Lahina Maui Day 8 -
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Friday, 30 September 2011
Lahina Part 1
Lahina Maui Day 8 -
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Radiance day 5 at sea
Radiance day 5 at sea ..I think its Tuesday, well it is if the lifts are right !
Same old same old today, very relaxed and the sea is like a mill pond, warm toasty and just lovely !
Paul bravely took part in the "Mr Rhapsody" competition, it was done differently to the one our Russell took part in last year on the Rhapsody, otherwise I am sure Paul would have won hands down, he was very funny ! Warren made himself very scarce !!
The scavenger hunt was a 3 way tie, but in reality we won the gold, just the wallys marking us, made a goof...Its only a game !! The pool deck was busy, with live music all arvo, just fantastic ! the funniest moment of today was at trivia (of which we Aussies are pretty ordinary ) Frank & Norm are the stars, a question was "what is a lamington?" we rolled on the floor laughing, when one suggested is was an animal, another mate Bob reckoned it was a small lamb...how we cacked our selves laughing !! Fairly low key today, just settling into this wonderful world of cruising, tonight will be quiet, tomorrow is the last sea day before Hilo ! Wazzas case got broken, and he got $120 to replace it, and my scenic laundry bag was removed as "garbage" ..go figure, not especially happy about that, as I have lost a fair portion of my clothing. What do you do ?? I should not have left it on the floor for sorting later on evidently..This Jan is not too happy ! It is written all over it LAUNDRY....NOT RUBBISH !!! so strike one Solomon. Oh well move on and share Wazzas undies and nighties... Well the upshot to that is that I got back a pair of "Yfronts", one nightie and 4 pair of my knickers, great effort.... NOT !!! my Rascals t-shirt that I ordered from the USA is gone, also the t-shirt I got to commemorate 9/11, sox, a pretty nightie mum bought me for my hols, and heavens knows what else is not here, till I go to find it. ..Tonight was very quiet, we all needed a good early night, so I came back to the cabin to read and practice stuff Frank tried to teach me about the ipad. Clocks back an hour again tonight.
Same old same old today, very relaxed and the sea is like a mill pond, warm toasty and just lovely !
Paul bravely took part in the "Mr Rhapsody" competition, it was done differently to the one our Russell took part in last year on the Rhapsody, otherwise I am sure Paul would have won hands down, he was very funny ! Warren made himself very scarce !!
The scavenger hunt was a 3 way tie, but in reality we won the gold, just the wallys marking us, made a goof...Its only a game !! The pool deck was busy, with live music all arvo, just fantastic ! the funniest moment of today was at trivia (of which we Aussies are pretty ordinary ) Frank & Norm are the stars, a question was "what is a lamington?" we rolled on the floor laughing, when one suggested is was an animal, another mate Bob reckoned it was a small lamb...how we cacked our selves laughing !! Fairly low key today, just settling into this wonderful world of cruising, tonight will be quiet, tomorrow is the last sea day before Hilo ! Wazzas case got broken, and he got $120 to replace it, and my scenic laundry bag was removed as "garbage" ..go figure, not especially happy about that, as I have lost a fair portion of my clothing. What do you do ?? I should not have left it on the floor for sorting later on evidently..This Jan is not too happy ! It is written all over it LAUNDRY....NOT RUBBISH !!! so strike one Solomon. Oh well move on and share Wazzas undies and nighties... Well the upshot to that is that I got back a pair of "Yfronts", one nightie and 4 pair of my knickers, great effort.... NOT !!! my Rascals t-shirt that I ordered from the USA is gone, also the t-shirt I got to commemorate 9/11, sox, a pretty nightie mum bought me for my hols, and heavens knows what else is not here, till I go to find it. ..Tonight was very quiet, we all needed a good early night, so I came back to the cabin to read and practice stuff Frank tried to teach me about the ipad. Clocks back an hour again tonight.
Radiance day 6 ahead of my self here !
Radiance Day 6, at sea still !! Its Wednesday according to the lifts !
No much to report thats different, except every day we meet more and more interesting people, and exchange travel stories ! This morning we went to register for the "make a wish foundation" walkathon, the queue was very long, they need to look at that, last year you could pre purchase your shirts at the rock wall, much better, never the less we sweated out a few miles and ended up at the sky bar to rehydrate ! The ship put on a bbq of ribs, steak and snags, it was very well attended, in fact the queue for that stretched around the ship, we waited tilll things got quieter, and enjoyed our lunch with our dinner mates, Tony and Janice, they are so lovely !
Wazza put his hand up for the water volley ball, and after watching the belly flop competition, it was his moment of fame in front of hundreds of people on the pool deck..his team were the gold medal winners, helped significantly by Wazzas amazing 6 point score in a row !! so another gold medal to bring home !
This arvo is our 3rd day of progressive trivia, hope we do OK today, but not holding my breath at all !! Tonight is the last formal night before we reach Hilo, the Big Island of Hawaii, tomorrow, I imagine it will be fairly ugly with 2500 passengers trying to get off first, we will sit back and wait till the savages are off !
Hilo is only 400,000 years old and is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands. Its also the largest in the archipelago, it 4,028 square miles is more than twice the size of all the other major islands combined...will I get lost do you think !!! The Island is still growing Kilauea volcano has been spewing molten lava since January 1, 1983 ! The Islands other active volcano 13,679 foot Mauna Loa, last erupted in March 1984. Its the worlds largest volcano and covers about half of the island ! Hope is stays quiet tomorrow !!
We will anchor at the eastern end of the island chain, the big island offers 12 different climate zones, from tropical rain forests to snow capped summits. It would be awesome to take a helicopter flight over this Island, perhaps next time we visit.
I hope to be able to find some free wifi in Kona, if so, I will post some photos on face book !!
Till next time, hoo roo for now xxx
No much to report thats different, except every day we meet more and more interesting people, and exchange travel stories ! This morning we went to register for the "make a wish foundation" walkathon, the queue was very long, they need to look at that, last year you could pre purchase your shirts at the rock wall, much better, never the less we sweated out a few miles and ended up at the sky bar to rehydrate ! The ship put on a bbq of ribs, steak and snags, it was very well attended, in fact the queue for that stretched around the ship, we waited tilll things got quieter, and enjoyed our lunch with our dinner mates, Tony and Janice, they are so lovely !
Wazza put his hand up for the water volley ball, and after watching the belly flop competition, it was his moment of fame in front of hundreds of people on the pool deck..his team were the gold medal winners, helped significantly by Wazzas amazing 6 point score in a row !! so another gold medal to bring home !
This arvo is our 3rd day of progressive trivia, hope we do OK today, but not holding my breath at all !! Tonight is the last formal night before we reach Hilo, the Big Island of Hawaii, tomorrow, I imagine it will be fairly ugly with 2500 passengers trying to get off first, we will sit back and wait till the savages are off !
Hilo is only 400,000 years old and is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands. Its also the largest in the archipelago, it 4,028 square miles is more than twice the size of all the other major islands combined...will I get lost do you think !!! The Island is still growing Kilauea volcano has been spewing molten lava since January 1, 1983 ! The Islands other active volcano 13,679 foot Mauna Loa, last erupted in March 1984. Its the worlds largest volcano and covers about half of the island ! Hope is stays quiet tomorrow !!
We will anchor at the eastern end of the island chain, the big island offers 12 different climate zones, from tropical rain forests to snow capped summits. It would be awesome to take a helicopter flight over this Island, perhaps next time we visit.
I hope to be able to find some free wifi in Kona, if so, I will post some photos on face book !!
Till next time, hoo roo for now xxx
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Radiance day 4 at sea
Radiance Day 4 - Monday September 19, at sea still
We know what day of the week it is when we lok in the elevator, the floor changes ! We put our clocks back an hour again this morning. Not too much different going on here, swim, brekky, but the welcome change was the sunshine is starting to come out, and its getting warmer ! At 12.15 pm we crossed the exact half way mark between Vancouver and Kailua, and there is over 5 kilometers of water under us. We passed a freighter ship in the very early hours, so we are not all alone out here. ! We played trivia with Frank & Norm, our cruise critic friends from Santa Barbara, California, they are a wealth of information regarding the ship !
Lunch was at the Park Cafe, where we had a lovely roast beef roll, and greek salad, certainly no complaints from us about the food. We did a few laps of the ship to help walk lunch off before our video scavenger hunt, Warren was the film talker Shazza Paul Norm and I were the fools running around performing many insane "acts" we laughed our heads off, as I tried to "leap frog" no deal ! We had to perform I'm a little tea cup, ask someone to marry us, play shuffleboard, each put a foot in the water, and so the craziness went on for 15 minutes. We were silver medalists today, not bad, and loads of fun !
I needed a snooze, so had a read, a little sleep, then off for arvo trivia, which is a 3 day effort, hope we do a bit better tomorrow !! Tonight is crown and anchor welcome back function and a rock and roll show. Wazza is down having his second swim of the day as I write this, and will post a message home, as we have no phone service at the moment. Cheers to everyone at home xxx
We know what day of the week it is when we lok in the elevator, the floor changes ! We put our clocks back an hour again this morning. Not too much different going on here, swim, brekky, but the welcome change was the sunshine is starting to come out, and its getting warmer ! At 12.15 pm we crossed the exact half way mark between Vancouver and Kailua, and there is over 5 kilometers of water under us. We passed a freighter ship in the very early hours, so we are not all alone out here. ! We played trivia with Frank & Norm, our cruise critic friends from Santa Barbara, California, they are a wealth of information regarding the ship !
Lunch was at the Park Cafe, where we had a lovely roast beef roll, and greek salad, certainly no complaints from us about the food. We did a few laps of the ship to help walk lunch off before our video scavenger hunt, Warren was the film talker Shazza Paul Norm and I were the fools running around performing many insane "acts" we laughed our heads off, as I tried to "leap frog" no deal ! We had to perform I'm a little tea cup, ask someone to marry us, play shuffleboard, each put a foot in the water, and so the craziness went on for 15 minutes. We were silver medalists today, not bad, and loads of fun !
