Summary of Canada / Alaska Trip 2007

 Well here we are in Vancouver, Friday the 18th May, left home on the 16th and stayed at Diane’s overnight getting up at proverbial sparrow fart to go to the airport at 6.15 for a 7.45 takeoff. Only a hour and a bit to Melbourne then a 2 hour wait in the airport and then a very good flight to Auckland and another couple of hours there and then of to LA, This was not an enjoyable flight it was too bloody long 11 ½ hours then another 2 hours in L A waiting in a queue for immigration and customs and then booking in again with our luggage and then 2.5 hours flight to Vancouver, all in all including time spent in airports was 37 hours. The security in all the airports has to be seen to be believed, very thorough and if anyone had concerns they need not to have any Have not seen much of Vancouver as yet, had a quick trip in on the shuttle bus from the airport with a maniacal elderly driver!! Obviously a good driver but hell did he drive fast, he was telling us that Vancouver is now the 3rd largest city in Canada after Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver at 2,550,000 is only 100000 people behind and closing fast for second place, there is a lot of development here a lot of cranes dotting the skyline and heaps in the pipeline. Petrol here is just as dear as it is in Aus it was 125.9 Today is a lay day with a walk around the shops and then board the boat at about 12, 30 for the start of our Inside Passage cruise.

Have to be out of the hotel by 12 so that will work out fine. “Well we have just had dinner so will fill in on the days events, had a real bad night, went to bed after filling in the days events about 10 oclock and woke up at 2 oclock and could not go back to sleep so decided to get up and have a shower and a cuppa and then tried again about 6 to get a bit more sleep and log and behold went back and woke up at 9 oclock, really needed that sleep. After breakfast we went for a walk through the shopping district and one thing that struck our notice was the price of 40” LCD screens we paid $3000 for ours and they pay $2400 for a 50” most other things were much the same. The Canadian Dollar is much the same as ours although you need $1.10 to buy one CAD$1 We then went and had a bite to eat, Chinese, and then back to the hotel to book out and get to the boat by taxi. Arrived at boat at 12.45 and by the time we had got thru the immigration and not to mention the Customs and security of Celebrity Cruises it took about an hour and then it was time to look around the ship and wait for the fire drill which we had at 4.30 and took about 30 minutes. Dinner time came and went with us being seated with 3 other couples and the guy on my right was a farmer from here in Canada so we had a fair bit in common to talk about. Went to bed at about 8.30 and apart from waking up briefly for the toilet we slept soundly until 9.30 am 12.5 hours unheard of!!! , Today is a day of just walking around the ship, when we eventually got up on deck we found it was raining and that kept up for about 5 hours but it did not affect things in any way because we are out in the middle of the Inside Passage and there is nothing to see anyway . Went for a walk around the ship this arvo and found the duty free shops and we ended up buying ourselves a watch each, did not really need one but WANTED it !!! Tonight was formal dinner attire so had to get all dressed up for dinner in the glad rags and a very pleasant night was had, we get on really well with the farmers from Manitoba and it is great to be able to have a conversation with somebody who talks your language. Finished up at the Celebrity theatre where there was a floor show and went to bed about 10.30.

