Friday 25th May
Our
whole time up to when we were on the plane was just a perfect introduction to
what turned out to be a wonderful holiday.
Simon our friendly Uber driver picked us up right on time at 6.45am and,
considering it was a week day and we were travelling on the infamous Gateway
road, it was plain sailing all the way to the airport. Check-In was super easy – thank you Air
Canada – and we had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast at Windmill
& Company restaurant
The
direct Air Canada flight to Vancouver was excellent and we even managed to
catch a few hours sleep. Thirteen hours
after boarding we touched down at Vancouver Airport…on the same morning we
left! The Aerospace Shuttle that we
booked before leaving home was waiting for us – Ashley with his very nice black
Cadillac delivered us safely to the Marriott Residence Inn in Downtown
Vancouver. And, just as everything had
gone well for us up to this point, our luck continued and there was a room
ready for us to check into. And what a
great room it was too, with a lovely balcony and outdoor setting with a
backview of snowcapped mountains. It was
good to be back Vancouver!
After
freshening up a bit we headed out to revisit some of our favourite Vancouver
spots. It was a fairly short walk which
took us down to the apartment that we rented in Seymour street several years
ago, and then a walk down to the Metro Station in Granville Street where we
caught the train to Commercial Broadway to take some photos of Sally and Drew’s
old place on Victoria Drive. Our final
stop was Gastown for a photo of the Steam Clock and the building that Drew used
to work in behind the clock, a bit of lunch and a wander around until we could
carry on no longer.
It
was back to the Hotel for a welcome shower and an early night.
Saturday 26th May
After
an absolutely delightful night’s sleep we were ‘up and at em’ for a full day in
Vancouver. We walked down to Yaletown
first of all and revisited the Roundhouse and Urban Fare
We then purchased ourselves a Day Hopper
ticket to ride the False Creek Ferries.
Our first stop was Granville Island to visit the wonderful shops
there. A great coffee moment was had in
one of the cafes, in conjunction with a yummy almond croissant
Then
it was back on a False Creek Ferry which took us to Kitselano, somewhere we had
never been before. Not far from when we
got off the ferry there was a dog friendly beach with so many gorgeous happy
dogs playing with their owners. We just
found ourselves a log, sat, watched them…and missed Molly
It
was such a lovely day that we decided to just wander along the waterfront. This wander ended up being 8 kilometres…all
the way back to Granville Island. In our
minds this definitely justified us enjoying a coffee and donuts
Our
last Ferry ride for the day took us down to the Science Centre and Inner
Harbour, although we didn’t get off. We
just wanted to travel the whole ferry route.
We did however get to see a couple of sea lions which was pretty cool, before
getting off back at Yaletown.
Fortunately there was a bus there which took us back to our Hotel –
otherwise we were facing about a ten block walk uphill.
Tonight
we met us with Kay and John Bryan for dinner.
It was such a coincidence that we all happened to be staying in the same
hotel at the same time. The four of us
went to a very nice Malaysian Restaurant, The Banana Leaf, a short walk from
the hotel and celebrated our friendship and John Bryan’s upcoming birthday.
Sunday 27th May
Up
at 6.30am to be ready for our pickup and transfer to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal for
the 10am ferry to Vancouver Island
The
day was pristine and the ride over went far too quickly. Our Westcoast Tour guide, Herman, was not
only very knowledgeable but very funny as well.
Our
first stop upon reaching Vancouver Island was Butchart Gardens. The last time that we were here was in the
Autumn, so it was an added pleasure to be able to see it again, but this time
in Summer
After this feast we needed to
walk some more but after about an hour we discovered this amazingly tempting
ice cream shop where we ordered a ‘small’ chocolate dipped ice cream each. Their ‘small’ was our version of ‘extra
large’, but OMG were they delicious!
Monday 28th May
Another
beautiful day in Victoria today. We were
up at 7.30am to walk up to a local café for breakfast. With the Fairmont charging $8 for a cup of
coffee we decided to give that a miss.
After
breakfast we checked out of our room and stored our luggage with them for the
day while we went off to explore. First
we walked down to the Harbour where we boarded a cute little boat for a Gorge
Tour – 75 minutes of spectacular scenery and great commentary
By
the time we got off the boat it was lunch time and we decided to go to the same
restaurant, Finns, for an encore seafood chowder lunch.
