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Pacific Northwest and Alaska
  • Pauline and Andrew Webb

Pacific Northwest and Alaska

A 13-day adventure by Pauline and Andrew Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 3, 2018
    Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    In the middle of the Tasman Sea, thinking about a future cruise
    Celebrity Solstice, last seen Sydney. See you next year in Seattle!1Our trip. As far north as Papa Westray in the Orkneys

    Planning our trip

    August 30, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    1st February 2017. Location: The Tasman Sea, midway between Milford Sound, New Zealand and Hobart Tasmania, onboard Celebrity Solstice. A day at sea. Time to look at future opportunities to cruise, and (why not?) on this beautiful ship. It's our first sea cruise and we're enjoying it!

    In the 2018 northern summer season, Celebrity ships sail in northern Europe, but the Solstice runs between the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, making its last journey north in early September. Then it crosses the Pacific to start again around Australia and New Zealand. So, with a promise of a good deal, and only 100 USD deposit, we booked the last trip to Alaska.

    Fast forward to December 2017. Flights for 2018 have been on sale for a while, and British Airways have announced a sale. Time to think about how we get to Seattle to catch the ship, and what we might do before and after.

    Airlines: BA - simple and we could go out and back from different places (but from Heathrow, so shuttle required); Icelandair via Keflavik (not actually cheaper, but giving a chance to also see Iceland - before or afterwards) - too complicated, and we decided we'll do a short visit another time; Thomas Cook to and from Seattle from mid 2018 - cheapest, but using the RAF's air tanker fleet, so sharing a movie on a pull down screen (hmm); Air Transat - a bit complicated, doing one leg via Toronto, and similarly priced; Aer Lingus via Dublin?

    Where to go before and afterwards? Sailing from Seattle, so Vancouver, being just 100 miles away, seems an obvious choice; Seattle itself? - we last went in 1996, with the boys, saw the sights, went up the Space Needle, it's a nice city; Chicago first, then on empire Builder train to Seattle, over 3 days (not sure about bunk beds, though); a chance to catch a repositioning Celebrity ship from Vancouver, via the Aleutians to Tokyo, but who wants 2 weeks at sea in the autumn North Pacific, and disembarking at Yokohama at 4 am? Visiting the Olympic National Park? The clincher was the Pauline wants to leave the trip with the last memory being disembarkation from Celebrity Solstice and straight home.

    So, then? BA to Heathrow; then Vancouver; 3 days there; the train (or bus) to Seattle; then direct back from Seattle to London and then on to Manchester.

    We booked the flights, then Andrew realised he was a day out! Luckily, it was online, so you get a free change within 24 hours. Used Trivago to book in Vancouver, and that was it, until...

    ...in February, BA said that they were cancelling our return shuttle, and so we needed to wait 5 hours for the next one. The to-ing and fro-ing is a story in itself, but suffice to say, that we are driving to Heathrow - our choice, as we'll be home when we'd still be waiting for our connection.

    All's now paid for, the final link is that we're on a bus from Vancouver to Seattle (faster than the train!), checked in to all but the flights, just about to start packing.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Where the sun will be, from the flightdeck
    If we went on 9 October, we'd see sunrise in the West!

    Tomorrow, the sun will rise in the west

    September 2, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The book: "Skyfaring: A journey with a pilot." The author: Mark Vanhoenacker (a BA 747 pilot). Page 263:

    "Leaving London for Vancouver on an autumn afternoon, we start by roughly heading north, and the sun is already setting to the west; to our left. In the middle of the flight, it might be ahead of us, on the nose. Then, near the end of the flight, when we approach Vancouver heading nearly south, the sunset is on our right, having moved around the horizon as ordinarily as the hand of a clock or the shadow of a sundial".

    Investigate further, find route and sunrise / sunset calculators (yes, really), and you find that, tomorrow, not only does the sun move around, but it also almost sets, rises again, then starts to set. What a great view they'll get from the flight deck!    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Pre-Travelling

    September 2, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Checked in, but the flight goes from Heathrow T3, not T5, so we need to factor in a little more time to park the car, then get from terminal to terminal. On the return, we arrive at T5, so we'll not change car parks, as we're in the Meet and Greet, and all we'll want to do is get home. Four hours should do it, and if we set off after the Monday morning rush, we should be there with plenty of wriggle room.

    Our flight (BA85) is at 17:20. At 8:20 pm, today's is en-route, having left 34 minutes late, but expected to arrive 16 minutes early. FlightRadar24 tells us that the very same Airbus A380 has flown this route 6 days on the trot. We wonder if there'll be a 7th.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Pauline's definitely a patient traveller

    September 3, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    So, we got to Heathrow in good time - just as well, as we only saw this morning that the flight went from T3, not T5.

