Off to Alaska

[Grumpy John]

SWMBO and I set sail on our Alaskan (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f125/advice-wanted-cold-weather-clothing-113274/) cruise today, and I'm just a tad excited. We spent the last two nights in what has to be the noisiest hotel room I've ever stayed in. There is a railway line no more that 10 meters from our room and the sound of a freight train going past at 3:00 in the morning is something else. If anyone has seen the movie My cousin Vinnie they'll know what I'm talkng about. Photo's to follow, promise.

[Big Shed]

Have a great time GJ, keep those winter woolies on:2tsup:

[rsser]

Take care up there. Not all brown bears are called Yogi ;-}

[Claw Hama]

The inside passage (without being rude) is awsom and if you get a chance the train ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks through Danieli national park. Enjoy
Oh and its not the bears you have to watch for its the FBI (F_ _ king Big Indians)

[springwater]

Bon voyage GJ, give it heaps!

[rsser]

And don't forget that cube of Sitka Spruce you promised me!

[joe greiner]

If you have a couple days in Anchorage, see if the dentist, Dr. Paine, is still there; on Minnesota Drive IIRC. Worth a picture of the sign if possible. Also photogenic are the "spirit houses" atop tombs in a graveyard at Eklutna village, NE of Anchorage.

Aurora borealis is awesome, but happenstance.

Cheers,
Joe

[tea lady]

Have fun! :boat:

[Wongdai]

Do the White Pass Railway. It is superb.

[Grumpy John]

Thanks for all the kind wishes everybody. I think I could get used to cruise life real easy, SWMBO, on the other hand is feeling sick as a dog, literally, she's gone of for some acupuncture to try and cure her seasickness. I did 3 laps (1 Km)of the top deck this morning to try and work off breakfast. It should work, I was walking in to a 50 knot wind in one direction and trying not to get blown over in the other direction.
Ern, will a 50 m/m cube of Sitka Spruce suffice, I don't want to go over weight and have to pay excess baggage charges. As it is they might not let me on the plane after the cruise, there's not shortage of great food.




Do the White Pass Railway. It is superb.

Booked it this morning :2tsup:

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[munruben]

Have a great time GJ. I'm sure you will. Keep those pics coming in.:2tsup:

[dai sensei]

Have a great time GJ. I'm sure you will. Keep those pics coming in.:2tsup:

:whs:

Trip like that has been on my list for a while :-

[rsser]

Gee GJ, 50 x 50 is too generous. Can't you do 5 x 5? ;-}

The cruise sounds awesome you lucky bustard, and you can chk out the talent on deck while the missus is laying a pizza back in the cabin.

(Sea sick tablets worked well for one of my sprogs but I don't want to spoil your holiday).

[Grumpy John]

Gee GJ, 50 x 50 is too generous. Can't you do 5 x 5? ;-}

The cruise sounds awesome you lucky bustard, and you can chk out the talent on deck while the missus is laying a pizza back in the cabin.

(Sea sick tablets worked well for one of my sprogs but I don't want to spoil your holiday).
I guess I'm doubly lucky, acupuncture didn't work, tablets didn't work either :yuk:

[Calm]

Enjoy it John - i should be doing something like that myself.

Cheers

David

[John Saxton]

Sounds like you're in for one helluva great holiday John ,hope you & missus enjoy all there is to offer up there in the wilds of Alaska.

Going to do what you're doing next year in the meantime we're doing the Dawn Princess world cruise later this month just to get in the habit of extended break to go over some of the places visited in our younger days>

All the best ,& ENJOY

Cheers:)

[rsser]

Ginger works for some folk to quell the stomach GJ.

[Grumpy John]

Spent the day checking out Seattle, and I thought Ballarat was cold. Seattle makes Ballarat feel like Brisbane, damn it's cold,.

[rotten_66]

Spent the day checking out Seattle, and I thought Ballarat was cold. Seattle makes Ballarat feel like Brisbane, damn it's cold,.

I love Seattle, dead easy to get around, the street layout is like a grid for the game Battleship. All streets one way are 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc so you only have to walk one block and you can work out where you are. When I was there it was wet rained every day for almost a week, apparently it is quite normal, did you get a chance to go to Vancouver Island and see the Butchart gardens??


Ron

[joe greiner]

If you have time and inclination, now or upon return to Seattle, visit the Pilchuck Glass School and/or the Boeing plant near Everett.

The Anchorage tourism mascot is/was a moose named Seymour of Anchorage (See more of Anchorage). Try the clam chowder at the Federal building cafeteria. Yummy.

