Monday August 16th

Despite fears to the contrary, we are not lost (but thank you for your concerns Pat and Gordon)! We arrived back in Vancouver yesterday morning after seven very relaxing and enjoyable days on our inside passage cruise to Alaska, where we had limited internet access, hence the silence. But, first things first so I had better pick up from where we left off in Toronto.
The skies were clear for our flight to Vancouver and we got to have a good look at the Rockies as we passed over them. The sheer size of this mountain range is astounding, both in terms of height and spread, at least to those of us not used to large mountains. Kippers and Liette were waiting for us at the airport and after a couple of drinks at their apartment in English Bay we headed for the Japanese restaurant (one that Andy and Kim have fond memories of) across the road and as it was a beautiful evening we sat outside on the upstairs deck. A great start to our visit!

On Friday we caught the little ferry over to Granville Island which is
one of Vancouver's top tourist areas. The food market and shops are
 excellent and to add to the enjoyment there is an active boat industry
 interspersed amongst the shops. For the foodies we had a lunch of
various kinds of smoked salmon on the jetty!





Kippers and I enjoyed a swim down at English Bay later in the afteroon and Friday night saw us at another of Kipper's and Liette's favourite restaurants - we are doing it tough whichever way you look at it!

Saturday morning was spent getting ourselves organised for our 'cruise', which mostly consisted of trying to get some stuff out of our cases so we didn't have to cart it all with us and then Kippers drove us the short distance to the harbour where the 'Zuiderdam' was docked - what huge vessels these are. There were two cruise ships departing that afternoon, so that meant almost 4,000 people  milling about getting through security and customs and then on board. It all went 'swimmingly' however (we soon came to realise that such efficiency was necessary to organise so many people, especially as many of those  were very difficult to organise!) and we were safely on board and headed for the first of many meals by about 1.30pm. As novice cruise ship travellers, we were astounded by the size of the vessel and the furniture and fittings, which were, to our untrained eyes, somewhat over the top. Our stateroom, to which we repaired after lunch, was very pleasant - on the main deck, starboard side (are you impressed Gordon?) near the bow, with a large window which seemed amazingly close to the water.
Set sail at 5pm and started the journey up the Inside Passage towards Alaska. Very cloudy and foggy so we couldn't see a great deal beyond the shoreline, but very calm. Saturday night and Sunday were spent steaming up the coast and again the weather was not brilliant so we could not see much of the scenery of the mainland, Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Island as we sailed on past. Nevertheless, we managed to amuse ourselves very well in the lounge on the Observation Deck, with a few forays outside and met a few fellow travellers. Were also beginning to meet a few others over meals, some really interesting and some a little less so, but the number of people on the cruise (1,900 passengers and 800 crew) meant that we hardly ever saw any of them again unless we tried really hard to do so.

Monday morning saw us travelling up Tracey Arm, a beautiful fjord with towering mountains plunging straight down into waters 900 feet deep. Unfortunately cloud obscured a couple of hanging glaciers we passed, but we enjoyed all the little icebergs floating in the water, some of which were that beautiful blue of glacial ice. The ship turned at a strategic moment beyond which it would have been too narrow to do so and we headed for Juneau (the capital of Alaska and the only capital in Northern America with no road access), our northernmost and first port of call.  Spent the afternoon wandering there amongst the vast numbers of people from the four cruise ships docked that day.

Our arrival at Skagway the next morning. the starting point for most of those who were part of the Klondike gold rush back in the late1800's, was much earlier and we were on the deck ready for our train trip up to White Pass on the Yukon Route by 8.15am and what a journey it was! The railroad, built over 26 months between May 1898 and July 1900 is 110 miles long and climbs from sea level at Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the summit near White Pass in just 20 miles. Because of the tight curves required, it had to be a narrow guage and 35,000 people were involved in its construction. The ride was fabulous, with amazing views down valleys, gorges and across those gorges to the track on the other side. Skagway was a very attractive little town and as many of the other tourists were off on tours etc, it wasn't too crowded. Again, there were four cruise ships docked and these huge vessels dominated the whole town.