I needed a snooze, so had a read, a little sleep, then off for arvo trivia, which is a 3 day effort, hope we do a bit better tomorrow !! Tonight is crown and anchor welcome back function and a rock and roll show. Wazza is down having his second swim of the day as I write this, and will post a message home, as we have no phone service at the moment. Cheers to everyone at home xxx
Radiance Day 3 at sea
Last nights formal dinner was lovely, our table mates, Tony & Janice are great people, and along with the amazing wait staff we had a ball, the food is excellent. Before dinner we had a welcome party and met the Captain and many of the crew, the drinks flowed freely, and the bubbly was really good, unlike P & O ! There are currently about 900 Canadians, 700 from the USA, 179 Aussies, and the rest were from 26 different countries, HOWEVER, when we leave Honolulu the numbers alter rather dramatically, there will be around 1700 Aussies, about 200 from the States, and 170 from Germany, so I imagine this ship will become a floating party !! The great news for Wazza is that VB will be on board from Honolulu, the race will be on to make sure he has adequate supplies in the cupboards !
This morning we went off to trivia, we joined up with a couple of people from the states, and we ended up with a score of 12 out of 15, not bad hey !! Good work Nigel !! As usual we started our day with a swim in the solarium, still being bounced around, its a great way to start the day, laughing at each other ! We braved the elements and had a game of mini golf, I cheated, and still lost ! We took part in the scavenger hunt again, and we won GOLD !!! Yay for us, its hard work, running like maniacs all over the ship, but well worth it the have that gold medal hanging around our neck, naturally when that was over we had to have a celebration ! Dinner was another lovely evening, delicious food and a million more laughs. Our friend who takes of us (our assistant waiter) is from Peru, and its Chillean National Day, she was very excited to go and make up some "pisco" we had heard of this drink before, I believe its pretty potent, wonder if Carmen will be as bright tonight !! The waiters all stood on the stairs and sang Oh Sole Mio to us, it was awesome given there is not one Italian amongst them all !! Off to the Schooner bar to listen to the piano man, and our night finished off with a trip up to the spa, where we watched the sky begin to clear up. Sunshine is on order for tomorrow. We are still loving these sea days.
Last nights formal dinner was lovely, our table mates, Tony & Janice are great people, and along with the amazing wait staff we had a ball, the food is excellent. Before dinner we had a welcome party and met the Captain and many of the crew, the drinks flowed freely, and the bubbly was really good, unlike P & O ! There are currently about 900 Canadians, 700 from the USA, 179 Aussies, and the rest were from 26 different countries, HOWEVER, when we leave Honolulu the numbers alter rather dramatically, there will be around 1700 Aussies, about 200 from the States, and 170 from Germany, so I imagine this ship will become a floating party !! The great news for Wazza is that VB will be on board from Honolulu, the race will be on to make sure he has adequate supplies in the cupboards !
This morning we went off to trivia, we joined up with a couple of people from the states, and we ended up with a score of 12 out of 15, not bad hey !! Good work Nigel !! As usual we started our day with a swim in the solarium, still being bounced around, its a great way to start the day, laughing at each other ! We braved the elements and had a game of mini golf, I cheated, and still lost ! We took part in the scavenger hunt again, and we won GOLD !!! Yay for us, its hard work, running like maniacs all over the ship, but well worth it the have that gold medal hanging around our neck, naturally when that was over we had to have a celebration ! Dinner was another lovely evening, delicious food and a million more laughs. Our friend who takes of us (our assistant waiter) is from Peru, and its Chillean National Day, she was very excited to go and make up some "pisco" we had heard of this drink before, I believe its pretty potent, wonder if Carmen will be as bright tonight !! The waiters all stood on the stairs and sang Oh Sole Mio to us, it was awesome given there is not one Italian amongst them all !! Off to the Schooner bar to listen to the piano man, and our night finished off with a trip up to the spa, where we watched the sky begin to clear up. Sunshine is on order for tomorrow. We are still loving these sea days.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Fine swells on a swell ship !!
ay 2 Radiance of the seas, at sea, we woke to grey skies and a swell that progressed to a fairly good swell, had a swim in the solarium, it was such fun, like being in a blender, at first I was packing my self and wouldnt let go of the rails, once I did, oh what a hoot we had, bobbing around like loons. Too quickly it was time to get our to come back for our brekky in our cabin, which we pre ordered the night before, still waiting, never mind, grabbed some fruit up stairs, and got organised for our first meet and mingle at 10.30, we are a bit out of wack because we forgot to change our watches ! Hmm typical ! The m&m was well attended, and very well run, our tour director spent a lot of time chatting with us, we then had a raffle, Wazza & Shazza won bingo markers, they were beside them selves with excitement. A wonderful spread of nibblies and drinks were provided, well done Royal Caribbean, you leave Princess for dead on that score. Its good fun to put faces to names that you have spoken to for months, and shared your hopes and dreams, hints clues and general cruise news with.
At 2pm the 4 of us went on a photo scavenger hunt, and wow we got 2nd prize, should have won, but the bloke who ran the show was a bit of a grumpy and wouldnt give points for acts of bravery ie, running up stairs in gale force winds, and posing on the helipad and almost being blown back to Vancouver !! The seas today are quite high, giving us a good ride, lots of green people on the ship ! Not keen that its a smoking ship, although not everywhere is smoking it seems to creep under all the doors! Tonight is our formal night and I need a snooze so I can keep up the pace, so I will go and hook onto the internet, then pack up the puter till next time. Hope everyone is well, Donna Frank asked after you today, and like us, he is concerned for you and your dad ..Love to all, and again, thanks for you company !! Cheers xx (love to my family if you are long for the ride xxx
At 2pm the 4 of us went on a photo scavenger hunt, and wow we got 2nd prize, should have won, but the bloke who ran the show was a bit of a grumpy and wouldnt give points for acts of bravery ie, running up stairs in gale force winds, and posing on the helipad and almost being blown back to Vancouver !! The seas today are quite high, giving us a good ride, lots of green people on the ship ! Not keen that its a smoking ship, although not everywhere is smoking it seems to creep under all the doors! Tonight is our formal night and I need a snooze so I can keep up the pace, so I will go and hook onto the internet, then pack up the puter till next time. Hope everyone is well, Donna Frank asked after you today, and like us, he is concerned for you and your dad ..Love to all, and again, thanks for you company !! Cheers xx (love to my family if you are long for the ride xxx
G'day to the Radiance, oh what a lovely lady she is !
Vancouver to the Magnificent Radiance of the Seas, and on our way home, on Friday 16th September, 2011, we have been away for a month and 2 days now. We started early today, I was up at sparrows ironing, I needed lessons, I can tell you ! Chores done, packing done, and this is almost the end of our land tour, its been just wonderful, words can never describe whatt we have seen the fun we have had, and the marvellous group of people we have met. We walked to Canada Place to check out our "digs", we are very impressed with what we saw, again the weather was very ordinary and really quite cold, not to worry, we are headed to warm climates soon ! Back to the Sandman to gather our goodies and grab a cab back to the ship, where Shazza & Paul were waiting for us...Look our Radiance here we come..We arrived at the pier at 11.45 and were on the ship by 12.20, through customs and all, what a breeze, and what a welcome we got from the crew, it was yoho !! We met at the Centrum, and were really blown away, this ship is very very grand, just like Rhapsody on steroids, of course, she has just had a huge refurb weeks ago. We went to grab some lunch from the windjammer and the first people we saw were Sarah & Geoff, our cc friends who we had met previously for lunch at Pine Rivers, it was great to see faces we knew, they too loved Alaska. We then came to check out our cabin, and its just great, tons of storage, a balcony big enough for a small party, all we need for a wonderful cruise right here. We are very happy to be here, and to UNPACK !! So quickly day 1 is going, we had sailaway @ 4.30, but with really ordinary weather, and a delayed departure (back to 615pm) it was not a huge event. Back to our house we came to celebrate sail away in comfort. Its so good to have a balcony. By the way we are flying the flags already, we look very Aussie ! Solomon is our cabin steward, and is Mr Personality plus, such a great fellow we have to look after us, our cabin was spot on ! We went to have our 8.30 dinner and emt our new table mates, they are really nice, and suprise suprise, they are keen to join us again !! We just roamed around checking out whats going on, and crashed, to wake to the very beautiful and gentle roll of our home for the next 4 weeks.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Homeward bound (in a fashion!)
Yesterday we finished our hop on hop off tour, the weather was very ordinary, cold and raining, but we managed to see the sights, we went to Granville Island markets where they sold the most beautiful fruit, we got a mixed bag of delicious raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries,yummy ! We continued on the tour passing through Chinatown and finished up at Gastown, where we wandered in the rain for a bit, then found an Irish Pub called the Blarney Stone, where we settled in, we were joined by Shazza & Paul, as you can imagine we all had lots to talk about, we waffled on all day and into the night at our place. Laughs aplenty. We have lots to still look forward to, but its a bit sad to be finishing up this portion of our trip, as it has been simply amazing. Tomorrow we board the Radiance of the seas for our next destination is Kailua, Kona Hawaii in 6 days time. We will vbe able to catch up on some sleep, and recharge our batteries. Hope we see some sunshine for sailaway..
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Its the final countdown, Vancouver, where is the sunshine ?
Good morning Vancouver, where are the sunny skies, not to worry, lets get going, if its not raining in Vancouver, its fine we hear. We waited out the fron of our place (with another Aussie) waited waited it was very chilly, eventually Wazza went to the desk to find out what I knew for the past 20 minutes, oh well I guessed ! No bus anywhere here, so off we trot for 2 blocks, the up shot is we are supposed to get a refund on our fares..watch this space! Got route red to the Stanley Park area, did a loop, got off, and did a marathon walk, to the next bus stop, the tea rooms, very lovely,, by the time we got there, no time for the end of our tour, as we had Heather coming into town in an hour and a half to visit with us rushed on home, tidied this pig sty, sorted the washing Warren had a well earned sleep, I washed and posted and facebooked and tidied, Warren laughs at me when I fall asleep when my bum hits a seat, I guess it does look funny, but I average not many hours of sleep a day, and most are when my bum is on a seat !! Ok next play time was a reunion with our most amazing tour guide Heather, she drove well over an hour to visit, while we were in the queue for the Greeks we picked up a delightful young German, who took all our leftovers home as he is a backpacker ! The company and food were just bloody wonderful, no wonder this greeks gets such a good trip advisor review. a wonderful day, walked too many miles, and have to face it all tommorow. Warren is asleep a long time ago....This is the time if I wonder, is it worth it, then I get a lovely comment and yes it is xx
Las Vegas to Vancouver
Welcome on board to our new "stalkers" great to have you along for the ride ! Rejeana the Coral Princess seems a life time ago !Ok our day started with a walk and a quick brekky sandwich, and a farewell drink before leaving on the shuttle for the airport for our last flight till we get home (The shuttle was $13.00 pp return) I think we have been on about 14 "birds" all up.As usual our bags were too heavy, so we were at the airport "off loading" stuff !! We arrived in plenty of time and walked up to Westjet counter, the only people there, thank you very much, how easy is this !! Straight through customs, no drama, yippeee, what a great start. Given we had loads of time on our hands we spent some time playing a poker machine, they are everywhere at the airport, all up I left $21 and Wazza $3, not bad hey ! Off to the bar for a coldie before boarding our flight to Vancouver, 2 hours and 40 minutes, most of the time we spent deleting stuff off the iPad, and remembering what a really remarkable time we have had. We know how lucky we are, even the weather has been kind. The flight was terrific, I was worried as there were some mean looking clouds, but it was very smooth. We caught a taxi to the Sandman Suites on Davie Street, its a lovely place, with a separate bedroom, kitchen/lounge, and a much needed washer/dryer, which we had to call the fellow from reception to show us how to drive it..we spent a long time trying to get it going, what a pair of Wallys we are...We walked down the street for some supplies and came back to have a relax before we got a lovely Greek dinner. What a good day. Tomorrow we are doing a hop on hop off trolly tour, before dinner with Heather, Shazza & Paul. Hope everyone is well. Cheers till next time. BTW, Colleen, great news from you, enjoy that bottle of bubbles !!!
