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Canada and Alaska 2018
  • Karen Adam

Canada and Alaska 2018

A 22-day adventure by Karen Read more
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  • Trip start
    April 24, 2018
  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Sydney

    April 24, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    At the Airport Ibis Hotel for the night before we fly out to Vancouver tomorrow. It’s Lorraine’s birthday. We had dinner at Darling Harbour with Lorraine’s daughter, Nicole, husband Daniel and granddaughter, Harper.Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Vancouver, Canada

    April 25, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    A long 14 hour trip on the plane 😞 glad when we landed in Vancouver. Saw snow-capped mountains from the plane, beautiful! We walked around the city for a little while, they had tulips in big pots, and cherry blossom trees in bloom everywhere. It’s the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival this month. We took a quick free bus trip to Capilano where the suspension bridge park is. We didn’t go in today, but going back to see it tomorrow. We came back and had a rest before dinner, which was really nice (picture of dessert, there was another piece but I ate it ha ha). We also took a picture of the front of our hotel ‘Four Seasons Hotel’, and ‘downtown’ Vancouver with the snow-capped mountain in the distance.Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Vancouver

    April 26, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today we went on a city tour in a new coach. We all have labels of different animals to look out for during our trip. Lorraine and I are Wolverines. We stick the labels up above our seats and our tour guide changes it everyday for us to change seats, then everyone gets a chance to sit in the front of the bus. We went to Stanley Park and saw the totem poles, Chinatown, Gastown and Granville Island. We bought chocolate at ‘Rogers Chocolates’ and walked through the markets. We had a free afternoon so we went back to Capilano suspension bridge park and walked over the suspension bridge. It’s 137m long and 70m high. I wasn’t going to at first but with Lorraine’s encouragement I braved it (didn’t look down though). She had already gone over it once. There was also a cliff walk which I didn’t do, Lorraine was game enough to do it though (she’s also a bit scared of heights). After you walk over the bridge you can walk amongst the tree tops over 7 smaller suspension bridges, which I did. I was proud of myself afterwards. Tonight we went for a walk downtown to Gastown and had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. The Gas Clock in Gastown lets off steam at 9 pm every night (in the day as well, but it’s better at 9 pm). Tomorrow we leave at 0630 to hop on our Rocky Mountaineer train, first stop is Kamloops. Looking forward to that!Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Kamloops

    April 27, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Hi everyone! To the Rocky Mountaineer train this morning with the coach. The train leaves from Vancouver to Kamloops and ends in Banff. We got a little badge when we arrived at the station. There was a man playing the bagpipes and we also had the red carpet laid out for us. Inside the terminal someone came round with juice, their was also tea/coffee and other cold drinks. I was surprised to see a man playing the piano in there as well! We had plenty of food on the train, I even had 2 drinks of Baileys today, in the daytime, oops! (I know what you’re thinking). When we arrived at Kamloops we hopped on the bus to our hotel which was only round the corner, it was so hot, the bus driver didn’t put on the aircon. Lorraine and I decided to walk down to the train in the morning. So when we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by 3 mounted patrol men on horses, and as we walked in we were all given a glass of cold sparkling water. Later we went downtown for a walk and had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Afterwards we went down to the park, which was nice. PS I forgot to tell you that my Paris scarf I had on my suitcase is gone, wasn’t on the bag when we arrived in Vancouver, I was so annoyed!Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler
    1

    Banff

    April 28, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Arrived in Banff at 7.30pm. Banff is in Alberta, so there is an hour time difference between British Columbia where Vancouver is. Here’s a bit of trivia, Kamloops means the meeting of two rivers, north and south Thompson rivers meet in Kamloops. We crossed about 7 other rivers today. We had beautiful scenery, snow-topped mountains, and snow still on the ground. When we were closer to Banff some of the water still had ice on it. I saw a bear in the woods, they are starting to come out of hibernation now . I also saw a squirrel when we went for a walk into Banff. I saw the Xmas shop Jen, but it was closed. I’m going back in the morning. One of the workers on the train read out a poem about salmon, so he asked everyone to write a poem. I wrote one and I was the only one that did. I had to read it out loud to everyone. I got a salmon badge for my effort. Here’s a picture of it ( the salmon poem isn’t mine). Near the end of our train trip we had a ‘treat’ for afternoon tea, freshly made Anzac biscuits, yum! Miss you all, till tomorrow. 😘😘😘👋👋👋Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Banff

