Page 4 of Craig9563 Travel Blog Posts


North America » United States » Alaska June 28th 2016

Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Episode 4: Wildlife spotting and beer tasting on the Kenai Peninsula. If you drive three hours South of Anchorage, you come to the wonderful Kenai Peninsula. This place basically showcases all of Alaska in one hit – glaciers, snow-capped mountains, terrestrial and marine wildlife, forests, national parks and quaint towns. It is a “must-see” for a first time Alaskan visitor who has the time. In a hire car, we drove down here to take it all in, stopping at the towns of Seward on one side of the peninsula, and then Homer on the other. There is a massive icefield in the middle that spawns numerous glaciers and much of it is protected as the Kenai Fjords National Park. This is best seen from the water, and we did a full-day boat ... read more
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North America » United States » Alaska June 22nd 2016

Tuesday, June 21, 2016. Episode 3: Glacier Bay and then on to Anchorage. Hand railings, door handles and salt and pepper shakers. Theses are apparently the main sources of spreading gastro bugs and/or the norovirus around cruise ships. There were sanitation stations all over the ship, where you place your hands and a pleasant smelling disinfectant squirts out. Everyone happily did this before and after entering eateries and bars on our cruise ship. There were also staff around with little spray bottles of the same stuff, constantly exclaiming “Washy, washy” and spraying your outstretched hands every now and then. They became friendly faces that we got to know. On the last day of the cruise, one of them was on guitar and they were singing. We noted that their repertoire included this corruption of a Beatles ... read more
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North America » United States » Alaska June 19th 2016

Episode 2: The “Alaskan Panhandle” June 16, 2016. Dear all, I hope all is well there in the Antipodes. Very happy we are not still being ear-bashing by Australian election crap. Mind you, it is not much better here in the USA. We are now half way through our Alaskan cruise (a seven-day trip). We are having a great time and the scenery here is superb. Before boarding, I made a quick trip to Vancouver Aquarium, with the prime aim of seeing their captive beluga whales (unlikely that I’d ever see them in the wild). Bryan will recall that we also saw orcas there at the aquarium in 1988, but they have since conceded that keeping orcas in captivity is not right and killer whales no longer feature here. Yet somehow this sentiment does not extend ... read more
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2.Saling out of Vancouver
3.Ketchikan Alaksa

North America » United States » Alaska June 13th 2016

Episode 1: Northern Exposure June 12, 2016. Hello everyone. This trip sees us heading North, way North………to Alaska. Buoyed by the prospect of epic scenery, vast open spaces, unique wildlife, and cruising the famed Inside Passage, we eagerly boarded our flight to North America last week. As neither of us handle long haul flights very well these days, we broke the trip by spending two languid days in Hawaii, before pressing on to Vancouver, Canada, where the cruise was leaving from. Now, we don’t normally relish the prospect of being confined to a floating mega-hotel, dodging gastro-bugs and screaming kids each day, and indeed we have never been on a cruise previously. It’s not our scene. However, in this particular case, it really is the best way to see the Alaskan panhandle as much of it ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Central January 28th 2015

Episode 5 (Wednesday, 28.01.15) With our remaining days in New Zealand becoming numbered, we progressed from Napier south towards Wellington. We stopped at a little town called Woodville for lunch. While eating in a café, I noticed a dress shop called “For Frock’s Sake.” In Wellington, we stayed at the Copthorne Hotel by the water, with sweeping views of the city around the harbour. Wellington is a charming place, and again our days were bathed in sunshine (26 degrees in Welly and not a breath of wind !). Ross particularly loved the rows of lovely (San Fran like) wooden houses both along the boulevarde and terraced up the hillsides around the city. Meanwhile, sitting in bean bags drinking beers in the late arvo sun down at the Macs BrewBar is most agreeable (as Lady Catherine De ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hawkes Bay » Napier January 23rd 2015

Episode 4 (Saturday 24.01.15) Day 17 of our New Zealand trip and day 17 of sunshine ! From Rotorua we traveled South to Tongariro National Park, stopping first at Wai-O-Tapu geothermal area and Huka Falls. Of the various geothermal parks in the region, Brent and Shirl said that Wai-O-Tau was best, as it has everything – geysers, bubbling mud pools and steaming lakes of various colours. They were right. We also saw the mighty Waikato River, noisily thrusting its ice blue waters through a very narrow gorge at Huka Falls. And so on to Tongariro. This world heritage listed National Park features active volcanoes and fantastic lunar-like scenery. It is at its busiest during Winter, when everyone comes here to ski, but it is also popular in Summer, for its wonderful walking trails. The finest day ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Central Plateau January 21st 2015

Episode 3 (21.01.15) This blog focuses primarily on our time in Rotorua, staying with two wonderful hosts, Shirl and Brent Hardy. The blog is primarily aimed at our friends who know Brent and Shirl, but everyone else should enjoy it too. From Coromandel Peninsula, we drove down to Rotorua via hot water beach (where you dig a hole in the sand and hot water from geothermal sources bubbles up - and viola - your very own spa). By dusk, we arrived at Brent and Shirl’s house, which sits directly on Lake Rotorua, a large expanse of fresh water and home to numerous waterbirds. Excellent. Brent had booked Ross and I on the Mitai Maori Cultural experience that night, which was a lot of fun (dinner, a Maori cultural show, and some glow worm viewing). The next ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel Peninsula » Tairua January 16th 2015

Episode 2 (17.01.15). There is much to admire about New Zealand society. The indigenous Maori and white people are well integrated. There is a great respect for indigenous culture and it is pervasive here. While there are still some sore issues, race relations here are well ahead of those in Australia. Of course, Kiwis are also ahead when it comes to the recognition of gay people, as same sex marriage is legal here. The Bay of Islands is historically important, being the first site of European colonization in NZ. We spent our last day in Paihia at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, where the treaty was signed between Maori chiefs and Pakeha (Europeans) in 1840. We saw the meeting house, large and ornate Maori ceremonial canoes and also caught a cultural performance. We found it very interesting ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia January 12th 2015

Episode 1 (12.01.15) “Wipe your face, you have bits of pie in your whiskers,” said Ross, staring at my unshaken face. We were sitting having lunch in a café in downtown Auckland, at the beginning of a three-week trip focusing this time on the North Island of New Zealand. Ross ordered the beef, bacon and cheese pie, and found it riddled with bits of corn. I ordered a pepper steak pie and mine was riddled with peas. Odd, but tasty! We arrived to sunny skies last Thursday (January 8) and have so far explored Auckland, Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, and the beautiful Bay of Islands, north of Auckland. We really enjoyed Auckland, walking around the waterfront area and going up the tall Sky Tower for dizzy 360 degree views. It has one of those ... read more
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Africa August 17th 2014

East Africa postscript - photos shown below Craig... read more
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