    Anyway, it was a different Airbus (so, not 7 days in a row for the other - it went to Singapore instead - ours had come in from Hong Kong this morning) and the flight was beautifully smooth, up over Glasgow, Skye, Iceland, Greenland and then Canada, in sunshine all the way.

    What a pity that Pauline had someone in front who seemed hyperactive - maybe it was the 10 cups of coffee he had - and one behind whose legs were long, so he stretched them out next to her seat and took his shoes off - you can imagine.

    Very, very efficient immigration, and a quick journey to our “Vancouver Original” hotel. It’s 9 pm here, or 5 am there. Let’s see how we get on with sleeping.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Lions Gate Bridge

    Vancouver HoHo and Stanley Park

    September 4, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We're in The Victorian Hotel - built in 1898, just 90 years after Vancouver was established. It has "stayed true to her roots, accentuating features of her past..." so, it's quaint, we've got a sunlight (but it doesn't open), and a stand alone a/c unit. The bed's very comfortable.

    There's a book to be written about Vancouver, a dense, glass fronted, high rise city. Or, at least, a Wikipedia page, which is here and does better justice than we could do in this blog:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver

    As usual, we took up the HoHo Hop-On, Hop Off to see the downtown part of the city and its famous Stanley Park. There are two routes - City and Park, and we got a combined ticket for both, as we're handy for Canada Place, which seems to be the tourist hub.

    So, read the wiki for the details. Our highlight was Stanley Park, where we got off to see a Totem Pole display, ate a Japanese hot dog, then walked the Sea Wall, all around to Lions Gate Bridge - and we saw our first sea life!

    Lots of lovely beaches and water traffic, we then had a selection of beers at a local brew house, before heading back for a nap.

    Tomorrow, we're going whale watching, and visiting Victoria    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Whales seen in the Salish Sea

    September 5, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Up at the crack of dawn, and ready, checked in, for our Prince of Whales cruise across the Salish Sea, through and past the Southern Gulf Islands to Victoria, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island. And we’d hoped to get a view of whales.

    Well, we did! First, quite near to Victoria (in front of the grand houses), then, later, on the way back, we diverted along the coast of Valdes Island and wow!

    There was even another watching boat next to us, and he had a hydrophone in the water, so we heard the whales sounding to each other.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Victoria and Butchart Gardens

    September 5, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Apart from the whale watching, our day took in Victoria (British Columbia's capital) and then a 30 minute bus ride to Butchart Gardens.

    Victoria by Wikipedia:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria,_Briti…

    Victoria was very nice (small) and worth spending a lot more time there. Oh yes, we'll be back next Thursday evening on the Celebrity Solstice, making our last stop before the end of the cruise. We've just realised how it might work that we only have from 5pm to 11pm in port - it's quite possible to walk around, but the best is that the Butchart Gardens are open until 9pm and they've got lighting!

    The Gardens, built mostly in a disused limestone quarry (well, the sunken gardens are), are fabulous and definitely worth a visit.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butchart_Gardens    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Grouse Mountain - bears, lumberjacks

    September 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    So, we’ve seen the whole Pacific Northwest wildlife tourist treats, and we haven’t even got to Alaska yet!

    Grouse Mountain is a winter ski resort, only about 5 miles from Vancouver. The enterprising owners have made it a year round destination, with a fabulous brown bear habitat as its centrepiece.

    We took the chair left to the very top, at just over 4000 ft - looking down, we could only assume the run from there was a Black one....

    Oh, yes, on the way, we went over the Lion’s Gate bridge. Built around the same time as the Golden Gate Bridge (it looks similar, but it’s green), it was financed by Guinness (yes, that one), and it’s just 3 lanes, with a tidal flow on the middle lane. Not AS impressive as San Francisco’s, but iconic in its own way.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Seaplanes, sulphur and the mountains
    BC brushfires, causing smoke haze everywhere

    Vancouver - some reflections

    September 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We sat on the cruise ship pier, admiring the Silverseas ship which was about to sail. An old timer struck up a conversation with us: Dennis Black is Vancouver born and bred and spends his time admiring the outdoors, and his indulgence is “cruising”.

    So, we’ve got some insights to help us with the next week, and an urgent task to bring forward our travel in the morning to Seattle - he said enough about possible delays at the border to give us the wobbles. So, a phone call later, and we’re setting off on the 0530 bus - in Seattle by 0900.

    We’d been wondering about the pile of yellow minerals across the harbour - “sulphur” he said - extracted from “sour” gas and oil (this making them sweet - and off to make fertiliser.