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Vancouver take 2 !
Not blogging just right now I am going to try and get some photos up, as we have free wifi again..woo hoo !
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Lets go to the Grand Canyon for lunch Wazza !
Another lovely warm morning here, we alked down to the strip to share a sanger for brekkie before our really excellent adventure out to the big old hole, we got an e-mail from Heather (our amazing tour director from Scenic), how lucky we are, we get to have yet another farewell, we are going to meet up Wednesday in Vancouver for dinner, so we are lkooking forward to that, another chance to thank her again for my dragon fly pin that never fails to get lovely comments from people, so I have a menagerie with me now, an iPad dog a rolling lauging moose and a dragon fly, oh and a few others, huskies etc.
OK backk to today, we went to the meeting place Wazza researched yesterday, and were early as our meeting time was 9.55, something seemed a bit odd to me, so at 9.56, I asked a limo driver if we were in the right spot, you already know the answer to that dont you !! Of course not, we are minus 3 minutes and plus 47 kilometer to the other side of this blooming great bit country called MGM, well I ran like a loon, bits wobbling all over, upsetting pokie machines with my thump thump huff puffffffing all over the place...we asked a few people on the way for directions and oxygen for me ! We staggered out to where we had ambled on by 45 minutes earlier on our way to our pretend meeting place ! I could hardly speak, but I saw a big guy with a name tag called Terry, I waved our booking form at him, and he threw us in the back of his stretch limo with 4 other people, all watching this red faced grunting panting bohemouth trying to look cool calm and collected ! He broked the ice when he told Warren his shirt looked like Walt Disney had vommited all over him, he had on his nice colorful hawaii type shirt, we will never look at this shirt with out laughing our guts out again. Enough ramble, off in the limo we went to McCarren airport (6th busiest in USA) to be met by our pilot Jennifer, what a delight she is, and off we went, the scenery was brilliant, the flight smooth as a babys bum and the commentary was first class. The flight path took us over Hoover dam, Lake Meade some Indian communities, and some really dry arid land. We also passed Lake Vegas,a man made lake, left over construction of Hoover Dam, some famous stars have homes there, Celine Dion and Tiger Woods being among the residents. Its a haven for the water loving jet setting people !Next the Colorado River, (made the Yarra look clean!)The Colorado River feeds into the Hoover dam. We are blown away again, and to top it off we had seats in the front WOW !! We landed for our half hour lunch/champagne and photo shoot, that time went way way too fast, although after Jennifer emntioned the word rattlesnake, I figured enough was enough. The flight back was just a different as the one out, truely it was a magic day out. Thanks to Grand Canyon Tour Company and our hosts and drivers Terry and Jennifer. Another one for the memory box ! After we came home we decided we had enough of walking and looking at casinos, so we spent a further half hour walking around the pool area trying to find the "right pool" The river pool seemed to fit the bit, and around we floated being pushed by the current and each of us saying over and over and over again "how bl**dy good is this!!" It was wonderful and a fitting way to end what has been a fairly hectic few days. I tried to get ticket for Love,a cirque desole show Marily and a few other suggested was great, but by the time we went to book the ticket prices were equivalent to a years mortgage, we will wait for the movie hahahah ! Should have been a bit more organised ! The we got our boarding passes printed at the business centre, had a shower and headed down for arvo tea in Warrens case lunch cos lunch at the Canyon was a turkey roll, so he had an apple and a chock chip bikky, mmm how well I am looking after my hubby ! We are at home now and it 8 pm, Wazza is snoozing, you know what I am doing ! Tomorrow off to Vancouver, and in a couple more sleeps, Radiance of the Seas, look out, we will be there ! (Oh and we still have some pennies to spend, we have done well so far. It helps when wonderful friends send cases of VB... Till next time, hope all is well where ever you are, and thanks for coming along Hoo roo xx
OK backk to today, we went to the meeting place Wazza researched yesterday, and were early as our meeting time was 9.55, something seemed a bit odd to me, so at 9.56, I asked a limo driver if we were in the right spot, you already know the answer to that dont you !! Of course not, we are minus 3 minutes and plus 47 kilometer to the other side of this blooming great bit country called MGM, well I ran like a loon, bits wobbling all over, upsetting pokie machines with my thump thump huff puffffffing all over the place...we asked a few people on the way for directions and oxygen for me ! We staggered out to where we had ambled on by 45 minutes earlier on our way to our pretend meeting place ! I could hardly speak, but I saw a big guy with a name tag called Terry, I waved our booking form at him, and he threw us in the back of his stretch limo with 4 other people, all watching this red faced grunting panting bohemouth trying to look cool calm and collected ! He broked the ice when he told Warren his shirt looked like Walt Disney had vommited all over him, he had on his nice colorful hawaii type shirt, we will never look at this shirt with out laughing our guts out again. Enough ramble, off in the limo we went to McCarren airport (6th busiest in USA) to be met by our pilot Jennifer, what a delight she is, and off we went, the scenery was brilliant, the flight smooth as a babys bum and the commentary was first class. The flight path took us over Hoover dam, Lake Meade some Indian communities, and some really dry arid land. We also passed Lake Vegas,a man made lake, left over construction of Hoover Dam, some famous stars have homes there, Celine Dion and Tiger Woods being among the residents. Its a haven for the water loving jet setting people !Next the Colorado River, (made the Yarra look clean!)The Colorado River feeds into the Hoover dam. We are blown away again, and to top it off we had seats in the front WOW !! We landed for our half hour lunch/champagne and photo shoot, that time went way way too fast, although after Jennifer emntioned the word rattlesnake, I figured enough was enough. The flight back was just a different as the one out, truely it was a magic day out. Thanks to Grand Canyon Tour Company and our hosts and drivers Terry and Jennifer. Another one for the memory box ! After we came home we decided we had enough of walking and looking at casinos, so we spent a further half hour walking around the pool area trying to find the "right pool" The river pool seemed to fit the bit, and around we floated being pushed by the current and each of us saying over and over and over again "how bl**dy good is this!!" It was wonderful and a fitting way to end what has been a fairly hectic few days. I tried to get ticket for Love,a cirque desole show Marily and a few other suggested was great, but by the time we went to book the ticket prices were equivalent to a years mortgage, we will wait for the movie hahahah ! Should have been a bit more organised ! The we got our boarding passes printed at the business centre, had a shower and headed down for arvo tea in Warrens case lunch cos lunch at the Canyon was a turkey roll, so he had an apple and a chock chip bikky, mmm how well I am looking after my hubby ! We are at home now and it 8 pm, Wazza is snoozing, you know what I am doing ! Tomorrow off to Vancouver, and in a couple more sleeps, Radiance of the Seas, look out, we will be there ! (Oh and we still have some pennies to spend, we have done well so far. It helps when wonderful friends send cases of VB... Till next time, hope all is well where ever you are, and thanks for coming along Hoo roo xx
Monday, 12 September 2011
Las Vegas
>Ok so how was your day, ours was mad we had an early start and headed off to see the shops, grabbed a sanger for brekky on the way, we ended up at the miracle mile of shops and checked out Planet Hollywood, 3 levels of really good stuff here wow ! Popped in to Belagio, Ceasers Palace , the fashion show where a fashion parade jumped out of no where, and a rain forest happened at another shopping centre, only in Vegas hey !! this arvo we went to see a really funny show, suggested to us by our lovely friends Russell and Rosemaree, its called Defending the Caveman, it was very very funny. Back home to get ready for our big night out, more news to follow hoo roo
OK off we went on the $7 bus back to Freemont street, via the worlds largest gift shop, then onto dinner @ Tony Romas, and home late, as if thats unusual ! Tony Romas is famous for ribs, they didn't dissapoint, hope they were the weight watchers ones, some how I dont think so. Before dinner we went back to see the Freemont Experience, sadly due to technical problems there was no show, but still loads of zany colorful characters. Oh I forgot to mention, we stopped in after or was it before the show at Flamingo casino for a cool drink, where we had our first gamble, I lost $11, Wazza lost $2, thats it, been there, done that, no more money from us in whats called "lost wages" city another crazy day ! Have I mentioned the "washrooms" I spend at least an hour a day working out how to a : drive the dunny, b : how to drive the soap, c : how to drive the tap, and finally d : how to get the freaking paper towel out of the freaking holder, its a laugh a minute just going in for a wee !! most are all automatic, so when you stand up and take a bow, woosh look out you are not sucked down into next week, auto soap, wave like a nutbag to get the sensor working, same with the water and towel, today I was a bit cheesed of I had to flushh the dunny myself, how rude, wont go back there again. ! Apart from Tony Romas, its nice not to make food such a focal point and to get out and about. I have blisters as big as columbia glacier all over my feet ouch !! Well thats about it for now !
