QUICK CORRECTION/UPDATE
In the post on 30 Sept. I gave the web site to see our 'Singapore/Malaysia tour'. The one that comes up shows the revised itinerary for 2017. Make sure you go to the 2016 tour.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Friday, September 30, 2016
We’re off again. This time it’s a 5 week trip beginning in Singapore, then Malaysia, Taiwan, Cambodia, ending in Vietnam. Tuesday, 4 Oct., we are going to Toronto and will have dinner with Cathy Brian and Deborah. We catch a Cathay Pacific flight at 1:45 am on 5 Oct. for Hong Kong, (15 hours), a 3 hour layover, then 3 hours to Singapore arriving at 11:45 am on 6 Oct.
Most of our travel is with ‘Go Ahead Torus’. The first part of our schedule begins in Singapore, (see goaheadtours.ca/sam), and ends in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are not taking the tour extension to Bali, Indonesia.
We are then on our own for 3 days in Kuala Lumpur then we fly to Bangkok, Thailand were we spend 3 days before joining another Go Ahead Tour of Thailand and Cambodia, (see goaheadtours.ca/tai). This time we take the extension to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Instead of returning to Bangkok to fly home, we leave the group at Siem Reap and fly to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, (formerly Saigon). Our son Bruce is vacationing in Vietnam and well meet us at the airport in Ho Chi Min City as he arrives from Hanoi 20 minutes after we do. We spend 3 nights in Ho Chi Min then go up the coast to the beach area at Mui Ne for 3 nights. We then return to Ho Chi Min for one night then fly back to Canada via Hong Kong, again about 21 hours traveling arriving about 8pm. In Toronto we will go to a hotel for the night before driving home.
I will try to keep this up to date but much will depend on internet access. So long for now and check back again in a few days. ..................... Dick
Most of our travel is with ‘Go Ahead Torus’. The first part of our schedule begins in Singapore, (see goaheadtours.ca/sam), and ends in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We are not taking the tour extension to Bali, Indonesia.
We are then on our own for 3 days in Kuala Lumpur then we fly to Bangkok, Thailand were we spend 3 days before joining another Go Ahead Tour of Thailand and Cambodia, (see goaheadtours.ca/tai). This time we take the extension to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Instead of returning to Bangkok to fly home, we leave the group at Siem Reap and fly to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, (formerly Saigon). Our son Bruce is vacationing in Vietnam and well meet us at the airport in Ho Chi Min City as he arrives from Hanoi 20 minutes after we do. We spend 3 nights in Ho Chi Min then go up the coast to the beach area at Mui Ne for 3 nights. We then return to Ho Chi Min for one night then fly back to Canada via Hong Kong, again about 21 hours traveling arriving about 8pm. In Toronto we will go to a hotel for the night before driving home.
I will try to keep this up to date but much will depend on internet access. So long for now and check back again in a few days. ..................... Dick
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Friday, February 14, 2014
Blog Catch-up;
We are presently at ‘Villas Pico Bonito’ near La Ceiba, Honduras. I’ll describe our journey so far.
On Wed., 5 Feb. About 12:30 pm we left Belleville, Ontario to drive to our daughter’s home, (Cathy). The roads were terrible and it had been snowing all morning and continued for about an hour when we drove out of it. Hwy. 401 was mainly snow covered and the usual 2 hour trip took over 4 hours.
Lunch in Tegucigalpa of Honduran Tacos while we waited for our flight to Roatan
Cathy took us with granddaughter Deborah to the restaurant ‘Frankie Tomatoes’ for a delicious buffet dinner. We went to bed about 10 pm as we had to get up at 2 am to get to the airport for our 6:15 flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The flight was uneventful but the plane was delayed in arrival by 10 minutes. We learned they were holding the TACA flight to Roatan that we had originally been booked on. (We had changed flights because we didn’t consider the 25 minutes difference to get through immigration and customs and catch a flight at 12:50. Wish we had known they would make sure we made it. We did not clear customs until 1:03 pm)
View of the mountains from the Otter on the way to Roatan
We checked our bags with CM airlines then went to lunch. Our CM Airlines plane was a DeHaviland Twin Otter, Very small in comparison and even less leg room than on bigger planes. I had a cold and my ears were stuffed so experienced some pain in descending to Roatan. We took a taxi to the hotel, Cocolobo.