    April 29, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ❄️ 0 °C

    We went into Banff this morning by courtesy car, but you have to catch the bus back to the hotel. Costs $1 if you are a senior. I went to the Xmas shop and bought a few decorations, there was just too much to look at, but a beautiful shop🌲! We then went and tried a ‘beaver tail’, you say what on earth is that? 😆 well it’s like a long thin pastry, shaped like a beaver tail, and you have a choice of 2 toppings, I had Nutella on one side and maple butter on the other, yum 😋 This afternoon we went on a little bus and did the Banff experience tour. It was really good. We saw a few animals and ice on the lakes. We drove up to the top of a mountain, what a view! Yes Jen, I’ve been using the camera, taken a few panoramic and night time pictures, as well in the day. Tonight we went to beautiful German restaurant for dinner. When we got back to the hotel, Lorraine and I went in the sulphur mineral pool for a little while. Tomorrow we’re going in the gondola up Sulphur Mountain. Love you all 😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Lake Louise

    April 30, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    We met a Canadian Mountie Policeman this morning. Then on our coach to Bow River, and onto Sulphur Mountain for our gondola ride to the top. Last few days it’s been raining a little bit, but not bad enough to spoil our day. On our gondola ride we rode up into the clouds, what a fantastic view. There was a shop and restaurant on top. After that we went back into Banff for a few hours, and then we went on our way to Lake Louise. So beautiful, the lake is frozen still with some breaks in it. You can see a bit of blue water here and there. ❄️😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Jasper

    May 1, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    Just before leaving Lake Louise this morning it started to snow. It was very exciting, first time I had seen snow fall. It snowed on and off all the way to Jasper National Park. We went to the Columbia Ice Field to see the Athabaskan Glazier. We went down to the glazier on an ice explorer vehicle and walked on it, fantastic! Lorraine and I laid on the snow and did the ‘angel thing’. Our tour guide gave us all a little shot of whisky with the fresh snow that we got ourselves. It was pretty good and we all posed with the Aussie flag. After that we visited Athabaskan Falls and then drove to our hotel in Jasper. We all have our own little log cabins. It stopped snowing after we left the glazier and the sun came out now and again. Till next time love you xxxxxxx😍Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler
    1

    Sun Peaks

    May 2, 2018 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We are now at Sun Peaks Grand Hotel. We’ve left the Rocky Mountains, Alberta and are now back in British Columbia. Tomorrow we will be in Whistler. We are going a different way as there are landslides on the road, so we are going via Vancouver. It will take us a little longer to get there. We were on the Yellowhead Highway and stopped at Mt Robson - it is the highest peak in the Rockies, 3954 metres. We spent most of the day on the road. In the afternoon, Craig, our tour guide made up a game for us to play. We had to draw parts of a moose but we had to pass the drawings around the bus, so each picture had a part of the moose drawn by different people. We had to name our moose too, we called ours Goose the Moose. We’ll find out later if we win a prize for the best one. Going out the front to take some pictures of the hotel and surrounds. 😘 😘😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Whistler - Victoria