OK off we went on the $7 bus back to Freemont street, via the worlds largest gift shop, then onto dinner @ Tony Romas, and home late, as if thats unusual ! Tony Romas is famous for ribs, they didn't dissapoint, hope they were the weight watchers ones, some how I dont think so. Before dinner we went back to see the Freemont Experience, sadly due to technical problems there was no show, but still loads of zany colorful characters. Oh I forgot to mention, we stopped in after or was it before the show at Flamingo casino for a cool drink, where we had our first gamble, I lost $11, Wazza lost $2, thats it, been there, done that, no more money from us in whats called "lost wages" city another crazy day ! Have I mentioned the "washrooms" I spend at least an hour a day working out how to a : drive the dunny, b : how to drive the soap, c : how to drive the tap, and finally d : how to get the freaking paper towel out of the freaking holder, its a laugh a minute just going in for a wee !! most are all automatic, so when you stand up and take a bow, woosh look out you are not sucked down into next week, auto soap, wave like a nutbag to get the sensor working, same with the water and towel, today I was a bit cheesed of I had to flushh the dunny myself, how rude, wont go back there again. ! Apart from Tony Romas, its nice not to make food such a focal point and to get out and about. I have blisters as big as columbia glacier all over my feet ouch !! Well thats about it for now !
9/11 The world remembers and weeps
Well how do you like that, last night I spent an hour or so blogging all the news of the day and what should happen a bloody gremlin pops in and steals my words. Pfft all gone, so off to bed I went sulking and calling this dum ass puter a dumb ass puter. It had nothing to do with me I amm sure of that ! So now you get a short version of what we got up to. We had a lazy brekkie in our room of fruit and yoghurt (how healthy !) then went to get tickets for defending the caveman for Sunday arvo, the man in the ticket booth tried to sell us his grandmother as well, might I add...tickets in hand we caught the $7.00 bus pass good for 24 hours, great value, and we went to the premium factory outlets for some shopping, quick sprint around and off we go with a new pair of shoes and some perfume and a small Japanese meal fro lunch. Happy Jan ..we got off the bus at Freemont Street to check it out, we both love this place, its so different to Las Vegas strip, and I do believe it was the original Vegas, lots of very old casinos... and a really good vibe. We will be back her, thats for sure ! Home for a nanna nap, which I couldnt manage, as I have too much to do working on the 3000 plus photos we have taken ! You kidding me, and thas just the camera, not the phone or ipad..Back to Freemont street after a quick visit to Hooters,pretty ordinary, but a fun place, then into Tropicana , it had a $93 mil refurb and is very bright and rather quiet compared to where we live ! How to find a bar to get a drink ...nuh no deal, seems you are only able to have a drink if you are playing the machines, so bash that, we still have not put $1 into a machine yet ! Go us !!! OK onto the deuce bus (bad move) to Freemont street its Saturday night and this bus stops all stations, so it was a slow haul, never mind, at least we had a seat. Wea rrived at Freemont street and got our drinks at the ABC shop, (how crazy is this you can buy your drinks take away then cruise into any of the pubs/casinos with them!) we just wandered around listening to the 3 bands playing at the different stages. This is known as the Freemont Street experience. Oh I cant begin to describe what a wonderful atmosphere it is here, thanks Shazza for insisting we came here, its bloody amazing. Warren was jumping out of his skin as there were pretty girls in very little outfits everywhere ! The show started WOW does not cut it, I cannot describe this show... I will try and post a video, its televised onto a big dome type roof, and its about a kilometer long, and its like the worlds biggest music video. Then I was bought right undone when they did a tribute to 9/11, not a dry eye in the place. It was very beautifully done. We also visited a site there that was a tribute/memorial to 9/11 and it had a piece of the wall from one of the towers. All very emotional stuff. Home again after another long day and ready to take on Las Vegas again !! As long as we live the images of that most terrible day in our living history will never be forgotten. To be a part of that sad history is very moving to say the least. will post photos later, stuff to do now !
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Las Vegas Friday 10th September
This morning we had a well earned lie in till about 9, then mucked around trying to find where our marbles were, yep we lost our marbles, but after some down time we began to regroup and get our stuff back togetherand felt ready to tackle this rather larger than life place called Las Vegas. The day began rather more exciting for Wazza, he had a parcel waiting for him at the reception, can you believe he has friends who love him enough to send him a crate full of VBs for his birthday, Deb Steve, Cazza & Sherm you are now family and I do believe you get to be included in his will. I have never seen such a look of suprise and excitement. In fact I do believe he considered drinking a stubby warm !! And how fortunate tha our complimentary fridge (for my medication) arrived at about the same time ! WOOOO HOOO a good day for Wazza. We finally left the calm a quiet of our lovely room to seek out some breakfast, by now its almost midday ! It took us 2 kilometers to find our way out of the MGM, have I said how large this place is ?? Holy smoke its like the size of 56 Northlands nd thats just the wing we are in ! We walked again the other direction and checked out a few more larger than life casinos, had a coldie at the blues room somewhere up the road, it was happy hour a 2pm, gotta like that, walked and walked and walked some more, then home to the sanctuary of our cool and quiet room for Wazza to try one of his VBs, every picture tell a story dont it !! I had a bit of time on the puter cathing up on stuff and then we had a nice snooze, wow how different is this, a lie in and a arvo nanna nap...ok back to tackle this big old town..wlaking walking walking ...till we found the Hard Rock Cafe and scored a table watching the crazy world go by, I had a nice cocktail and we shared a plate of nachos bigger than texas. Yep we needed to eat, it had been 7 hours by then !!! Came home for a swim, togged up walked the 12 kilometers to the pool, by now its 8pm, guess what ??? The pool shuts at 7 pm. I was as filthy as mud..WHAT THE ???? I rang the reception to see if there was a place we coukld have a swim, her reply was no you know how is is everyone in the pool all day drinking loads it would be dangerous to keep the pool open beyond 7pm..ther is no such thing as responsible service of alcohol here, people walk around the streets drinking yard glasses of grog, evrywhere you look there are signs offering all sorts of cocktail and alcohol specials. So we went walking again, and watched the amazing display at Bellagios, its a water feature like no other and its set to music, very impressive, thanks for the heads up Ross, I was transfixed by the display. By now we have walked the equivalent of around the world twice so we headed hme, and crashed out after we had a chat to Bec and the kiddies, well done Lee Lee on being runner up in the net ball grand final, we are very proud of you, hope our little ones are soon better, Kailee, Lachie & Jackson are all on the sicke list, Love to you all xxxxx Ok blog done off I go to find some more fun Hoo roo and again Deb and Co, thanks for making an old man happy !! LOL xxxxxxxx
Friday, 9 September 2011
And so my friends this is it, we travel south back to work..
Gawd I ask you how many farewell parties do we need to get it right, obviously a couple more... This morning was a bit cruel we had a bag pull in Heather speak at 5 am, no sign of Heather or Al, plenty of our mob all going in every direction, a big grizzly will land in Auckland some 3000 hours from now, Rita, hope you cope mate.Janette & John cruise in to San Fran, before Honolulu, you are very spoilt you guys, Lorraine, Ross Jodes & Jase are quite possibly necking each other in Vancouver. 7 hour stop over and a credit card that still plays nicely, good oh girls. Hmmmmmmmm how funny was the airport, as we watched Jodie & Jason get slugged for excess we were a bit nervous, no worries mate I left a trail of winter stuff all around the airport, but Lorraine there was NO WAY I was leaving behind the bottle of bubbles you so kindly gave me..on ward and downward we went to Seattle, oh NO OH NO another farewell drink, but this is the real deal. Oh I forgot to mention a small fact that scared the beeeejeeepppers out of me , I left my back pack and went chatting as I do, came back and its GONE, oh no not again, I felt a small heart attack coming on, as our 2 computers, and all our travel docs were in there, I had cops and mates and Wazza and me running around like mad dogs, I went screeching to the front of the embarkation line, as we were almost boarded and yelled at Lorrain, I have lost my back pack, no sooner did i utter those words than I found my most wonderful friend John and his delightful wife in possesion of 3 Scenic back packs, mate it took me 3 hours to recover and did I slap John around the chops for his trouble !! OK lets board this plane before I get into more strife..hmmm up in the air not long when Jeanette tells me of her pussy problem, the lady beside her had a cat, she is allergic as am I, to these fur balls of agony. I swelled up like a puff ball, Janette came and sat in our row, she was not much better, the cabin steward said oh sorry miss I didnt know you were allergic, I said, i didnt know you allowed freaking cats, do you know he offered to move ME....away from my hubby, but would allow her to sit with her pussy, So welcome to Seattle "sniffy" I felt very ordinary for a while. Didnt take long to get me right as we had our very very final drinks with our small mob by now, we were very mellow, but still managing a laugh, where has that time gone. I speak for us many people on this tour will remain friends, for that I am greatful, many more will become life time mates how do we explain what you have brought into our lives. If laughter is the best medicine why do I feel so stuffed !! This has been a dream, and the dream only happens when we make it, we could all have sat around quietly taking in the majesty of this place, and quietly behaving to all Heather & Als commands, instead we chose to carve our own wonderful and unique path to Alaska..we went NORTH TO ALASKA and now the damage is done !! Hey Heather and Al, please if we say sorry will you come back..our flight to Las Vegas was eventful to say the least, at one stage we looked like being rerouted to Orlando, as I am not a good fun person in a washing machine/plane I was again needing fresh undies, after doing a few million loops in the storm clouds, the captain decided we were spun and dried, and chucked us out. OK here is the big test, K & W alone in Vegas, help, help, oh bugger no help, so off we go to take Vegas by storm, quiety tho, cos we are very overwhelmed. My first thought was to Wazza, can you please take me back to Whistler? Ok checked in shuttle to the MGM grand, and poof, we are lost, we are finally able to locate our room, (thanks to the dudes down stairs) we are 347 kilometers from the front desk, believe me i am not one to exaggerate, I needed a small pack mule and a 3 week feed, Ok I dont need to be fed for 3 weeks but I need a pack mule...help already
The room is lovely, but I am terrified to venture into the 27 kilometer corridor, a vodka and orange each gave us courage and off we went, well if we didnt walk 12780 kilometers I will go hee...This place defies description, I shall try, in my opinion coming in from the most remote and beautiful and pristine enviroments on our plannet, I am under whelmed, then again I am tired and possibly a bit snarly cos the "family" are not on the horizon..Hey I miss you all..its all glitz and it sure does overwhelm you but possibly not as excited as we thought, again we are tired, and I would swap this in a heart beat for a night at Jasper Park, with Heather & Al in charge.
