Blog 7 18th to 29th July Alaskan Cruise and Seattle

Blog 7 18^th to 29^th July Alaskan Cruise and Seattle

Many thanks to all the Jacksons for putting us up again, and then kindly taking us to the cruise ship. We had a fabulous 7 weeks (and 3500 miles) in their van and we really appreciate everything they did for us – thank you!

We still weren’t sure about the idea of a cruise – but we are now! Alaska has such a stunning coast, most comfortably viewed from the 9^th floor of a ginormous floating luxury hotel, with a glass in hand, sitting on your personal balcony….

The ship itself was amazing, 2850 passengers and 1500 crew, 315m long and  37m wide, with 19 decks –we got lost several times. It even has a real lawn on the top deck! Rick took a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour starting with the Captain welcoming me on to the Flying Bridge which even has a window in the floor so he can position the boat accurately against the pier.  Then on to the mooring deck, crew quarters and engine control room, where the huge diesel electric generators power the ship, including both 20 megawatt Azipods that propel the ship in any direction.  The Quartermaster took us around five of the huge warehouses containing enough food and drink to satisfy  4000 crew and cruisers for two weeks.

Top Deck Lawn

We sailed up the Tracy Arm fjord in glorious sun (at 6.00 am), through beautiful clear water and ‘burgerbits’, towards the South Sawyer Glacier. What a sight! We were surrounded by true wilderness, hundreds of acres of it, with steep towering mountains that plunge into the fjord. This was as spectacular as it gets – just stunning. We just stood and watched in awe for 2 hours.

South Sawyer Glacier

In Juneau (State capital, pop 33,000), we had an absolutely brilliant tour in a boat, landing out right by 13 Humpback whales, feeding together by creating a  bubble net, in which to trap the fish. There are only 2 places in the world where they do this collectively, and we saw them do it 5 times! It was a pretty emotional sight. We could clearly see the baleen as they closed their great mouths to catch krill (and the odd seagull).

Our tour continued with an abundance of wildlife -  100s of Bald Eagles were standing in the stream, just picking out chump salmon that had just started to head up the streams to spawn.  A young black bear wandered about 2 metres below us while a porcupine snoozed in a nearby tree.

In Skagway, we took the White Pass and Yukon Railway 27 miles up to an elevation of 873metres. It was a really scenic route up steep gradients and cliff-hanging turns, over original wooden bridges with unparalleled views across the Chilkat Range, reaching meadows, lakes and streams at the top. It was built in 1898 in the wake of the Klondike Gold Rush, as an easier way for prospectors to reach the mine area, other than using the dangerous trails.

We waddled off the ship after having eaten much more rich food than our camping tummies had been used to and made our way to Downtown Seattle for three nights in the Hilton for a substantial reduction in luxury.

Seattle felt great, especially as we had hot sun, not (as we were told) the usual rain…Pikes Place Market was fun, bustling, retro and exciting. We also found the first ever Starbucks (so named after Captain Ahab’s Chief Mate, apparently – why?).  Our visit was well timed, coinciding with the Grand Torchlight Procession of the month-long Seafair Festival.

The futuristic Space Needle is Seattle’s grand icon. Built in 1962, along with the monorail, for their World Fair. the panoramic view from the top swept across the city from sea to mountains, encompassing the ubiquitous Google and Amazon corporate developments which are taking over the north bay area.

Chilhuly Glass Ceiling

We were captivated by the colours, size and forms of the exciting glass artwork in Chihuly Gardens and Glass, built to celebrate the creativity of Dale Chihuly  http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/ . We returned to see it all in the dark, with its clever lighting effects.

Our last morning was spent on a Boeing Tour at Everett.  This is where 747s, 777s and 787 Dreamliners are assembled from parts brought in by road, rail and Dreamlifters (a bulging 747) on huge production lines in the biggest enclosed space in the world.  43,000 people work at the plant and can cause massive traffic jams at going-home time.

At the nearby Future of Flight exhibition, we practiced flying in the cockpit of a 777, looking as though we knew what we were doing. A few hours later we flew home in one, but were disappointed nobody asked us to help out.

We’re now home in Sheffield, exhausted and jet-lagged, but it was all worth it as we’ve had such an exceptional eight weeks in a fascinating part of the world.   We’ll be back!

Masses more photos at : 
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6041952838827621489
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6040963326438328753
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6042246406719447457
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6042270186546622849
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6042270857997803841
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6042273287827998641
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6042273967384871201

To the Rockies

Blog 6   6^th – 13^th July. To The Rockies

Sea to Sky Highway in murky mist!

Don’t miss the spectacular Sea to Sky Highway we were told! But we did… we couldn’t see a thing from the coastal road, as we climbed out of Vancouver in the rain and fog.

