So while I was trying to do my post yesterday, we lost the internet! It was patchy all day – I got some coverage on my phone, but not my iPad … so I took it down to the little PC man and he assured me all was well?!? Then we couldn’t get TV and then it went down completely. Horrors … we had three days of rain, and scheduled some much needed planning and then no internet!!!! I was able to send my last post from my phone. Fortunately we are all on-line again now 😊

We are loving having an apartment with a view! This ever changing vista is so novel to us … there is always something happening, float planes taking off across the way, ships of every kind, log-trains on the water and the sea-bus coming and going all day, every day. And we can see the rain coming!

There is a trail running along North Vancouver called the spirit trail. We have walked quite a lot of it. This part is along the marina (with those neat house boats) and flash boats. The trail is part of the great Canadian trail, which I suppose is a bit like the Sir Edmond Hillary trail throughout NZ.

Most days while out walking with Skye, we cover off some more km’s – I am not sure if she was allowed on the marina part, but otherwise dogs are fine, and some parts are off-leash areas, so that is great as well.

We visited the Lynn Valley reserve and spent the afternoon walking on all the different trails and across the suspension bridge. It really was beautiful. There is another suspension bridge here (Capilano) that is 140m long, but this 40m one (50m above the gorge) was just fine for me! We had amazing weather again, although it was cool. This park is truly beautiful, and we did a lot of tracks before catching the bus back to the apartment (to walk the dog again!)

There are signs all thru this gorge telling you not to get in the water, as it is freezing … Colin boulder hopped to get this picture! Apparently lots of people have died in here while jumping off the cliff faces into the river!! 😲

The twin waterfalls, are very beautiful. We are only 7km’s from the city so having this park on your doorstep must be amazing. It is dog friendly (but too far to walk her / us there, around and back) and unlike USA, Canada does not allow dogs on buses.

How the trees here balance their lives between a rock and a hard place is beyond me … they grow huge! The forest is made up of Douglas-fir and Redcedar and they grow so tall, and really straight.

The colour of this deep pool was emerald … the photos are ok, but in reality it is spectacular. It is called the 30ft pool, as I assume it is because it is 30ft long?!?

I reckon that there was approx 500 stairs in this park! 😮 Chelsea, I couldn’t help thinking about you going up and down all of these!

Colin sorting out the directions! And relaxing in an old stump. Our little brochure told us that the trees were milled in the late 1800’s and some of them reached 11m in diameter and up to 90m tall.

Some of the stairs we really good and some of the stairs …..

Our little brochure also told us that we might be lucky to see squirrels, black bears, cougars, deer or giant banana slugs … we lucked in and found the slug (it was about 100mm long) 😂

While we are out walking [and yes it does seem that is all we are doing!] I love looking at all the houses – it is lovely here on the North Shore of Vancouver and there is an eclectic array of house, apartments and town houses. The little yellow one has a sign saying circa 1904. A lot of it is just like home.

Just as well those hideous apartments, have these beautiful trees!!!

There are so many parks around, some with play equipment, some with sandpits and toys and this one with a putting green ⛳️

Ice hockey here is a huge sport, so of course we had to go to a game. A groupon deal came up for a pre-season against the LA Kings, so we got our tickets went along to our first game ever. Rogers Arena is an amazing venue, easy to get to and super helpful staff. The game, well I never understood the rules – there seemed to be about 15 players per team but only 6 out at a time, and they came and went from the sideline constantly – like bees from a hive! Anyway’s it was a long game with the clock stopping constantly (it was taking 40mins for a 20min play!) and plenty of ‘biffo’ happening when the tensions got high. Great entertainment 😊

The security at the venue was insane! These guys outside and you have to basically go thru airport type security to get inside the venue. The black-ops dudes, said they are proactive to counter-terrisom 😧 I suppose I felt safe!! We did have a ridiculous conversation about their big guns, super friendly guys BUT serious about their work!

I loved the national anthems, and all the pomp that went with it.

So that is us done and dusted for another few days. I hope that you are enjoying these posts. If you can’t message us on Facebook or WordPress, send us an email – we love getting them. We have been gone for 110 days – I am sure you haven’t even missed us 😘

We have walked so far this last week! We are exploring every part of North Vancouver, and so far we have found lots of sculptures, wildlife and parks. It is a really lovely city, and feels a lot like home – with the harbour, people, cars, parks. Having a working port in the city makes it so interesting [especially when you can see it!] – Auckland you need to get over yourself … keep the port!