Well I do believe I have caught up on the blog, I am a bit alarmed that I cannot find my photos from Denali Wilderness, but not out of my mind, as I know many of you can help me out with the wildlife pics, or else no one will believe me..hey Jeanette, you didnt come that day bugger !!
The room is lovely, but I am terrified to venture into the 27 kilometer corridor, a vodka and orange each gave us courage and off we went, well if we didnt walk 12780 kilometers I will go hee...This place defies description, I shall try, in my opinion coming in from the most remote and beautiful and pristine enviroments on our plannet, I am under whelmed, then again I am tired and possibly a bit snarly cos the "family" are not on the horizon..Hey I miss you all..its all glitz and it sure does overwhelm you but possibly not as excited as we thought, again we are tired, and I would swap this in a heart beat for a night at Jasper Park, with Heather & Al in charge.
Well I do believe I have caught up on the blog, I am a bit alarmed that I cannot find my photos from Denali Wilderness, but not out of my mind, as I know many of you can help me out with the wildlife pics, or else no one will believe me..hey Jeanette, you didnt come that day bugger !!
Did you all wonder what happened to Skagway ? I hid it on purpose !
Wednesday 31st August, Skagway Alaska
Finally today those thermals came in handy, heck it was sure cold up here, surrounded by glaciers and the wind fairly howled right off them, we got up and raced around to get off and start exploring Skagway, this morning we have our big train trip booked, the White Pass Rail up into the Yukon, we left the USA and passed back into Canada, the trip was every bit as good as I read on trip advisor, the scenery yep, awesome, we were 3000 feet up there with the Angels again, so much history today, I loved to hear it all, as so much of the James Michener book I have been trawling through for months is now making sense. What those people of the Klondike Pass went through to get a new life, all those years ago where it can get to 70 degrees below, man thats colder than Melbourne !!. Skagway is just a delightful place, very different, and not to everyones taste, it seemed to me we stepped right into a movie set, I just loved it, as usual, jewellery stores and t-shirt stores every where, A community of people basically leave town in about 3 weeks, as this place is going to be under a whole lot of snow. We really were keen to get back and see the Historical Cemetary, but with 4 cruise ships in the shuttles were ballistic, so we chose to wander around before we got to meet up with Paul & Shazza, we went and watched the salmon run up the river, its a hard life for these poor fish..as usual half our day was spent with the "family" catching up on news, everyone is having a ball, doing loads of different stuff, thousands of people in town, but the "family" stand out, Happy Birthday to Gladys, what a great way to have your birthday, you looked to be having fun at the Red Onion Bar !! Of all the thousands in town, we spotted Shaz & Paul a bit early, and off we went, well I can tell you we hardly took a breath, so much news to exchange, in so little time. We had lunch together at a pub, walked and shopped a bit more, got some more gifts for the grandies, walked out to our ship, it has a rock face wall with many many dedications to captains and cruise ships, it was great to see, and as was pointed out to me, a particular mention was made to our most world famous JASON, on ya Jase, you have arrived mate ! I was so excited to share our family with Paul & Shaz, we met so many, and the absoloute star of the show the very special tour leader extrodinaire Heather, I failed miserably in introducing , oh well Heather come to Oz, come on, we are NOT THAT FAR !!! OK next up, after some more shopping we had a drink at the Red Onion Bar..it was good, but not so good as the Red Dog, but hey, we are now North on our way to the deep heart of Alaska !! We froze our eyeballs out as we walked P & S back to their ship the very lovely Norweigian Star, which was docked right along side the Norwegian Pearl, we also had the Volendam, and the Celebrity in port, no wonder the town was busy !..Back to town, what to do ?? OK find the bottle shop, I got a botttle of Jacobs Creek for $12 Wazza got a 6 pack of Long board, and back home we came, very weary campers....no time for a snooze, I had to attend to the household duties, just sat back with a vodka & Clamato juice (its yummy) and lo and behold Wazza wants to go find some friends to play with !! The Wheelhouse Bar had a storyteller about the Alaskan history, I loved it, this place has so much wonderful history, the souls that are the keepers of the land are just so inspiring, we should take a leaf. Well today after we got home I tried to make sense of our photos, that took way too long, I will deal with that when I get home. Dinner with Rita & Richard, a big slap from loads of people because I didnt go to the show last night, and collect the bottle of bubbles lovely Lorraine won for me..sorry, cannot believe my priority was bloody laundry !! Home late, Wazza is snoring and its 1.30 am, no bloody wonder I fall asleep as soon as my bum hits a seat. Hope all my family are enjoying this. and I send you love in bucket loads, we hit the glaciers at 6 am, so I ordered a special champagne glacier brekky, but not till 8am, I think right now, we have slowed down heaps, its very calm and extremely beautiful. This is really really as wonderful as mum said..great to have my blogging mates along, as soon as I am off the ship I will up load more pics, we take approximately 230 a day, thats a lot of stuff to look at, and by the way mum I also buy videos for you to see, so you may need to extend your holdiday..OK Love to you all xxxxxxxxx
Finally today those thermals came in handy, heck it was sure cold up here, surrounded by glaciers and the wind fairly howled right off them, we got up and raced around to get off and start exploring Skagway, this morning we have our big train trip booked, the White Pass Rail up into the Yukon, we left the USA and passed back into Canada, the trip was every bit as good as I read on trip advisor, the scenery yep, awesome, we were 3000 feet up there with the Angels again, so much history today, I loved to hear it all, as so much of the James Michener book I have been trawling through for months is now making sense. What those people of the Klondike Pass went through to get a new life, all those years ago where it can get to 70 degrees below, man thats colder than Melbourne !!. Skagway is just a delightful place, very different, and not to everyones taste, it seemed to me we stepped right into a movie set, I just loved it, as usual, jewellery stores and t-shirt stores every where, A community of people basically leave town in about 3 weeks, as this place is going to be under a whole lot of snow. We really were keen to get back and see the Historical Cemetary, but with 4 cruise ships in the shuttles were ballistic, so we chose to wander around before we got to meet up with Paul & Shazza, we went and watched the salmon run up the river, its a hard life for these poor fish..as usual half our day was spent with the "family" catching up on news, everyone is having a ball, doing loads of different stuff, thousands of people in town, but the "family" stand out, Happy Birthday to Gladys, what a great way to have your birthday, you looked to be having fun at the Red Onion Bar !! Of all the thousands in town, we spotted Shaz & Paul a bit early, and off we went, well I can tell you we hardly took a breath, so much news to exchange, in so little time. We had lunch together at a pub, walked and shopped a bit more, got some more gifts for the grandies, walked out to our ship, it has a rock face wall with many many dedications to captains and cruise ships, it was great to see, and as was pointed out to me, a particular mention was made to our most world famous JASON, on ya Jase, you have arrived mate ! I was so excited to share our family with Paul & Shaz, we met so many, and the absoloute star of the show the very special tour leader extrodinaire Heather, I failed miserably in introducing , oh well Heather come to Oz, come on, we are NOT THAT FAR !!! OK next up, after some more shopping we had a drink at the Red Onion Bar..it was good, but not so good as the Red Dog, but hey, we are now North on our way to the deep heart of Alaska !! We froze our eyeballs out as we walked P & S back to their ship the very lovely Norweigian Star, which was docked right along side the Norwegian Pearl, we also had the Volendam, and the Celebrity in port, no wonder the town was busy !..Back to town, what to do ?? OK find the bottle shop, I got a botttle of Jacobs Creek for $12 Wazza got a 6 pack of Long board, and back home we came, very weary campers....no time for a snooze, I had to attend to the household duties, just sat back with a vodka & Clamato juice (its yummy) and lo and behold Wazza wants to go find some friends to play with !! The Wheelhouse Bar had a storyteller about the Alaskan history, I loved it, this place has so much wonderful history, the souls that are the keepers of the land are just so inspiring, we should take a leaf. Well today after we got home I tried to make sense of our photos, that took way too long, I will deal with that when I get home. Dinner with Rita & Richard, a big slap from loads of people because I didnt go to the show last night, and collect the bottle of bubbles lovely Lorraine won for me..sorry, cannot believe my priority was bloody laundry !! Home late, Wazza is snoring and its 1.30 am, no bloody wonder I fall asleep as soon as my bum hits a seat. Hope all my family are enjoying this. and I send you love in bucket loads, we hit the glaciers at 6 am, so I ordered a special champagne glacier brekky, but not till 8am, I think right now, we have slowed down heaps, its very calm and extremely beautiful. This is really really as wonderful as mum said..great to have my blogging mates along, as soon as I am off the ship I will up load more pics, we take approximately 230 a day, thats a lot of stuff to look at, and by the way mum I also buy videos for you to see, so you may need to extend your holdiday..OK Love to you all xxxxxxxxx
We finally get to the top of the world and nearly froze to death !
Fairbanks Wednesday 7th September
OK Jeanette is being my spell checker and keeper of information for us dills has told me our dates and days are wrong, funny about that, as if I know what day it is !!!
At 8.30 this morning we were collected at the lodge and transferred to Fairbanks airport to begin our final journey to the top of the world at Coldfoot. We travelled in a Piper Navihoe 10 seater sardine can with wings, where we bumped our way north through a few big clouds, the view was stunning, although I was doing a bit when we hit speed humps and I was reading way tooo much into his navigation panel. It was still not as bad as the flight from Wagga with mum, we landed at Coldfoot, its named that after all the miners who arrived and left soon after with "cold feet" its very very remote here, no electricity, and cold enough to freeze a brass monkey, we had a quick pit stop at the Coldfoot general everything store, Coldfoot has a population of 30 in summer and 13 in winter, and is a working community. I can understand why, in fact its amazing to think anyone at alll lives here !! once again wish we could spend some time here mingling with the locals, but we were herded into a van and driven to Wiseman this is a residential community of 13 people who have an amazing constitution, It has recorded temps of minus 75 and 7 feet of snow in the yard. They are self sufficent, growing vegies in summer to store under the floors, in winter its warmer in the freezer. Our guide and local historian Jack showed us his home and explained that when winter starts to roll in her hunts for his food for the long cold winter months, he is allowed certain animals in restricted numbers. He is passionate about his home and enviroment. His wife suffers from SAD, sure is a good place to live with this problem???? We had a lovely lunch pack provided by the Coldfoot store. Then flew home over the Yukon River through a few more bumps and over some more glorious scenery. Thanks Jack our pilot who did a great job. Our transfer bus dropped us at Fred Myers to purchase another suitcase as we decided to pay $20 instead of $120 in postage. Back "home" to pack up again and we joined up at the Trapper Bar for another farewell drink...hmmm another fun night ! Tomorrow its off to Las Vegas for a rest !! We will miss all these friends who have shared in these wonderful fun filled days, surrounded by so much beauty is it really over ???? Well not for us for a while yet !!