You oughta buy some moose-pellet souvenirs for weirdness.

Cheers,
Joe

[DJ’s Timber]

You oughta buy some moose-pellet souvenirs for weirdness.



If he did buy some of these, they'd probably be confiscated at the border on return to Australia, we have very strict laws on what can and can't be bought into Australia

[joe greiner]

If he did buy some of these, they'd probably be confiscated at the border on return to Australia, we have very strict laws on what can and can't be bought into Australia

OK. Take pictures of them instead. Probably wouldn't confiscate pictures.:D

Cheers,
Joe

[Grumpy John]

I'll post some more verbose relpies and pictures when I can score some free wifi time. It costs 65c/min on board ship and I'm a slow typer and a tight arsk.

[RETIRED]

I'll post some more verbose relpies and pictures when I can score some free wifi time. It costs 65c/min on board ship and I'm a slow typer and a tight arsk.Heard you weren't cheap either?:D

[rsser]

LOL!

GJ, type up your trip report in Notepad before getting on line. Paste it into your email client when you log on. Then you can send us to sleep with 3 pages of detailed narrative ;-}

[Jim Carroll]

Sounds like a you are going to have a great time up in the wilds.

Looking forward to seeing more pics.

[rsser]

Shoot, we haven't heard much for a while. Gotta wonder whether ...

Yogi Bear gobbled him up
The missus lost it and threw him over the edge
He got word of a timber stash and is heading inland
Someone gave him the address of Oneway.
The wifi access cost maxxed out his credit card.

[Grumpy John]

Shoot, we haven't heard much for a while. Gotta wonder whether ...

Yogi Bear gobbled him up
The missus lost it and threw him over the edge
He got word of a timber stash and is heading inland
Someone gave him the address of Oneway.
The wifi access cost maxxed out his credit card.

Nup
Nup
Nup
Nup
Yep
G'day youse all, cobber, bluey, mate, digger, sport, jeez I miss the ozzie accent.
Anyway, I'm alive and well and have found an internet cafe in Victoria, B.C. that only charges $2.50 for all day.
The trip has been fantastic and the ship is very well appointed and every need is catered for (almost). Calm you need to do a trip like this, there's a ton of eligable females on board, and they're an easy catch, just knock their walking frames out from under them and they're yours for the taking :D.

O.K. some pictures as promised:


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[tea lady]

Looks fantastic, if not a bit cold. :cold: (We've got gorillas in our zoo too ya know. Or was that some guy you met at the pub? :think: :D )

[Grumpy John]

More photos:

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[rsser]

Cool.

What are the birds? Sea eagles?

Looks like you have had some good weather GJ.

[tea lady]

:2tsup:

(Or maybe the gorilla was a forumite you met up with. :think: )

:U

[munruben]

Cool.

What are the birds? Sea eagles?
I think they are Bald Eagles Ern.

[Grumpy John]

Yeah, Bald Eagles, Ern. Commentary to follow.

[BobL]

Great pics!

This is one place in my top 10 list of places I want to go to.

[John Saxton]

Thanx for the photo's John, we've something to look forward to next year looks as though you're having a great time up there in Alaska.

Cheers:)

[Grumpy John]

Thanks or the compliments on the photos guys n gal, they don't do justice to the real thing. Sorry for the lack of reply, but the wifi connection at the Howard Johnson hotel we're staying in is giving me some grief. seem that I can access any other site EXCEPT WWF :((. I'm sitting in Doolins Irish Pub sinking a few pints of Molsons and typing out this post. If I can get the wifi problems sorted I'll post more pics, otherwise I guess I' just have to come down to the pub :rolleyes:.

[rsser]

Hard life GJ but someone's gotta deliver the regional economic stimulus.

So what's Molsons like?

PS, an acquaintance went to Alaska for glacier skiing.

It was a 10 day bracket; roll up in the morning to see if conditions were right.

Day 9 they were, the lucky bustard went out in a chopper. It settled on a ridge, the guide had to step out on a runner overhanging some awful drop to get the skis off. They were off. Down some awesomely steep slopes to the bottom for a pick up and ride back up again. The glacier was 20 miles wide btw.

[Grumpy John]

Still no wifi connection to the forum at the hotel so I'm back at the pub downing more Molsons', not a bad drop BTW Ern.

