Month: June 2019

Sunday 30 June

Had a bit of a sleep in and then a leisurely breakfast before heading off to church at a nice 11am. So awesome to head back into a church we first visited 23 years ago, Montana Creek Baptist. They asked for a show of hands for first-time visitors and we encouraged Tayla, Dani, and Josh to put their hands up and they got a gift, but Larry called us out and said we were here 23 years ago.

We caught up with Carol Perrin (Larry’s mum) which was very special. I think we all had tears in our eyes getting to catch up again after so long. Also caught up with Peggy Hicks (David and the kids were working), although Larry was struggling a bit with our accent. Thought we were calling her ‘Piggy’.

Larry alerted us to the fact that a number of the men in the congregation had handguns under their shirts (printing), just a normal part of life in Alaska.

We made some marmite and chip sandwiches for everyone to try a ‘taste of New Zealand’. We then went out to the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge to a bear that Fern shot when she was 10 years old.  We met up with their Aussie/UK friends, the Beringer family, or ‘Brossies’ as Larry liked to call them. Larry also met some people who he helped organise a flight to Brooks Falls.

Larry took Josh for his first flight and the rest of us walked with Max around town looking in the gift shops, seeing caribou, wolves and other creatures skins and furs in the shops.  We then met up with Doulie and Darrel from Colorado (who had flown up) at Fairview Inn. Then Larry and Josh came back from their flight and met us at the Inn. Larry took Tayla for a ride on his bike around town and then Danika for a ride on his bike (Honda …)  She didn’t have a helmet and he went 177km/hr (110mph). It took her a while to stop shaking but she loved it. Chris then went for a short ride but he knew better and only went 100km/hr (60mph).   

We had a big American potluck dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers with Doulie, Darryl, and the Beringer family – David, Carol, Tom, Max, and Ed.

 

Saturday 29 June

Docked in Whittier around midnight Friday. Apparently, during WWII, the Japanese had occupied the Aleutian Islands, and this then brought Seward within bombing range of the Japanese. Seward was a naval port so the US needed a second option. Whittier was chosen, it was just over the hill but covered in cloud 320 days a year. The thought was that if the Japanese couldn’t see it, then they wouldn’t find it. Needless to say after the best weather in College Fjord the day before, Whittier was bright sunshine as well. 

There is a rail tunnel into Whittier, the only way in or out. Trains have right of way at all times, and as the tunnel is only 1 train/car wide, there are control lights at each end. Cars can only enter the tunnel to come to Whittier on the half hour, and only enter the tunnel to leave Whittier on the hour. We were supposed to assemble for disembarkation at 7:40am, not sure what time we would be leaving so we just walked off early (around 7:15am) and found Larry waiting for us in the terminal building. So great to finally catch up face to face after 23 years.

After loading our gear we went sightseeing in Whittier which went something like “See the high rise building over there? …” (the only multi-story building in Whittier), “… that’s the grocery store, the post office,  the Government Building, in fact, all of the shops and accommodation in town”. This ended the scenic tour of Whittier, and we made the queue for the 8am release to leave Whittier.

2.5 mi/4 km later, we exited the tunnel and commenced the drive to Anchorage. Quite a lot of haze in the air as apparently there are large out of control bushfires at Kenai that apparently are unlikely to be brought under control for another 4-6 weeks minimum.

Called into Value Village (op shop), a sports store (with lots of guns), and there we hit REI (where we did lots of damage 😊). Late lunch at Taco Bell, a few stops at some aviation stores and we were on our way north to Talkeetna. Arrived in town around 6 pm and got to meet Robin, Robbie and Fern for the first time. Such an awesome feeling to come back to our ‘Alaska home’. The girls had Fern’s room (she is now resident in Fairbanks), Josh had the spare room downstairs, and Chris and I had our own room/accommodation down at Larry’s hangar, again bringing back so many great memories, including where we were introduced to the internet for the first time.

Had ‘Sloppy Joes’ for dinner back at the Rivers, a great mince dish on burger buns. Still trying to get to grips with the fact that we’re getting tired, the sun is still up, and it’s 10:30 pm.

Thursday 27 June

We got up and had breakfast on the deck as we looked for whales (which some had seen before we got up).   With hardly a cloud in the sky and the most incredibly beautiful scenery, we sailed up into Glacier Bay National Park viewing Reid Glacier, Lamplugh Glacier and Marjorie Glacier and watched for the calving of the Glaciers.  There was less activity and significantly fewer icebergs in the water compared to 23 years ago which was a shame.  While still sitting viewing Marjorie Glacier, Tayla, Danika and Chris had a spa.  Then we moved to another area where we swam and lay in deck chairs as we all enjoyed the sun, finding it hard to believe that we were in Alaska, however just had to look around to be reminded by the incredible scenery of this most incredible jewel of God’s creation!   It was lovely to have a lazy day, soaking in as much of the view as possible, knowing that the weather we have experienced, yet again is God’s gift!