We found this at the entrance to Lynn Creek, which is actually more like a river. It was very a cool sculpture.

So the advantages of having a German Short-haired Pointer are that she points at things!! Like this raccoon. There was actually several of them running along this fence and up and down the trees. They were quite animated at the sight of her. At first Skye just alerted me by her sniffing, then her tail came up and she stopped momentarily in that famous pose they do. I might not have even noticed these guys as we walked along, so bonus for having Skye.

The raccoons are sorta quite cute, but they eat everything and people hate having them in the ‘yards’ here as they destroy the gardens and get in the roofs and chimneys. Because they have less preditors in the urban environment, they usually have a longer life span! They also carry rabies, so that’s not good for dogs or humans!

Colin is with ‘Gassy’ Jack [a steamboat Captain from Yorkshire], who set up the first saloon in the original Vancouver town (1870’s), and how the town got its name. The gas clock was installed 100 years later to ‘harness’ the gas from the pipes below, to stop homeless people gathering by it’s warmth. It ‘whistles’ every 15 minutes as the gas builds up it released. The clocks pendulum time-keeping, is also powered by the steam.

This is the view by night … time wasting!

A couple of days ago we woke up to a beautiful morning, so we decided it was Grouse Mountain day [especially as there were no cruise ships in town!]. After walking Skye, we hoped on the bus [which was just on 1st (we are on 2nd) – how convenient!] for a 40 minute trip to the mountain. The bus was packed and we were only the second stop. Fortunately a few people got off along the way, but then it stopped at Capilano Suspension Bridge!! A lot of people got off here BUT twice as many got on. Fortunately by now we had a seat, so had a comfy ride up the hill through surburbia. WOW, it is nice out there!

So once you get out to the mountain you buy your pass and it includes the cable car, chair lift, lumberjack show, the bear enclosure and a couple of other things. You can also do a range of other activities including zip-lining, mountain biking, para-gliding or climbing the wine turbine 😮. You then get crammed into the cable car with 95 + 1! other people to head up the mountain!!! Seriously, bummer if you are in the middle [actually that was good for me!]. Colin was by the window and took these pictures. It is a long ride to the top and the ‘car’ swings as it goes over the towers 😧

Long way down … and we still have to go up the chair lift (although this bit is optional).

Lumberjack show was a bit scripted … as we were told they are great lumberjacks, but terrible actors. It was good to see a small part of their world and man can they climb those poles fast!

If you wanted to go up here [Eye of the Wind], it was one of the add-ons … but having freaked out coming up the cable car, I was high enough. It was a stunning day, but this was not for me.

This wind turbine was built for the Olympics to showcase sustainability [and to provide power to the activities on the mountain], but it was a failure!! It doesn’t get enough wind!!!! It was supposed to produce enough power for the equivalent of 400 homes but actually only managed to produce power for 12. Fortunately it earns its keep with tourist dollars [$750,000CD per year] – 50,000 people pay the extra to go up!! So the engineer/s who did the proposal for this, got it soooooo wrong! It has so many issues you wonder how the hell did this get approved!

Going down on the cable car … just sitting casually on a seat with a bar that doesn’t lock into place 😧 😲 fourteen minutes of amazing views and being able to see the mountain as you pass through the trees.

At the bottom [of the chair-lift] we decided to check out the resident bears. The two grizzly bears (Grinda and Coola) that are here are both orphaned cubs, found dehydrated, starving etc and after long rehabilitation’s have been homed here. They have a great enclosure, and are a star attraction.

Colin was itching to give this a go, but alas there was no snow.

Well that’s it for now. See you in a few days 😁

Well we have made it to the North Shore in Vancouver 🇨🇦.

We are now shacked up in a fabulous 20th floor apartment with amazing views, looking after a gorgeous dog ‘Skye’. She is a German Short-haired Pointer (GSP).

Our assignment looking after her is for 3.5 weeks and we are going to be doing a lot of walking!! Nearly three hours a day. And then we have to fit in some sightseeing! Day One and we are pretty tired, a 6.30am start and then a 7km walk this morning followed by a 2km walk this afternoon means we need a nap before dinner!! Crikey I am glad we decided to do this before we get old! 😜

Seriously though we are stay in the most fantastic apartment with views to the East – South – West. It is pretty high which is going to take a few days to get used to. We are just up from where the ferry docks (Lonsdale Quay) and have lots bars, eateries and shops around us. Of course every day we are out exploring with the adorable ‘Skye’. She is an absolute pleasure, so well behaved and has such a placid and quite nature about her. I am in love with her!