However the next day, it was completely different as we approached Mount Robson, the tallest ‘Rocky’ at 12972ft, had briefly lost it’s cloudy shroud and looked magnificent as contrails streamed away from it’s sharp ridge. 

ice glacier mohican?

Full of enthusiasm, we hiked up to Lower Joffre Lake, a mere 500metres…how beautiful!  Then we were told the Middle Joffre Lake was even better, so we trekked a further 6km, all up a notional track requiring energetic clambering over rockfalls and rootladders.  Arriving at Middle Joffre Lake we found yet another fabulous vista.  Then….Upper Joffre Lake was only 1.5km further, (but a climb of 1200ft!) so, completely knackered but unable to resist another level of awesomeness, we carried on climbing up an unmade track. Over the last boulder – wow! the afternoon sun shone on the intense turquoise milky lake at the foot of a crusty glacier with an ice tower mohican. It was surrounded by craggy peaks and dammed by moraine boulders. We just sat there, in wonderment (and wondered how we were going to get down again).

thrilled but exhausted

I thought I had an idea of the Rockies – but nothing can really prepare you for actually seeing them – the size, the shapes, the colours, the contours. The first sighting of Mount Robson was so overwhelming, that I very nearly cried.

Just as you think your brain has adjusted to the size and scale of the Rockies, you go round a bend, and there’s yet another mind-blowing view! 

The Icefields Parkway, from Jasper down to Banff, is the most stunning drive imaginable. The only other comparable icefield is in Siberia. We took the Jasper Sky Tram (50yrs old cable car) up 7500ft to Whistlers Mountain, then climbed up to the top (9000ft), for a stunning view of the world below, whilst  being in the midst of 360deg of rugged snow-covered peaks.  How special is that?

 The wild flowers were so beautiful and we saw a few marmots – they hibernate for 9 months of the year, and sit in the sun for the other 3. Sounds like they haven’t got past adolescence to me!

 

Thanks to Helen and Howard’s book, we did some fantastic trails up into the

these colossal mountains. Wilcox Pass gave us a challenging hike, but then spectacular views across Lake Louse and Athabasca Glacier, especially when comfortably seated in their colour coded lawn chairs with built in picnic table! 

An erratic?

165ft deep

Erosion has created some stunning canyons and chasms while ancient glaciers have arranged random boulders called erratics for more interesting photo opportunities.  Maligne Canyon was really impressive - a deep and narrow chasm (165ft) with torrents of water churning and bubbling below, then disappearing over thunderous waterfalls.

Athabasca Falls was pretty impressive too.

The many lakes, of course, are equally astounding –beautiful and picturesque set between soaring scree slopes and conifer covered crags . Medicine Lake was particularly interesting – it has no river outlet, and empties through 16km of caverns and crevices in the rock below it. We were really taken with the super reflections in Bow Lake.

Lake Louise was packed – traffic and tourists alike. When we did get to see it, we weren’t convinced it really lives up to its own hype. Yes, it has lovely colours and has the glacier above it, but the monstrous hotel village is a bit of an eyesore and we’d seen Upper Joffre Lake, much more stunning.

It would seems that bears are like no 22 buses. We’ve now seen 6 Black Bears (see video of

Black Bear Video Near Maligne Lake

one of them), and  2 Grizzlies, mum and baby, eating buffalo berries which were viewed from the Lake Louise ski chairlift. Brilliant! And our other treat was to spot this Scarface Pika, about the size of Grace’s chinchilla (but a bit more mangled – we think an eagle had a bit for lunch).

Grizzly Mum and Little One

Pika at Kicking Horse Lookout

We didn’t get to Banff, because of time, and also missed out on Head-Bashed-In-Cliff - you can guess what used to happen to Buffalo here! We did find Pot Hole Lane, one for Sheffield to adopt, possibly. Then there was Wrong Way Lane that we didn’t dare go down – or up. 

  

The National Park campgrounds have been in some wonderful locations, each pitch quite secluded, surrounded by trees. One, in Jasper, has to be shared with grazing elk, and has been this way for years. Actually, it seems elk are the most dangerous animal around, more so than bears, wolves and cougars – calving and rutting result in very aggressive and dangerous animals for a while, the rest of the time they look very friendly.  Last night we stopped in a National Forest campground which was free and still had a firepit grill, table and bench and toilets.  You had to pump your own water from the well and a bear was hanging around looking for a free lunch.

Not sure how Rick does it, but he happened on the Rocky Mountaineer pulling in to stations at both Jasper and Lake Louise  and two ‘random’ railside picnic stops have culminated in multiple roaring diesels and Canada Pacific trumpeting….I think it all started back at the Sacramento Railroad Museum.

Apparently we are in the midst of an unprecedented heat-wave, and it’s been dry for so long, there are dozens of fires in the NW Territories. Even our Icefields Parkway to Banff was closed for 24hrs for firefighting and poor visibility, with the smoke still much in evidence the next day.