A bit of info on the pics posted so far:
Post #28
1st. Photo. A series of statues honoring Bob Hope's contribution to entertaining troops during America's various "conflicts"
2nd. Photo. USS Midway, permemantly moored at San Diego.
3rd. Photo. My new avatar, suits the "Grumpy" part of my user name.
4th. Photo. Me and the missus in front of the ship before take off.
5th. Photo. The Space Needle at Seattle.
6th. Photo. View of our cruise ship from the Space Needle.
7th. Photo. A couple of the islands off Sitka, our first port of call in Alaska. I get the feeling that this place is just about permenantly shrouded in mist and cloud, when it's not snowing.
8th. Photo. View of our cruise ship from the dock at Sitka. We were anchored in the bay and had to tender to shore.
9th. & 10th. Photos. Our second stop was at Hubbard Glacier, absolutely awesome. These photos do not do justice to the raw beauty of the place, it was probably the highlight of the cruise.

Post 30:
1st. Photo. Skagway, 2nd port of call and the start of the commercial bit of the tour. Too many jewelry shops and tourist traps for my liking, beautiful scenery though.
2nd & 3rd. Photos. Taken from the White Pass train. We took the train up the White Pass to just over the Canadian border, and the bus back to Skagway. I'd definately recommend this trip to anyone who gets the chance to do it.
4th. Photo. Juneau.
5th. Photo. A glacier out of Juneau, the name escapes me ATM (the Molson must be kicking in)
6th. Photo. The cruise ship anchored at Icy Strait Point, another chance to catch a tender to port.
7th. Photo. A wild Brown bear we saw on a nature tour we took while we were at Icy Strait Point. We saw plenty of black tailed deer as well but they were too quick for me to photograph.
8th. Photo. A shot of another cruise shop in Tracy Arm, we were lucky to be on one of the first cruises of the spring/summer season and therefore the ports of call and shore excursions were not crowded. In fact there were onlt 8 people in our carriage on the White Pass train. We were not able to travel too far in to Tract Arm as the icebergs were too big and there was a danger that we could be trapped by the ice.
9th.Photo. Some bald eagles shot from the deck of the Aleutian Ballad, more about this later.

[rsser]

Don't believe it. The bear was a work experience student suited up for the tourists. He prob just threw a salmon back saying 'Eeyew, this ain't no chicken nugget'.

Great shots GJ. Your making us green.

Hope the missus has got her sea legs.

[Grumpy John]

Don't believe it. The bear was a work experience student suited up for the tourists. He prob just threw a salmon back saying 'Eeyew, this ain't no chicken nugget'.

Great shots GJ. Your making us green.

Hope the missus has got her sea legs.

Back in the pub, again, hopefully they never get the wifi problem sorted in the hotel, the waitresses here wear the shortest mini skirts and have the nicest legs I've ever seen :D.

Actually, Ern my first thought was that they had a caged bear hidden behind some bushes and it was conveniently released when the tourists approached :rolleyes:. We've been on dry land, Vancouver, since last Friday. Vancouver is a cross between the grid like layout of Melbourne, the harbour views of Sydney and the excitement of Adelaide. I've come to the conclusion that "most livable city" is a euphemism for boring. Within a two hour drive however, Vancouver has some of the most outstanding scenery I've ever seen outside Doolin's Pub.

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Photo's 1,2 & 3. Never ask the girls in Alaska if they've got crabs, coz they'll show ya :D. Photo's taken on board the Aleutian Ballad, which was featured on the 2nd. season of "world's Deadliest Catch" as the fishing boat that took a giant wave and rolled over.
Photo 4. Some leftover waste from the lumberjack show.
Photo 5. The unique cuisine of Ketchikan.
Photo 6 & 10. Butchart Gardens.
Photo 7,8,9. Maybe it should be called "Burlchart Gardens" Lombardy Poplar burls, there's never a chainsaw around when you need one :D.

[Grumpy John]

Still in the pub, so some more photos.

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Photo 1. The ultimate motor home complete with trailer containing 4WD and boat. Eat you heart out .
Photos 2, 3, 4. Hells Gate.
Photo 5. Typical of the scenery you'll see.
Photo 6. A real wild bear on the road to Whistler. The missus shat herself when I got out of the car to take the photo.
Photo 7.One of the Baluga whales at the Vancouver aquarium.
Photos 8 & 9. It's not that easy to get photo's of dolphins leaping out of the water.

[munruben]

Great pics GJ. :2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

[Grumpy John]

More pics.

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Pics 1 & 2. The Capilano suspension bridge.
Pics 3 & 4. Some more burls, Hemlock or Redwood I don't remember which :doh:. I'm pretty sure they're Hemlock.
Pics 5, 6 & 7. They they sure like their glass skyscrapers in Vancouver.

[rsser]

What about those finely turned legs in the bar??