ROATAN
The room at Cocolobo was very big and looked out over the ocean. The lovely view from the wall of sliding glass doors and the large porch was partially obscured by vegetation. King size bed and refrigerator in the room, Also TV which we never turned on. Their bar was on the honour system which made things very convenient when Nelson and Kara came by for a visit with their children Steven and Kelly and we could serve ‘sodas’.
Due to my cold we spent most of our time reading, walking, and relaxing by the pool. On Sunday night Nelson picked us up and after collecting other church members we went to the ‘under construction’ church for service at 6 pm. After the service they delivered several members home then dropped us off.
On Monday 10 Feb. N & K took us to the ferry terminal and we boarded for the trip to La Ceiba. We needed cash and had to check out 7 ATMs before we found one that would work. We also stopped at a supermarket and bought a few groceries for breakfasts and lunches which we understood were not served at the Villa Pico Bonito. We splurged here and spent a little extra to go first class which included air conditioning and a soda.
LA CEIBA
We had been told we would be met by someone from Villa Pico Bonito at the terminal but no one was there. But we have experience in Honduras so we waited. Eventually Anna arrived. She had a flat tire. The trip to the hotel was quite a distance and we stopped for fuel on the way. Their internet was down and they couldn’t take her credit card so I loaned her 300 limperas to add to the 200 she had. It was repaid the next day.
The Villa is quite a distance from La Ceiba over a poor dirt road. Anna was driving a 4 wheel drive Toyota pickup, crew cab. We were given a quick tour and shown our room. We learned that the restaurant was closed Mondays but they made arrangements for someone to drive us to a nearby lodge that was open. Here we had an excellent meal and ate it with a Korean/American who was travelling the area on her own. The lodge then had someone drive us back to the Villas. We were the only guests in the resort Monday night.
Tuesday was quiet. We explored the many pathways, mainly paved, through the luxurious growth on the property, went for a swim in the large pool, and met some fellow Canadians who had just arrived for 3 days and 3 Americans here for 2. Earlier in the afternoon I went for a walk in search of the closest pulpería, (small convenience store). It turned out to be 15 minutes walk up the road and was someone selling a few things from their home. One of the Villa’s 2 dogs accompanied me the whole way, and it was really hot. 2 other parties arrived, a couple from Hamilton and 3 women from Minnesota who will be joining a medical team arriving Friday. For dinner I had chicken breast in coconut/curry sauce and Eva had chicken fajita/burrito. Both very good. We went to bed early and didn’t get up until 6:30 am.
Wednesday we went into La Ceiba to do some grocery shopping. We enquired if anyone was heading into town and next thing we knew, a taxi had been ordered. The driver initially wanted $20 each way. We negotiated $30 return with him waiting for us at the supermarket. Other than that, nothing special to report.
Thursday, it’s raining and up to now at 5 pm has been raining most of the day. The ‘creek’ flowing through the property to the river is now a mini river. The ‘rooms’ are separated from the common areas by the creek and there are two paths between the two. We consider the lower one unsafe due to the volume of water.
Friday It continued to rain a lot last night and the river is a couple of feet higher than it was when we arrived. Went for a walk this morning then came back to try again to get into the posting area of this blog. I had quite a bit of trouble from 2 sources, first, all the instructions were in Spanish I guess because I am in a Spanish speaking country, and second it kept on insisting on a cellular phone number, and our cellular is rarely used so I didn’t want to put it in. However, as you can see I finally surmounted the problems.
All for now and hopefully I can post again before we go to El Paraiso. ......... Dick
We are presently at ‘Villas Pico Bonito’ near La Ceiba, Honduras. I’ll describe our journey so far.
On Wed., 5 Feb. About 12:30 pm we left Belleville, Ontario to drive to our daughter’s home, (Cathy). The roads were terrible and it had been snowing all morning and continued for about an hour when we drove out of it. Hwy. 401 was mainly snow covered and the usual 2 hour trip took over 4 hours.
