Day 21 - Tuesday 28th - Denali to Fairbanks

We have all the luck. It is raining today and it is a driving day. We load up the mighty "Silver Bullet" and hit the highway in a screech of tyres and a cloud of blue smoke (not really Martin) at around 09.30. We bought some petrol at Denali for $4.89 a gallon which is a very high price here as we were not too sure when next petrol would be available. A few miles later we passed a petrol station and it was $4.34 - I'm still in therapy!

First, and last, stop along the way was the tiny town of Nenana, see the photos to see what fun it was. The locals run a lottery every year as to when the ice is going to melt on the river. This has proved to be a fantastic idea and millions are raised for charity and a $350,000 prize is shared out with correct estimates. They compile a catalogue containing the name of every entrant - it is thicker than a London 'phone directory. In Nenana I think that there is nothing else to do other than wait for the ice to melt and then talk about it for the rest of the year.

After Nenana the mist & fog set in and Fern did a sterling job in his driving stint getting us safely to Fairbanks. We are staying for the night in a really luxurious suite with lots of space and all is well.  Once we settled in we had a late lunch then went to visit the University of Alaska Museum of the North. This is housed in a very new building and was a great visit. We all learned lots about Alaska's natural science and history. This is definitely a must see in Fairbanks - possibly the only one.

Once we had been round the museum we took the "Silver Bullet" for an oil and filter change at Jiffy Lube - got to look after your horse. While this was going on the Eileens did some Safeway shopping. Tomorrow we have the longest drive yet from Fairbanks to Dawson City - even Google maps can't say how far it is! We are going via "The Top of the World Highway" so it should be interesting if it is a better day than today.

Day 20 - Monday 27th - Denali National Park tour

Up at the crack of dawn again - 05.45! Thank God it's not the actual crack of dawn, today the sun set at 12.20a.m. and rose at 03.48a.m.!
We're up early to get to the front of the queue for the tour bus round Denali NP. The best seats are left side rear. We made it with lots of time to spare, but it was a lovely morning so hay ho! Our bus driver for the day was to be Matt who turned out to be a really interesting guy and told us lots about the park and countryside. The bus is an old school type bus but really good for this sort of thing as every seat has an opening window. The first 16 miles were over normal road and the other 50 miles over rough track. The other people on the bus were all very friendly and we left full of anticipation. This was to be rewarded quite soon with our first sighting of the day - a Caribou, reindeer to us Europeans. This caused great excitement and the bus was buzzing. At the first comfort stop I was photographing the river then turned round and saw a Lynx calmly walking across the car park, this was only seen by a few and soon disappeared into the undergrowth, I managed to get a shot but a post got in the way. This was a major achievement as Lynx are quite rare and elusive. Eat your heart out Bellamy!
A little further on and Fern shouted out "BEAR", sure enough there was a Grizzly, we watched it eat for quite a while. It is really a great feeling seeing these animals in their natural surroundings. As we drove through an area of steep cliffs we spotted some Dall sheep feeding, these stay up high to feed where you would think there was no nutrition. As the bus climbed out of the tree belt we went up some road with a precipitous drop on our side, here we saw a Golden Eagle soaring the thermals at the same level as the bus. By this time we were all getting a bit blasé and paid scant regard to a Fox which was scurrying away with some food in its mouth.
After our 66 mile drive we were glad to reach our destination, Eielson Centre. There were some magnificent views from here and we had a picnic lunch with a spectacular backdrop of Mount MacKinley (20,320 - USA highest) shrouded in snow and cloud. We had decided to return on the same bus as we liked the driver and also it was very cold at Eielson - softies! The return was also interesting as we saw two more Grizzlies at separate locations then a large Caribou ran down a hill onto the road and we followed for about 1/4 mile until it jumped into some bushes and away.
During this entire journey we were treated to some remarkable scenery and it is very hard to convey the space that this place occupies - it is simply vast even though it is only the third largest NP in the USA. No prize for who can name the largest NP in the comments below.
This was a wonderful day and one which will linger in our memories hopefully longer than the usual two day span.