Two
large bowls of seafood chowder meant that we needed to walk…a lot! So we headed up to Beacon Hill Gardens, an
absolute hidden gem which we found out about because we spoke to a random local
lady yesterday at the ice cream shop
47
hectares of gardens, trees, lakes, ponds, waterfalls, geese and ducks…many many
ducks…and turtles. At one point we were
sitting on a bench next to a pond and watching several large turtles just
chilling out on a log, when another turtle struggled up on to the same log…and
then the whole thing rolled over tipping them all into the drink
Quite funny!
All
too soon our time in Victoria had come to an end, so it was back to the hotel
to collect our bags and then wander down to the Harbour Airport for another
bucket list check item…a float plane ride back to Vancouver
followed by a
shuttle bus ride back to the Marriott Residence Inn.
Tuesday 29th May
How
lovely it was to see Kay and John when we walked into the breakfast room this
morning! Next time we see them will be
back home in Australia and we will have so many wonderful memories to share.
After
checking out of the Marriott it was time to check in to another hotel – this
time the Fairmont Hotel at Vancouver Airport.
As luck would have it, again we were able to check in straight away into
the most wonderful room with sweeping views of the airport runway
It
was also our darling Jack’s 8th birthday so we were happy to be able
to FaceTime him on his special day.
Wednesday 30th May
Our
Holland America tour officially started today when our luggage was picked up
and taken to the North Air check-in desk.
And in true ‘tour style’ we were also gathered near the base of the
Fairmont steps and taken to the check-in desk.
The
flight to Whitehorse took a little over two hours where we looked down upon the
most stunning scenery…tall mountain ranges covered with snow and cascading
rivers
When we arrived in Whitehorse we
were met by our tour guide for the next couple of weeks, Rachel Moody, and once
everyone was all loaded on the bus we were taken for a bit of a drive around
and all the way up to Kicking Horse Pass.
Quite an impressive introduction to this neck of the woods
The
Westmark Hotel that was to be our home for the next couple of days was owned by
Holland America, so as expected, it was pristine clean although pretty basic by
Fairmont standards
Our afternoon and evening
was at leisure so we walked around for a few hours. Not too much of great interest but it sure
beat sitting in a hotel room. It was so
weird walking around in daylight at 10pm at night and very easy to spot the
locals…they were the ones wearing shorts and shirt sleeves, while we were
rugged up in our coats and long trousers.
Thursday 31st May
What
a marvellous night’s sleep! We were up,
dressed and down at the JAVA café for breakfast by 6.30am in plenty of time for
our pick-up for the exciting day’s adventure ahead. Jeff and Michaela, as well as two of their
many many dogs, picked us up outside our hotel around 9am and drove us to their
property about half an hour outside of Whitehorse. And it was here that began one of the most
wonderful and memorable experiences of our whole lives.
For
nearly three hours we canoed down the Takhini River, with Jeff in the lead
canoe with the two dogs and John and I following. John paddled the whole way and I sat in the
front and took photos of this historic expedition. We saw eagles, beavers and so many birds as
well as incredible scenery.
At
the conclusion of our canoe trip we ended up at Muktuk Ranch where we got to
see the rest of Jeff and Michaela’s dogs – all 127 of them! They were all so excited and friendly and we
got to pat a lot of them – doggie heaven
Around
2pm it was time to be driven back into to Whitehorse, where we wandered down to
the Klondike Salmon and Rib House for a late lunch/early dinner
followed by a
long walk down to the Fireweed Community Market and back to the hotel to call
it a day.
Friday 1st June
Farewell
Whitehorse – we were bound for Dawson. A
very long drive, but a beautiful one and the best part of all was….we got to
see a bear! A great big cuddly black
bear. It was just wandering along near
the side of the road minding its own business, paddling through a creek and
chomping on berries
We
arrived in Dawson around 5pm. And what a
quaint little town it is. Just like we
stepped back into the goldrush era. So
many lovely and fun buildings, like Diamond Tooth Gerties
We enjoyed a long walk along the waterfront
and tonight fronted up for a feed of vegetable macaroni at JJJ Hotel. Lights
out at 9pm ready for another big day tomorrow.