So to Glacier Bay, a much-anticipated part of the journey, on Wednesday. The fog which had terrified us when we woke at 6am cleared to a beautiful sunny day as we entered Glacier Bay and we were treated to the most wondrous sights! The John Hopkins Glacier, a tidal glacier which comes right down to the sea and then the Margerite Glacier, which was even more impressive - ice 25 to 30 feet thick meeting the sea and with the snow-capped peaks and blue sky behind, it was stunning. We spent hours out on the deck rugged up in the coats, beanies etc enjoying every minute of this spectacular landscape. The ship stopped for about an hour in front of the glacier waiting to see if it would calve, but despite much cracking of ice all around, no such luck. Mind you, the weather we enjoyed here was all the luck we really needed!

Thursday was another superb day, so our views of Ketchikan, our last port of call, as we travelled up Tongass Narrows were enhanced by blue skies. I decided at this point that a flight up into the Misty Fjords National Park on a float plane was warranted, so I took off to do that while Heather combed Ketchikan checking out galleries and enjoying some beautiful Inuit artwork.

Parts of Ketchikan are built on pilings above the sea and the creek and the historic Creek Street area (Alaska's most notorious red-light district from 1902-54) was particularly atttractive. This was made even more special by the views we had of the thousands of salmon swimming upstream to spawn. My feelings of jealousy and awe were further fuelled by the sight of people fishing from the seaward side of the creek (quite acceptable it transpired).


Before we left Ketchiksan Heff managed to fulfil her dream of bringing home a special piece of local artwork - something for us to show you all when we get it and us home.
Once the ship left Ketchikan, it was full speed ahead for Vancouver. Friday was spent up on deck in the sunshine, enjoying the fabulous views along the Inside Passage we had missed in the fog on the way up. It is so impressive.

Kippers picked us up from the ship at 7.30am and once we had dropped our stuff off at the apartment we headed off to nearby Grouse Mountain. Another beautiful day of sight seeing - snow-capped mountains, blue skies, bears (two orphaned grizzly cubs which live on the mountain), more mountains and on and on it went! We couldn't ask for better weather and unlike Toronto, it has not been humid. Now the weather has cleared we can truly appreciate the views across English Bay from Kippers and Liette's apartment too.

Sunday was spent at Whistler, which involved a two hour cliff-side trip, involving coastal scenery and views across snow-capped mountain ranges which were just breathtaking. Our time up on Whistler, including a trip on the Peak2Peak gondola ride, from Whistler across to Blackcomb Mountain, was astounding ). This gondola lift boasts the world's longest free span (3.03 km) between ropeway towers and the highest point above the ground (436 metres).

Heff was not convinced that this was a sensible way to be spending an afternoon at all, but she did overcome all (or most) of her reservations and join us in the cabin (facing backwards to avoid any visual evidence of our height above the ground!). We even saw a bear cub ambling along one of the access tracks from the Village Gondola - hope its mum didn't take a fancy to one of the many mountain bikers tearing down the mountain! We were most impressed with the way in which Kippers and Liette had arranged such stunning weather for our trip and would recommend them as tour guides.

Today (Monday) has also been another beautiful day and Heff and I have been down to the Australian Consulate to vote and have visted Gastown and the beautiful marina area at Coal Harbour, where we once again drooled over the boats which were for sale and how incredibly cheap they are here. Anyone interested in setting up a consortium to buy a gorgeous old Monk or Grand Banks wooden hulled boat? A season exploring the Inside Passage and then we somehow bring it home - bliss!!!


Whew - we have finally brought you all up to date with our goings on. Tomorrow morning Kippers will drop us at the station nice and early so we can board the Rocky Mountaineer train for our two day trip up to Jasper in the Rocky Mountains, so stay tuned for more adventures once we get some reliable internet access!!!!!!