Overheard some American discussing the merits of a place where you can get dressed up in furs and posed sitting on the back of a Moose. This photograph would obviously make and excellent Christmas card - it was only to be decided how many to order. They can leave one speechless!
http://www.oldsourdoughstudio.com/oss-photos.html

Day 19 - Sunday 26th - Denali National Park

All slept quite well with eye masks used. This was a day for exploring and finding out about Denali National Park. Not all 6 million acres but the bit round the Visitors Centre. After we arrived at the park we went to the excellent Visitors Centre for some basic information and then went on a short hike. Eyes peeled for Moose but all we saw was the wee tiny squirrel and some very fresh bear poop. This caused a fair amount of alarm and generated a lot of loud, out of tune singing, hand clapping and speedy walking back to the safety of the Visitors Centre! Next up was Ranger Dan giving a talk about Lynx and Grey Wolves. It was very interesting although the delivery was a trifle nervy and caused a bit of nodding off in the audience. Looked a various exhibits around the centre followed by video which was brilliant then on to the shuttle bus to the Sled Dog kennels.

We saw 32 Alaskan Huskies who are having a rest over the summer. These wonderful dogs are used to patrol the perimeter of the park in the winter months, which seems to last from September to April! We were able to pat the dogs and listened to Ranger Ellen give a very long explanation and demonstration about the dogs and the sled(sic).

Off now as a very early, 05.30, start for a major drive by bus 66 miles into the heart of the National Park. Watch this space for a full report and hopefully some stunning wildlife pics. Many thanks to Tom who keeps making favourable comments about the pics - feel free to leave comments by clicking on the "Comments" bit below.

Day 18 - Saturday 25th - Seward to Denali

Up at the crack of dawn, really there isn't any dawn here, just lighter shades of pale. We wanted to get on the road as it is a fairly long 8 hour drive. The "Silver Bullet" as I have christened the van , cruises at 55mph, after that petrol consumption goes meteoric. Most of the roads have a 55 limit but some go to a heady 65 - I don't know how the yanks can cope with such enormous speeds!

Eileen got attacked by some ferocious wee insect called "No-see-ums", great name but the wee buggers gave her some nasty facial bites and her right eye nearly closed.

Leaving Seward at 09.00 in light rainfall, our first since leaving home, we had an OK drive to Anchorage. After that it got incredibly tiresome with tree lined roads and no decent views, Fern and I take 90 minute driving spells as it is hard to keep concentration when it is so bl&*$£ boring. We passed through Sarah Pallin's home town of Wasilla which looked like an extremely weird place, we had a picnic there in a filthy public park with locked "washrooms" - must send her some pics when I return.

As we approached Denali, which is Mt. McKinley's other name, the weather improved considerably and reached 19 degrees with bright sunshine, mind you it is 22.30 just now and we still have bright sunshine. Eileen has got her balaclava on back to front to help her sleep - seems to be working. We went for a short walk round our wee cabins and saw some rafting on the Nenana.

Only a few pics today as it was really tedious............

Day 17 - Friday 24th June - Seward

Meant to say that I am having real trouble connecting here and have to sit in Motel lobby to do this.

The day started early and we decided to visit Exit Glacier before the whale cruise at 11.00. % mile drive then 1 mile walk into the glacier through mosquito infested woods - but it was worth it - see photos below..........

This glacier has retreated about 300 yards since 1998.
Back to the Motel for a coffee, juice and muffin breakfast and then dashed to the cruise boat. This was the start of an absolutely brilliant day. Everything was great - the weather very sunny, the sea very calm and an abundance of marine life. The skipper "Captain Josh" reckoned it was in the top 5 that he was had and he's been a skipper for 12 years! We went far out into the Gulf of Alaska down Resurrection Bay to the Chiswell Islands.
We saw...........
a very large pod of Orca,
a very large Fin Whale which is the 2nd largest whale species, it was doing a belly roll,
some Dall Porpoise which look like mini Orca,
several different sighting of Humpback Whale - including one that was trying to fly
a colony of Stellar Sea Lions

WE also cruised to the Holgate Glacier in Aialik Bay - this was a truely awesome sight as we got quite close and witnessed some bits dropping off - "calving". We also felt the effects of the "katabatic" wind caused when the dense cold air falls off the top of the glacier. This glacier has a 400 - 600 foot face. A very dramatic sight.

