Wednesday, 19th August - our plane left Brisbane airport bound for Los Angeles at 11.05am. We were all pretty excited as you can see...
13 hours later we arrived at LA International Airport. We had a 6 hour wait in LA before our flight to Vancouver - too short a time for us to see any of LA itself but a very l-o-n-g time to wait in what turned out to be a FREEZING cold and very depressing airport. When finally came the time to board our Alaskan flight to Vancouver, we were jetlagged, cold and tired.
Our flight on Alaskan Airlines (which we dubbed "Hillbilly Airlines") was 'interesting'. Me, John and Rob sat together and Julie sat in the end seat in the aisle opposite. Well...Julie's seatbelt wouldn't do up, the plane creaked and groaned for the whole 2+ hour flight, the cockpit door wouldn't close and there was a crack in the window beside my seat...we were VERY thankful that we actually made it to Vancouver in one piece!
That night in Vancouver we fought to stay awake through the 'meet and greet' dinner, but we were all very impressed with our tour guide Alain (a French Canadian) - very friendly and very funny. After dinner we said our goodnights and hit the hay for a well-deserved sleep.
Thursday 20th August- We woke up ready and raring to go after a great night's sleep, and after breakfast we were taken to the Rocky Mountaineer station just outside of Vancouver. The train was magnificent, and we were so glad that we paid the extra to go Gold Leaf instead of Red Leaf. Our seats were so comfortable and there was heaps of leg room, and as for the glass domed roof, well just look....
For the next two days the four of us experienced something which will go down as one of the highlights of our lives. We saw some wonderful scenery (wide and fast flowing rivers, deep canyons, barren gorges, tree covered mountains and of course the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains) and dined like royalty during the day and at night we pulled into the beautiful and very welcoming towns of Kamloops and Jasper. When our journey came to an end we wondered how we could ever hope to top the experience we just had.....little did we know!
Still mesmerized by our Rocky Mountaineer experience, we visited Maligne Canyon (the deepest canyon in Jasper National Park) and then travelled through the Jasper National Park (stopping at Athabasca Falls) before arriving at Columbia Icefields where we boarded one of their "Ice Explorers" for a ride up to Athabasca Glacier. These Ice Explorers are HUGE (not terribly comfortable to ride in) and traverse the rocky and ice covered terrain. When we got to the Icefield we were able to get out and spend around half an hour walking (very carefully) on the ice, sampling some of the crystal clear glacial water and all in all just marvelling at where we were.
Our accommodation that night was at the Lake Louise Inn, and from our bedroom window we had a wonderful view of the Athabasca Glacier. We had a few hours leisure time between our arrival at the Inn and when dinner was served, so we took advantage of our surroundings to take a walk up to the town centre and back. Outside the Inn we saw our first gopher - very cute. After he disappeared into the ground we found ourselves a nice table and chairs on the patio of the Inn, ordered some pre-dinner drinks and wondered what the poor people were doing (sitting at this table and chairs of course!).
After Emerald Lake we passed through the Kicking Horse River Valley, with a photo stop at the falls, finally reaching our destination of Lake Louise at lunchtime. The whole setting seemed surreal as it's hard to imagine scenery this perfect...
We spent some quality time wandering by the Lake, strolling through the gardens and taking in the scenery before our tour group was marshalled together for the compulsory group photo (which of course we bought). Then came one of those never-to-be-forgotten experiences - high tea in the Fairmont's dining room. What a feast! There were glasses filled with the most delicately cut fruit salad we have ever seen, crustless finger sandwiches, delicious petit pastries and buttermilk scones with jam and cream. I have no idea whether we were meant to eat everything on our table...but we demolished the lot! Well, it would have been an insult to the chef if we hadn't.
After rolling out of the dining room we said goodbye to Lake Louise and boarded the bus bound for Banff. But before we reached the actual town of Banff, which was to be our overnight stop, we enjoyed a gondola ride to the top of Sulphur Mountain. It was a l-o-n-g way up that mountain but the view was amazing. Unfortunately it just happened to be the last day before school holidays were over, and it seemed as if the whole of British Columbia decided that they would take a gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain. We didn't have a whole lot of time to take in the view or look around because the line up to go back down the mountain was HUGE. We must have waited in line for nearly an hour, but it was still a worthwhile experience.
Monday, 24th August - What a gorgeous town Banff is. We had a whole day at our leisure to explore it - and didn't we make the most of it too! We walked from one end of Banff Avenue to the other (stopping frequently along the way to do a spot of shopping - so much shopping in fact that we had to find a post office to send all of our spoils back to Oz).
Our action packed day included
- Lunch at a Banff 'pub' where Rob and I tried out the elk burgers (very nice). Julie and John wimped out and stuck with plain beef burgers - no sense of adventure at all!