Yesterday when we were out walking we headed to Mosquito Creek, a gorgeous urban/forest hike which took us up along side a stream. On the way we came across a mother deer and her two fawns. This was in the middle of surburbia! Just two blocks along from us on the corner of 5th and Mahon. It is a native housing project that has a shelter belt on the corner, and she was just hanging out in there. We also saw her the next day, when she just popped up onto the footpath, while we were out walking again [surprise!]. Not quite sure why she is ‘town’ but we did hear on our travels about animals raising their babies close to a busy ‘town’, as it gave them a bit more security?!? Co-existing! Deer [which are apparently domesticated] wreck the gardens, and when we were in Victoria – it was important to keep the gates closed because of the deer there as well.

Mosquito Park is just lovely and we enjoyed walking up through the reserve. It was busy with other dog walkers, who all ignored the ‘dogs must be on a lead’ sign. We followed suit, as our girl is so well behaved and we felt quite comfortable with her. We did come across a sign that said cougars had been spotted!! She immediately was back on-leash! I am not taking any risks with her.

The next day we walked in the neighbouring Mahon park and it was less populated, but just as lovely. The trail wasn’t as well maintained, and a bit lumpy and muddy under foot. We did however come across another dog walker (whose dog was off-leash) and we talked to him, and asked about the cougar sitings. He said he would be more worried about the bears 😧 But he did tell us we were safer with a dog, than without!!

So the neighbourhoods here are again being gobbled up by developments. There are planning notifications everywhere, but when we popped out of Mahon Park we walked along this lovely street where the old houses are being replaced by either larger houses, or removed and two are put in its place. Not sure about these two skinny houses! A semi-detached house might have given both a bit more usable space!!

We have found that there are service lanes in between the back of properties. We saw this in Everett as well, but they are not all as tidy as this one!

This is our building from up the hill – it is called The Observatory and is 28 floors. The lovely old building just sneaking in on the right is the school.

So we are staying really close to Lonsdale Quay. It has lovely shops, and the waterfront all around it is being developed into hundreds of apartments. It used to be ship building yards but that industry is no longer viable up here, so some of the area is up for development. They have a lovely public park which hosts events, markets and the like. They have left the big crane, restored it and now it looks like it is where the sound/AV technicians can base them selves under it. Looks cool 😎

The have left the docks, which are being developed into a park – the tide comes in here and you can see a huge anchor and a propeller at the back (along with a pile of driftwood). On the artists impression, there are trees, grass and seating so it will be a fabulous space.

Colin spied a boat from the apartment, so we checked it out while we were walking around down there [no dog!]. Actually a second one appeared overnight – they are both huge! There is a helicopter on one, and a ‘small tender’ under it on the middle deck!! It is worth $300,000,000 … that be a lot of moola!!

Maybe he could get the little one, like the one that is moored alongside 😂

So wandering along the waterfront you can walk out along the pier that has been gifted as part of the development. In this picture you can see the crane that was restored, and also our apartment. It is the tallest one, with the triangles on the roof – ‘our apartment’ is actually the one where the building [behind the crane] ‘touches’ our building. There is a swimming pool, spa and gym for use, but I think with all the walking we may get enough exercise 😄

This is the night view … it is incredible watching all the lights come on, and there is always something happening day or night, so it is very interesting for us. I am sure if you lived here you wouldn’t even notice!!

Well, we have plenty of days to get out and explore the fun stuff, although the weather is raining today, so just some planning towards the next adventure and probably some washing – we still have to do the boring stuff and a bit more often as we only have one bag each! I am hoping my clothes will wear out and then I can get new ones.

See you soon 👋

So after we disembarked from the ship, which was a relatively seamless operation [didn’t even have to show our passports!], we headed for the train station to start our journey to Victoria – I am just going to bullet point the steps (and we have to do the return journey on the way back, with a couple more stops!):

• Walk to train station from cruise terminal – .5km
• Catch train for about 20 mins to Bridgeport transit centre
• Wait 45 mins for the bus (no shops here!)
• Catch the bus to the ferry – a 45 minute ride
• Catch the ferry to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island – a 1hr 45 min trip which was lovely
• Catch the bus to Victoria – 1 hr 20 minute ride
• Catch the bus to Fairfield – 10 minute ride
• Walk .5km to accommodation.