OK Jeanette is being my spell checker and keeper of information for us dills has told me our dates and days are wrong, funny about that, as if I know what day it is !!!
At 8.30 this morning we were collected at the lodge and transferred to Fairbanks airport to begin our final journey to the top of the world at Coldfoot. We travelled in a Piper Navihoe 10 seater sardine can with wings, where we bumped our way north through a few big clouds, the view was stunning, although I was doing a bit when we hit speed humps and I was reading way tooo much into his navigation panel. It was still not as bad as the flight from Wagga with mum, we landed at Coldfoot, its named that after all the miners who arrived and left soon after with "cold feet" its very very remote here, no electricity, and cold enough to freeze a brass monkey, we had a quick pit stop at the Coldfoot general everything store, Coldfoot has a population of 30 in summer and 13 in winter, and is a working community. I can understand why, in fact its amazing to think anyone at alll lives here !! once again wish we could spend some time here mingling with the locals, but we were herded into a van and driven to Wiseman this is a residential community of 13 people who have an amazing constitution, It has recorded temps of minus 75 and 7 feet of snow in the yard. They are self sufficent, growing vegies in summer to store under the floors, in winter its warmer in the freezer. Our guide and local historian Jack showed us his home and explained that when winter starts to roll in her hunts for his food for the long cold winter months, he is allowed certain animals in restricted numbers. He is passionate about his home and enviroment. His wife suffers from SAD, sure is a good place to live with this problem???? We had a lovely lunch pack provided by the Coldfoot store. Then flew home over the Yukon River through a few more bumps and over some more glorious scenery. Thanks Jack our pilot who did a great job. Our transfer bus dropped us at Fred Myers to purchase another suitcase as we decided to pay $20 instead of $120 in postage. Back "home" to pack up again and we joined up at the Trapper Bar for another farewell drink...hmmm another fun night ! Tomorrow its off to Las Vegas for a rest !! We will miss all these friends who have shared in these wonderful fun filled days, surrounded by so much beauty is it really over ???? Well not for us for a while yet !!
Fairbanks
Tuesday 7th September Denali to Fairbanks YAY the big smoke again
Bobby our coach driver took us from Denali at 9am, Bobby is a Yankie who lived at Armidale NSW, Orange, and Toowoomba so he was used to us Aussies ! We went up the Parkes Highway through Healy a coal mining town, also a pub stop (see previous day!) We went over dry creek, yep, no water fancy that! Tatlinka township, Nenana was our pit stop, on the Tananna River, I rang Shazza and said we had found the missle of s*** creek, I would have loved to have had more time to explore this really interesting township, very old and really interesting, alas, we were soon off and learned about some fact relating to the Iditarod, it began to commemorate an event in history that saved many lives when a dog sled team travelled to Nome from Seattle with a diptheria vaccine. Such a story teller this guy is, he told us they have ice fog, its like our fog, but because its so cold it freezes ! We passed through Skinny Dicks Halfeway Inn..and arrived at Fairbanks wherer we went on a mission to find the Post Office to get some boxes to post home some excess baggage, had a quick lunch stop then boarded Discovery 3 for the Chenna River cruise, its a lovely paddlewheel boat, they have complimentary coffee and doughnuts, was that ever popular. The homes on the river are beautiful...sprawling mansions, so very different to what we have been seeing . We cruised past the home of former Iditarod champion Susan Butcher who sadly has passed away, but we were greeted by her husband and her very excited dogs, they have a wonderfull property, so much like Bonnie again ! We landed at a Native Village where we had a tour and learned a lot about the Athabascan history. The tour was great, another bunch of dogs amused us, as when the ship blew its horn all the dogs jumped up on their kennels screaming with joy, yep, she fed them, so Bonnie like again. The girl here is in training for the 2013 Iditarod, she looks way to petite to manage all those dogs!
Back on board to return to Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge and our final Scenic night dinner. There were speaches and jokes and hugs and a fair bit of sadness to be saying farewell to this great group of friends.
Bobby our coach driver took us from Denali at 9am, Bobby is a Yankie who lived at Armidale NSW, Orange, and Toowoomba so he was used to us Aussies ! We went up the Parkes Highway through Healy a coal mining town, also a pub stop (see previous day!) We went over dry creek, yep, no water fancy that! Tatlinka township, Nenana was our pit stop, on the Tananna River, I rang Shazza and said we had found the missle of s*** creek, I would have loved to have had more time to explore this really interesting township, very old and really interesting, alas, we were soon off and learned about some fact relating to the Iditarod, it began to commemorate an event in history that saved many lives when a dog sled team travelled to Nome from Seattle with a diptheria vaccine. Such a story teller this guy is, he told us they have ice fog, its like our fog, but because its so cold it freezes ! We passed through Skinny Dicks Halfeway Inn..and arrived at Fairbanks wherer we went on a mission to find the Post Office to get some boxes to post home some excess baggage, had a quick lunch stop then boarded Discovery 3 for the Chenna River cruise, its a lovely paddlewheel boat, they have complimentary coffee and doughnuts, was that ever popular. The homes on the river are beautiful...sprawling mansions, so very different to what we have been seeing . We cruised past the home of former Iditarod champion Susan Butcher who sadly has passed away, but we were greeted by her husband and her very excited dogs, they have a wonderfull property, so much like Bonnie again ! We landed at a Native Village where we had a tour and learned a lot about the Athabascan history. The tour was great, another bunch of dogs amused us, as when the ship blew its horn all the dogs jumped up on their kennels screaming with joy, yep, she fed them, so Bonnie like again. The girl here is in training for the 2013 Iditarod, she looks way to petite to manage all those dogs!
Back on board to return to Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge and our final Scenic night dinner. There were speaches and jokes and hugs and a fair bit of sadness to be saying farewell to this great group of friends.
Denali Alaska
Monday 6th September...Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge
This morning we joined up with a coach full of enthusiastic tourists with high expectations of seeing some wild animals as we commenced the Tundra Wilderness Tour with our tour leader Peter, and Heather. Tundra is a Finish word meaning "treeless land"we were in the Denali National Park.
Our expectations were met fairly quickly as we had just began our tour we saw an Alpha Wolf, even Peter was excitied as its a very rare sighting, next came a moose, shortly after we passed Savage River and Savage Rock an elevation of 2780 feet ! then we saw a caribou which is a reindeer that is not domesticated. We crossed Sanctuary River, and entered the Teklenika River Valley on the Alaska Range, then Igloo Forest in the Athabasca Territory, over Sable Pass @ 3900 feet, Tek Glacier was beautiful. Over the East Fork River we went, Kettle Ponds and then we had an encounter with Dahl sheep, they are very regal looking animals with curly horns ! Polycrom Pass next, oh what a fantastic tour this is ! Carlsons Ridge (thank heavens Warren is taking notes for me, as I am flat our remembering my own name, let alone these names !)Toklats River Valley, Highway Pass then Peters Dome. Lo and behold our first grizzly bear sighting had us all snapping away like mad things, Peter was so pleased for us, as we were ticking off so many boxes today, someone asked if we could arrange to see bear cubs, some people are never happy ! OK so the next corner mumma bear and her 3 cubs performed for us beautifully !Stoney Point was our vantage spot for a view of Mount McKinley and Mount Hayes, We got blown away by the fact that only 5 per cent of people ever see the mountain "out" how lucky are we, It was a sight to take our breath away, and will post some of the photos I got of this amazing sight. It was time to turn around and go back, have I mentioned the roads we travelled along are fairly hair raising to say the least, I was packing my self, and we had to travel back...holy smoke not again. Peter reassured us if we were a bit antsy we are not alone, many people cannot cope and have to return on the shuttle. It was no fun that bit of the day, but all part of the experience on this day of suprises ! We also saw a Golden Eagle, snow shoe hares, and we didnt see one but heard about the wood frog, its an amazing critter that freezes over winter and then creates chemicals to come back to life (google it, I cant remember all the details !) how nifty hey !
At 40 degrees below which is very common in winter water freezes before it hits the ground, hmm think you would need more than thermals here. Our weather was gorgeous today, what else is new !! Peter nexplained to us about a "drunken forest" Richard called out the correct answer ! On ya Richard, the trees did look drunk, its because of permafrost, where the ground stays frozen all year round for more than 2 years. The trees looked very sad ! Alaska has at least 700 earthquakes a year, handy info on a road that should be called hell highway ! We met up at the Base Camp bar and grill where, after 37 changes of plans, we were informed that Janette John Lorraine & Ross had planned a suprise tour for us, we dragged Heather along for our last informal night together. We boarded a bus that cost $1 and headed down the road to our destination of Bar 49 at Healy, a locals pub it was an awesome place, and we were greatful to our mates for organising it, I dont think the locals knew what was hsppening an invasion of mad Aussies, we left a few $$$$ and a pizza or 2 and came on home. A really eventful night..what happens in Alaska stays in Alaska, isnt that right !
This morning we joined up with a coach full of enthusiastic tourists with high expectations of seeing some wild animals as we commenced the Tundra Wilderness Tour with our tour leader Peter, and Heather. Tundra is a Finish word meaning "treeless land"we were in the Denali National Park.
Our expectations were met fairly quickly as we had just began our tour we saw an Alpha Wolf, even Peter was excitied as its a very rare sighting, next came a moose, shortly after we passed Savage River and Savage Rock an elevation of 2780 feet ! then we saw a caribou which is a reindeer that is not domesticated. We crossed Sanctuary River, and entered the Teklenika River Valley on the Alaska Range, then Igloo Forest in the Athabasca Territory, over Sable Pass @ 3900 feet, Tek Glacier was beautiful. Over the East Fork River we went, Kettle Ponds and then we had an encounter with Dahl sheep, they are very regal looking animals with curly horns ! Polycrom Pass next, oh what a fantastic tour this is ! Carlsons Ridge (thank heavens Warren is taking notes for me, as I am flat our remembering my own name, let alone these names !)Toklats River Valley, Highway Pass then Peters Dome. Lo and behold our first grizzly bear sighting had us all snapping away like mad things, Peter was so pleased for us, as we were ticking off so many boxes today, someone asked if we could arrange to see bear cubs, some people are never happy ! OK so the next corner mumma bear and her 3 cubs performed for us beautifully !Stoney Point was our vantage spot for a view of Mount McKinley and Mount Hayes, We got blown away by the fact that only 5 per cent of people ever see the mountain "out" how lucky are we, It was a sight to take our breath away, and will post some of the photos I got of this amazing sight. It was time to turn around and go back, have I mentioned the roads we travelled along are fairly hair raising to say the least, I was packing my self, and we had to travel back...holy smoke not again. Peter reassured us if we were a bit antsy we are not alone, many people cannot cope and have to return on the shuttle. It was no fun that bit of the day, but all part of the experience on this day of suprises ! We also saw a Golden Eagle, snow shoe hares, and we didnt see one but heard about the wood frog, its an amazing critter that freezes over winter and then creates chemicals to come back to life (google it, I cant remember all the details !) how nifty hey !