    May 4, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Hello again! We went to Whistler via Kamloops and Vancouver yesterday. We went a different way as they had a mud slide on the road somewhere. Craig said it was an avalanche. On our way we stopped at Shannon Falls, a spectacular waterfall, in the town of Squamish. It cascades down 335 metres. It’s British Columbia’s 3rd tallest fall. Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. It has a pedestrian only village, lots of shops and restaurants. Today we drove to Victoria, Canada’s capital city. It’s on Vancouver Island, so we had to cross over by ferry ⛴ from Horseshoe Bay. It took an hour and a half to cross over. We saw some whales on the way. In Whistler we stayed at the Hilton, we were supposed to stay somewhere else, I don’t know why they changed. In Victoria we are at the Grand Hotel, here is a picture from our window. We’re going for a walk soon so I may add more pictures. We had dinner in Chinatown, in a cute little restaurant. The city looks beautiful when all the lights are on (all the cities do). Tomorrow we go on our horse and carriage ride. Jen, I have a special bear for you (was at the Hilton Hotel). Love and miss everyone 😘😘😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler
    1

    Victoria

    May 5, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Went to the Butchart Gardens this morning and had a lovely breakfast there. The gardens are just beautiful, wish I could have a garden like that. They also had a carousel there, so of course Lorraine and I went on it 😆.This afternoon we went on our 45 minute horse-drawn carriage ride, through some of the city and Beacon Hill Park. Yesterday I spotted a sweet shop, with what looked like giant lolly pops covered in chocolate, the chocolate actually covers an apple (I didn’t try one). Here’s a picture of our tour guide, Craig on my side, and our coach driver, Mike. Tonight we are having our farewell dinner here in the hotel because it’s our last day on the coach tour with Mike. Tomorrow we board our ship to sail up through the inside passage to Alaska! 🛳🤗😃😘😘😘 I ended up trying a chocolate apple, yum!Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Victoria

    May 6, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Well, here we are last day in Victoria, Canada. We’ve been really lucky with the weather since being on our trip. Last night we had our farewell dinner which was fun. We didn’t win a prize for our Moose drawing. They had them categorised in different sections and we were in the ‘Huh?’ Section. Craig was giving out prizes for other things as well. Lorraine and I liked sitting in the back of the coach and he had a sign put up ‘the riff raff section’, so our prize was a whistle. At one stage I looked towards the window (it was dark but some curtains were still open) and some idiot showed there bare bum at the window 😜 Craig told a joke as well which was really funny. Talk to you soon 😘😘😘😘(our moose is the bottom left hand side, Goose the Moose). Picture of the parliament building and more pictures of Butchart gardens.Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Juneau, Alaska

    May 8, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Hi again! We left for the ship 2 nights and 3 days ago. We took the coach to the ferry to go back to the mainland. Hopped on the coach again to Vancouver where we had to get on our ship. We had a social gathering early evening then dinner. Had to put clocks back an hour. I made sure the balcony door was locked each night before we left ( my joke to Lorraine about pirates coming into our room😆). The room stewards get our room ready for the night and make animals out of the towels and put it on our beds, looks good. We had a rabbit one night and an elephant the next. We get a bottle of water each everyday, and laundry was free once for both of us. Day 2 on the ship we were at sea all day (can’t use wifi on boat as it is very expensive). We walked around the ship today, checked the shops, spas and pools. Went to the movies after lunch - Murder on the Orient Express. We had the first of our gala dinners, very nice. Listened to a ‘Blues’ band after dinner, and a pianist singing later. Day 3- a speed boat came up to our ship 6.30 in the morning, thought they were pirates ha ha! We found out later they were pilots getting on the ship, it was 8 degrees Celsius at 8 am. We arrived in Juneau, capital of Alaska, at 1pm and went on a walking tour of the town with Craig. Then Lorraine and I went on the tram car (like a gondola, but it can fit about 60 people on it) up Mt Roberts. Great view! They had a real bald eagle in a cage, they keep her there now as she was shot at some time and has lost sight in one eye (have the real photo in the camera). Looked at the shops of course in town. We are now sitting in the library in Juneau updating penguin, the only place we can use wifi. Going back to the ship shortly to have dinner, we leave Juneau tonight at 10pm. Love you all! Xxx😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Skagway, Alaska