- A stroll down the back streets of Banff to the Bow River (another photo opportunity) where we found ourselves a park bench overlooking the river to just sit and take in the view...
- A visit to a "Cows" ice cream shop to sample some of the yummiest ice cream EVER; and
- A horse and buggy ride - this was a hoot. The intrepid horse Sterling, guided by his very pretty handler (a good many of our photos show Rob and John with their eyes bugging out) took us along Banff Avenue (where we looked for anybody from our tour group so that we could wave at them) down a side street, along the banks of the Bow River and back to Banff Avenue.
Thursday, 25th August - after saying goodbye to Banff we headed to our next destination of Sun Peaks. One of the stops along the way, just west of Revelstoke on the Trans Canada Highway, was the Three Valley Gap Ghost Town - made up of over 25 rescued and restored historic buildngs. The main purpose of our stop here was to have lunch, and like with so many of the tourist stops, you had to pass through the souvenir shop to get to the eating area. I remember the owner of this place was very friendly and extremely proud of his chillie dogs - we just felt obliged to try them....and they were pretty good and nowhere near as hot as expected. We still had about an hour to kill, so we negotiated a special price for the four of us to explore the Ghost Town. It was very interesting and we had a great old time, until Julie and I got separated from our respective spouses. We figured that we would just meet them back at the bus....except we got terribly lost, finally arriving back at the bus LONG after all of our fellow passengers (including Rob and John). Any latecomers have to experience the walk of shame as they slink back to their seats, being loudly clapped and cheered by all. It was alright for Julie - she was sitting in the front seat of the bus - but I was half way down! HIGHLY embarrassing!!!
We reached Sun Peaks (a popular winter ski resort) mid afternoon and chilled out until our "Highlight Dinner" aka Salmon Bake, which wasn't that much of a highlight - would have been more aptly named "OK Dinner". After dinner everyone was invited to join in some line dancing (yeah right!) followed by some square dancing. The four of us got up and strutted our stuff (pretty badly) and escaped at the first opportunity.
Wednesday, 26th August - Julie's birthday, and we were determined to make it THE best birthday EVER! Our first stop this morning was to Hat Creek Ranch, right in the heart of Cariboo Indian country. The Shuswap people made a significant contribution to the growth of the ranching industry in this area and this working ranch held many of the original buildings. Our Indian guide was an amazing man - he humbly told us of his long battle with alcohol and his fight to win that battle, become educated and attain a teaching degree and his mission to tell his people of the benefit of an education as well as being proud of their ancestry. He was an incredible inspiration and made a definite impression on us all. He talked about all aspects of Indian life, played both the Indian flute and drum and sang an Indian lullaby to us all from inside the Kekuli (the underground winter house). At the end of our visit to Hat Creek Ranch we got the opportunity to ride inside the stage coach - it sure beat walking!
Lunchtime we stopped at the town of Lillooet (halfway between Sun Peaks and Whistler). The town itself was pretty darned ordinary, but here we got to experience our first taste of A&W (very similar to McDonalds except their 'Big Macs' make McDonalds' Big Macs look like Junior Burgers. And the glasses of soft drink all came in one size...SUPER SIZE). The lady who served us was an absolute hoot, and when we were leaving she sprinted over to us and gave us a huge hug and said "Y'all come back now, ya hear!".
Our next stop was Whistler. the ski village that was to host the Winter Olympics early next year. It was picture postcard perfect and we had the whole of the afternoon and evening to ourselves. Our accommodation was right in the heart of town - Delta Whistler Village Suites. As is the norm when we check in to new accommodation, we sus it all out. I opened this particular door and SURPRISE SURPRISE - there was a washing machine and dryer. Normally I wouldn't be so excited at the prospect, but when one is travelling and washing out their dirty clothes in sinks and bathtubs and then creating a "Chinese Laundry" trying to dry said washing overnight, a washing machine and dryer is an absolute treat. And just to prove that I wasn't being overly excessive in my enthusiasm, Julie came knocking on our door beaming from ear to ear and saying "we've got a washing machine...and a dryer". I don't think she could have received a better birthday present!
After the washing was done and was merrily tumbling around in the dryer, the four of us, dressed up in our glad rags, hit the town in search of the perfect restaurant for celebrating Julie's birthday. We came upon a lovely Italian restaurant where we chose an outdoor table and chairs so that we could enjoy the balmy weather and the beautiful setting. It was a very special night - a great meal, lovely waiters (VERY lovely waiters) and when they found out it was Julie's birthday (I wonder how???) they serenaded her and served her up a special dessert plate...
I'm pretty sure that Julie had one of her best birthdays ever.