Sunday. The gods were looking favorably on us as when we got up and got outside the sun was shining and it turned in to a beautiful day and we got some terrific photo’s .this arvo was spent after we docked at 12.30 at Juneau doing over the shops, as you can appreciate the towns in Alaska get their income from tourists so nearly all the shops are souvenir Shops so Brodie had to spend a dollar. The history of Juneau is quite good reading but basically it is all about gold, Juneau is America’s first Alaskan city which was formed 13 years after Alaska was purchased from the Russians in 1880. Two gold miners found gold here and it was named after one of them who was obviously called Juneau. He and his partner drank themselves virtually to death and died penniless. After diner we went to the Celebrity Theatre and saw a show called a night on Broadway and retired about 11pm. Everything is a con job on these cruise ships, a waiter will come up to you with a tray of drinks and ask would you like one so you say yes and then he will ask you for your card (everything is paid for with your card) and this happened the moment we stepped on board you assume it is a freebie but no that cost $20.00 then whilst having breakfast another waiter with a tray of warmer mugs asked like a coffee sir so you say yes and he fills up one of the mugs and asks for your card and bingo another $10 , some people live and learn others just live, I will wake up soon I hope. The boat left Juneau at 10 pm and we will sail all night and will arrive at Skagway at 7am Photo number 125 Monday, Today we went on the White Pass Yukon Train Trip and what a terrific day it was, left at 8.15 and returned at 11.45 Cost US$220 nothing is cheap here will have to just get used to it. If you want to use the computers to go on to the internet it is , wait for it $0.75 cents a minute!! Ie $45 an hour consequently you do not see too many people using them The railway line was built in 1898 to 1900 there were 35000 men working on the line and 35 lost their lives in accidents and pneumonia and other illnesses, it was quite an engineering feat and it was designated an International Historic Engineering Landmark in 1994 . This is an honor shared by only 36 world civil engineering marvels such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the Panama Canal The line is recognized for the many difficult and hazardous obstacles that construction overcame design challenges granite mountains steep grades cliff hanging turns and unimaginable weather conditions. The courage and brave acts of the workers under the leadership of dedicated builders are recognized by this prestigious destination.. Gold was the reason for this construction ie the Klondike Gold Rush, 100000 men and women headed north but only 30 to 40000 reached the goldfields of the Klondike, four thousand or so prospectors found gold but only a few hundred became rich. The 2 discoverers of the gold done very well and both retained their fortunes and built on them with real estate and other sound investments.

 There is still 2 fully operational steam engines in service in Skagway engine no 69 and 73 which is the favorite and are beautifully kept and were used for 46 years, it is all owned by a company called Tri-White Corporation based in Toronto Ontario The tri-White Corporation is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The snow plough which was used for keeping the line operational was used up until 1965 was built in 1898 but was used again in 2001 for a ceremonial occasion and is fully restored and kept in good condition. There are shows in the Celebrity Theatre each night and very good artists they are, last night was a musical evening with 10 girls and about 4 guys and very professional they are, tonight we saw a very good vocalist who has performed for Presidents and also the Queen and he had a magnificent voice. Today we arrived at Ketchikan which is our last stop, this is a city of 13000 people and a very busy place when the liners are in port, there are 4 at the moment and as they average 2000 passengers and 1000 staff each there is over 10000 people in town every day. You would not believe the number of jewelry shops that are in all of these towns in Alaska, would be around 40 and they do not sell cheap rubbish either, When we got off the boat with our new found friends Gwen and John we were accosted!! by a genuine hill billy who was touting for business with his taxi and he offered to take us on a 2 ½ hour tour of the city and show us a rain forest and totem poles etc , well after we beat him down $20 away we went, he was quite a character and we were quite happy with his tour.. You have never seen so many ½ and ¾ tonne trucks ie Dodge and F150 250 they are everywhere.