Saturday 2nd June
A
free morning to explore Dawson on our own, and thanks to a self-guided walking
tour that I had downloaded before we left home we didn’t miss a single one of
the town’s historic buildings and learned a lot about it’s history
Around
lunchtime we boarded the SS Klondike, an old steamship, for a 1½ hour cruise
down the mighty Yukon River…
In
the late afternoon it started to shower and we were pretty tired, so we went
back to our hotel to wait until we were due to be picked up at 7pm for our “Top
of the Dome” tour excursion. This lasted
a couple of hours and we were transported to the top of a dome shaped mountain
in Dawson for a fantastic view of the town, Yukon River and distant mountains
Sunday 3rd June
At
9.30am we said our goodbyes to Dawson as our Air North flight took off bound
for Fairbanks in the USA. Again, the
scenery was just gorgeous, with snow covered mountains, vast forests and the
river snaking its way through the landscape
The
Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks is yet another Holland America hotel, so we knew
that we would be very happy there for the next two nights. As our room wasn’t ready when we arrived we
decided to take a shuttle to the North Pole to see Santa Claus’ house. It was kind of fun to be driving down Santa
Claus Lane, but it was a bit of a disappointment as all that was there was just
a ginormous Christmas shop…and no Santa Claus in sight. But we did get to see Santa’s reindeers –
even if they were a tad motheaten
Back
to Fairbanks by 1pm and we were able to check in to our room and get settled
before finding a place to have a bite of lunch.
We ended up at the Waterfront and enjoyed a delicious lunch at The Crepe
House, where John to have a ‘Great Coffee Moment’ with a couple of cups of very
strong and very sweet Cuban coffee
It’s
very pretty along the waterfront, but the rest of Fairbanks is pretty meh
Monday 4th June
What
a totally enjoyable day today was. After
breakfast we headed off on a Riverboat Discovery three hour cruise
We stopped at the Chena Indian Village for a
walking tour of an Athabascan Indian Village
the boat slowed in front of Susan
Butcher’s (four times Iditarod winner) husky kennels
we were treated to a bush
pilot demonstration as a float plane took off and landed right next to the
boat
saw loads of really gorgeous houses; and of course beautiful scenery
At
the end of the cruise we all piled into the Discovery Dining Hall for an
amazing lunch of hearty miner’s stew, rustic roasted vegetables, apple pecan
salad, sourdough rolls and a brownie for dessert.
Of
course there was also the obligatory gift shop which was the only way of
exiting the building, but here we were able to have our photo taken in the 40o
Below Experience room – just a little chilly!
And
if that hadn’t been enough fun for one day, our next stop was at Gold Dredge 8,
where we got to ride on the replica of the narrow gauge Tanana Valley Railway
to the Dredge site, where we got to pan for gold. Between the two of us we ‘discovered’ $28
worth of gold which we had made up into a magnet, which made for a pretty cool
memory
Tuesday 5th June
Farewell
Fairbanks – Denali here we come! An
absolutely stunning three hour drive until we reached McKinley Lodge
Our room was just gorgeous with views from
our bedroom window looking out on snowcapped mountains and a raging river
After
settling into our room we hopped on a shuttle which took us to the Visitors
Centre. Just down the track we spotted a
moose feasting on some leaves and totally oblivious to all the people who were
taking pictures of it
After taking
enough moose photos we hopped on another shuttle which took us further into the
Park to a dog sledding demonstration.
Got to love those huskies – and these were real huskies…absolutely
gorgeous
Dinner
tonight was in Denali Square, a short walk from our accommodation. Brisket to die for! Then back up to the Main Lodge for a sit to
check our emails and enjoy a coffee before heading back to our room for the
night.
Wednesday 6th June
It’s
been an awesome trip so far, but today was absolutely THE best day we have had
so far. This morning our Group all went
on a 7 hour Tundra Wilderness Tour. The
scenery was gorgeous
and we saw so much wildlife including a grizzly bear, doll
sheep, a red wolf and her litter of kits, ptarmagens (the State bird of
Alaska), red squirrels, moose and caribou
We finally arrived back at the lodge around 5pm and by 5.30pm we were
picked up and taken to our next adventure…a flight over the Arctic Circle.