Now back to the washing, which when last mentioned was tumbling away merrily in the dryer - when we arrived back in our suite I decided to fold all the washing up and pack it into our suitcases. It was then that I made the frightening discovery that someone who shall remain nameless but whose name begins with "J" left our passports in his trouser pocket! They were VERY soggy and the pages were all stuck together, but thankfully our photos and passport information was OK and when we asked Alain the next morning he was not at all concerned that we would have any trouble crossing borders. And it turned out we didn't, although we were always greeted with a smirk and a smart arse comment from Customs Officers.
Thursday 27th August - Today we travelled back to Vancouver, where we caught a BC Ferry to Vancouver Island. The weather was perfect and the trip across was excellent. After arriving at the town of Chermainus, which is most known for their murals which tell the history of the town...
we travelled to Victoria and to our accommodation for the night - the Chateau Victoria Hotel.
Friday 28th August - Today was one of those highlight days that will live on forever in our memories - a visit to Butchart Gardens. Set on 55 acres, and now an historic site of Canada, these gardens were started in 1904 by Jennie Butchart and remained in the Butchart family through successive generations. Words cannot describe their beauty, and for over four hours we wandered through the gardens taking in the smells and the visual beauty of this incredible place.
Here we spent a very enjoyable few hours in the restaurant's outdoor setting before walking back to our hotel for an early night. Tomorrow was going to be a very exciting day.
Saturday 29th August - After breakfast it was time to leave Vancouver Island and head back on the BC Ferry to Vancouver. We had a few hours before it was time to board the MS Zuiderdam for our Alaskan cruise so we had a chance to see the sites of the lovely Vancouver. We travelled along the main city streets and then to Stanley Park, stopping to inspect its collection of totem poles, and then all the way to Prospect Point which was our lunch stop. The view of Vancouver Harbour from up here was awesome - and so were the big arse ice creams that Julie and I devoured for lunch!
Soon though it was time to head to the cruise terminal for our Alaskan cruise. The MS Zuiderdam was HUGE and, to our absolute surprise, when we checked in we found that the four of us had been upgraded to verandah staterooms! We didn't realise the full impact of this upgrade until we sailed through Tracy Arm a few days later. After dumping our luggage in our respective cabins, the four of us gathered on the balcony of our cabin (as it was on the side of the ship that faced Vancouver Harbour) and stood in stunned silence as we came to terms with the amazing adventure ahead of us. Then came the dreaded, but necessary, lifeboat drill. John and I had been through all this before but it was a first for Rob and Julie - and didn't Julie look spiffing in her lifejacket?....
The lifedrill over we were able to resume our post on the verandah of our cabin to watch as the ship sailed through Vancouver Harbour and to wave regally as we sailed by many smaller insignificant vessels! After a while we started our discovery of the ship. It had everything a traveller could possibly want - restaurants, lots of bars and lounges, duty free shopping, culinary centre, internet lounge, casino and a theatre where there were to be two live shows every night. By the end of our cruise we knew pretty much every nook and cranny of the ship - except for boring stuff like the laundry.
Our first night was a casual dining night in the restaurant where we were assigned our table for each night's dining and introduced to our wine and food waiters. What a menu! We ordered something from each course (there were about seven courses) and were absolutely stuffed at the end. Each night after that we only picked a couple of things from each night's menu - Rob usually chose salmon, salmon or, for something different, the salmon.
The majority of the waiters and crew were from the Phillipines or Indonesia and they were absolutely delightful people. The "Haveachat" Byrnes and McLarens were always keen to stop and talk or share a laugh with them (unlike many of the snobby Americans who treated them like second class citizens).
We didn't have a really really late night our first night as it had been a pretty eventful day and we were keen to get up early the next morning to take in the view. This was the sight that greeted us the next morning - absolutely magical....
And it was at that moment that we realised how lucky we all were to have been upgraded to verandah cabins. The scenery that we sailed through, particularly in the next two days, as we sailed into the Inside Passage and through Tracy Arm, was breathtaking. Not only did we have the most amazing view, but we were fortunate enough to have had the best weather you could ask for. In fact, we were told that the ship had sailed further into Tracy Arm than it had sailed for the past seven years. Even the crew were out on the deck taking photos of the passing scenery - and who could blame them...
Monday, 31st August - on the afternoon of our third day at sea we arrived in Alaska's capital, Juneau. It was here that we were to experience our first shore excursion "Alaska's Whales and Rainforest Trails". We were taken by bus to the edge of the Tongass National Forest where we enjoyed a leisurely walk along a rainforest trail. We started our walk enjoying all of the plants and trees surrounding us when suddenly our senses were assaulted by the most God-awful smell in the history of smells! Turns out we were nearing a salmon stream, where we got to see heaps of salmon swimming around. Apparently the bears get so sick of salmon but they still have to eat them to fatten up for the winter, so they get very choosy and only go for the yummy bits - the eyes and the skin (go figure) - and leave the rest to rot. Pee-yoo!!! Still, even that horrible smell did not deter our intrepid connoisseur Robert, who continued to reduce the salmon population of Canada each night at dinner.