Lunch in Tegucigalpa of Honduran Tacos while we waited for our flight to Roatan
Cathy took us with granddaughter Deborah to the restaurant ‘Frankie Tomatoes’ for a delicious buffet dinner. We went to bed about 10 pm as we had to get up at 2 am to get to the airport for our 6:15 flight to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The flight was uneventful but the plane was delayed in arrival by 10 minutes. We learned they were holding the TACA flight to Roatan that we had originally been booked on. (We had changed flights because we didn’t consider the 25 minutes difference to get through immigration and customs and catch a flight at 12:50. Wish we had known they would make sure we made it. We did not clear customs until 1:03 pm)
Inside the Twin Otter
ROATAN
The room at Cocolobo was very big and looked out over the ocean. The lovely view from the wall of sliding glass doors and the large porch was partially obscured by vegetation. King size bed and refrigerator in the room, Also TV which we never turned on. Their bar was on the honour system which made things very convenient when Nelson and Kara came by for a visit with their children Steven and Kelly and we could serve ‘sodas’.
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| The pool and bar area at Cocolobo. The building houses 4 rooms and is identical to our building/room behind me. |
On Monday 10 Feb. N & K took us to the ferry terminal and we boarded for the trip to La Ceiba. We needed cash and had to check out 7 ATMs before we found one that would work. We also stopped at a supermarket and bought a few groceries for breakfasts and lunches which we understood were not served at the Villa Pico Bonito. We splurged here and spent a little extra to go first class which included air conditioning and a soda.
LA CEIBA
We had been told we would be met by someone from Villa Pico Bonito at the terminal but no one was there. But we have experience in Honduras so we waited. Eventually Anna arrived. She had a flat tire. The trip to the hotel was quite a distance and we stopped for fuel on the way. Their internet was down and they couldn’t take her credit card so I loaned her 300 limperas to add to the 200 she had. It was repaid the next day.
 |
| Looking downriver from our room. |
 |
| Pool area at Villa Pico Bonito |
 |
| Looking toward the river from the lounge chairs at the pool. The water in the pool spills over the wall for what they call an 'infinity pool'. |
Tuesday was quiet. We explored the many pathways, mainly paved, through the luxurious growth on the property, went for a swim in the large pool, and met some fellow Canadians who had just arrived for 3 days and 3 Americans here for 2. Earlier in the afternoon I went for a walk in search of the closest pulpería, (small convenience store). It turned out to be 15 minutes walk up the road and was someone selling a few things from their home. One of the Villa’s 2 dogs accompanied me the whole way, and it was really hot. 2 other parties arrived, a couple from Hamilton and 3 women from Minnesota who will be joining a medical team arriving Friday. For dinner I had chicken breast in coconut/curry sauce and Eva had chicken fajita/burrito. Both very good. We went to bed early and didn’t get up until 6:30 am.
Wednesday we went into La Ceiba to do some grocery shopping. We enquired if anyone was heading into town and next thing we knew, a taxi had been ordered. The driver initially wanted $20 each way. We negotiated $30 return with him waiting for us at the supermarket. Other than that, nothing special to report.
Thursday, it’s raining and up to now at 5 pm has been raining most of the day. The ‘creek’ flowing through the property to the river is now a mini river. The ‘rooms’ are separated from the common areas by the creek and there are two paths between the two. We consider the lower one unsafe due to the volume of water.
Friday It continued to rain a lot last night and the river is a couple of feet higher than it was when we arrived. Went for a walk this morning then came back to try again to get into the posting area of this blog. I had quite a bit of trouble from 2 sources, first, all the instructions were in Spanish I guess because I am in a Spanish speaking country, and second it kept on insisting on a cellular phone number, and our cellular is rarely used so I didn’t want to put it in. However, as you can see I finally surmounted the problems.
All for now and hopefully I can post again before we go to El Paraiso. ......... Dick
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Headed back to Honduras!