Wednesday 26 June

We got up early and Ross and Chris went and picked up the Jeep we hired for the day for Danika’s birthday.  Downtown Skagway is very cool and it seemed that all the cruise people went on tours as the streets were nice and ‘tourist free’.  Off we went with our audio commentary tour in the Jeep and headed out of town to drive on roads we had cycled on our honeymoon and visit places we camped.  The scenery was spectacular, and we stopped and took plenty of photos as Ross drove in North America for the first time this trip.  When you cycle a road, you remember it, and it was so special to experience this again.  The day was planned around Danika’s birthday and the first main stop was to pat the husky puppies at the Tutshi Dog Kennels where Michelle Williams who has competed in several Iditarod Trail runs over the years, and still competes, breeds and trains their puppies.  While Dani was sitting with the puppies, we brought out a beautiful carrot cake that Ruth-Ann had made Dani and the staff joined with us to sing Happy Birthday and shared the cake with us.  We met Joy, a retired Husky Iditarod Competitor and got a photo with Michelle – we will be able to follow her progress with interest.  After 2 hours we managed to drag Danika away from the puppies with the hope we would have time to revisit on our way back to Skagway if we had time (unfortunately we didn’t).  We kept driving towards Carcross (Caribou Crossing) a place where we stayed a few days on our honeymoon as Ross was feeling sick and managed to cycle 8km to the Carcross Medical Centre and they gave him 3 litres of fluid as his BP was 50/20.  We only recognised a few of the buildings and the rest of the town seemed unfamiliar, and when we spoke to a lady in the information centre she pointed out the original buildings – the rest of the ‘historical town’ has been built since.  We saw the campground where we stayed and then went on to have lunch at Spirit Lake Lodge and Resort which was the old campground we stayed before Ross’s 8km ride into Carcross, 23 years ago.  It was so run down and the food, well, it was not good!  It was still good to show our kids and to reminisce.  We then drove to Emerald Lake, which was beautiful (apparently the most photographed lake in the Yukon).  We turned around and headed back to Skagway, and detoured to the town of Dyea, a tiny settlement that was the alternative route to the Klondike in Goldrush days and saw the head of the Chilkoot Trail.  We also saw a cemetery where an avalanche (slide) killed around 65 people from all over the world who were chasing Gold in 1898.  There were some stunning views over Skagway.  We returned the Jeep right on closing time and highly recommend it to anyone visiting Skagway on a cruise ship.  It was US$250 plus tax for the 5 of us for 10 hours.  Most of the shore excursions cost that for 1 person and we had our independence and had the best day by ourselves.   We were so tired but went to dinner where the waiters sung Happy Birthday to Dani as she hid under the table 😊   Another earlyish night was had so we could get up and enjoy the Glaciers in the morning.

 

Tuesday 25 June

We disembarked at Juneau at 8.45am to be met by Ruth-Ann and Jim Bowman, a couple we met in a campground just out of Talkeetna when we were cycling, who were holidaying from Juneau.  Abby their daughter came to NZ and stayed with us for awhile and then Jim and Ruth-Ann came to NZ in 2017 to visit.  They drove us around showing us the Governor’s house and the houses where Ruth-Ann grew up and then went back to their home and enjoyed some home baked cinnamon rolls and coffee.  We then headed to Mendenhall Glacier which had noticeably receded since we were here last.  We went for a walk to the head of it and to the waterfall, joined by hundreds of tourists.  We visited St Therese’s Shrine which was gorgeous and then called in and chose 3 Dungeness Crabs and some yummy milkshakes (snickers, cookie dough, banana, and choc mint) and headed back home for lunch – fresh crabs and a beautiful spread of food and enjoyed sitting out the back with Nano and Emma, their two dogs and Abby who was around for lunch.  Jim who makes amazing pottery, also got us to select a coffee mug each and we also bought a bowl off him.  We then went for an afternoon walk to Perseverance Trail – the oldest road in Alaska with gorgeous views and waterfalls.  It was awesome to walk the roads that held so much history.   We headed back into town to visit the Alaska Fudge Company to get Danika’s favourite fudge that Abby bought to NZ and that Ruth-Ann and Jim brought out too.  We had a brief look in the shops and saw the display of Jim’s pottery which is just gorgeous.  We headed back home to a gorgeous meal of halibut and salads and brownie and ice cream and enjoyed sitting out on the deck savouring the time we had left with our long-time friends.  They dropped us at the ship and we had an early night.