Our walk's destination was the Mendenhall Glacier - very impressive - and an excellent photo opportunity for the four little condiments (three mustards and a paprika)...
The next phase of our shore excursion was a boat ride along Stephen's Passage where we spotted heaps of whales and eagles. Wonderful!
When we arrived back in Skagway we had a couple of hours to explore the town. It was like something from the gold rush - real "North to Alaska" territory...
Wednesday, 2nd September - another one of the highlight days of our trip. This was the day the MS Zuiderdam sailed into Glacier Bay. There were around 2,500 passengers on the ship, and pretty much everyone was out on the deck to see the spectacle - and you could have heard a pin drop. An experience which I could not not hope to accurately describe, as mere words could not do it justice...
Thursday, 3rd September - the town of Ketchikan and the Salmon Capital of the World! We got the chance to have a wander around the town - along with thousands of other tourists from other cruise ships that also arrived around the time we did. After escaping the hoards we prepared ourselves for the last of our Alaskan shore excursions -"Adventure Kart and Jet Boat Adventure".
We were taken out by jetboat, onto an island in the middle of nowhere, where the only human life were the people who ran the adventure karts - as well as their daring customers. Once again we were kitted up - this time in Michelin Man type outfits, complete with helmets - and taken to our go-karts (Rob and Julie in one and John and I in another). The first drivers were me (for the John and Sue team) and Rob (for the Rob and Julie team). WHAT A RIDE!!!! We hooned our way over rocky terrain, around sharp corners, dirt roads and over bridges for about 10 kms before we stopped at this idyllic spot for afternoon tea. Reluctantly, Rob and I had to hand over the reins to our respective spouses for the return journey - you should have seen Julie go!!! Conservative John just doesn't have what it takes to be a true go kart rider. I think the girls are the definite 'stars' of the racing circuit.
Today was a day at sea, but certainly not a boring one. For one thing, our little team (who had continually embarrassed ourselves day after day in the trivia) actually came up from behind to WIN!!!! If truth be told, most of our answers were more arse than class, but who cares. This other bunch of people (schoolteachers I think) were the clear winners every other day, and they couldn't believe it when we actually beat them on the last day. Still they graciously conceded to the glorious winners (after checking our answers!). We ended up winning a Holland America travel bag, which came in very handy at the end of our trip following our buying frenzy in Hawaii.
Dinner on the last night was a pretty spectacular event. We got all dolled up for the "Master Chefs Dinner" where all of the waiters and chefs paraded in with our meals (including the Chef's piece de resistance dessert - Bombe Alaska"). There was much singing, clapping and laughter.
This last night also gave us a chance to thank a few of the special crew members who made our cruise so memorable - our meal and drink waiters, as well as the two crew members who looked after our cabin so well, including a different towel animal every night, chocolates on the pillow and cabin lights dimmed upon our eventual return to the cabin at night (after either going to a show or hanging out in the piano bar).
Saturday, 5th September - at 7am the Zuiderdam berthed back into Vancouver wharf, but it was a few hours before we were able to disembark. After all, there were a LOT of people on board to be processed and to get their luggage so we were resigned to waiting. When we finally said goodbye to the Zuiderdam we headed off to the airport to catch our flight across to Toronto. It was so nice to be greeted by Alain upon our arrival at the Sheraton, Toronto, and we were rapt that he was going to be our tour guide for the next phase of our adventure.
Sunday, 6th September - Niagara Falls here we come! We were pretty excited about visiting Niagara Falls and it definitely did not disappoint. Of course, it's very commercialised with casinos, flash hotels and eateries of every description, but if you block all of that out what you see is the absolute magnificence of nature. Being a Sunday, there were so many people there, but we happily lined up like Lemings to board a "Maid of the Mist" boat which would take us right up to the Falls themselves. Everyone got given a bright blue poncho to keep off the water and it got quite hot standing in line - sort of like being wrapped in cling wrap. The tour company buys these things in bulk for about $1 for a hundred. The idea is that, when your boat ride is over, you dump them into the nearest trash bin and move along....but not Rob. His trusty poncho travelled with him for the rest of our journey and back to Australia where it probably still lies in some dark corner of his drawer waiting for Julie to finally find it and throw it away when he least suspects it. Got to love him!!!
The ponchos did work though - to a point. It was still incredibly wet when we got close to the Falls. Fortunately we had the sense to stay on the bottom level of the boat. Those passengers who fought their way to the top deck got drenched!! Still, who cares, we loved every minute of it...