    May 9, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Thanks Jen, I’m glad I’m doing this too, it’s like a diary of your trip. I still have height fears but if I don’t do these things I’ll regret it. We arrived in Skagway 5.30 am and will be leaving 8.30pm. It’s a small quaint town with no traffic lights. The picture of the building you see has sticks built all on the front. It was originally a fraternal hall for gold prospectors in 1899. Lodge members collected nearly 9,000 driftwood sticks on the shores of Skagway Bay and nailed them to the front wall. These days it’s the Skagway Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tomorrow we will be at sea all day going through Glacier Bay, exciting! The next day we’ll be in Ketchikan, our last day at sea. This morning Lorraine and I took a shuttle bus from the boat into town, an all day pass is $5 or you pay $2 each time you get on. We took the all day pass. After that we went back to the ship for lunch. We booked a train tour for 3.5 hours after lunch. It was the White Pass and Yukon Route. We only did the White Pass (879 metres), which took us up to the summit of a mountain. Spectacular views again! It’s never ending. So now we’re back in town at a library, only chance you can do wifi for free. Won’t be able to do this tomorrow as we’ll be at sea but hopefully catch up the following day in Ketchikan. Love to everyone xxxRead more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Glacier Bay

    May 13, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Hi everyone! Back on land again in Vancouver. I’ll give you an update now of the last several days. We cruised the inside passage, all day at sea, to Glacier Bay. What a fantastic place! We watched some of the glacier break away. Magnificent weather! Sometimes it’s very foggy and you can’t see the Glacier but we were very lucky. Early morning when we first woke up a seal poked his head up out of the water and greeted us ha ha! We had lunch on the deck, then a social gathering at 2 pm with our group, and later a gala night dinner. Lorraine and I braved the spa tub before dinner, only allowed to stay in for 15 mins, but we were cheeky and stayed in for another 15 mins 😃 Then we watched the Blues Band and after our singing pianists. It was very windy one night and we rocked and rolled with the ship ha ha!Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Ketchikan

    May 13, 2018 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Arrived here 10 am. Went on a walking tour with Craig, then did our own thing. A beautiful little town. We looked at the shops in Creek Street, (built on piers) which used to be the red light district. Here’s a picture of a brothel that used to be called Dolly’s, who was the Madam. After a quick lunch we went on Ketchikan’s Cultural Discovery tour, we saw original totem poles. Totem poles decompose from the inside out so they don’t last forever. Went to Potlatch Park, home to antique cars, more totem poles and a carving centre, and a fully re-created native Alaskan village. A gift shop, of course, and a gun museum. After dinner we watched our pianists again and at 9.45 pm waiters came around with chocolate treats, yum! The next day we’re at sea again all day making our way back to Vancouver. We had a farewell cocktail at 3pm with our group. When it is foggy, the ships fog horn goes off every few minutes. In Skagway I lost my sunglasses, went into the library with them came out without them! We saw a bear in the distance on the beach from the ship along the way somewhere, woo hoo! Well now Lorraine and I are going for a walk in Vancouver. Our flight leaves late tonight, so we have time to do that. Till next time, love you all! 😘😘😘Read more

  • Karen AdamCanada and Alaska 2018Traveler

    Sydney, Australia

    May 15, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Here we are, back on home soil 😀. We’re at the airport now waiting for our flight this afternoon. Can’t wait to see everyone! Here is a of photo through the window of the dining room, on our last morning on the ship of the city of Vancouver, and one when we were out walking. (I also added a couple of extra photos of Vancouver, one from Stanley Park when we first went there, and the other is a photo of the Cauldron where they lit it for the 2010 Olympics). Before we left the ship everyone received a ‘Voyage Log’ 🗺 It showed how far we travelled etc. What a great keepsake! I’ll be framing that😊 Sarah, Nina and Will met me at Coffs Airport. Walking across the tarmac I saw Nina at the window waving a ‘Welcome Home’ poster. She was so cute! Then Jenny, Addy and Harry surprised me at the airport. We all went out to dinner at Hog’s Breath Cafe later that evening for Mother’s Day, which was really nice. Now I can reminisce about our holiday. Lorraine and I had the most wonderful trip, and the weather was the best!!Read more

    Trip end
    May 15, 2018
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