    Here’s a take from a letter to the Yukon Times, about the yellow pile, from 2013:

    https://www.yukon-news.com/letters-opinions/per…

    Maybe tells a story...    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Simon & Garfunkel moment

    September 7, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    “I’m (we’re) sitting in a railway station, got my (our) ticket(s) for my (our) destination....”

    0500, Pacific Central railway station, Vancouver. The early starters are gathering for their adventure across the US.

    The train (leaves at 0630) has border checks done before they get on, whereas we have to get off the bus at the “line”, remove our bags, go through the usual questions and passport stamping before reboarding.

    Yet it will take us 1 hour less than the train. Any thoughts, our followers    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Space Needle
    1Warwick Hotel, 4th Ave

    Home of Microsoft, Boeing, Frasier, ...

    September 7, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    ... Starbucks, and now, the shopper’s friend, Amazon!

    Arrived in the city at 9 am - learned a lot about paramedics (that was our driver’s full time job) - and he said that the principal cause of call outs is seniors (!) falling - keep up, or start the Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates.

    Drove past landmarks from our last visit (in 1996).

    Just waiting to board    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    1Porpoises seen here

    Porpoises at 10 o'clock!

    September 8, 2018, Coastal Waters Of Southeast Alaska And British Columbia ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    So, a day at sea, and a fascinating talk this morning by marine researcher, Brent Nixon. He said: if you see birds, then there’ll be whales nearby!

    As the day went on, we looked for signs of animal life and eventually, Pauline saw what looked like birds. No, it was a massive school of porpoises, rushing along, trying to keep up with the ship!Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Two bears
    Scene from the quaysideTug towing barge of suppliesEasy fishingFrom our roomChomp!

    Ketchikan - salmon & seals

    September 9, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    14,000 year long population, swelled by cruise ship passengers. Our trolley bus guide told us that, last week, there were 4 ships in and the visitors almost outnumbered the residents. Today there are 4 ships in..

    It’s been raining this morning - in a typical year, they have 15ft of water (so, 180”). By comparison, Glasgow, which is at the same latitude has 43”, but the total is similar to the highest peaks in the Lakes.

    There’s so much salmon and great feeding for seals and black bears. In The Creek, which runs through the old town, it was like “shooting fish in a barrel”.

    They’re 90 minutes by air from Seattle and over 2 hours from Anchorage. With only 60 miles over road on an island 100 miles x 60 miles, they rely on air, but mostly tug towed barges to bring all their supplies (including fuel) from Seattle. We saw a couple of these near the islands around Vancouver and wondered what they are. Now we know!

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchikan,_Alaska    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    1Spectacular light over the glacier
    Tracey ArmWorth getting up early forTracey ArmAdmiralty Island sliding by over coffee

    Spectacular light and ice

    September 10, 2018, Coastal Waters Of Southeast Alaska And British Columbia ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Well, we were unlucky last year when we sailed up Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound in NZ: it rained and rained, we didn’t see anything of Doubtful, but we did see the waterfalls in Milford.

    Not unlucky this time! Crystal clear viewing all up the Tracey Arm to the Jarvis glacier. Bright blue icebergs, sun coming over the mountains, and the ship being put through 360s so we could all see the glacier. On this trip last week, they had fog, mist and low clouds, so it’s our turn for good views!

    All that happened before 9 am this morning, so we’ve now had breakfast and coffees, and we’re seated on our balcony, rugs on our legs, watching more beautiful scenery slide by as we sail to Juneau.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Meldenhall Glacier
    Juneau icefieldWe saw the whales hereThar she blows!Waving goodbye

    Retreating glacier and WHALES!

    September 10, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    23C in Juneau today - unusually warm and sunny, and we’re so far North!

    The Juneau Ice Field feeds a number of glaciers, and the tourist attraction is Mendenhall Glacier, about 5 miles out of town. When we were visiting, there were 15 coaches from the 4 ships which were berthed up today. This glacier has retreated by 9,480 ft since 1957 - it’s a sign of something!

    Out on a large whale watching catamaran today, and, hurrah, we had several hump back whale sightings. With the beautiful weather and the fantastic, clear views, it was quite spectacular.

    Fewer pictures to upload today (the data connection is slow), but took less anyway - it’s much better to see a sight like a whale with you own eyes, rather than a viewfinder - and they always look further away in a photo than they really are!    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    He's finished 6 of the racesIncomparable

    Skagway and the Iditarod dogs

    September 11, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    A very small town with an interesting history and pivotal role in the Klondike gold rush:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skagway,_Alaska

    Our first stop if the day was to the Iditarod sled dog demonstration: the dogs are Alaskan Huskies - not an official breed - it’s “a mutt that will haul”

    Iditarod? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_Trail_…    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    At Fraser, BC
    159 42' 52" N 135 02' 48" W 2800 ft up

    Canada again, then W P & Y R

    September 11, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    After the dogs, the bus took us over the White Pass at 3200’ to Fraser. So, we left the US and entered Canada (briefly).