And if that wasn't thrill enough, we then got the opportunity to go over the top of them in a helicopter. I was scared shitless when we first took off and John's arm once again was severely damaged, but then I realised that this was costing us $200 and I may never get this opportunity again. So, I open my eyes and whoa! it was amazing...
To bring us 'back down to earth', from Niagara Falls we travelled to the beautifully preserved and little historic village of Niagara On The Lake. It was like walking back in the 1800s
Being a beautiful sunny Sunday, there were crowds of people around, and pretty much every eating place was chocka. So, instead of lining up on the off-chance that a table would become free, we opted to buy some comestibles from the local bakery and walk down to the park for a picnic! It was lovely to just chill out under a tree looking out over the park with its nice trees, gardens and fountains.
Monday, 7th September - up early this morning to travel to the CN Tower (North America's tallest building) in time for breakfast with a view - the view from the very top! The lift that took us up was on the outside of the building, and had glass floors! (I kept my eyes shut the whole way - and I wasn't the only one).
As far as breakfasts go, it wasn't the best we've had, but it certainly had the best view. WOW!! After breakfast we walked down one flight of stairs to the observation deck where there was a viewing area - with glass tiles - to enable you see right to the ground below. Daredevil Julie scooted onto it without a second thought, and John slowly made his way out as well. I just couldn't do it so chose to take photos of the brave ones in our team of four, as well as the 'would be if he could be brave' Robert...
Destination for today - Ottawa and our accommodation at the Delta Suites for the next two nights.
Tuesday, 8th September - This morning we were taken on a sightseeing tour of this lovely city and the capital of Canada. We trundled around Parliament Hill and its regal buildings and statues, such as those of the "Famous Five Women", saw our first racoons, and drove along the Rideau Canal which in winter freezes over and becomes the longest skating rink in the world (7.8 kms).
After lunch was free time to explore the City at our leisure. Our first priority was to find a post office so that we could send yet more of our spoils back to the land of Oz. After that we chanced upon some people selling tickets on a boat cruise on the Ottawa River. This sounded pretty good to us so we bought our tickets and started meandering down to where the boat was moored. Only trouble was that it turned out to be MILES away! For four not terribly fit middle aged people, we pretty much broke the record and made it with only seconds to spare. For the next few hours we enjoyed a very pleasant cruise along the Ottawa River taking in the City from a different perspective.
Imagine our surprise, when we got off the boat, to see our very first groundhog - sort of like a welcoming party. He was totally unphased by our presence and was only interested in a particularly juicy patch of grass...
We ended our walking tour at the fulicula railway which takes passengers from the Old City up to the New City (the other alternative is to walk up approximately 300 steps - naturally we caught the railway). The railcar we were in was crowded, but all with people from our tour (thank goodness). John started humming "Funiculi Funicula", then someone else started humming it, then someone started singing it, and before long the whole carload of us were singing it - all the way to the top. Great fun!
This afternoon we were free to explore this fascinating city at our leisure. Our intrepid spouses ran out of puff halfway through the afternoon, so Julie and I left them back at the hotel to have their respective nanny naps and the two of us headed for the shops! We didn't do too much damage - although Julie did indulge her passion for handbags.
Dinner tonight turned out to be pretty special. We didn't really have any idea where we would go and all of the outdoor restaurants were absolutely bursting with people. As chance would have it, we stumbled across a lovely restaurant not far from our hotel, and we ended up having an absolutely delicious meal (from memory I think a certain person may have had salmon again - correct me if I'm wrong Rob!). Although I think it was most probably the company that made it so special.
Saturday, 12th September - we decided to get up early to say goodbye to our travelling companions of the past few weeks. After their bus disappeared into the distance we had a couple of hours to kill before we boarded the MS Maasdam for the second cruise of our trip. Unfortunately this time around we weren't so lucky as to get upgraded to a balcony cabin, but our outside cabins were still very nice and were on the same level as one of the decks. It was great to be able to wander outside whenever we wanted to just sit, or wander, or take in the passing view.
Sunday, 13th September - and here we were back in Quebec! Not that we minded in the slightest. When we left the ship we wandered along the waterfront and down to the local markets - it was very interesting checking out all of the local produce - magnificent fruit and vegetables, homemade goodies, wines, honey etc etc. We commented on how good it would be to have something like that at home.