Day 16 -Thursday 23rd June - Anchorage to Seward

This lack of sunset thing is really strange but didn't keep us awake. Up earlyish for the trip to Seward. First we visited Earthquake Park for some views over Anchorage and the mountains but it was not clear enough to see Mt. McKinley. The drive took us along "Turnaround Arm" named by Capt. Cook when he was looking for NW Passage. The scenery here is simply stunning with miles of sea and towering, majestic snow capped mountains and not so many trees as BC. We kept a sharp look-out for wildlife all the way but they must of been on holiday. We stopped at the much recommended Alaska Wildlife Park where wounded/injured animals are cared for. Saw Elk, Muskox, Moose, Caribou, Bison, a one winged Bald Headed Eagle, Black Bears, a Grizzly named Joe and some Kodiak bear cubs wrecking their enclosure. From this wildlife haven we went directly to Boggs & Bedich Visitors Centre besides a fabulous glacial lake. This was an absolutely superb centre and we saw a great video about the surrounding area and Portage Glacier. When video finished the curtains behind the screen opened to reveal the last scene thriugh the window - quite breathtaking!

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we reached Seward about 17.00 finding the Marina Motel without any difficulty. It is much better than the pictures and very clean and comfortable. The view from our window is brilliant. Once settled in we walked to the harbour to book our Whale watching cruise tomorrow - an eye-watering price! Returned to Motel for early evening drinks then headed out to eat. First choice restaurant was full so we headed for the cheapest cafe in the Harbour. It is the only meal that I have ever had that has been interrupted by a Tsunami warning shattering the evening air - a false alarm!

Day 15 - 22nd Wednesday - Journey to Alaska

Haven't got much time for today's entry. We had a great journey to Anchorage, even the US border stuff was bearable - someone must have had a word! The seaplane flight was epic - very smooth take off and landing, 11 passengers including a lady from Dundee an' aw'. Found out that the luggage is stored in the floats - every day is a school day!

Hotel in Anchorage is fine, we are on the top floor of 15 with a view through the mesh over the window.  Had an meal out at Phyllis's Crab Bake - the King Crab legs are absolutely enormous and very, very tasty but I wouldn't like to meet one in the dark!

Heading on for Seward now hence the rush, more later ......................

Day 14 - Tuesday 21st - Vancouver Island

Last day on the Island, hence a quiet time for tidying up and packing. It's going be to such a pain living out of suitcases for the next few weeks as it has been great here with our own room with its "walk-in closet" and "Murphy" bed. Eileen and I went out for a walk this afternoon along a development road and back along a little used rail track. I was trying to hum some Johnny Cash numbers to go with the railroad section but it was too difficult as the sleepers are so close together I kept tripping and also Eileen had almost stood on a couple of smallish black striped snakes! I assured her that they were probably harmless and we hurried on forgetting all about "Ride This Train"! Unfortunately I had forgotten to take a camera to capture Eileen's look of disgust at my trailblazing.

Day 13 - Monday 20th - Vancouver Island

A local sort of day today. Darby, Fern & Eileen's wee dog is not very well and they needed to contact the vet. Fern was also working this morning at Fairwinds Golf Course where he oversees starting and ensure a trouble free first tee for the members. The two Eileens, Darby and myself went for a short walk. Eileen B has been trying to entice me into the woods for days to show me something interesting - or so she says! Look at the photos below and you will see the something interesting. It is a fully developed Maple tree growing out of a Douglas Fir. The Maple joins the fir about 7 feet above ground level - it really is an interesting sight but not quite what I expected!! We also visited some friends of Fern & Eileen - Mac & Ann. They have a super house with about 2 acres of land/woods. Ann & Mac have done a lot of work to their house even re-roofing it! Mac has an old salmon fishing boat stuck in the back which he hopes to make seaworthy one day. Nothing seems to daunt these two.

In the afternoon Eileen and I went to Nanaimo about 20 minutes away - we got lost on the way and ended up on the other side of the town but managed to turn the map upside down and find our way to the harbour. There we watched a seaplane landing - the one that we will take to Vancouver Airport when we go to Alaska on Wednesday. These seaside town harbours are always interesting places as the Islanders use a lot of water transport for commercial and pleasure purposes. When we got back to the house we discovered that Darby had been prescribed some valium and anti-convulsant tablets, the vet had taken more tests to try and identify the problem.