Eva and I are headed back to Honduras for a visit on 6 Feb. We'll go to our daughter's in Markham ON on th 5th. Cathy will drive us to Pearson Airport for arrival about 4am. Our flight to Miami is at 6:15am. We arrive in Tegucigalpa Honduras at 12:25 pm and will catch a local carrier at 4pm arriving in Roatan at 4:50 where we will stay at 'Cocolobo' ((http://www.cocolobo.com/). On the 10 th we go to La Ceiba until the 18th, staying at the 'Villas Pico Bonito', (http://www.villaspicobonito.com/), an Eco Lodge in Pico Bonito National Park. On the 18th we fly to Tegucigalpa then plan to rent a vehicle and drive to Yuscaran to spend a week visiting old friends in El Paraiso Province. We will return 25 Feb at 11:30pm and Cathy will pick us up and take us home for the rest of the night.
I'm not sure how the internet access will be for posting updates, but keep watching. Dick
Eva and I are headed back to Honduras for a visit on 6 Feb. We'll go to our daughter's in Markham ON on th 5th. Cathy will drive us to Pearson Airport for arrival about 4am. Our flight to Miami is at 6:15am. We arrive in Tegucigalpa Honduras at 12:25 pm and will catch a local carrier at 4pm arriving in Roatan at 4:50 where we will stay at 'Cocolobo' ((http://www.cocolobo.com/). On the 10 th we go to La Ceiba until the 18th, staying at the 'Villas Pico Bonito', (http://www.villaspicobonito.com/), an Eco Lodge in Pico Bonito National Park. On the 18th we fly to Tegucigalpa then plan to rent a vehicle and drive to Yuscaran to spend a week visiting old friends in El Paraiso Province. We will return 25 Feb at 11:30pm and Cathy will pick us up and take us home for the rest of the night.
I'm not sure how the internet access will be for posting updates, but keep watching. Dick
Saturday, August 24, 2013
3 photos from the June 2013 flood in Canmore Alberta
Bow Valley trail leading into Canmore from the Trans Canada Highway
Flooded hotel along the Bow Valley Trail, Canmore AB
Flooded Trans Canada Highway
To all our friends. - If you want to see a video of our cruise and visit to Canmore OR to browse through our photo album of the trip, give us a call.. (The video of the trip is much better quality than the short video above. Dick
Water spilling over the Trans Canada Highway and the road embankment washed into a meadow. 
To all our friends. - If you want to see a video of our cruise and visit to Canmore OR to browse through our photo album of the trip, give us a call.. (The video of the trip is much better quality than the short video above. Dick
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Sorry for the delay. The connection on the ship was painfully slow. Also, I'm sorry there are no photos as I'm using Eva's laptop and it doesn't have the photo editing programs I have at home. I thought it did. Perhaps I can post some when we get home.
We are currently in Canmore Alberta. The roads are washed out to Calgary and we're hoping to be able to get to Calgary for our flight home on Monday.
Here's the info on our trip.
Alaskan Cruise 2013
Sunday/Monday - 2 & 3 June- We had lunch at the church, went home and finished putting a few things in our suitcases and left for Toronto. We had dinner with Cathy, Brian, Deborah and Robin. Slept on the daybed. Up at 5:30 and off to the airport just before 6. The flight to Vancouver was uneventful. Eva and I were not able to sit together, 3 rows apart.
As we approached the baggage pick-up, we were stopped by a woman with a NCL scarf and asked if we were ‘the Breadners. Why she suspected we were, we have no idea. Anyway, she got us a luggage cart then pushed it with us trailing to the shuttle bus, then she disappeared with our luggage. The ‘highway coach’ drove us to the ship with a running commentary from the driver.
Line Up, line up, line up. First there was the line up to go through security, then the line up to go through US customs, then the line, (rather short because we had sailed with Norwegian before), to get checked in with the ship and our ‘on board’ charge cards. You can’t pay cash for anything.
We quickly made our way to the Garden Café for something to eat, then began exploring the ship. We bought an ‘Unlimited Soda’ package. At 4pm we enjoyed the ‘Bon Voyage Sailaway BBQ on the pool deck then headed for the Casino to enjoy some free rum swizzles. In the evening we enjoyed the ‘Welcome Aboard Showtime’ in the Stardust Lounge.
We went to bed about 10 pm having been up for about 20 hours and experiencing the tiring effects of a poorer night’s sleep and travel from Toronto.