After leaving the market we decided that we would like to go back and re-visit Quebec's New Town. And what better way to get to the very top of a very high location than by the free battery-operated bus that runs along the road directly across from the market? Only one problem...vehicles run on the opposite side of the road to the land of Oz. We waited patiently at the bus stop and when we saw the bus approaching we readied ourselves to flag it down. Unfortunately, it was coming along the other side of the road! Try as we might we just couldn't get there and the little bus just continued along its merry way...without us. But, not be deterred, we moved to the correct side of the road and not too long afterwards the bus came along and we hopped on. After getting off at the top of Quebec, we had a great old wander around, getting to know this beautiful city a bit better. Finally though, the need for coffee gripped us all and we found ourselves in a lovely little outdoor cafe where the four friends could enjoy yet another 'great coffee moment'...
After paying homage to the God of the Coffee Bean, both couples decided to go our separate ways and meet back later in the day at the ship. John was keen to see the Light and Sound Show which told the history of Quebec City and Rob and Julie wanted to explore some of the shops. Being a dutiful little wife, I sat on a wall close to where John had gone to his show and enjoyed the passing parade (and saw a few interesting sights)...
Monday 14th September - a nice quiet day at sea cruising the Gulf of St Lawrence. There's always a lot to do - nothing too energetic of course...reading, playing cards, going to trivia, enjoying a drink or two in one of the Maasdam's lounges and just blurbing in general.
Tuesday 15th September - in keeping with tradition, I once again spent a birthday other than at home. This one however fulfilled a promise I made to my Mother when I was only a teenager. Since first seeing the "Anne of Green Gables" mini series I fell in love with the story and vowed that I would one day visit Prince Edward Island. As fate would have it, this morning the ship berthed in Charlottetown and the shore excursion that we picked to go on (although John had absolutely no choice in this one - but I was very touched that Rob and Julie also chose to go) was "Island Drive and Anne of Green Gables". Sometimes when you have a picture in your mind, when it actually becomes a reality it's a bit of a disappointment - not so with Prince Edward Island (or P.E.I. as it says on all the merchandising). PEI is green, pretty and totally unspoiled.
Our first stop was at the Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. Our bus was boarded by one of the Co-Founders, Bruce McNaughton, who proceeded to tell us the story of the Preserve Co. in his wonderful Scottish brogue. We had a wander through the shop and John bought a couple of bottles of chutney but we spent most of the time we had here wandering around the grounds. We just happened upon a couple of those painted boards where you put your head through....
Sitting on my shoulder in the picture on the right is Charlie, a very cute little chipmunk given to me by John for my birthday. His best friend is Corporal Flapjack who belongs to Rob and Julie - he was to make his presence known in photos in the coming days.
Finally it was time to visit Green Gables and it was pretty hard for me not to burst into tears...the realisation of a dream come true.
We spent a good hour or more here, wandering through the beautiful gardens surrounding the house and checking out every room (even the bottle of raspberry cordial on the kitchen shelf, the significance of which only a true "Anne of Green Gables" devotee would understand)...
When we arrived back at the dock there were a few stalls selling souvenirs which we stopped to look at. I found an "Anne of Green Gables" wig which Julie tried on. Anne, eat your heart out...
An absolute classic!
Tonight's dinner was pretty special as well. Every meal in the dining room is like eating in a top class restaurant, but tonight being my birthday I was serenaded by our lovely waiters and presented with a special cake...
Wednesday 16th September - today we landed in Sydney on Cape Breton Island - a tad different to our own Sydney Australia! All of the locals were very excited about the ships visiting and were really friendly and hospitable. Our shore excursion here was a tour of the island - first stop the Whitney Pier Historical Society Museum. Sounds incredibly boring, but it was actually very interesting, with a large collection of old photographs and artifacts - John particularly enjoyed it (probably because he is used to living with an old artifact, but one that is not quite as well preserved as these)...
After leaving Whitney Pier, we made our way to Fort Petrie Historic Military Museum. This Fort protected Sydney Harbour from enemy ships and submarines during World War 2 and also protected the convoys that left the harbour carrying coal and steel to England. Visitors to the Fort get to see gun emplacements, tanks, underground bunkers and a museum in the old observation post. It was very interesting except for the fact that it was REALLY cold - can you tell?....
When came the time for the Maasdam to depart, the town had organised a special send-off for the ship. Pretty much in sync with the last passenger boarding the ship, all of the shops were closed but that is when the Sydney Mines Legion Centennial Band moved on in...
The lady that led the band in the singing, pumped out those old favourites such as "Rambling Rose" and "We'll Meet Again". But the ship seemed to leave a little quicker than planned. We started sailing away only to hear her make a comment to the effect that "but...we've got so many more songs to play yet!". So as the Maasdam sailed into the sunset, the little band played on, and on and on...
Thursday, 17th September - next stop Halifax, Nova Scotia. As the Maasdam sailed into Halifax we were very surprised to see what a big city this was...