Still mostly overcast with some sunny spells, sitting in the garden as I write this and need to put a jersey on - yes the grey one - I only bought one and I'm getting stick for it. I thought that one would be enough and after all it is cashmere!

Day 12 - Sunday 19th - Vancouver Island

Eileen and I trotted off to church this morning. St. Columbas Presbyterian - just like being back in Kirky - everyone we spoke to came from Scotland! In the afternoon we went to crop some rhubarb at a friends empty holiday cabin on the shores of North West Bay. Even though it was overcast it was a really interesting setting. There is an eagles nest that has been in use for years and one of the eagles was in residence. The big purple starfish looked really squishy but were quite firm to the touch and tasted just like lobster - only joking! Beside the road a couple of deer were resting and were completely unpreturbed as we passed quite close. All we need is some chipmunks and it would just be like a Disney movie!

In the evening Eileen's mum, Nell, came round for tea. She is a lovely lady who moved with her husband, Gerry, now sadly departed, from Belfast when they were in their 50's. We had a so called Scotch Mince Pie - aka Mince round which we bought at the "Tartan Pie" shop in the woods - it's a long story...................

Day 11 - Saturday 18th - Vancouver Island

Bears, bears, bears............

Eileen and I set of for our drive to Tofino on the west coast about 100 miles. This would be our first sighting of the real Pacific Ocean, during my time in the MN I had never seen the Pacific. On the way we spotted a parked car with what looked like a large dog on the verge. When we got nearer we saw that it was a black bear. I swung a "U" turn and we stopped just across the road from it. Your fearless photographer, Eileen, jumped out of the car and snapped away, she's very brave but lacks imagination! I just wound down the window and snapped from the safety of the car - big scaredy!

After the excitement we headed on through the drizzle over the mountains and down to the coast. We first went to Chesterman Beach where we had a picnic lunch sheltered behind a large rock. A brilliant beach and the ocean looked beautiful. You may have gathered by now that the weather wasn't great but around this time it brightened up considerably.
Tofino was an interesting wee town at the end of the highway. It seems to be full of beach bums and surfer dudes - he slips easily into the parlance! On the return journey when looking for a turning to Long Beach we turned into a First Nation reservation, as I was about to do a "U" turn a mum and cub black bear ran across the road I managed to get a shot of them before they disappeared into the undergrowth. We eventually found Long Beach, as the name implies it is very long some 13 km with lots of bums and dudes. You will see in the pictures below that there are lots of washed up tree trunks on the beaches - I'm sure that there is money to be made recycling these! 

Day 10 - Friday 17th

A quieter day today. We visited Englishman Falls Park and had a great walk through the wood. No Yogis and still no sign of the lonesome pine. The falls themselves are very picturesque and interesting as they are on a right angle bend in the river.


In the evening we took Fern & Eileen out for an meal at the Fish Tales restaurant where we all had excellent halibut etc. The restaurant was like stepping back into the 50's/60's - a sort of Harry Ramsdens with chintz. Very tasty food.

Day 9 - 16th June - Vancouver Island

We set off at 09.00 heading for Victoria which is the capital city of British Columbia, Victoria has a population of 400,000 and is about 85 miles from us in Parksville. On the way we visited the town of Chemainus. This town used to be a thriving timer exporting town but when that industry all but died out the townspeople had to diversify and they came up with the idea of making it an arts based town. To establish this it was decided to paint several murals, now it seems that every gable has a mural as you will see in the slideshow below. If you look carefully you will also see some ladies in red hats. These are members of the Red Hat Society and organisation much like the Hells Angels but with no organised crime connection. The seemingly go around the country on trips and have fun - or so they say. Uniform is red hat and gaudy accessories and any old purple clothes, it is quite a daunting sight seeing them en masse!

Once we reached Victoria we had a picnic lunch in a park, Eileen was captivated by the peacocks - after we had paid the ransom we went for a very windy walk along the harbour wall to stretch our legs. Fern then drove us round various scenic areas of this handsome city. Finally we parked near the centre and walked through the marina where many yachts had gathered for the Van Island 360 International Yacht Race. This race, as the name suggests, is round Vancouver Island which is about as long as Ireland but a bit narrower. After a delicious ice cream we explored a bit more before returning to Parksville. Another great day of exploring all thanks to Bourassa Tours inc.