(All this with our luggage and now getting grumpy, as the connections were all tight, it had started raining and there was no time for a leisurely lunch!)

Five hours later we arrived at our accommodation and I am in heaven. Not only is it gorgeous, the owner Janice is lovely and was so welcoming. There was a welcome platter in the fridge, with a ‘mini’ bottle of Sparkling Cherry Honey Wine … we devoured it all like a couple of locusts!

We booked this through Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) which is apparently better than AirBnB – as this is our first time, can’t make a definitive comment on this! But I can say it has been fabulous here 💖

After catching up on all the washing, we headed to the supermarket, via a walk along the waterfront in the rain [it is a bit unfortunate, but we have had a lot of rain since we arrived], picked up a few supplies for breakfast and a couple of dinners and headed home for some sleep … I mean we had to get up at 6.30am this morning!! We haven’t done that for … I don’t know how long!!

There is an incredible amount of driftwood along all the beaches [which are pebble beaches]. It must be a nightmare for all the ‘traffic’ out on the water, but fabulous for all the artists in town.

So on Saturday morning we headed along the waterfront towards town (opposite to our first walk). We walked past ‘Mile O’ which is the start of the West-East Trans-Canadian highway (8,000kms). There were bus loads of Asian tourists and wondered what was going on. A lovely local told us the significance, and also the people who are represented by Memorial. Terry Fox (who lost his right leg to cancer) decided to run the entire length to raise money for cancer [it was called a marathon of hope] – unfortunately he got sick half-way, and a second round of cancer claimed his life.

A second amputee runner (Steve Fonyo), completed the run and raised $14million dollars and received the Order of Merit. From there he had a very checkered life, was stripped of his Order of Merit, is now semi-homeless with a string of convictions feeding a drug habit. Just WOW, how life can change!! Anyways, it was lovely just chatting to a local and getting the inside information. We had a quick photo op in between the bus loads of everyone else!

We carried on around the coast towards Fisherman’s Wharf, had a look at the floating houses and then walked to the local market for lunch, before finding the harbour taxis to do a tour.

The water taxis are these cute looking little boats, called pickles. We actually ended up on a slightly bigger boat for our gorge tour (the little green one).

It was just over an hour and up the inner harbour, the Captain sharing the history. Really lovely and always good to get the local information.

This bridge is somewhat famous because it took so long to build and it went seriously over budget – it was cool to see it working though!

There are a lot of lovely houses – Vancouver Island has a lot of retirees here as the temperature is not so cold, it is flat and is generally a safe place. We have seen a handful of homeless begging and apparently there is a tent city here, but we haven’t seen it (yet!).

Don’t you love these toparies!

The hanging baskets are just beautiful and are all around town. The buildings are all lovely as well.

Although it was raining, we spent an afternoon at Craigdarroch Castle. It is being lovingly restored and is just beautiful.

We have visited the Butchard Gardens which are so, so beautiful – I left a note in the visitor’s book “inspiring … my husband is going to be busy when we get home”. 😜

We spent hours here and I just wanted to take picture around every corner! Of every flower bed …. everything was just perfect!

It was actually raining in this photo!

We also visited the Parliament Buildings (when you search the opening times … one should be careful that you are in Victoria, BC NOT Victoria, Australia 🤪) which are very beautiful, and had another walk around town since it was such a beautiful afternoon 🌞

Tomorrow we are heading to Vancouver for our next ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’ assignment.

See you in Vancouver x

Ps: couldn’t help myself 😇

Keituchan was a new port of call and we caught the shuttle up to the Totem Pole Heritage Centre and salmon hatcheries. The totem poles are carved by the local tribes and their beliefs and customs are very similar to our own Maori. I like that they are claiming back their tribal ways and identities.

After the totem poles were went to the Salmon Hatchery. As we walked along the path and over the bridge we could see the salmon in the river seemingly struggling up stream.

Inside the hatchery, the ‘farmer’ spent some time with us explaining what they do and the cycle of the salmon and the role of the hatchery. She was totally fascinating, passionate about what she does and loves to fish for her own salmon. So we mostly saw ‘pink salmon’ in the river – ready to die! They were on the last leg of the lives, trying to make it to where they hatched, so that they could build a little nest and lay their own eggs to be fertilised.