For our shore excursion here we chose the Hop on Hop off bus tour - good choice as it turned out. We decided to hop off the bus when it got to the top of Citadel Hill so that we could enjoy the view, as well as check out the Citadel (used to be called Fort George). The changing of the guard was going to take place in a short while and we thought that would be interesting to see. After the new guards were in place, Julie and I decided that we wanted to get our photos taken with one of them (the cutest looking one of course). He didn't move a muscle, which exercised very good self control...
There was a moment there though that I was a bit worried that Julie may actually grab this guy's backside - I know for a fact that she would have been sorely tempted...now that was real self control!
Back on the bus - next 'hop off' was the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. We spent a couple of hours here - it was so interesting. A bit of time initially was spent enjoying Merlin, a rainbow macaw, who had quite a good vocabulary and was seriously cute!
At the end of our day in Halifax, we went for a stroll along the Harbourwalk, a nearly 4km waterfront boardwalk with shops, parks, cafes and restaurants, which started just a short distance from where the Maasdam was berthed.
Friday, 18th September - hello USA! The Maasdam crossed over from Canada to the United States bound for Bar Harbour, Maine. Thank goodness it turned out to be worth it, because the rigmarole we had to go through with the American Customs was nuts! We lined up for ages on the ship before we got to see a Customs officer and we were a little concerned about our tattered passports. But we ended up getting quite a nice chap who made a smart arse comment about our passports having gone for a swim (we were used to that one by now) and he let us go on our merry way.
As we found out, travelling with Julie McLaren does have one major drawback. She must look like a bit of a shady character because she ALWAYS seems to get picked out of the crowd for some sort of a search. And because we are associated with her, we often get dragged along as well - as was the case when we made our way to the tender boat. This nice Customs officer picked Julie out of the hundreds of passengers for a bag inspection. One thing we also have in common is that we try to make the best out of any situation and this was no exeption...well, we got to walk through the area of the ship where all the crew eat their meals, we saw a gorgeous sniffer dog who gave our bags the once over, and the Customs man was so nice. Easy to be accommodating when you don't have any contraband concealed!
After our little adventure, we were loaded onto a tender boat for our short ride to Bar Harbour. Thank the Lord it was a smooth ride - the last time I was on a tender boat was in Iceland and it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life. John was glad as well, because he didn't get his arm crushed this time!
This was the very last shore excursion of our trip - "Arcadia National Park and Lobster Bake" - and in keeping with all of choices we made for shore excursions this was another goodie. We travelled all through the Arcadia National Park with its million dollar homes, trees starting to turn into their autumn colours, lovely beaches and pristine water. First stop was Thunder Hole which got its name because the sound of the waves crashing up against the rocks makes a sound like thunder). Very impressive...
After leaving Thunder Hole we travelled further into the Arcadia National Park and up to Cadillac Mountain, the highest point of the park and, in fact, the highest point on the United States Atlantic Coast. It was cold, windy and the weather was a bit bleak, but still beautiful and we got a great view of the Maasdam anchored out in Frenchman Bay...
Then it was back to Bar Harbour for our lobster bake lunch at the Bar Harbour Country Club - very posh. Although there was nothing too posh about the lobster bake. Americans are used to eating lobster from the shell - the only lobster we had eaten had been out of the shell and served with a nice mornay sauce. There was something very disconcerting about seeing this poor little lobster sitting on top of a baked potato just staring at you. Everyone got a plastic bib to put on and a couple of lobster eating implements - which looked suspiciously like a pair of pliers and a long fork - and we had to try to figure out how we were going to extract the lobster meat. John is known far and wide for his loathing of 'sticky fingers' so this was definitely not his cup of tea. The first time he made serious contact with his lobster, he was showered with this sticky milky substance from inside his lobster. He was absolutely repulsed! In the end I ended up with his lobster as well as mine and he made a quick exit to the men's room to clean up. Julie wasn't too fussed about the whole experience either, but Rob and I quite enjoyed it.
Tonight was the very last night on the ship and Julie and I arranged for the remainder of our tour group who travelled with us on this cruise to get together to say goodbye. A really great group of people and even though we probably won't ever see them again, it was nice to get to know them when we did.
Saturday, 19th September - hello Boston! My friend Bronwyn told me that Boston was a lovely city - and she was right. Upon leaving the ship a number of us went on a guided tour of the city (although the tour guide had a really strong American accent and he may as well have been talking Swahihi as far as I was concerned - you could hardly understand anything he said). We visited all of the landmarks associated with Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party, Copp's Hill Cemetary, Quincy Markets, the Boston Common and the site of where the TV series "Cheers" was filmed - The Bull and Finch Pub.