Day 8 - Wednesday 15th - Vancouver Island

What an exciting day for Vancouver and the whole Canuck catchment (Canada). This is the day that they play game 7 of the Stanley Cup in Vancouver against the Boston Bruins. Keen readers of this blog will know that the series is tied 3 games each. I'll let you know the resullt at the end of this page.

To stop ourselves getting too excited Eileen and I drove to Coombes to the "Goats on Roof" area. Unfortunately we turned off at the turning just before the right one. Instead of ethnic native carvings we saw some weird stuff mostly of Chinese & Indian origin and also some carvings that can only be described as wood-porno! I know that everything in Canada is supposed to be bigger, but that is just ridiculous!! Pictures by request only.

After lunch we all set off four 9 holes at Fairwinds. We had decided on 9 as we had to get back for the final at 17.00. A glorious sunny day and the golf was great fun, again scores are not published to protect the innocent. As can be seen from the pics below there are loads of deer on the course, also note the strange trolleys called Rikshaw - they are very easy to pull.  
If you click on the slideshow below the picture will open in a larger format in my Picasa webspace.

For those interested the Vancouver Canucks were beaten by the Boston Bruins 4-0. A miserable outcome as the game/series had been really hyped up here. There is rioting on the streets of Vancouver tonight.

Day 7 - Tuesday 14th - Vancouver Island

Eileen went went shopping with Canadian Eileen's mum, Nell. They went to Qualcum - "pretty little seaside town with nice shops". Fern and I went golfing at Fairwinds Golf Club. We played with a couple of Fern's golfing "buddies", Bill & Ken. Ken was originally from Broughty Ferry and still had a slight Scottish accent. We had a great time, the course is superb with great greens that putt very true and lush green fairways and quite a bit of water. The scores are a secret - 'nough said!

http://www.fairwinds.ca/golfing/index.htm 

Day 6 - Monday 13th June - Vancouver Island

Today we visited Cathedral Grove at Cameron Lake. This is an amazing area of ancient forest with some giant Cedar and Douglas Firs. It was a geat experience to walk amongst these enormous trees.









Katie, you'll remember being here with Craig.












Strangely still no sign of the lonesome pine here!

In the evening the Eileens went to play golf while Fern & I watched game 6 of the Stanley Cup. Bruins put 4 past Canucks in a disastrous 4 minute spell in the first third - I'm beginning to sound like a real ice hockey fan. The whole Stanley Cup thing is very exciting and the whole of British Columbia is caught up in Cup fervour, it's very infectious and also good fun. Final game on Wednesday. Watch this space.............

Fern & Eileen have a humming bird feeder in the "back yard" and I have spent hours trying to capture the tiny birds in flight. Here is the best shot so far!

Day 5 - Sunday 12th - Vancouver Island

Great sleep although the current Mrs McGown was complaining of excessive snoring - I never heard her. We all set off to visit friends of Fern & Eileen. The friends, Lynn & Gord (Gordon) have a micro cabin or cabinette on Saltspring Island. This journey involved another ferry crossing. There are hundreds of little and not so little islands around the main island. The ferry service is very good and ultra prompt.After a twenty minute crossing from Crofton to Vesuvius we found the tiny cabin thanks to Eileen forgetting the travel instructions but remembering that the satnav had the address.

The cabin-ette

The tiny cabin is amazing and very cosy. In the picture you can also see the wood fired hot tub!
We went for a walk along the coast in the south part of the island after we had a picnic. It was a great path along a very interesting coast. Forgot to mention the bald eagle we saw when waiting for the ferry.

Bald Headed Eagle

On the way home I drove Fern's Lexus on the way back just to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road.

Day 4 - Saturday 11th

Writing this sitting in a cafe waiting for the ferry. We are now in a place called Horseshoe Bay - it's very picturesque with trees down to the waters edge and lots of yachts on the water. We took a taxi to get here, persuaded by the driver with a bargain price. He was worth every penny, originally from Somalia he had paid for an escape flight to the USA but was dumped in Ontario where he thought he was going to die from the cold - amazing guy with a great story.

The ferry takes about 1.5 hours and hopefully we will be met by Eileen & Fern. Watch this space....