We
were transported by bus to Healey, about 30 minutes away from the Lodge where
we boarded a small aircraft (a Piper Navajo) for the 1½ hour flight over the
Arctic Circle to the small town of Coldfoot
Once we had landed we were met by this England man who now calls
Coldfoot his home, and bussed to the remote off-grid town of Wiseman –
population 11. We spent our time here at
the property of this amazing man, Jack Reakoff, who had lived here since he was 13
years of age. What an incredible
man. He was so interesting and could
speak on any subject at all, with quite a quirky sense of humour.
Around
10.30pm we once again boarded our plane which took us back to Healey. What was really amazing was that there were
storms in the vicinity and we could see the lightening coming out of the clouds
which caused static on our headphones and the most gorgeous rainbows. And the final amazing thing on this memorable
day was seeing the midnight sun shining on Mount Denali as we made our descent
We
got to bed around 1am happy in the knowledge that if, for some reason, we had
to end our trip now and return home we would still be happy. That’s saying a lot.
Thursday 7th June
After our massive day yesterday we enjoyed a nice sleep-in followed by breakfast...and laundry.
At lunchtime we received a FaceTime call from Sally, Drew and Max which was just marvellous. Max looked so happy to see us which made our hearts soar.
And it also turned out that today was the only day on our whole trip that it actually rained. But this was a humungous bonus, because after lunch we were picked up by Denali ATV Adventures and transported to the place where we would be having our two hour quad bike experience. And what better way to enjoy that than with lots of mud puddles! Instead of having two separate quad bikes, we got to travel together in a Wolverine...
Dinner in the Lido Restaurant, followed by a wander around the ship, and then it was time for bed.
We arrived back at the Noordam around 3.30pm
dropped our stuff in our cabin, and headed up to the Dive In Bar for a hamburger early dinner.
At lunchtime we received a FaceTime call from Sally, Drew and Max which was just marvellous. Max looked so happy to see us which made our hearts soar.
And it also turned out that today was the only day on our whole trip that it actually rained. But this was a humungous bonus, because after lunch we were picked up by Denali ATV Adventures and transported to the place where we would be having our two hour quad bike experience. And what better way to enjoy that than with lots of mud puddles! Instead of having two separate quad bikes, we got to travel together in a Wolverine...
By the time we arrived back at the Lodge, we were absolutely filthy and in need of a nice warm shower, followed by an early dinner (the most delicious brisket we have ever had - sorry Pig Out Inn, you have been bumped!) and a delightful walk along the waterfront.
Friday 8th June
Farewell beautiful Denali - you were amazingly beautiful. Our bus left at 8.30am for the train station where we boarded the McKinley Explorer train bound for Anchorage, a 7 hour trip of epic proportions.
We both felt that this was just as good as the Rocky Mountaineer. We passed through some pretty spectacular scenery and the time went so quickly.
We arrived in Anchorage around 5pm and were bussed to the Sheraton, our hotel for the next two nights. A quick dinner at the shopping mall, back to the hotel to revisit our suitcases and plan for the next couple of days, and then off to bed for an action packed day tomorrow.
Saturday 9th June
Another glorious and memorable day today. We travelled down by 'Magic Bus' to Whittier and after a tour of the place (which took about 5 minutes) we boarded a catamaran for a cruise of the 26 glaciers of Prince William Sound. The weather could not have been more perfect.
We saw whales, seals, bald eagles, sea lions and otters...many, many otters all enjoying this beautiful day and just floating on their backs in absolute bliss.
We got so close to the glaciers and watched several calvings
It was nearly 8pm before we got back to the hotel, so we didn't wander too far but did find a place that sold the most scrumptious wood fired pizza. And because we saw so many cute little otters today, I sought out a gift shop where I purchased my very own stuffed version which I named "Otto".
Sunday 10th June
Happy 40th Anniversary to us! We had the whole morning to ourselves in Anchorage so we found a nice place to have breakfast and then walked around for the next couple of hours.