Tonight was another great meal and a great floor show to follow with a top comedian for an hour and then into bed and asleep by 11.15. Always seem to be tired seems as though our time clock has not adjusted too well. Thursday today and the last full day of the cruise, we left Ketchikan at 8.15 last night and we have been cruising ever since and it is now 4.30 in the afternoon, there is a wildlife scientist on board who gives a seminar each day and boy is he informed and a real character with his presentation, a fair bit like Steve Irwin and just as good. They had a waiter today who sculpts or carves figures out of ice and he starts with a block about 3 feet high 2 feet wide and 1 foot thick and today he carved a Indian Chieftain 4 ½ minutes and it was exquisite, he also done the statues for the banquet display the night before last. Tonight dinner again and another show then straight to bed as we have to line up to disembark at 9.05 and when we are off the ship we are to be picked up at the terminal to do a 5 ½ hour tour. The concert tonight was performed by Chris Riggins a very talented singer who sang at the Atlanta Olympics and Rom Pearson a very versatile comedian, most enjoyable The day after tomorrow we do another tour around the city and then the following day (Sunday) we go on the train trip through the Rockies. Let us hope the weather is as kind to us for the trip on the train as it has been on the boat, it has been just fantastic, sunny days just perfect. Had a smooth disembarkation from the Mercury at approx 9.15 and was up on the right level to be picked up by West Coast Sightseeing at 9.45, the only complaint I have for the whole tip is the rough way they treat luggage, bought a new traveling case in Vietnam last year and they have totally wrecked it, by they I mean Air Canada and the handlers on the ship, ah well it’s only money!!! The staff on the ship and in the terminal are the most courteous and helpful people you would ever meet, every time you pass one of them on deck or in the corridors they smile and “good morning Sir or Madam” make you feel very important and actually you are, their job depends on their attitude to the travelers and they know it but they give the impression that they mean it. A little about the specifications etc of the Mercury Built in Germany in 1997, Cost $600000000. 77713 Tones , Length 866 feet Beam 105.6 feet Draught 25 feet, Speed 21.5 knots, Main Engines Man Father 25336 HP x 2 Main Son 16891 HP x 2 Bow Thrusters 1877 HP x 3 Stern Thrusters 1877 HP x 2 Passengers 1870 Staff 845 Food 38000 lbs of beef, 2800 lbs of lamb 3000 pounds of pork 1800 lbs of veal 1200 lbs of snags 14000 lbs of chicken 2000 lbs of turkey 16000 lbs of fish 45000 lbs of fresh veggies 2500 lbs of spuds, 50000 lbs of fresh fruit 4082 gallons milk 1800 quarts of cream 900 lbs ice-cream 1020 doze eggs 10000 frozen eggs 4200 lbs of sugar 2500 lbs of rice 1500 lbs of cereal 300 lbs of jelly 600 pounds of coffee 1600 lbs of cookies 9880 tea bags 2700 bottles of wine 200 bottles of champers 120 bottles of gin 180 of vodka 140 of whisky 150 of rum 250 assorted liquors 8000 cans of beer The Bus picked us up at about 10.30 and away we went on a tour up the mountain, the first call was to the Capalano Bridge which was most enjoyable. The bridge is a suspension bridge over a gorge about 100 feet below you and a raging river in it and was 450 feet wide and it swings when you walk over. There is a story attached to the bridge that a lumberjack was cutting timber and needed to get to the other side of the gorge and he got a rope over to the other side and then made a makeshift bridge which was there for a number of years until the the Govt built a more permanent bridge, this all happened back in the 1880’s then when you arrive over the other side there is a treetop walk of around the same distance and that is a shade scary too but never the less enjoyable. Heaps of carvings of Indians and animals as well as the usual tourist shops. Bought a sandwich for lunch and take notice of the size of it when viewing the photo’s, we only eat half and took the rest with us for tea.

We then went to the Grouse Mountain where to visit the attractions entailed a trip in a gondola up the mountain I enjoyed it but Brode was not all that happy but as she had no choice she had no option but to go. It was very picturesque up on top with snow, a ski run real bears in an enclosure and some bald eagles and other birds that were trained. There was also heaps of carvings of animals in wood also Indians, miners, lumberjacks and sportsman, as you will see in the photo’s they are extraordinarily good. There was a ½ hour show with 2 lumberjacks doing a race cutting logs and climbing trees and then log rolling all quite hilarious. The tour took about 5 ½ hours and we were then delivered to our hotel getting there about 6.00 pm Today Saturday was the Hop on Hop Off tour of Vancouver which is actually the first day of the Rocky Mountaineer Trip so we got a taxi from the Sandman Hotel first thing this morning and went around to the this hotel which is the Marriot Residence Hotel and what a beautiful room it is too do not know how much it is but it is just magnificent. The bus stops outside the door and we got on about 10.30 and we then spent 5 ½ hours going around Vancouver’s highlights, you could get off at about 20 stops if you wanted to but apart from Vancouver Observation Tower which towers 600’ above the top of the Harbor centre which is about 10 stories high we did not get off so in effect we saw the highlights twice but was well satisfied with that. We did take a very extensive tour of Stanley Park which is a beautiful park right on the edge of the city proper 400 hectares of beautiful rainforest and gardens, they had a terrible storm here in January and it blew down 10000 trees and some of them were 400 years old and most of them were of the hemlock family, they are very shallow rooted and as the winds were 160 to 200 KPH they did not stand a chance. Apparently there is no other city in the world with a rainforest so close to the city