Watching these pink salmon struggle up stream, almost beaten, looking much worse for wear (I sort of had this vision of having a baby!) and they haven’t eaten since they left the sea, their only job left to do is ‘spawn or fertilise’ and then that’s it – life over! It takes up to two weeks for them to die and then the river is full of these dead rotting fish!! You could smell it, but it was awful, just a bit wiffy. We followed the stream back down to the harbour and as you get closer to the sea there are seagulls hanging out for a free feed and all these salmon carcasses in various states of disintegration.

At the hatchery the salmon that have returned to spawn, are giving an easy out – their lives are ended and the eggs / sperm gathered for the hatchery. They have about 500,000 babies – 100,000 that are kept and 400,000 taken to various rivers where they are ‘imprinted’ to that area. We had been to a hatchery in Skagway, but it was so much more interesting here in Keituchan.

Note: Never catch salmon in a river as they are returning to spawn. This is when the metamorphosis’s happen between salt and fresh water. This is when they change colour, shape and their condition from not having eaten is at it’s worst. If they are not silver, almost reflective in their colour … then they are not good for eating!

Walking back to the port we passed through the small ‘Creek Street ‘ which has had a colourful history [think women of the night!] and is now a wonderful place to wander and look at all the eclectic art and tourist shops.

So we have seen a tinsy tiny piece of Alaska, I know that I will want to return again here sometime in the future. It is so unspoilt, peaceful, wild, rugged and utterly spell-bindingly (new word!) scenic. I am not sure how you would live here in the depths of winter, when there is only 5-6 hours of sunshine, but I could definitely visit again in the summer, as it has been truly gorgeous. The ‘set sail’ from each port has been gorgeous every time, as we have had for the most part glorious weather. Being on the deck with a cold beer, with the cotton puff colds floating by on the endless blue skies has been fantastic.

Just a note on cruising: we have met people who have done 40, 50, 60, 70 + cruises and then we met Bruce from California who has done 85+. It is such a fabulous way to travel. I love unpacking and then waking up somewhere new every day. It only gives you a glimpse of each country (although not in Alaska, as every port is Alaska). Sure it can very very commercialised on the ports, but that is what a lot of people want (not us though!). If you don’t want that, then you can get out and do your own thing. We did, and have had a great time.

The staff all work incredibly hard and most that we have chatted to have been doing it for more than 5+ years. It does however get a bit tiresome with all the up-selling to the speciality restaurants, or the beauty parlour, or the art auction, or the onboard shopping. Mostly a polite no thanks is all it takes. Being expected to tip on top of the onboard daily gratuity is a bit annoying as well. But overall cruising is just fabulous. I loved being able to just chillax, watch a movie, play a game of scrabble or read til my hearts content. I am sure that it won’t be long before we are onboard again.

• Best book – Lillac Girls although not exactly a good book! (based on a true story of the horrors (and friendship) at Ravensbruck, during WWII). I have read 5 books over the past two weeks, all different and all borrowed from one place or another. I love those community libraries. I have decided to write a note in each book saying where it was borrowed from and where it has been. I wish I had done this with my first books I took on holiday (borrowed from the Ryman library!!)
• Best movie – Finding Your Feet (loved it, so went twice!). Also watched the whimsical ‘A wrinkle in time’ with Oprah and Reese Whitherspoon filmed in part, in NZ – a fairy tale fantasy.
• Best scrabble – I am a sore loser! Colin has beat me twice!! We have had three games!
• Best destination- Alaska!
• Best cruise line – well Princess was OK, but Royal Caribbean was better, although Princess had a laundry room which has got to be a plus in their favour! Colin is now doing hand basin washing ( as men only pack 5 pairs on undies – it’s true according to the comedian … also true that woman pack all that they own!!! )

So that is us from Alaska [although now arrived in Victoria, Canada]. See you in a few days.

