Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park This is a forest of giants, big old giants! The General Sherman Tree is the world’s largest tree, about 2700 years old, its largest branch is about 2.15m in diameter, thicker than most other tree’s trunks!. These sequoia trees have a special type of bark that seems to be resilient to fungi, insects and also fire resistant. The wood is so impenetrable or unable to decay that piles of sawdust can still be found in Grant Grove’s Big Stump Basin where sequoias were cut for lumber over 100 years ago – this ability helps them to survive for centuries. Most of them die because they topple over as they don’t have deep penetrating roots… poor big guys! The general Grant tree is the world’s third-largest tree and has the greatest ... read more

Our cruise came to an end in Vancouver on Friday, after clearing customs we picked up a rental car and headed for our hotel (Marriott Pinnacle) which was close to the port. After dumping our luggage we went to Granville Island Farmers Market for a bite to eat. It's not easy to describe Vancouver, amazing architecture, Pretty flower baskets and arrangements in the streets, stunning skyline, mountain peaks, so very French and one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen. We managed to pop in to Stanley Park - a great place for families or romantics to hang out for the day with a picnic basket or just to stroll around, I could easily have spent a whole day in the park but we had to move on, it's still a VERY LONG drive to ... read more

Ketchikan Another sleepy village nestled between mountain and sea with amazing scenery, somehow I just can’t get enough of the views. Ketchikan is Tlingit Indian for “Thundering Wings of an Eagle” ,that is because the town takes the shape of an eagle in flight when viewed from deer Mountain. We were warned about the “traffic ninjas”, these pedestrian crossing attendants take their job VERY seriously and if anyone should step over the sidewalk before they instructed too they get very upset! I guess it upsets the whole town’s traffic system when a ship or two bring in an extra 3000 people… Shore excursions available were – floatplane or boat to Misty Fjords, flightseeing and I think someone mentioned snorkelling! On board entertainment in theatre “iBroadway” – music from Broadway past and present.. We had the best ... read more

Skagway Stepping into Skagway was like stepping back into time, 1899 perhaps… another Gold rush town, they managed to preserve that olden day feel by keeping saloons and dance halls. It’s also in a very pretty setting, surrounded by green hills and snow-capped mountains Some of the shore excursions available – White Pass Scenic Railway , it’s a train ride on a vintage rail car that takes one through the famous White Yukon Rail route to the Summit. Another option was to go on a Glacier Point Wilderness Safari, this takes you to the face of the Davidson Glacier in a 31 Foot voyager canoe, whales and sea lions often pop up on these safaris. After our visit to the town we were back on board to start our own table tennis tournament, well I was ... read more

After a very rocky 14 hours we arrived very very close to Hubbard Glacier about 400m!, a 122km long glacier that took 400 years to reach the point where it's at now, so the foot of the glacier that we saw in the picture is about 400years old! On our way to there we passed a few stunning icebergs...couldn't help but think..... "Titanic"!!!! But the captain and 'pilot' that they picked up on the way seemed to know what they were doing.. It's about 9,65km wide and about 125m from top to sealevel (high) and another 100m below sealevel! This glacier is moving fast and as it moves calving takes place, it sounds like gunshots or thunder going off as the ice cracks and breaks off, it was absolutely amazing being SO close to it and ... read more