Tuesday, 4 June - At Sea An uneventful day. We watched the view and spent most of the day getting familiar with the ship. It is remarkably similar to the Epic
Wednesday, 5 June - We were up early again today. Eva was up really early, and managed to get out without waking Dick.
Today we visited Ketchikan, and participated in a guided hike in the Tongass National Rainforest along the Ward Creek Nature Trail. The tour company was Wild Wolf Tours, and the owner, Tracey Wolf, was our guide. Our group was only 6 strong, so we could always be close to Tracey. From the forest, returning to Ketchikan, we stopped at Totem Bight Totem Park. Using original totem poles as examples, copies of old poles and a replica of an old longhouse were set up. The old craft of carving totems has been revived, and even young boys are learning to carve.
We have been on our feet for nearly 3 hours, so will leave the exploring of the town of Ketchikan for our return trip to Vancouver. After lunch we returned to our cabin and slept for nearly 2 hours. This evening we enjoyed an acrobatic show performed by a husband and wife team, former members of ‘Cirque de Soleil”. Clocks move back another hour tonight.
Thursday, 6 June - We docked in Juneau at 10 am. There were already two others in port, ‘Carnival’ and ‘Holland America’ cruise ships. Our ship was berthed some distance from town and there were shuttle busses provided to ferry us back and forth. Of course, with 3 ships in port at the same time, the place was swarming with people. We looked into visiting the botanical gardens but my back was extremely sore and after a quick look around we returned to the ship. The rest of the day was spent on board. We were eating dinner when the Carnival ship left and were surprised to see a small coast guard boat with a machine gun mounted on the bow cruising the harbour as she left. Our ship sailed at 8 pm, just behind the “Holland America” ship.
Friday, 7 June - Skagway arrival was at 7 am. Our ship turned and backed into the dock with the Carnival Miracle behind us. We had no tours planned and spent the morning on board. After lunch we headed for town. A ‘golf cart type’ vehicle took us to the bus stop but we decided to walk the ½ mile from there to town. Skagway is quite small, 3 streets wide and 6 long constitute the ‘main drag’. One local owned shop sells smoked salmon for $16 lb. and we may buy some when we get back next Friday to take to Bruce for one night’s meal.
We visited several other shops and finally went into a ‘saloon’ to have a drink and snack but the music was too loud. Moving on, we entered the Red Onion Saloon”. It had the feel of an old time saloon and the waitresses were dressed in period costume. One interesting photo is of a ‘bar girl’ of the 1800s operating a touch screen. We enjoyed a drink and a large plate of cheese nachos. Another interesting building is a former ‘Arctic Brotherhood Hall’, now a tourist bureau, that has a facade of short pieces of driftwood. We left Skagway at 8 pm.
Saturday, 8 June - Today we cruised ‘Glacier Bay’. As the ship approached the glaciers at the end of the bay it moved slower and slower, finally coming to a stop amid large and small pieces of floating ice. We could see quite a contrast between Marjorie (white) and Grand Pacific (black) Glacier faces. Several small “calves” broke off Marjorie while were there and the captain slowly turned the ship using side thrusters so we spun around in the same place. We then headed back out the bay, headed for Hubbard Glacier on Sunday.
Sunday, 9 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier --The Hubbard Glacier is North America’s largest tidewater glacier. It is 76 miles long,7 miles wide, and 600 feet tall at its terminal face (350 feet exposed above the waterline and 250 feet below the waterline). The Hubbard Glacier starts at Mt. Logan (19850 ft) in the Yukon Territory. Mt. Logan is the 2nd tallest mountain on the North American continent. We were so far away for safety reasons that it didn’t look that large. The ice we see at the terminal face is approximately 450 years old and is over 2000 feet thick at some locations.