After a quick few days in Anchorage, it was back on the ship heading south to Vancouver. Also, I think you may have had three posts in three days! They do take a while to put together so I hope you are enjoying them😏

Royal Caribbean – Radiance of the Seas, is similar in size [approx 3,000 on board] to our cruise last year [Shanghai to Singapore on the R.C. Mariner of the Seas]. From the swimming pools, spa pools, pool tables, climbing walls, movie theatre, theatre, endless bars, library, mini golf and the odd deck chair or two, there has been plenty to do. Oh, and how could I forget the restaurants! We have seen plenty of whales [and I now feel like one after two weeks cruising!] and of course other wildlife. Funnily this ship is heading to New Zealand – now if we had decided to stow away …

After leaving Seward (which we had to bus to from Anchorage … 2.5 hours) we cruised overnight to the Hubbard Glacier.

A 100 metres tall across the face, which is approximately an 8km wide river of ice, (think a thirty story building!!) and 120 kilometres into the land. The size of it is just phenomenal and the sound of the ‘thunder’ of the ice cracking before it breaks and falls into the sea is just incredible. It is so blue, and we were lucky enough to have the most spectacular weather which of course made it bluer than blue. No pictures you take of these massive glaciers will ever show you just how big they are, as you can’t get anything in your picture to give it some relevance. were lucky enough [after watching several mini ice-slides] to have a large ‘piece’ of ice ‘calve’ in front of us – think of a building (maybe the Sentienal in Takapuna, Auckland) 20 stories high just groan, crack and collapsing into the sea. The sound of that thunder and the ice hitting the water is just fantastic. Even the ship felt the impact of the wave as it hit the water. Actually, we watched the waves [it felt like slow motion] as the waves moved toward the ship. Just an awesome experience. (For those that are on Facebook, I will post a short video of the calving event.)

We spent a day again in Juneau and Skagway exploring a few different places to last week, but stayed on the ship in Icy Strait Point as it was raining in the morning and not a whole lot to do here unless you have booked an excursion.

………. stand by for part 2! ……….

We arrived yesterday and are leaving tomorrow! Not nearly enough time to do all that is available, so maybe we will have to come back!!

We disembarked in Whittier, Alaska and transferred to our bus to Anchorage. We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre for a short visit.

We saw all manner of things but the highlight was the bear. We looked for ages and then he sauntered out and wandered under the bridge / viewing platform that we were walking over. He gave us a cursory look, but wasn’t interested at all. Was very cool to see him in the ‘sort of’ wild. Close enough for me.

We also saw moose, caribou, reindeer, fox, wolf, eagle, wood bison, lynx and a few different birds. The foxes were very small compared to the wolf. All the animals here are either orphaned or homeless for a variety of reasons.

When we arrived at our accommodation for the next two nights, we dropped our bags and heading into ‘town’ for a look around. Anchorage is a large city, mostly flat and has approx 300,000 people who live here. It is definitely geared for the tourist … only found tourist shops on the main drag!

Anyway, since we are limited on time here we decided to do the trolley bus tour.

First one we have been on since being on our travels. Actually, it is a great way to get an overview on things and we heard an awful lot about the 1964 – 9.2 earthquake. It certainly changed the face of Anchorage. After our little tour, we went to the federal court, went through security and watched the documentary on the earthquake. Having been so involved with the Christchurch earthquake, I certainly had an appreciation of the devastation here.

Our accommodation has a pub on-site so we had dinner here and met some interesting people. One woman from Scotland (but lives in Perth, WA) was here doing a hiking / rafting tour which sounded amazing, and the other lady who joined our conversation was here in Anchorage visiting her daughter who does dog mushing. Both the daughter and her husband compete in the Iditarod race. The husband has won three times and also competes in Norway. So interesting.

This morning, we had a lazy start to the day and then walked into town via the Veterans memorial, found another community book library [it was a bit of a mess, so I tidied it up!].

The art, sculpture and gardens around town are beautiful. Apparently because they have so much sunlight here all the summer flowers are 30% bigger.

We hired bikes and did a 25 mile bike ride along the tony Knowles Coastal Trail. It took us along the Pacific Ocean [funny to think that we are all this way from home, but in the same ocean!], past the airport which was so cool to stand and watch all the planes landing. Then we carried on through Kincaid park, back past the other end of the airport and past where all the little planes are on Lake Spenard and Lake Hood. Every other person has one of these little planes.

This is the longest we have gone without food! So we stopped at a Greek cafe and had a Greek pizza for a very late lunch! The owner was a ‘famous’ Greek singer and we have all the details to visit the Greek Island he lived on until 1975, when he headed to Australia, before marriage brought him to Alaska.