Sunday this is the first day of or Train trip and it is looking a bit overcast this morning so we will have to wait and see how it turns out. About an hour after writing that the weather took a turn for the better and the sun is shining and it is a beautiful day. Fairly mundane scenery for a start but then it turned into the most beautiful scenery that you would see anywhere, it is steep gorges and raging rivers and there are just literally miles of it, this is the Yellowhead Pass route which goes from Vancouver to Kamloops then on to Jasper and takes 2 days then we bus it to Banff by bus and I believe this is the most magnificent part of the trip. The first part is through the Fraser Valley then into the Fraser Canyon then Hells Gate following the Fraser River all the way, the last part is along the Thomson River which is not as specky but the engineering of the line back in the 1800’s is simply mind boggling, I remember marveling at the ingenuity of the Kuranda Railway in the Atherton Tablelands, well that just pails into insignificance alongside of this, when they were constructing the line past Hells Gate they use to lower the men down the cliff face on ropes and ladders ,they would then drill holes, pack them with dynamite climb up and then blast it and sometimes they made mistakes and caused a landslide and heaps of rocks and MEN would end up in the river ,men dead of course. Arrived at our hotel at 6 pm and had time for a Bailey’s!! bought a couple of litre bottles on the ship for $17 a bottle, and then off we went for dinner and the Great Lumber Jack Show, well the dinner was quite good but the show was exactly the same as we saw at the Grouse Mountain in Vancouver so we were quite disappointed at that seeing as how we paid $160 for it, dear meal eh!!!. A little bit of the statistics of the locomotives The engines are 3000Hp 2 stroke cycle 16 cylinder which has revs of at full speed of 904 RPM for the technically minded t has a compression rating of 14.5 to 1 Bore and stroke 23-3/16cms x 25-1/5 Cams(9-1/16xx10”) Weight on rails 120,264 KG There are 6 generators to cover the trains 2 specialty coaches and 6 supply cars for all the food est. he company has 60 carriages and runs trips simultaneously on 3 routes, we have 32 carriages on today and tomorrow we split and there will only be 11 going on to Jasper, this company is privately owned and has been operating the Rocky Mountaineer for 17 years, This company also owns approx 200 buses as well as Grays Line which has an untold number of coaches , they own the double deckers we traveled on also West Coast sightseeing which we have used in Vancouver.

