British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies

Today we breakfast early and meet for the coach to take us to the Fraserway RV depot.   On arrival we get the paperwork sorted, have a guided run through of the van and Mary and I are soon off, heading for the ferry port where we will make the crossing to Vancouver Island. The cough which I had been nurturing for several days at the end of the cruise has now got a good hold and I am feeling far from well.   There is a convoy of RVs waiting to board the BC Ferries roll on roll off   boat and we attract interest from locals who are pleased to chat and want to know what we have done so far and our plans for the tour. The consensus is that we are going to have an amazing trip. The crossing takes us past many small islands and beautiful views so we spend it on deck watching out for wildlife.  The odd seal, sea eagle and american bald eagle are spotted before we make our landing, which is followed by the short drive to our first campground of the tour. ...

We are all pretty much together for breakfast and we are taken for an interesting tour of Vancouver.   Of course for the new arrivals this is their first experience of the sights of the city, whereas we are already aware of most of the places we visit.   The local guide is excellent and there are lots of stops for short walks and opportunities to hear about city life from a resident. Gas Town with its steam powered clock is interesting and we love the tour of Stanley Park, which we decide to get to know a little more in the afternoon.  The city, like most I suppose, is an urban area of contrasts.  The highly modern glass and concrete skyscrapers of Downtown with corporate headquarters of Canadian companies, banks etc, the historic centres of Chinatown and Gastown, the modern cruise ship terminal at Canada Place and of course the less salubrious area where the poorer people found in every city have gravitated. We end our tour back on Granville Island, whi...

The weather today is warm and sunny with blue skies so we decide to take the shuttle bus over the Lion Gate Bridge and take the gondola up Grouse Mountain.   It proves to be a great decision and along with a number of other fellow travellers we soon reach the top gondola station.   The views back over Vancouver are fabulous and today very clear.   The top of this mountain has generally been shrouded by low cloud most days and there has been fresh snowfall at the summit within the past week. Part of the mountain has been fenced off and there are two orphaned grizzly bears living inside the enclosure.   There are mixed views about these magnificent creatures being in effect “in captivity” but they were orphaned as cubs and would have died in the wild or had to be shot if, as they almost certainly would have, started to hunt for food on the edge of habitation.   When we do catch a glimpse it is clear they they have privacy if they want it and the local ranger ...

We are not called to disembark too early in the morning so we take our time over a leisurely breakfast before heading for the disembarkation deck and return to a much warmer, brighter and sunnier Vancouver. This ended our Alaskan experience.  We had enjoyed some wonderful sights and Glacier Bay had been a highlight, but disappointing weather and poor views of the coastline as we had travelled the Inside Passage did leave us with a slight sense of disappointment. On the plus side we had very much enjoyed the company of two new friends we had made and we were all looking forward to the next stage of our trip. We decide to do some more exploring of the city and this includes catching the little bucket ferry to visit Granville Island with Simon and Helen.  This includes wandering around the market area and having a look into some of the craft workshops.  It is then that we discover the distillery and spend a pleasant hour or so tasting the local products!  W...

We spend the next day at sea, travelling south now on the return leg to Vancouver.  We relax and enjoy the passing scenery as the Volendam passes between the mountains of the mainland and the offshore islands through calm protected waters.  In the afternoon we return to the Pinacle Grill for the second of our two wine tastings with the ship’s sommelier.  We taste five wines using two different glasses and then the same wines with small samples of food.  The patter is very informative and we enjoy the afternoon. Back in the cabin we pack and prepare to disembark in the morning to start the next stage of our visit to Alaska and Canada. That evening we have booked a special meal in the Pinacle Grill which certainly does not disappoint. 

Ketchikan claims to be the world capital of salmon and there is a lot of evidence in the town of its links to the fish and the fishing industry.   It is also “boasts” to have one of the highest levels of rainfall in the world!   W e can verify these claims on both fronts! The cruise ship terminal is close to the oldest part of the town, but we delay a visit here until we have located and walked the “Rainbird Trail”.  It is further out of town than we had realised and although there were views through the sea mist and rain back to the town and the cruise ships at the dock, there was little to commend the walk which was very wet under foot. There are totem poles, largely copies of old designs on display in various parks, but the museum houses the oldest collection of originals.  These have been collected from abandoned village sites around the area and this was well worth the small entrance fee.  We stood for some time admiring the exhibits on display here and...