At 40 degrees below which is very common in winter water freezes before it hits the ground, hmm think you would need more than thermals here. Our weather was gorgeous today, what else is new !! Peter nexplained to us about a "drunken forest" Richard called out the correct answer ! On ya Richard, the trees did look drunk, its because of permafrost, where the ground stays frozen all year round for more than 2 years. The trees looked very sad ! Alaska has at least 700 earthquakes a year, handy info on a road that should be called hell highway ! We met up at the Base Camp bar and grill where, after 37 changes of plans, we were informed that Janette John Lorraine & Ross had planned a suprise tour for us, we dragged Heather along for our last informal night together. We boarded a bus that cost $1 and headed down the road to our destination of Bar 49 at Healy, a locals pub it was an awesome place, and we were greatful to our mates for organising it, I dont think the locals knew what was hsppening an invasion of mad Aussies, we left a few $$$$ and a pizza or 2 and came on home. A really eventful night..what happens in Alaska stays in Alaska, isnt that right !
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Mt McKinley to Denali
Happy Fathers day Warren Daniel Luke and all dads also along for the ride, and to mums who are dads, goodonyas too xx
Mount McKinley didnt want to play nice this morning, it was a bit gloomy and chilly though the thermometer at the front of the hotel read 9 degrees, I reckon BS thermometer ! We were a slow old pack of yaks this morning, why the heck did I go to brekky ??? please I need no more food till the bears come on back out I have my significant layer of fat to see me through the next ice age !! REALLY Today Wazza was a very astute note keeper, which means I have to report his astute notes, so here we go...are you ready folks !!
Our Mount McKinley Princess dome carriage follows a short transfer from the Lodge at 9.30 we again travelled along the Parkes Highway crossed over Sustina River, passing soon after Trapper Creek, like a film out of the old wild west...WalMikes, the Walmart you have when you dont have a Walmart, mate that was sooo funny, they appear to sell everything, would have loved to stop...
Along to Talkeetna along Spur Road, he is doing well here good on ya Wazza ! Here we are at Talkeetna Railway on our way to up the road...Denali, do you know Mount McKinley is a word used by the locals, the natives want it called Denali, just like our Ayres Rock/Uluru..so it seems all over the world people cant be happy hey !!!
The train followed the Susitna River , we were amused to hear Talkeetna have an annual "moose dropping" competion, is kind of like playing bingo from a helicopter with moose poop, well go and figure that one out..I dare you !!! Talkeetna is a base camp for people who are mad enough to climb MtMckinlay, ther e have been 9 deaths in the 2011 season alone...Sustina River is in native the meaning of river of plenty. As this lovely train carries us up into far north Alaska we are still all enthralled and lo and behold we pass a ghost town/station called Curry Pass, at the half way point ... A town of Sherman where as a joke the local joint was painted turquiose and called Town Hall. Gold Creek next, Indian River Valley, Chultina, Hurricane Gulch 300 foot high trestle bridge, very exciting we all held our breaths. OK now for Wazzas notes :
Talitanna River, Alaska Range, Rocky Mountains ?? are you lost Wazza ?? Eases Lake, Summit Lake 2623 foot hit, Cantwell, Continental Divide/Continental Plate, Riley Creek Bridge, Lynx Creek, and finally Denali and home to the lovely Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge, we spent a little time settling in, had a walk, I would have wished for a longer walk, but we needed to do the "shopping" I really want to explore this place, it looks wonderful. Time passed quickly, I did yesterdays blog, while Wazza had a shower, I threw on a change of clothes and went to the show...Music of Denali Dinner and show, I loved it, as usual Warren went hunting ..not his cup of tea, good on you Harry you made us proud up there on stage..The show was very very emotional. I feel the history and hardship right here, but the people are so "a majestic landscape of lovely people" btw thanks for our bussies, love that one !!
Well here we are, almost North to Alaska, way up North...and our journeys almost done. I love with a passion the Innuits, the keepers of this awesome land, I give thanks to both local fold for allowing us the absoloute privilidge of jumping in to your territory and our Scenic tour leader extrodinare for making oh well helping our dreams come true. .....Time to go to bed I hope to post this in the morning, or arvo, watch this spot, Hey Dena, you helped us too... xxx Makers of dreams of extrordinary proportions, goodonya too mate xxx
Mount McKinley didnt want to play nice this morning, it was a bit gloomy and chilly though the thermometer at the front of the hotel read 9 degrees, I reckon BS thermometer ! We were a slow old pack of yaks this morning, why the heck did I go to brekky ??? please I need no more food till the bears come on back out I have my significant layer of fat to see me through the next ice age !! REALLY Today Wazza was a very astute note keeper, which means I have to report his astute notes, so here we go...are you ready folks !!
Our Mount McKinley Princess dome carriage follows a short transfer from the Lodge at 9.30 we again travelled along the Parkes Highway crossed over Sustina River, passing soon after Trapper Creek, like a film out of the old wild west...WalMikes, the Walmart you have when you dont have a Walmart, mate that was sooo funny, they appear to sell everything, would have loved to stop...
Along to Talkeetna along Spur Road, he is doing well here good on ya Wazza ! Here we are at Talkeetna Railway on our way to up the road...Denali, do you know Mount McKinley is a word used by the locals, the natives want it called Denali, just like our Ayres Rock/Uluru..so it seems all over the world people cant be happy hey !!!
The train followed the Susitna River , we were amused to hear Talkeetna have an annual "moose dropping" competion, is kind of like playing bingo from a helicopter with moose poop, well go and figure that one out..I dare you !!! Talkeetna is a base camp for people who are mad enough to climb MtMckinlay, ther e have been 9 deaths in the 2011 season alone...Sustina River is in native the meaning of river of plenty. As this lovely train carries us up into far north Alaska we are still all enthralled and lo and behold we pass a ghost town/station called Curry Pass, at the half way point ... A town of Sherman where as a joke the local joint was painted turquiose and called Town Hall. Gold Creek next, Indian River Valley, Chultina, Hurricane Gulch 300 foot high trestle bridge, very exciting we all held our breaths. OK now for Wazzas notes :
Talitanna River, Alaska Range, Rocky Mountains ?? are you lost Wazza ?? Eases Lake, Summit Lake 2623 foot hit, Cantwell, Continental Divide/Continental Plate, Riley Creek Bridge, Lynx Creek, and finally Denali and home to the lovely Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge, we spent a little time settling in, had a walk, I would have wished for a longer walk, but we needed to do the "shopping" I really want to explore this place, it looks wonderful. Time passed quickly, I did yesterdays blog, while Wazza had a shower, I threw on a change of clothes and went to the show...Music of Denali Dinner and show, I loved it, as usual Warren went hunting ..not his cup of tea, good on you Harry you made us proud up there on stage..The show was very very emotional. I feel the history and hardship right here, but the people are so "a majestic landscape of lovely people" btw thanks for our bussies, love that one !!
Well here we are, almost North to Alaska, way up North...and our journeys almost done. I love with a passion the Innuits, the keepers of this awesome land, I give thanks to both local fold for allowing us the absoloute privilidge of jumping in to your territory and our Scenic tour leader extrodinare for making oh well helping our dreams come true. .....Time to go to bed I hope to post this in the morning, or arvo, watch this spot, Hey Dena, you helped us too... xxx Makers of dreams of extrordinary proportions, goodonya too mate xxx
College Fjiord Picture does not match !
At sea sailing toward College Fijord on Friday 2nd of September
After a fairly big night we took the opportunity to have a lie in, and were a fairly quiet pair till we went to brekky at about 10.30, where we were joined by Richard & Rita. we had no appetite, but I saw Chicken & Corn soup, I love soup, so yep, soup it was for brekky ! Back home to start the unenviable task of trying to stuff our mountain of gear into the same 2 suitcases that left Brisbane over the weight limit 2 and a half weeks ago ! The weather was really dull and overcast so we didnt hold out any expectaions of a good trip throught the College Fijord this aftenoon. Late lunch, before we had our final meet up in the wheelhouse bar with Heather, she has us so well organised to do our disembarkation should be easy peasy. We had seas of 15 feet high waves, made for a bit of fun, all the outside decks were closed. Picked up our dvd package $60 for 6 dvds, good value, got our account, fainted and carried on..no our account was not so bad, and we got our $50 obc, thanks Princess and Heather..So, next up after our meeting back home to watch our journey through the fijord, and it was magical and mystical and marvellous, but also quite chilly, I stood on deck doing what I do best, taking a zillion photos, and now I think it will be 2015 before my feet thaw out, I could not move my eyes away...the bridge says its 8 degrees, I reckon bulldust. Dinner is with our new friends and then a small quiet gathering in the Explorers bar, where it has been made quite clear to us that attendance is compulsory. As I write this I am looking out at this stunning view, and think to my self, how lucky is this nanna. I am gob smacked again, and wish I could share it with you all. One of our group has been confined to her cabin, she has a flu type bug, so hey I guess a few of us have a bit to look forward to. Hope she is better soon. Farewell to our wonderful crew on the Coral Princess, who seemed to know our name in the first 5 minutes. This Voyage to the Glaciers has not disappointed us one single skerrick. My oh my todays scenery was YOHO to the MAXO !! Its now 1 am, I just spoke to mum, we have docked at Whittier, and I have lots of stuff all over the cabin to sort, so I guess I need to buzz off and do stuff .Oh did I mention we are having a ball, but its time to slow down. OK not today I guess, Mount McKinley here we come...............
