Land of the Midnight Sun

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We dropped our rental car back in Anchorage. The rest of our trip would be done by train, bus and ferry. The railroad south to Seward was spectacular, but rainy and overcast weather greeted us there, so we decided to exercise our brain cells for the first time in a while, with a visit to the Sea-Life museum. A worthy way to spend an afternoon. It's amazing how much there is to learn about Alaska's wildlife, terrain and often harsh climate.

Our next mode of transport was forgettable. A dodgy bus ride to rainy Homer. This town has a 4.5 mile spit with mountains across the water on either side, however we were unable to experience much of the beauty first hand, due to a heavy fog. We made our way up the coast to the gorgeous old Russian village of Ninilchik. The history of this place made us realise just how close Alaska is to Russia. What a bargain when the U.S. purchased this land from the Russians for less than 2c an acre!

Another dodgy bus ride brought us back to our base point of Anchorage. The weather finally improved for our final four days of ferrying around Prince William Sound, and what a difference it made to suddenly be able to see everything in bright sunlight! Our train and ferry ride to Cordova showed us the better side of Alaskan transport, but the best was yet to come.

We hired a car in Cordova to make our way through spectacular wetlands to reach Child's Glacier. Our Lonely Planet Guide had told us this would blow our minds and it wasn't wrong! We sat for over 2 hours watching the face of the glacier, taller than a 20 story building, slowly calve off sections of ice. Both the sight and the thunderous sounds had us mesmerised and addicted. Dinner and beers overlooking a gorgeous lake topped off our perfect day. Our ferry ride back via Valdez and Whittier allowed us to see these towns and their amazing backdrops in a whole new light.

Over the 17 days of our trip, we not only gained weight (we were in America!), but also gained an appreciation for living amongst the mountain scenery. We are grateful to have the year ahead to enjoy similar surroundings in Vancouver. We are also appreciating the night time again. It was bazaar to leave a pub at midnight to find ourselves in broad daylight!

We didn't see everything in Alaska that we expected, but it was the unexpected that made our trip so memorable. That's the spirit of Alaska - upredictable, untameable, and unforgettable.

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