  We can’t escape technology even in the Rockies and while we were in Maligne Canyon we spotted someone experimenting with his four engined video drone. However he was too wary of losing the control signal to allow it to descend into the deep canyon where the best pictures would have been.  And Rick is also coming home with a new Transformer Tablet…cheap from Walmart’s Techno Toy Department!

If the hat fits…….

We’re now back in America, heading for Olympia – then the Alaskan Cruise…..


More photos at:
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036352140303208177
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036351102825608177
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036351607535344193
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036350433641901041
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036349735465707393
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036349078378223313
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036348856450783649
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036348126526452193
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6036347679622174977

Vancouver Island

Blog 5   28^th June to 5th July. Canada: Victoria, Vancouver Island, Vancouver.

We’ve got to Canada! via a 90 minute car ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria…novel in that we exited from the side of the ship instead of the end.

 

 Victoria lives up to its reputation as a delightful city. The bay was really buzzing with pre-Canada Day traffic – H2O buses, water taxis, big ferries, little ferries, sailing boats, canoes and through the middle of it all zoomed the HarbourAir sea planes…no wonder the Harbour seals parked up on the jetty.

OBriens

The central waterfront had markets, food stalls and live music so we let the Brummie O’Brien Quartet know there were Sheffielders present, then  wandered down into Fisherman’s Wharf (another one) to admire the 33 ‘Float Homes’ …just like Jonathan and Helen’s Cube house on Chiswick Pier. 

Further up HWY 1, along the coast road past wonderful views of the Islands, we reached Cumberland.  A very big thank you to Marie Clare, Karl and Coen, for making us so welcome for 2 nights and keeping us well fed and entertained, Coen especially! What a splendid little lad.  We had a grand outing in the speedboat in hot sun - we declined the waterskis and wakeboards, leaving those for Sam. We saw the acres of forests and the glacier across Comox Lake and then tested our ‘man overboard’ skills when Coen’s tee shirt got lost in the slipstream.    

Hiking out from the Mount Washington ski area we took a 9km trail up to Lake Helen Mackenzie, which was perfect in the morning sun with few other hikers around.  After working, Marie-Clare hitched up Coen and we strode off to Cumberland Lake with Shadow chasing sticks for Rick, as we walked the mountain bike trails with one eye over our shoulder for manic bikers.

Karl suggested a better route to Vancouver – it was splendid! 3 roll on ferries and fab scenery along the Sunshine Highway coastal road heading south.

Vancouver is a typical modern city, lively and friendlier than many with a real multicultural mix. Shiny downtown office skyscrapers rub shoulders with balconied residential towers on the way to the busy and extensive waterfronts.  The slightly frazzled (and interesting) older bits like Granville Island have been turned into delightful arts and crafts areas with restaurants, markets, speciality shops, and galleries selling aboriginal art.  Oh and Rosi found a quilting shop.

Rosi was particularly taken by Emily Carr’s (national artist) work so we visited the Vancouver Art Gallery where a ‘Canadian style’ is just about discernable. The featured artist was Douglas Copeland with an eclectic mix of work, all with a sense of humour. We liked the hubcaps quilt.

More art could be found on the streets including these mouthwatering Concrete Trucks with some very strange extra wheels on the drum?

Asparagus Mixer

Strawberry Shake?

The school one is actually a piece of artwork by Douglas Copeland - it tickled us!

 

Is this art?

Rudolph Warning

We were very impressed with Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Vancouver’s oldest attraction (1890s). Very wibbly-wobbly . Even more impressive, and scary, was the       wthrilling Cliff Walk, which does what it says on the tin. 91m above the vegetation and river below, the walkway literally hangs off the cliff. Rick was impressed by the engineering, Rosi was impressed by the achievement of walking on it!

Spot the shadowy bear!

Then, in the same Park, rather unexpectedly, WE SAW A BEAR! He was a young’un and had got somewhere where he shouldn’t have been, where no bears have been seen for 10 years. He was moving quite swiftly, about 8 feet below us (hence the very poor pic) and was shooed off with air horns into the neighbouring Wilderness Park. Very exciting! Not everyday you find a bear in an urban park.

We’ve chatted to loads of Canadians, who are so friendly, welcoming and helpful and so proud of their country. They’ve given us great tips for what to visit. The scale of the scenery is hard to grasp (and we haven’t reached the Rockies yet) and takes a while to get anywhere! It’s just wonderful to be here – and I know already that we’ll be coming back.

More photos of Vancouver Island and Vancouver at:
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6035975570799498097
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6035974167966543553
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6035971576682669377
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6032296868956876465
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6032300950625683345
https://picasaweb.google.com/112477145672617228065/306VictoriaBC02?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzjibWFtraUIg
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6034251184180370321