Monday, 10 June- Whittier, Anchorage, 8:00am - 9:00pm - High Tides during this trip have been quite dramatic. In Whittier they can range up to 14 feet between high and low ties. We took the NCL arranged bus into Anchorage. Just outside Whittier is a 2.5 mile, single line tunnel, (shared with a railway line) and is the only land route to Alaska. Direction of travel in the tunnel changes every ½ hour. There are 8 ‘emergency shelter’ rooms inside the tunnel in case of accident, fire, or other problems. The busses go through as a group, spaced 1 shelter apart in case of emergency. Arriving at Anchorage, we went and cancelled our reservation for the shuttle to the base of the Flat Top Mountain trail as we would not get back in time for the bus back to the ship. We then walked around the downtown area and found an exhibit on the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan Earthquake, the Portage Earthquake and the Good Friday Earthquake. It was a megathrust earthquake that began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 143 deaths.
Lasting nearly three minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph. It had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the second largest earthquake in recorded history.
One side of Fourth St. dropped 14 ft and was filled in and totally rebuilt.
We later had reindeer sausages from a street cart for lunch. The weather was extremely warm and sunny, shirt sleeve weather. We bought some souvenirs for the family and ourselves here in Anchorage. At 3:30 pm we boarded the bus back to the ship. The driver gave a running commentary on the area which we really enjoyed, along with a stop just before we reached the tunnel to Whittier while we waited for the traffic direction to change.
Tuesday, 11 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier - A Day at Sea we saw some fair sized icebergs on the way to the glacier, several more than when we visited on Sunday. Again we didn’t get too close for safety.
Wednesday, 12 June - Icy Point Strait, 9:00am - 5:00pm - The nearby village is called Hoonah and the native peoples have developed several tourist attractions. This was the only stop where we had to take tenders to shore. 4 of the lifeboats served this purpose. We took a tour to the village where we saw eagles and ravens and got some good photos. For lunch we went to the Landing Zone Bar and Grill for grilled salmon, delicious.
Thursday, 13 June - Juneau, 7:00am - 1:15pm; Tracey Arm, Sawyer Glacier - Our time in Juneau was short and we had booked tickets for the Mount Roberts Tramway. We had a spectacular view of the area and watched an interesting video on the Tlingit people and their history, especially as it related to the white men. We then walked to the main city bus terminal and caught the ‘Mendenhall Valley bus to the Glacier Gardens. We didn’t realise it was so far out of the center of town and it took ½ hour to get there. The gardens are beautiful and we had a personal guide. We were then put on a ‘golf cart’ and taken to the top of the park by a very knowledgeable driver. A beautiful view from there. Realizing the time we would need to get back to the ship we had to cut the visit short. Just a couple of minutes after we got to the bus stop the bus back to town arrived and we made it back in time.
On the way up Tracey Arm to the Sawyer Glacier we saw seals on some of the ice flows and in the water. These were also some of the largest icebergs we had seen to date.
Friday, 14 June - Skagway, 7:00am - 5:00pm - 8:50 am and we met ‘Madam Ida Dunham’, one of the madams from the Red Onion Saloon, (and brothel) for the Ghosts and Good Time Girls tour. This was a great tour and our ‘Madam’ really strutted her stuff and explained a great deal about the early history of the town, it’s ‘girls’, their trade, and the numerous ghosts in the area.
At 12:35 we again met at the end of the pier to board a bus to the Liarsville Salmon Bake. This was a really busy place with “all you can eat” BBQd salmon and chicken, salads and desert followed by a show talking about Liarsville and it’s history as the jumping off camp before the infamous Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike gold fields. (At least they claimed it was there and now Skagway.)
Saturday, 15 June - Ketchikan, 1:00pm - 8:00pm - On the way into Ketchikan we saw our first whale of the trip, an acrobatic Orca leaping out of the water and turning somersaults.
The Great Lumberjack Show was a real treat. We were divided into 2 teams to root for the two competing teams, (our team won). This is the same show that has been featured on TV. After the show we shopped for gifts.
Sunday, 16 June - Cruise Inside Passage, weather was sunny and warm again. We attended the presentation put on by the kids who had been in the child care area. They did a great job.
In the afternoon several of the staff put on a presentation of dance and song. They also did a great job, particularly the last act where they began so formally then wound up spitting water at each other. There was a draw in the gift shop for jewelry, but we didn’t come close. After dinner we picked up some purchases they were holding for us then returned to the room to pack and put out our suitcases for collection overnight.