Monday Left the hotel at 8am and the train left at 8.45 following the Thomson River again . We criss cross the river quite frequently so those who are on the side of the river at onstage will lose it and the other side of the carriage get an opportunity to get a view of the beautiful scenery. Periodically the attendant gives a talk on highlights coming up and is very well versed on his subject; actually he has been doing these job for 7 years and obviously has seen the sights many times. The spot where 2 trains met head on a bridge in 1950, apparantley one train was given the go ahead to proceed and the other was also given the same info and they met head on and 12 people were killed, just goes to show that most accidents are human errors. The highlight of the day was when they called back from the loco that there was a black bear on the side of the line so everybody rushed to that side of the train and no one could see it so Brode got a little bear that she had bought as a souvenir from the bag and jumped into the aisle yelling out there’s a bear and every body rushed over to have a look and then Brode produced her bear and it broke the mob up, actually it was only down the track about 2 miles further on when we saw a mother and 2 cubs and then a little further on another black bear was on the side of the track so that was the highlight of the day. I t surely is a beautiful place the Canadian Rockies. Had a so-so night last night, the phone rang at 3.30 in the morning and it was a SMS from Bill and Gwen and then at 4 o’clock it rang again and it was a phone call from a friend in Hervey Bay who had no idea we were over here and when I told her that she hung up very quickly when I told her it was costing her $2.50 a minute!!! Left Jasper at 8.45 in a beautiful near new coach (road) and headed out for Lake Louise along the Ice fields Parkway and what a glorious day it was, the sun was shining and not a cloud in the sky and the scenery you would not believe, I thought the snow and mountains in NZ were out of this world but believe me this is the greatest. We saw Big Horn Sheep and Raccoons on the road, roaring waterfalls and had a trip out on to the Columbia Icefields on a massive transporter up the Athabasca glacier some figures on the glacier 6km x 6km 270 to 1000feet deep and it is decreasing in size by 25’ each year due to they think GLOBAL WARNING so Johnny baby take notice!!! ,water now melting ice which fell as sown 150 years ago is the purest water known. More recent snow falls carries an increasing amount of man’s airborne pollutants. I took that many photo’s that I am going to have to delete some. Native animals are that plentiful that 130 large animals are killed by Motor vehicles in the Park every year. They all have the “rip the tourist off “syndrome over here, for a sandwich and a muffin $12 but there was no option it was the only food outlet at the Centre.

Tonight we are at the Fairmont Lake Louise Hotel and what a magnificent hotel this is, you have never seen such opulence our room is a deluxe with 2 queen size beds a bathroom the size of a large bedroom but the prices of the food!!! , Homemade beef Lasagna $23 Beef Tenderloin $49 Rib eye $31 Apple pie$11 so we opted for a sandwich at $8.95 only one night here!!! Tomorrow we take a guided walk around the magnificent lake here and at 1.30 we go to the Yoko National Park for a tour and then on to Banff for the night, this is by coach also we have 2 days in a coach and 4 days in the train, 2 days on the Yellow Head Pass train and 2 days on the Kicking Horse train Well we did the guided walk around the lake which really was a non event so far as walking around the lake was concerned it was only about 300 metres.but we had a very informative guide who was quite humorous and it filled in a hour. At 1.30 we left on the tour of the Yoko and Banff National Parks and some of the highlights were awesome, this is a word most of the young girl tourist guides use but it really does describe the scenery, first off was a waterfall then miles and miles of towering snow capped mountains then another raging river with a narrow exit which caused it to turn into a hells gate section, very spectacular, We also saw a very large Elkhorn and a couple of black bears and some (sheep very different to ours) our drivers have been very informative and entertaining and keep the passengers in a happy frame of mind. All of the people in the tourist industry and apart from logging it is the biggest industry in Canada are the most politest workers you would ever meet, they are so polite and courteous and genuinely make you feel as though you are someone special, incidentally John baby our illustrious Prime Minister likes to remind us of how lucky we are well here in Canada the average hourly rate is $20 PH,minimum wage is $8 the average yearly wage is $48000 and inflation is 2% unemployment is 4% and the Canadians love their country and there is a distinct absence of Muslims .