 

Monday 24 June

Today is another beautiful day (rare for Ketchikan) and we had a beautiful breakfast and then headed to downtown Ketchikan.  It was great to visit places we visited on our honeymoon.   However, it’s not our kinda place, with the pride of the town being the number of Brothels it had in the height of the Goldrush.  Many of the shops only exist to cater for the thousands of tourists on the cruise ships and shut up for the winter, leaving the hardy locals to brave the winter.   Feels kinda strange to be one of those tourists but the tourist shops really didn’t appeal.   We walked Creek Street and around the town and then walked to the ‘real’ end of Ketchikan to go and get our AT&T sim cards for the trip.  The locals are lovely and we headed back on to our ship.  Again we had a lovely dinner, and the staff are lovely.  Josh enjoyed hanging out at the teen centre in the evening.

Sunday 23 June

The day started at different times for all of us, some in the morning, others in the afternoon 😊  We enjoyed breakfast out on the balcony and watched Mama Mia 2 on the deck chairs wrapped in our duvets, while Josh hung out in the teen area and did 11 laps on the running track and some time on the treadmill.  We had a nice lazy day sleeping and watching movies, including watching “The Love Boat”.   The dress code for dinner was formal, so we dressed up and took some photos on the deck. Josh went back to the teen lounge where they did a scavenger hunt and had lots of games. We had an early night ready for our first port the next day.

Saturday 22 June

This morning we did a Vegemite/Marmite taste testing and nothing comes close to the real NZ Marmite!  We spent the morning at the Outlet Malls, said our goodbyes to Ben and Tom and then Jane dropped us at Canada Place to begin our cruise.  Our time with the Pickles was awesome and we have so appreciated their generous hospitality again.   We farewelled Jane, got our Medallion’s and boarded the ship where we made our way to our rooms.  We went out on the deck and watched as our ship, The Royal Princess went under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, that we had driven over several times.  The Love Boat jingle sounded, and our cruise had started.   We watched as we sailed out of Vancouver, and then made our way to the dining room to have our dinner!   The Salmon was good, but not as good as Tom’s Salmon.  We finished our night by watching a movie on the deck and then in the spa.

 

Friday 21 June

Had a leisurely morning while Jane got a bit of work done, then went off the Grouse mountain, and the ‘Grouse Grind’. 2 options to get to the top, Gondola @ $50, or walk. It’ll be easy she said, walk in the park she said … actually she didn’t say that … ‘3km nearly vertical climb’ says the advertising. And it wasn’t wrong! Started steep, and got steeper!! Ben did it in an hour, Tayla 1 hour 20, Jane 1 hour 21. Chris did a good job in keeping me company and we made after 2 and a quarter hours.

Temperature steadily dropped as we ascended, total height climbed 2800 ft. No views to write about on the way up, but at the top of the climb, there was a chairlift to actual top of the mountain (it is a ski field in the winter) and from there the views were spectacular. 270⁰ views from upper harbour right around to north Vancouver. Also at the top there was an enclosure with 2 rescue grizzlies where depending on where the bears were, you were able to get incredibly close, got some amazing photos.

Capilano suspension bridge was on everyone’s ‘must do’ list. Not sure why, the views must have been impressive at $55 each, decided to pass on it, especially with the awesome experience at the top of Grouse mountain.

Got back to Tom and Jane’s for a welcome sit down, a glass of wine, and some yummy chicken cooked by the master chef Tom himself.

Thursday 20th June
In the morning we bussed from the Pickles house to Granville Island, which is an area in downtown Vancouver which is in fact, not an island. Granville Island consists of tourist shops, galleries and the Public Market. We continued to walk around the waterfront around False Creek until we got to the World of Science. Here, we decided to leave the boys to entertain themselves while the girls, along with our tour guide, Ben, continued the walk around the city. From here, we walked to Gas Town to see the not so exciting Steam Clock, and laughed as we watched the disappointment on our fellow tourist’s faces. We continued walking out to Canada Place past the Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza where we enjoyed our lunch in the beautiful Canada sun. We caught the Seabus to North Vancouver and back where we met up with boys and walked over Granville Bridge around and along the waterfront of Sunset Beach to English Bay Beach to our sea view spot for dinner at the Cactus Club Café, a tick off the bucket list! Here we ran into two friends from Mangawhai. What are the odds! The weather has been stunning and today, we walked a total of 19kms in and around Vancouver.

Tayla 20.06.19, Vancouver, British Columbia