Around midday we boarded a bus for the short ride to the railway station, where we hopped on another domed train for our 5 hour journey to Seward - another amazingly gorgeous journey
After arriving in Seward around 5.30pm and going through all the usual Customs stuff, we walked into our stateroom (#6053) on Holland America's 'Noordam'. Our bags were there waiting for us so we quickly unpacked and settled into our 'home' for the next 7 days before being summoned to the lifeboat drill. After that was over it was back to our balcony cabin to enjoy the sail down Resurrection Bay and out to the open sea
Monday 11th June
Ahh a delightful sleep in! We didn't end up waking until 8am after which we got ourselves ready and went down to the Vista Dining Room for breakfast. John was happy - he had his customary first cruise breakfast of Bagel Lox.
After breakfast we visited the Future Cruise Desk and about an hour later we had booked our next cruise...a suite on the Maasdam for South America and Antarctica for January 2020.
At 11.30am we were invited to a Mariner presentation and lunch. What a surprise we got when we were presented with great big bronze medallions in honour of 100 cruise days...and by the Captain no less. This was followed by a Mariners' Lunch.
Late this afternoon, dressed in our formal finery, we went down to the photography studio to have a series of glamour photos taken...our 40th Anniversary present to us both
For dinner tonight we met up with a lovely couple from our trip, Vic and Marion, and enjoyed a delicious meal and conversation with them, followed by an orchestral concert in the Piano Bar. We finally said our goodnights at midnight.
Tuesday 12th June
Today we sailed into Glacier Bay, and it was just as magnificent as it was when we were last year several years ago. We rugged ourselves up and settled ourselves on our balcony to enjoy every minute of the epic day
Wednesday 13th June
Our alarm woke us at 5.30 this morning as we berthed in Haines.
Shortly after breakfast we boarded a fast ferry which took us across to Skagway and then onto the Yukon White Pass Railway, over four hours of scenic delight
In Skagway we had a few hours before our ferry was to take us back to Haines, so we enjoyed wandering around this very busy port
We arrived back at the Noordam around 3.30pm
Thursday 14th June
After a delightful sleep-in this morning we awoke to find ourselves in Juneau. We had absolutely no plans for today so after breakfast we wandered into town and ambled about the street for a couple hours
This afternoon we went to a movie on the ship "Dog Island". Just as well the popcorn was good, because the movie was very ordinary.
We dined in the Vista Dining Room tonight and then went to a show with an excellent comedian and ventriloquist.
Friday 15th June
Ketchikan! And when we left the ship around 10.30am we saw that it was just as we remembered it. We had booked ourselves on a Duck Tour which was really enjoyable and taught us a lot about this lovely place...my favourite port on this cruise
It was Gala Night on the ship tonight, which also meant Lobster and Steak. We managed to score ourselves a table for two in the Vista Dining Room and tucked into the tenderest steak imaginable topped off with a butter soaked piece of lobster...YUM!
After dinner we walked past the Lincoln Centre just as a chamber orchestra was playing, so we stopped to listen to them. By the time they had finished it was too late to go to the show so we decided to go back to our balcony. It must have been fate because just as we sat down we looked over to where a pod of Orcas were swimming past
We sat there until the sun started to set and delivered us just spectacular views
Saturday 16th June
A day at sea and another day of beautiful scenery
This afternoon we did our packing ready for tomorrow's arrival in Vancouver and tonight we had our final dinner in the Vista Dining Room with our new friends Vic and Marion.
Sunday 17th June
Good morning Vancouver!
Because we were only going to the airport to wait for our long trip home, we weren't in a hurry to disembark. It was after 11am before we left and then arrived at Vancouver Airport in time for a late lunch.
We had booked ourselves into the Priority Pass Lounge for the duration, so it was a very bearable way to spend our day...unlimited coffee, food and wine; comfy chairs, wifi and TV
Tuesday 19th June
Our flight home was as good as any long economy flight can be. There was hardly anyone on our flight so we were able to really stretch out and relax, which meant a good sleep...and hence zero jetlag. We lost a day in transit, and arrived back in Brisbane around 6.30am.
Simon, our friendly and reliable Uber driver, was there to meet us and didn't even comment on the fact that for the trip to the airport we only had two suitcases and a backpack, whereas upon our return we had four suitcases, two backpacks and three duty free bags.
John and I have both said that it is unlikely that we would return to Alaska. After all it would be pretty impossible to beat the holiday that we have just had.
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