After 5 hours on our bikes we were so happy to return them. When you don’t do it very often, you certainly feel it when you get off!

So in the morning, we are heading to Seward to catch another cruise. Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas. Can hardly believe that we are cruising again, but can’t wait. See you in a week xx

So every time I went up to deck 14 for breakfast, lunch or dinner I told myself I won’t have cake today!! But they are always so fabulous and I tell myself, if we didn’t have them, it would put someone out of a job!

So where do you look … everywhere is a visual feast of amazing wonders of this world. I think that this glacier was skunk tail glacier. I needed the visual prompt!

These glaciers are beyond beautiful and so huge it defies even the photos. The biggest one we got close to was 300ft at the face of it!! Twice the height of the ship … even saying that doesn’t give you any idea of just how huge they are. And note the ice floating by …

Amazing scenery, amazing wildlife and it is just so serene … we were up on deck for hours just watching and listening to the ice ‘crack’ and then ‘calve’ huge lumps into the sea. We had an amazing couple of days with the weather being kind to us while we cruised through Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

While it was cold, it was only 8 degrees, but when the ship is moving at pace the wind chill is the thing that gets you!

Glacier Bay is a National Park and is a wilderness of frozen rivers creaking and groaning as they make their way to the sea, before you hear the ‘thunder’ and pieces drop in to the ocean. We saw Orca, sea otters and whales in the distance. It is the most pristine place and we had the most glorious weather.

So after seven amazing days cruising, we headed to Whittier for the next chapter of our story. I will try and get another blog done before we leave in the morning … I mean we have only been here two days … I won’t have much to say!

ps: we were at a comedy show on the boat, when an [older] man in front of us became unwell. I leant forward and asked if they needed assistance. They did, so I bolted from the theatre … with the comedian in tow [ he was incensed I was leaving early! ].

I tried to find a staff member [no ushers are based in the theatre, so I found a bar dude] and advised him that a guest required assistance. He didn’t really know what to do. I told him to follow me back into the theatre [of course we were sat in the middle!] but he didn’t follow me!!! The comedian saw me come back in and tried to engage with me, but I was trying to ignore him and help the unwell man. I had the people move out of the way [told the comedian is was a medical and to carry on without me…he says ‘that just got awkward’ and tells a bad joke about Filipinos having to clean up poop after people!!], as his wife and I took out her husband.

I took them into the foyer, spoke to the staff member [who was on the phone to 911 (which is only onboard) but [he] asked me to speak to the operator. The problem was that the English as a second language dude from Europe couldn’t communicate with the English as a second language girl from Asia!!!!

In the end I hung up, told the [dude] to get housekeeping [to clean the theatre] and to let anyone who turned up that I was taking the guest to their room [other end on the ship!].

I took the guest to his room, made sure they were okay and headed back to the theatre. Housekeeping had only just turned up and wanted to clean after the show! No way was I having that and dragged them in with me and told them to get to it. I tried to tell them that the man [who had been sick … into his hands] had held the hand rail exiting the theatre … that was also lost in translation!!

Anyways, people around where we were sitting thanked me for my troubles. As we were leaving the cruise director asked us how our evening was and so I told him that the staff were incompetent…gave him the guests name and room number and he basically dismissed me. No thanks for my effort, have a bottle of wine with dinner … NOTHING!!! I don’t think that they will like the feedback I have just done online for them!!

pps: I left a note for the people the next day as well, as he [they] were really embarrassed and I just wanted them to know it didn’t matter.

Vancouver accommodation is sooooooo expensive … our Tropicana Hotel was not the cheapest but it was certainly from last century!! It was clean, but old … only one night here, but it was okay. We were on the 12th floor in amongst the smoke from the fires. It is truly, truly awful.

I am thinking the art on the end of Princess Wharf in Auckland is a direct copy of this in Vancouver …..

We are proud to be kiwis … our fire fighters are making a difference here 😳 No photo or words can really describe this.

Our ship was one of three heading up to Alaska, so it was super busy in and around town and in the departure terminal. As there were these three ships boarding, we went early to check-in. Actually it was a breeze, so well organised and we were on the ship for lunch. We were keen to get to our room as we had received an email from Princess Cruises to say that we had been upgraded from an inside room to a room with a view. How cool was that … my excitement was short-lived! Although, I did feel safe 😅

The ships only just make it under this bridge …. they really can’t make them any bigger!