After the tour we were dropped off at our hotel, the Fairmont Copley Plaza - very swish! All of our bags were deposited from the bus onto the footpath in front of the hotel and all we had to do was collect them and make our way inside the hotel. But, when Rob went to collect his and Julie's suitcases he couldn't find them. In his usual calm and laid back manner, he came racing up to where Julie and I were standing declaring "THAT'S IT! Our bags are gone. They're lost!". Fortunately one of that partnership is calm and collected at all times and quietly suggested to Rob that he should go inside and check whether the bags may have already been taken in - which they were. Crisis averted.
Anyway, we checked in and surprise, surprise, we had been upgraded to top floor suites. They were gorgeous! But, we didn't hang around inside for too long - we had some more exploring to do. We wandered around for a while but then decided that we would like to go back to Quincy Market, where we had briefly gone that morning. After asking a nice man in a uniform how we could get there, and being told that the best way was by the subway, we proceeded to enter Boston's underground train network and catch a train there. It was great - just like a mini version of London's tube. I know that Rob and Julie got a hoot out of it.
And so we found ourselves back at Quincy Market. By that stage we were all rather desperate for a coffee, and Julie had been wanting to go to a Dunkin' Donuts store for ages so to satisfy everyone's desires, when we spotted said store, we went inside for coffee and donuts. There were two lovely young girls behind the counter and when I placed my order one of them commented "Oh my God, you have such an adorable accent! Where are you from?". Then it was John's turn to order and he got exactly the same reaction! And so did Rob...and so did Julie. And we thought it was them that sounded funny!
By late afternoon we were starting to get quite weary and we all decided to have an early tea, and when in Boston where does a tourist go for tea? You got it - Cheers! I have never in my life seen such enormous servings as we got at this place, although I think it's pretty indicative of the U.S. as a whole. Even the 'small' drinks were HUGE! Rob ordered a side order of fries to start - holy smokes there was enough to feed an army - all drizzled with this absolutely delicious and probably very bad for you bright yellow runny cheese...YUM!
We staggered back to our hotel just on dark and settled in for an early night. We were getting picked up at 5.30 the next morning to be taken to the airport for our flight to Hawaii.
Sunday, 20th September - as promised we were picked up at the crack of dawn and taken to the Logan International Airport for our flight to LA and then on to Hawaii. We pretty much spent the whole day on aeroplanes or waiting for them.
Monday, 21st September - Hawaii! It was hard to imagine that we were actually at Waikiki Beach. All those years of watching it on TV - Gidget, Hawaii 5-0, and all those Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon movies - and we were actually there! It was most probably because of the 'great TV memories' that I really liked Waikiki, but John wasn't too fussed on it. He made the mistake of comparing it with our own Gold Coast, which is not a good idea.
Better late than never, we arrived at Pearl Harbour in the late morning The whole place is a very tasteful tribute to what happened here back on 7th December 1941 when the Japanese Imperial forces attacked without warning.
The theatre provided a brief respite from the heat and humidity, where we were shown a film containing actual footage taken of the attack, before boarding a boat which took us to the USS Arizona Memorial - resting place of over 1,000 sailors killed during the attack. It spans the sunken hull of the battleship and has been declared a National Historic Landmark. You can even see the oil slick on the surface of the water after all these years.
In mid afternoon we left Pearl Harbour and headed back to our Waikiki Beach hotel (the Resort Quest - right over the road from the beach) where we absolutely HAD to have a cold shower and change our clothes. When we were once again fit to enter civilisation we headed back down to the esplanade where we had a long walk down to the shops (not at all impressive), then back along the beach to our hotel. As this was the last night of our holiday, we wanted it to be really special. We opted to dine at the outdoor restaurant of the Resort Quest.
It was a wonderful night - delicious food, cold drinks, great waitress, but best of all was the opportunity for four friends to celebrate and say thanks for a truly fantastic holiday.
When nearing Sydney we noticed that the sky outside the plane was a strange orange colour. Turns out that this was a massive dust storm which affected a vast area from the south of Sydney right up past Brisbane. Travel chaos!
We had booked our trip through Scenic Tours who turned out to be wonderful - just for one small detail. They forgot to pay the airline for our trip home from Sydney to Brisbane! So not only was our plane delayed due to the dust storm, but we didn't have any seats! This was definitely a job for a couple of women to sort out, so Julie and I headed upstairs to the main terminal to do battle and left our intrepid spouses to guard the luggage. Quite some time later, having sorted out the whole debacle, we returned to where we had left all of our belongings (including husbands) to find....
We finally boarded the plane bound for Brisbane - totally exhausted and desperate for home. It was well after midnight before we landed. No time for goodbyes - Rob and Julie and John and Sue went their separate ways. And so endeth the holiday.
Since then we have had many days out, coffees, lunches etc etc and at some stage something about our trip gets mentioned. It's highly unlikely that the four of us will end up with senile dementia, so the memories will continue to live on.