Today we wake early so that we can head up to the crow’s nest for a presentation by the National Park rangers who have joined the ship in the very early hours.   They explain that we are headed into a deep fjord   where we shall see glaciers edging down to sea level and that a running commentary will be made from the bridge pointing out features as we pass and then as we reach the furthest most point from the sea the engines will be cut, the rangers will head out onto the foredeck and we shall get very close to the snout or terminus of the glacier as it calves off into the bay. We enjoy our breakfast then put on warm layers and waterproof and go out on deck.   The whole experience is almost magical and certainly the highlight of our Alaskan cruise. One of the world’s largest protected natural sites, Glacier Bay penetrates deep into the Tongass National Forest.   At least six separate glaciers slide slowly from the mountains down into the icy waters of Glacie...

Skagway is located in a narrow glaciated valley at the head of the Taiya Inlet, which is the most northern  fjord  on the  Inside Passage .   We have travelled here overnight and wake to find ourselves already alongside the quay with the carriages of the White Pass Railroad alongside the ship.   We have booked a trip on this, supposedly one of the most scenic rail journeys in the world for later in the day, but first we plan to explore the old gold town settlement itself. Mary has her usual stretch class before a buffet breakfast which we take in the Lido Restaurant for a change, then it’s collect camera, waterproofs and we are off the boat and walking into town.   Skagway seems to have more going for it than the State Capital Juneau where we were yesterday.   Here the town is in a much better state of repair, probably because it is now under the protection of the Federal Government and also because it has the “cash cow” of the White Pass and Yuko...

Once again Mary heads for classes while I read in bed, shower and dress with cooler weather in mind.   Once again the sea is calm and we are closing on the coastline having crossed open sea overnight.   We have also passed from Canada into the USA in the past ten hours and have had to adjust our watches.   We know what day it is because they change the mats in the lifts each morning and today it says “FRIDAY”. We are entertained at breakfast by porpoises and orcas close to the ship and although we see them I don’t have my camera with me.  By the time we have finished the marine action has ended!   The ship docks on schedule at Juneau and  as it is raining we are ready with waterproofs to head ashore.   We have pre-booked the Juneau Glacier Shuttle bus, opting for this rather than taking an organised trip with Holland America, as we shall have greater flexibility.   The driver of our bus is a wit and we have a humorous running commentary all t...

Mary has two classes to attend before we go for breakfast, which once again we take in the Rotterdam restaurant.   There is a huge amount of choice and here it is relaxed and leisurely with waiter service.   The view from the picture windows at the stern of the ship is of islands, ocean and sky.   There is no hurry as we shall be at sea all of today. We spend most of it watching the islands slip by on a calm sea, hoping all the time for at least a glimpse of wildlife.   We scan the sea but all we get are "log alerts" caused by a broken surface as we glide past huge tree trunks. Heading up the Inside Passage to Alaska We have booked into an onboard event and after a light lunch at the Lido buffet we head for the Restaurant for a guided wine tasting with the ship’s sommelier.  We are at a table for six and have an enjoyable ninety minutes tasting two whites and two reds before finishing with a glass of sparkling wine.  The sommelier gives us an a...

A decent sleep through to just after 6.00 am so body clock almost ready for Canada and Alaska trip.    We meet up with a few of our fellow travellers over breakfast and then repack the few items we have unpacked for our overnight stay and take our bags down to the lobby before a short walk in Downtown Vancouver. On our return there is a short wait for the coach which will take us to the cruise ship dock.    Within minutes we are following the rather roundabout route which will take us through check-in,   security and finally passport control with a friendly, smiling immigration officer.    Then at last we board and are shown to our stateroom (cabin). Our compact but comfortable Stateroom We take a stroll around the ship and find a buffet area for a light lunch, which is all we need after a large breakfast.    Mary explores the fitness and spa while I remain on the upper Lido deck and as we gently slip our mooring and head out int...

Unusually for us, with the excitement of a trip to Canada ahead, we both sleep really well at Andrew and Clare’s in Beaconsfield.   A leisurely breakfast and we are picked up by Nigel, Andrew’s driver, dead on time and are whisked to Heathrow in a limousine.   Everything goes smoothly at baggage drop and through security, so that we are soon relaxing in the lounge with a cup of coffee reading the day’s papers and catching up with final emails before we are called to the gate. It is a long flight but with meals, drinks, films, a lot of reading and a little sleep the flight passes OK and we are on descent, breaking through the cloud base with Vancouver spread out below us.   Immigration and entry is efficient and painless and we go straight to the taxi rank to pick up a cab to the hotel.   Twenty minutes and we are unloading our cases and these are taken off by Jesse and we check in.   We discover that there are actually quite a group of us doing the add on c...

I had originally intended to write this blog as we went along, however during the Alaska cruise my computer failed and so this “diary of our trip” has been written from our memories, the notes made in the Tour Daybook, my own written notes and of course the many photographs taken during the four weeks we were in Canada and Alaska.