    On the vintage train back - the W P & Y R (White Pass & Yukon Route), we more or less followed the White Pass route which was the final breakthrough for the hopeful (but mostly hopeless) tens of thousands who tried to bet to the Klondike in the last years of the 19th century.

    The scenery was absolutely spectacular (at least up with the Glacier Express), and photos really couldn’t do it justice - we have had atypically settled weather and fantastic visibility. Here’s a link for more:

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Pass

    Maybe we’re getting lazy with these links...nah, we’re on holiday!    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler
    Recognise the view? See footprint 1
    Skagway sail away

    Aurora "smudge", more and more whales

    September 13, 2018, Coastal Waters Of Southeast Alaska And British Columbia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Coming to the end of nearly 2 days at sea, we got all excited on Tuesday night, as we’d been told there was a high chance of a Category 6 (?) Aurora Borealis between 11pm and 3 am.

    So, after a beautiful sail away, down the fjord from Skagway, we ate, watched a show, wrapped up and sat at the back of the ship and waited. We saw a glow in the sky for an hour or so, then gave in and went to bed.

    “Bing bong” at 2 am - “Northern Lights seen”. And we saw them, as a distant curtain of green glow - too faint for photos (at least on our camera), but there nonetheless.

    Another talk by Brent Nixon this morning, this time about Orca. 2 resolutions:

    (http://www.naturetalksbybrentnixon.com/brents_b…)

    - never again to be called “killer whales”
    - boycott anywhere that keeps them in captivity.

    (Oh yes, update to an earlier post on being chased by porpoises - Brent told us that porpoises don’t jump out the water: they must have been dolphins)

    He also said that, as we cruise up the Strait of Juan de Fuca this lunchtime - “of you don’t see whales, you’re dead!” And was he right! Dozens of hump backs, spouting and fluking, and, in the distance, jumping out of the water!

    About to dock in Victoria for our last stop. We probably won’t go ashore - instead, a relaxed final dinner, get packed by 10 pm and prepared for disembarkation and off to the airport for the 1330 flight.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    People

    September 14, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We’re off the ship, waiting in departures to board our return flight, so this may be the last Footprint.

    People - we’ve met LOADS. The ship was full, and it was overwhelmingly US people - after all, they didn’t actually leave the USA! All shapes, sizes, fashionwear (loose description!), and boisterous - as we think they are, they really are! And so many families and travelling groups - there must have been many good deals out there.

    We chatted to people like this: a Delta Airlines pilot (we were looking at sea planes landing - we said “would you fancy that?”. He said that he was on holiday, to get away from flying); Gerry and his wife from Edmonton Canada - his website is gerrys.ca; an Irish descended builder from Virginia; semi-retired insurance broker from Kamloops, Canada; a night club owner from Nevada; a Brit from Folkestone who said he hadn’t enjoyed the cruise (?!) - we don’t think he left the ship; a gentleman from Boston who helped to clear the mystery of the circular plaster behind the ear (it’s to alleviate sea sickness, btw); a Part 91 pilot (whatever that is), who seemed boring; two recently married male realtors from Las Vegas one of whose mother was a retired professional golfer; a family group who had a “companion dog” with them. It goes on

    And finally, the crew. Different from last year in NZ (except for a small few), but just the same quality, attentiveness, and ability to remember names (ours, at least). The Captain wasn’t Tasos and that was noticeable in the approachability of the officers.

    The ship’s off to San Francisco today, back in a week, then to Honolulu, Hawaii, ultimately Sydney for the Antipodean summer. And so, the cycle restarts.    Read more

  • Pauline and Andrew WebbPacific Northwest and AlaskaTraveler

    Journey home

    September 15, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    BA - In economy (us), 2 of the 4 “washrooms” unserviceable, headphone socket not working, people allowed to bring on more than one case and some with ones so big they took up the whole overhead bins.

    Before boarding, Andrew got a call from the desk agent- “great”, we thought, “maybe an upgrade!”. Nope, they just wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t get a pillow. Laughable.

    The good thing has been that the tailwind has been massive and we’re going to land 35 minutes early - so, just 8 1/2 hours.

    And, to finish on a positive note, it’s only 30 minute so nice touchdown, we’re through passport control (no queues for us, despite it being Heathrow and much better than Manchester).

    Bags quickly too, in the car, and home by 1025 - faster than if we’d got the connecting flight!

    Thanks for reading!    Read more

    Trip end
    September 15, 2018
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