Between Vancouver to Icy Strait Point we had one day at sea, cruising through the Seymour Narrows and the Blackney Passage towards Queen Charlotte Sounds and back into USA waters. We had a bit of rain and it was foggy. They sounded the fog hog quite often.

We explored the ship, worked out where all the important things were ( life rafts, exits … yeah right! The bars, the buffets and the best place to hang out! ). This ship isn’t as big as the previous two we have been on, but the lay-out is similar. Although Colin was still trying to find his way around on the last day!

Loved this little guy!

We didn’t book any shore excursions here and we just happy pottering around. We went back onboard for lunch as we weren’t excited by all the ‘sea-food’ options that everyone else was.

Overnight we cruised to Juneau and when we got up in the morning we were in dock. While these two days were a bit overcast and cloudy, they didn’t stop us from getting around. We went up the cable car here in Juneau and it was so high and so steep, and travelling through the fog to the added to the adventure. We actually went up here twice, as the weather cleared in the afternoon so we went back for another look.

We also went into the Red Dog Saloon which is famous. There was sawdust on the floor, a crazy old dude on the piano doing the entertainment / comedy [sarcasm]. A great atmosphere … they need him on the ship!

We did a shortish walk while up the mountain which gave us amazing views back down to the Franklin Dock. We set sail around 8pm for Skagway, and were there when we woke up.

This is a much bigger city, and after having a look around decided to book ourselves on the White Pass and Yukon Route which was forged in the gold rush days. What a beautiful train, stunning scenery and fascinating history. Loved this 3 hour train ride up to the USA / Canada border. If I win lotto, I think I would like to do one of those big expensive rail trips. Perhaps up and over the Rockies. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, except for the eagle.

Ok, so that was a very short synopsis of the first few days …. I will do the next few days tomorrow!

Today being our last day in Bellingham, has been hazardous for our health!! The smoke from the fires is really quite unbelievable 🌫️

We had decided to do the coastal walk from Fairhaven to Bellingham (about 5km) and then the Whatcom Museum. The coastal walk was murky and the Museum was closed! Whoops … forgot we were in a small town!

We found all these ‘markers’ on our walk … these are the ones that we found the most interesting!

Colin reackons he is hen pecked … but that is a rooster!

After lunch we caught the bus to Whatcom Falls Park, which is very beautiful and walked through it from one side to the other. There is a small river [which runs from the lake to Bellingham Bay], a waterfall and a hatchery. Because it is summer the river / falls are quite low. There were a lot of people swimming today, as it has been 28 degrees today.

Bellingham / Fairhaven have been lovely, I am glad we have stayed here for a few days. The bus has been super easy to use and it is only $3 US a day. But I am super excited for the next part of our journey 😁

So, our communication may be a bit hit and miss for the next few weeks! In the morning we are catching the train (yaaaay!) from Bellingham to Vancouver. We are spending one night there, before boarding our Princess Line (Island Princess) cruise to Alaska (yes I know that be USA, but most people think of Alaska as a place of its own!!)

We arrive 7 nights later in Whittier and then transfer to Anchorage for a couple of nights. On the 31st we hop back onto a Royal Caribbean (Radiance of the Seas) cruise from Seward back to Vancouver!!! I know two cruises, but it was the cheapest way to travel [and someone cooks your food and makes your bed!]

Originally we had booked the second cruise when we were in Las Vegas, but as we explored options to get up to Alaska we found:

• To hire an RV one way for three weeks was going to be $7,000 US = $10,500 NZ!!!!!
• To fly was about $350 US each + we still needed accommodation etc
• There is a passenger/vehicle ferry that is hop on / hop off but that was $650 US each

• And then a special deal popped up with Royal Caribbean for $850 US each which worked in with our dates, hence we are doing two cruises.

From there we are going to be staying in Victoria on Vancouver Island for 5 nights before our next ‘Mr & Mrs Smith assignment’ commences in North Vancouver.

This was originally til the 28th September, but we were asked to extended til 9th October. We are looking after a German Short-haired Pointer (GSP) on the 20th floor of an apartment. ‘Skye’ needs to be walked five times a day. One small walk in the morning when the days begins, one long walk [90 mins] after breakfast, one small afternoon walk, one small walk after dinner and then one small walk before bed. If I don’t get skinny then, I never will.

So as you can see we are pretty organised now for the new several weeks (I love that that!). We will post whenever we can.