At sea sailing toward College Fijord on Friday 2nd of September
After a fairly big night we took the opportunity to have a lie in, and were a fairly quiet pair till we went to brekky at about 10.30, where we were joined by Richard & Rita. we had no appetite, but I saw Chicken & Corn soup, I love soup, so yep, soup it was for brekky ! Back home to start the unenviable task of trying to stuff our mountain of gear into the same 2 suitcases that left Brisbane over the weight limit 2 and a half weeks ago ! The weather was really dull and overcast so we didnt hold out any expectaions of a good trip throught the College Fijord this aftenoon. Late lunch, before we had our final meet up in the wheelhouse bar with Heather, she has us so well organised to do our disembarkation should be easy peasy. We had seas of 15 feet high waves, made for a bit of fun, all the outside decks were closed. Picked up our dvd package $60 for 6 dvds, good value, got our account, fainted and carried on..no our account was not so bad, and we got our $50 obc, thanks Princess and Heather..So, next up after our meeting back home to watch our journey through the fijord, and it was magical and mystical and marvellous, but also quite chilly, I stood on deck doing what I do best, taking a zillion photos, and now I think it will be 2015 before my feet thaw out, I could not move my eyes away...the bridge says its 8 degrees, I reckon bulldust. Dinner is with our new friends and then a small quiet gathering in the Explorers bar, where it has been made quite clear to us that attendance is compulsory. As I write this I am looking out at this stunning view, and think to my self, how lucky is this nanna. I am gob smacked again, and wish I could share it with you all. One of our group has been confined to her cabin, she has a flu type bug, so hey I guess a few of us have a bit to look forward to. Hope she is better soon. Farewell to our wonderful crew on the Coral Princess, who seemed to know our name in the first 5 minutes. This Voyage to the Glaciers has not disappointed us one single skerrick. My oh my todays scenery was YOHO to the MAXO !! Its now 1 am, I just spoke to mum, we have docked at Whittier, and I have lots of stuff all over the cabin to sort, so I guess I need to buzz off and do stuff .Oh did I mention we are having a ball, but its time to slow down. OK not today I guess, Mount McKinley here we come...............
After a fairly big night we took the opportunity to have a lie in, and were a fairly quiet pair till we went to brekky at about 10.30, where we were joined by Richard & Rita. we had no appetite, but I saw Chicken & Corn soup, I love soup, so yep, soup it was for brekky ! Back home to start the unenviable task of trying to stuff our mountain of gear into the same 2 suitcases that left Brisbane over the weight limit 2 and a half weeks ago ! The weather was really dull and overcast so we didnt hold out any expectaions of a good trip throught the College Fijord this aftenoon. Late lunch, before we had our final meet up in the wheelhouse bar with Heather, she has us so well organised to do our disembarkation should be easy peasy. We had seas of 15 feet high waves, made for a bit of fun, all the outside decks were closed. Picked up our dvd package $60 for 6 dvds, good value, got our account, fainted and carried on..no our account was not so bad, and we got our $50 obc, thanks Princess and Heather..So, next up after our meeting back home to watch our journey through the fijord, and it was magical and mystical and marvellous, but also quite chilly, I stood on deck doing what I do best, taking a zillion photos, and now I think it will be 2015 before my feet thaw out, I could not move my eyes away...the bridge says its 8 degrees, I reckon bulldust. Dinner is with our new friends and then a small quiet gathering in the Explorers bar, where it has been made quite clear to us that attendance is compulsory. As I write this I am looking out at this stunning view, and think to my self, how lucky is this nanna. I am gob smacked again, and wish I could share it with you all. One of our group has been confined to her cabin, she has a flu type bug, so hey I guess a few of us have a bit to look forward to. Hope she is better soon. Farewell to our wonderful crew on the Coral Princess, who seemed to know our name in the first 5 minutes. This Voyage to the Glaciers has not disappointed us one single skerrick. My oh my todays scenery was YOHO to the MAXO !! Its now 1 am, I just spoke to mum, we have docked at Whittier, and I have lots of stuff all over the cabin to sort, so I guess I need to buzz off and do stuff .Oh did I mention we are having a ball, but its time to slow down. OK not today I guess, Mount McKinley here we come...............
At sea sailing toward College Fijord on Friday 2nd of September
After a fairly big night we took the opportunity to have a lie in, and were a fairly quiet pair till we went to brekky at about 10.30, where we were joined by Richard & Rita. we had no appetite, but I saw Chicken & Corn soup, I love soup, so yep, soup it was for brekky ! Back home to start the unenviable task of trying to stuff our mountain of gear into the same 2 suitcases that left Brisbane over the weight limit 2 and a half weeks ago ! The weather was really dull and overcast so we didnt hold out any expectaions of a good trip throught the College Fijord this aftenoon. Late lunch, before we had our final meet up in the wheelhouse bar with Heather, she has us so well organised to do our disembarkation should be easy peasy. We had seas of 15 feet high waves, made for a bit of fun, all the outside decks were closed. Picked up our dvd package $60 for 6 dvds, good value, got our account, fainted and carried on..no our account was not so bad, and we got our $50 obc, thanks Princess and Heather..So, next up after our meeting back home to watch our journey through the fijord, and it was magical and mystical and marvellous, but also quite chilly, I stood on deck doing what I do best, taking a zillion photos, and now I think it will be 2015 before my feet thaw out, I could not move my eyes away...the bridge says its 8 degrees, I reckon bulldust. Dinner is with our new friends and then a small quiet gathering in the Explorers bar, where it has been made quite clear to us that attendance is compulsory. As I write this I am looking out at this stunning view, and think to my self, how lucky is this nanna. I am gob smacked again, and wish I could share it with you all. One of our group has been confined to her cabin, she has a flu type bug, so hey I guess a few of us have a bit to look forward to. Hope she is better soon. Farewell to our wonderful crew on the Coral Princess, who seemed to know our name in the first 5 minutes. This Voyage to the Glaciers has not disappointed us one single skerrick. My oh my todays scenery was YOHO to the MAXO !! Its now 1 am, I just spoke to mum, we have docked at Whittier, and I have lots of stuff all over the cabin to sort, so I guess I need to buzz off and do stuff .Oh did I mention we are having a ball, but its time to slow down. OK not today I guess, Mount McKinley here we come...............
Glacier Bay Thursday September 1, 2011
As I opened my eyes I looked out and felt disappointed, the weather appeared to be gloomy and all we saw were mountains, of which we have seen many in the days previous. Never the less we enjoyed our lovely balcony breakfast (not on the balcony) and the half bottle of Moet & Chandon was delicious, it reminded me of our friends Russell & Rosemaree and Robyn & Steve who last year bought me a bottle within the one week, great memories. Half way through breakfast, the commentary started, and so did the scenery, and lo and behold the sun came out and as I write this at 2.20 it looks like the most beautiful day in Hervey Bay, except is still pretty chilly, I hope someone is watching the web cam, I have no phone coverage otherwise I would wake you all up, how good does this get ???? We passed throught the Icy Straight and entered Glacier Bay Marine Park and took on board the marine park rangers, I however could not drag my self away from this balcony of ours, and stood transfixed until we reached Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers. As with every single day on this holiday we have not been let down by the sights and sounds, as we cruised by the glacier we heard lots of loud booms, saw a couple of calvings ..and then a SPECTACULAR ice calving right in front of our eyes, I was again jumping out of my skin...Heather joined us to share in this very special moment in time, we just idled around quietly for one whole hour, it was like nothing I have ever seen or felt. ! Someone lovely (the worlds most marevellous tour director , yes I love u gave me a very special gift of a hand crafted dragon fly brooch, thanks for topping off my day..YOHO again ! We went to the dining room for lunch, and enjoyed the company of a few Aussies next door to us, who are doing much the same as Sharon & Paul, we were able to share some ideas with them, and found out they are all from within an hour of us at home, small world. Tonight is formal night, Janette has booked us into Sabatinis which is an Italian restaurant, they have a small cover charge, but we have been recommended to go, the food is pretty good, and Warren is very keen on a bit of the old "wog tucker" During the arvo we had a rest, I kept one eye open for the scenery, and as if that was not enough, the other eye was on our ship board web cam, dont want to miss anything you know !! This is the following night at 1.15 am I hope you all appreciate the effort I am putting into this blog, I am so weary, but thrilled to share in our dreams, keep coming along xxxxxxxxx
As I opened my eyes I looked out and felt disappointed, the weather appeared to be gloomy and all we saw were mountains, of which we have seen many in the days previous. Never the less we enjoyed our lovely balcony breakfast (not on the balcony) and the half bottle of Moet & Chandon was delicious, it reminded me of our friends Russell & Rosemaree and Robyn & Steve who last year bought me a bottle within the one week, great memories. Half way through breakfast, the commentary started, and so did the scenery, and lo and behold the sun came out and as I write this at 2.20 it looks like the most beautiful day in Hervey Bay, except is still pretty chilly, I hope someone is watching the web cam, I have no phone coverage otherwise I would wake you all up, how good does this get ???? We passed throught the Icy Straight and entered Glacier Bay Marine Park and took on board the marine park rangers, I however could not drag my self away from this balcony of ours, and stood transfixed until we reached Margerie and Grand Pacific Glaciers. As with every single day on this holiday we have not been let down by the sights and sounds, as we cruised by the glacier we heard lots of loud booms, saw a couple of calvings ..and then a SPECTACULAR ice calving right in front of our eyes, I was again jumping out of my skin...Heather joined us to share in this very special moment in time, we just idled around quietly for one whole hour, it was like nothing I have ever seen or felt. ! Someone lovely (the worlds most marevellous tour director , yes I love u gave me a very special gift of a hand crafted dragon fly brooch, thanks for topping off my day..YOHO again ! We went to the dining room for lunch, and enjoyed the company of a few Aussies next door to us, who are doing much the same as Sharon & Paul, we were able to share some ideas with them, and found out they are all from within an hour of us at home, small world. Tonight is formal night, Janette has booked us into Sabatinis which is an Italian restaurant, they have a small cover charge, but we have been recommended to go, the food is pretty good, and Warren is very keen on a bit of the old "wog tucker" During the arvo we had a rest, I kept one eye open for the scenery, and as if that was not enough, the other eye was on our ship board web cam, dont want to miss anything you know !! This is the following night at 1.15 am I hope you all appreciate the effort I am putting into this blog, I am so weary, but thrilled to share in our dreams, keep coming along xxxxxxxxx
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