The only minus that I could direct at the country is this habit of tipping, so far we have paid $170 in gratuity and even though they seem to be well paid this system is hard for us Aussies to comprehend , after all they are supposed to do a good job without being bribed . All of the hotels have been terrific, I did not mention it but there is no sleeping accommodation on the train so each night is spent in a hotel or motel and each one has been A1 the only hotel we could complain about was the Sandman which was booked by Flight Centre and they are also responsible for the 8 ½ hour wait we are going to have to endure at LA so if we do anymore overseas travel it will not be thru Flight Centre. Tomorrow it is back on the train again and the Kicking Horse Route. Today was another great train trip, was a bit late getting away from Banff as the train was late getting in from Calgary which is a couple of hours further east, w ended up getting a tour of Banff to fill in a bit of time We went through the Spiral Tunnels which was rather unique it goes up about 100’ which gives it a 2:1 ratio which is the accepted grade here in Canada. We then went through the connaught tunnel which is 8 km long and as there are 2 lines there is another tunnel higher up through the same mountain which is 14km long, amazing engineering. We then went over the Stony Creek Bridge which was another unique bridge, the first bridge and in fact has the distinction of being one of the world’s most important bridges. A wooden structure was first built in 1880’s but was replaced in 1893 because it was considered a hazard being wooden, normally a bridge is built alongside the old one but because of the cost of widening the track they built it over the top of the old one, this was then improved again in 1929 because the locomotives were becoming heavier and this once again was put over the top of the other 2. This bridge is 147 meters long and 99 metres above the floor of the creek bed. As you can imagine there are numerous bridges on this rail track and all are engineering marvels in their own right. There was a derailment down the track last night and the efficiency of the Rocky Mountaineer organization was demonstrated today, as it was unclear if the line would be opened they dispatched 10 buses from both Kamloops and Banff to meet the train at the site and if the line was not opened they would transport us to Kamloops, well the line was cleared and the buses returned empty, as a gesture of goodwill in case we had to detrain free wine was served with the lunch time meal regardless of the fact that we may not have been subjected to any inconvenience.

Another example of their desire to not upset passengers was at Kamloops on our first night here, there was not enough seats in the bus to transport us all to the Great Lumberjack Show so rather than divert another bus to pick them up they ordered taxis. Was a very long day yesterday 12 hours from the time we loaded on to train but it was only the last couple of hours was a bit tedious most of the time the scenery was just awesome. We have a delightful carriage attendant a French/Canadian about 23 years of age with a terrific personality and has a wealth of information on the highlights as they bob up, all of the attendants both on the ship and the train are well trained in the art of being courteous and helpful a pity the staff at our tourist attractions were not as well trained, Well today is our last day on the train and it is another beautiful day, going to be around 30 degrees and tomorrow our last day will be the same, the route we are taking today is the same as the first day only in reverse and as there was some fascinating views coming up they will be just as good in reverse. The trip today was as we expected with some more terrific scenery and a bit more information from our very informative Vanessa. There are 1017 passengers on the train and there are 84 staff, there are 31 carriages and the train is 1 ½ Kms long. The two diesel engines are the first diesel engines in Canada to use bio fuel. The sage brush that you hear about in America etc is like our saltbush and through the Canadian Rockies there are a lot of different trees like Western Red Cedar, Hemlock Douglas Fir, Spruce Aspen and Lodge pole Pine. The train arrived back n Vancouver at about 6 pm and we got to the hotel about 6.30. Well today is the last day of our trip to Canada/Alaska ad we are going to Vancouver Island, we are going to have a 12 ½ hour day leaving at & am and getting back at 9.30pm to the hotel. We boarded the ferry at 9am and arrived at the island at 10.30 and went straight to the But chart Gardens, these gardens have to be seen to be believed they cover 55 acres and it was originally a quarry for limestone used in the making of Portland Cement. The quarry was closed in 1920 and the wife of the owner decided she would plant a garden in the sunken quarry, she had hundreds of tones of loam carted in and the end result over some 80 years is just amazing. When they both died in the 1950’s the son-in-law took over the running of the gardens and it is still in the family today, there is approx 1,000,000 visitors annually and as the admission fee was included we have no idea how much per head but I would think about $30. There are in the summer 600 staff and there is 56 gardeners employed full time. After 2 hours we then drive to the city and the rest of the afternoon was taken up with walking around the shops and also the Museum which had a terrific display of the artifacts of the First Nation People (this is the term that they use for the Red Indian Race and there is just as much trouble as in Australia over land ownership, They have been known to have been here in Canada for 10000 years and in contrast to our Aboriginals they were a far more advanced race of people