Home is in sight and this may be the last blog we have time to do and what memorable memories it contains! I know that Ross has already sent a summary of our trip to Alaska to his his group list so I’ll try to add some other highlights to the ones he included and will “cut and paste” in some of his story as well for those who aren’t on his mailing list. I think he's going to foward this on as well.
Seattle was a much-needed R&R stop for us all after driving 2200 miles in 5 days. It is a beautiful city set on the harbour and seems a really friendly place with bustling food markets and beautiful homes. Having visited it I understand why the Rem Koolhouse designed library is controversial in Seattle but we really loved it - it is the most wired, computer friendly space I’ve ever been - a true library for the 21st century. I’ll but a couple of photos’ in for you to judge.
As Ross said the cruise exceeded all our expectations. The Norwegian Sun cruise liner was huge with 2200 passengers and 900 + crew. It was a
floating luxurious city and having been before down near the water line on ships it was great to have our own balcony and amenities. The cruise industry has come a long way in the past few years.
The water was smooth the whole trip as we travelled in convey with other giant cruisers up the inside passage. Six giant stabilisers removed any sensation of being on the water - no wobbly sea legs when on land and we were very fortunate to have good weather and incredible scenery with islands and mountains on each side. The nightly shows were brilliant, and the food was unbelievable. The average weight gain on a 7 day cruise is 7 pounds and I’m sure the four of us each gave that a nudge (it will be two trips a day to the gym and only lettuce leaves in the fridge when we get home). We travelled just over 2000 miles (that number keeps cropping up) up to Skagway and back and went on two fantastic daytrips. The first was out of Juneau on a small catamaran up the Tracey Fiord to the base of the South Sawyer glacier. We went ahead of our
cruiser and were able to get within 200 feet of the glacier “where we watched as huge shards of ice came crashing (often thunderously) into the water. The blue colour of the face of the glacier was amazing - saw many seals and their pups on the icebergs and ice flows that we were dodging. There were thousands of these small icebergs- just amazing arctic scenes”. On the way we spotted a humpback whale and followed it for a time as it dived and breached and then near the glacier we saw two bald headed eagles on nests… what a visual feast the day was and even the crew were excited as they had never had such an array of wildlife and such spectacular glacier ‘carving’ on one trip. Our cruiser followed behind but couldn’t get anywhere as near as we could and eventually we boarded the ship midstream.
The next day from Skagway we travelled by bus to the Yukon and were lucky enough to spot a big 6 ft black bear near the road. The driver kept backing up to follow it and it came right down to the road to eat the flowers. All the rangers
etc said we were really fortunate to get so close and see such a large one. The other highlight of the day was the train journey down from White Horse Pass in the Yukon into Skagway. When gold fever first struck men had to travel by foot over White Horse Pass to get to the Yukon. They had to carry 2000 pds of supplies or the Mounties wouldn’t let them over the pass. They took probably 8 or 9 trips to get the supplies up and then the same to take it down the other side!! If they were even a few pounds short they were turned back. So the narrow gauge railway was a boon to the area and they recently restored a 38 mile section up the mountain. There was spectacular scenery from both sides of this narrow winding railway. To cap off a great day we scored a table at the back of the restaurant and as we ate dinner we cruised away from Skagway with the sun setting over snow capped mountains and a sea as smooth as glass. Unforgettable stuff, and something that 700 000 people who travel by ship also enjoy each year.
Back in Vancouver we said farewell to Ross and Helen as they continue their trip to Edinburgh (after Ross has his Wimbledon treat). We had a great time together and really enjoyed their company and will have lots to reminisce about when we are all back in Sydney.
In Vancouver we are staying with our friends George and Linda high up in West Vancouver overlooking the city. A quiet couple of days to regroup and then we plan to go over to Vancouver Island and up to Whistler before we go by train next week to Banff and Calgary. We leave on the 11 July for a few days in Hong Kong and then home on the 16th. Hope you’ve all enjoyed your cyber travel and once again as I signed off last year -“You’ve had your blooming lot” for this trip.
Love to everyone - we a re looking forward to catching up with family and friends.
Lyn and Col.
In the spaWe found plenty of time to use the pool and the spa.
Canada's Flag
Map of Canada