos Hill to you, for view over city. think I just slept Tues night! Wed I did a sort of science play lesson with five year olds, rocket balloons, had lunch- these kids are always eating! -then observed a music lesson and read them my Alaskan bear stories. School was only half a day on Thurs then a garden party on Fri where this time I was not required to be the magician´stooge! Thurs pm we met Iain (UK friend) off Prague train and went to ... read more

Since leaving Anchorage has been a mixed blessing. Stayed in sterile, hoypoloi horrible hotel on 18th floor in Vancouver which is beautiful from the air but only saw a bit of downtown which is tyoical downtown, anyway only a stepping stone to the Rocky Mountaineer train to Calgary. This was wonderfully well organiyed from go to whoa and is a huge enterprise. The day was damp and grey and we spent two hours travelling slowly through ailway yards and suburbs then.......voila, British Columbia opened up its glories for the rest of the day, aided by Cameron our guide/waiter, very knowledgeable. We spent the night in Kamloops in a my-style motel, small, friendly and by the river, very comfy. We were driven to the Lumberjack Show, a super meal and corny but interesting and funny show demonstrating ... read more

First I must catch you up on doings since Kenai Fjords. Wednesday was supposed to be a day off but hiked my legs off inAnchorage which is a quarter-sized Adelaide, all very mod cons despite isolation, like ALice Springs has just one highway and rail line going through. Funny story in Federal building which houses what we would call National POarks and Wildlife- had to be security-checked just like at airport- smiling fellow asked for photo ID, couldn't find at first, said he'd trust me cos I was from Oz- THEN I found a scungy spare passport photo, his mate barely glanced at it, turned up his nose and looked away and first bloke said 'You look as though you are trying to set up a fake ID with that', great guffaws all round! but the ... read more

Rising at 5.30 after lying awake until 4am was tough, but (I'm not backpacking or camping this trip) a hotel porter drove me to the bus for free........Alaska has loooooooong roadworks just like Oz, but we made the boat in Seward in time. Beautiful drive along turnagain Arm, and managed to avoid a cow moose dicing with death on the road. Allegedly there were Dahl sheep (I'm sure they are goats!) and bears on the cliffs....... As Redoubt Bay boasts the biggest floatplane base in the world, so Seward must have the most chocabloc marina. We had a very knowledgable captain who knew all the seabirds and geology, my special interests. Huge glacial valleys of course, and he took us to watch a pristine glacier calving great chunks into the lake, and the ephemeral waterfalls are ... read more

Hi everyone, I am abusing FREE internet access at my hotel! Great flight except for Vancouver airport taking a fancy to my bag for a while and nearly missing the connection. Anchorage is awesome from the air, oh those snowcovered mountains and miles of wilderness! Small friendly country town yet with all big city facilities, minus the crowds, traffic, smog etc. The bear trip today had perfect weather- T shirts, thermals didn't get a look in! sunset is 11pm and tomorrow I'll find out about sunrise maybe as up very early to go down Kenai fjords peninsula. Anyway today- saw beluga whales, an otter's clam shell midden, a bald eagle's nest complete with bird, two beaver lodges, lotsa waterbirds not seen in Oz or UK, and the folks in the OTHER boat saw a cow m ... read more

Lady C has not only departed but has arrived- at this stage in Anchorage. Travel, arrival & hotel all A.O.K. The only glitch was in the departure schedule. I had planned to dump herself at the airport drop off zone, depart without any parking fees, and return via Kelsey Cottage for a celebratory meal. Her outdoors put a veto on this and we had the meal on the way down whilst she was still with. Dampened the celebration somewhat but at that stage she was still the one who had to be obeyed. Some of you have visited Kelsey - for those who have not - Come stay with us and we will take you. - Take & if you twist our arms pay for. Regards to all and as things move and info is available ... read more

Trial entry from home, leaving tomorrow friends, wheeeeee! Alaska bound.... read more