...........later that day.

Eileen was there to meet us at the ferry terminal and we are now in their house in Parksville. Tommorrow we are heading for Saltspring Island to visit a friend of Eillen's (Canadian one).

Day 3 - Friday 10th

Bit of confusion with the day and date yesterday - all sorted now.

Usual breakfast at Dennys - French Toast Slam for me and seniors breakfast for Eileen plus great coffee. Bus into town for free, the driver let us on although we didn't have change,you can't us notes on the buses, and rented bikes to cycle round the coastal path of Stanley Park and also the False Creek seawall. The totem pole area in Stanley Park was very interesting. Well,REALLY!!(Eileen here editing this!!) feel I have to elaborate on the cycling bit...it was at least 10 miles and my ischial tuberosities are going to take some time to recover!!

Great fun and only moderately exhausted on return. Then straight onto the Big Red Tour Bus to get to Granville Island. Very interesting place with lots of arty farty shops and no sign of Arkwrights! Late lunch on Granville then back to Earls which is a restaurant adjacent to the motel to watch the 5th game of the Stanley Cup finals (Vancouver Canucks won 1-0). E & I are now big fans althought neither of us can see the puck it all seems very exciting especially helped along with copious amounts of wheat beer and an excellent steak. Retired early to write blog etc. Eileen says we seem to be going to bed about the same time as wee Charlie next door in Allan Park!!

Day 2 - Thursday 9th - Vancouver

After a long but fitfull nights sleep we were up at the skrake(?) of dawn and off to the adjacent Dennys for breakfast. Huge portions, even Eileen's senior portion, but hey who's complaining! Following breakfast we walked a couple of miles to Walmart for heel grippers as the princess was having trouble with trainers. That worked off about 1/10th of breakies. Then we set off for the day walking for miles across the Lions Gate bridge to Stanley Park, then through the park to pick up the "Hop 0n - Hop Off" bus at stop 15. After waiting for over 1 hour it was obvious that it was now the "Eff Off" bus. We sought advice to be told they had changed the route but hadn't told anyone. Once aboard and steam no longer escaping from ears we set off around the city. Very interesting. We are amazed at how pleasant and helpful everyone we meet is. Had an evening meal over looking the river and watched seaplanes land and take off. Arrived back at the Travelodge tired but happy with a great day out exploring Vancouver.

Comments added

Thanks to Laura I realise that I omitted the 'add comments' bit. This has now been rectified and you can comment away by clicking the wee yellow pencil below a post - nothing nasty hopefully!

Day 1 - Travelling

Got up early at 05.30 to get to the airport early and have a relaxed breakfast. Tommy took us at around 06.30 after we had given Andrew a wee cuddle and he had stopped crying. Unfortunately when we got there we couldn't check in our cases until 07.40! Anyway we managed to fit in a couple of Witherspoons breakfast rolls before we boarded a very quiet flight. As this was a BA flight we of course got another breakfast! Never refuse a meal as you never know where the next one will come from - McGown's maxim.

Flight from Heathrow was OK but a bit long at 09.30 hours. Got the Canada Line Skytrain into the town centre then the Seabus over the river to the North Bank. A taxi took us to our hotel which is pretty nasty but cheap. Sitting on bed watching game 4 of the Stanley Cup ice hockey series between Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins. So far it's 2 games to 1 for Canucks and everyone around here is going crazy, seemingly Vancouver Canucks haven't won the Stanley Cup since 1932 - a bit like Hibs!

It's now 01.30 UK time 17.30 here so no more today as very tired.

The SeaBus

Our Route

This snapshot from Google Earth will give you some idea of our route.....

If you click on the image above it will link to a larger version.

Our itinerary is.....
Wednesday 8th June - Vancouver
Saturday 11th June - Vancouver Island to stay with Fern & Eileen
Tuesday 21st June - Anchorage
Thursday 23rd June - Seward
Saturday 25th June - Denali National Park
Monday 27th June - Fairbanks
Wednesday 29th June - Dawson
Friday 1st July - Whitehorse
Saturday 2nd - Eileen and I set off in the general direction of Calgary

Eileen and Fern fly back to Vancouver Island from Whitehorse and Eileen and I set off for Calgary. I'll add dates and locations later.