Monday, 17 June - Vancouver, Calgary, Canmore. - Disembarkation started at about 8:15am, depending on the colour of the tags on you luggage. Since we had an 11 am flight we were one of the first to leave and get to our bus. Customs consisted of handing in a declaration and I never did see Immigration. We boarded the bus for the airport and received a 3 hour tour of Vancouver in the 45 minute trip. We had the first flight out and everyone worked to make sure we made it. Norwegian had someone at the airport to direct us to the special check in counter. Things went very smooth.
When we got to Calgary we bought lunch at Timmy’s then sat and read until Bruce arrived from work to take us to Canmore. The condo facility where Bruce and Yuna live has a hotel attached, the Windtower Lodge and Suites, and we were assigned a lovely room with a small kitchenette.
Wednesday, 19 June, - Canmore - It’s wet. It’s been raining, and raining, and raining. The trans Canada Highway is closed due to washouts in both directions, as is Hwy 1A, and there’s no way into Calgary. The forecast is continued rain. I took a short walk during a break but otherwise we have stayed inside. Bruce cannot get into Calgary to work and the bank where Yuna works has been closed.
One bright note, we are eating fabulously. Our son Bruce is a professional chef and he loves to cook at home. I don’t think my “waste” line could take too much of this.
Thursday, 20 June, - Canmore - Still raining and the rest of the country is beginning to hear of the extensive flooding. Eva, Bruce, and I took a walk a short way along the Bow Valley Trail and viewed the flooding and washout there. Then proceeding across a rock strewn former meadow that had been washed with flood water we saw the water flowing off the Trans Canada and trucks trapped on the highway. Late this afternoon, Bruce’s friend Anthony was evacuated from his home here in Canmore and placed in a suite here at the ‘Windtower’ with two friends.
Friday, 21 June, - Canmore - More rain and the water in the rivers has reached Calgary. I’m sure if you check out the internet you will find lots of images showing the flooding. Eva and Yuna went grocery shopping to the Safeway store. It was extremely busy but they were still well stocked. Cashier lines stretched to th back of the store.
We are currently in Canmore Alberta. The roads are washed out to Calgary and we're hoping to be able to get to Calgary for our flight home on Monday.
Here's the info on our trip.
Alaskan Cruise 2013
Sunday/Monday - 2 & 3 June- We had lunch at the church, went home and finished putting a few things in our suitcases and left for Toronto. We had dinner with Cathy, Brian, Deborah and Robin. Slept on the daybed. Up at 5:30 and off to the airport just before 6. The flight to Vancouver was uneventful. Eva and I were not able to sit together, 3 rows apart.
As we approached the baggage pick-up, we were stopped by a woman with a NCL scarf and asked if we were ‘the Breadners. Why she suspected we were, we have no idea. Anyway, she got us a luggage cart then pushed it with us trailing to the shuttle bus, then she disappeared with our luggage. The ‘highway coach’ drove us to the ship with a running commentary from the driver.
Line Up, line up, line up. First there was the line up to go through security, then the line up to go through US customs, then the line, (rather short because we had sailed with Norwegian before), to get checked in with the ship and our ‘on board’ charge cards. You can’t pay cash for anything.
We quickly made our way to the Garden Café for something to eat, then began exploring the ship. We bought an ‘Unlimited Soda’ package. At 4pm we enjoyed the ‘Bon Voyage Sailaway BBQ on the pool deck then headed for the Casino to enjoy some free rum swizzles. In the evening we enjoyed the ‘Welcome Aboard Showtime’ in the Stardust Lounge.
We went to bed about 10 pm having been up for about 20 hours and experiencing the tiring effects of a poorer night’s sleep and travel from Toronto.
Tuesday, 4 June - At Sea An uneventful day. We watched the view and spent most of the day getting familiar with the ship. It is remarkably similar to the Epic
Wednesday, 5 June - We were up early again today. Eva was up really early, and managed to get out without waking Dick.
Today we visited Ketchikan, and participated in a guided hike in the Tongass National Rainforest along the Ward Creek Nature Trail. The tour company was Wild Wolf Tours, and the owner, Tracey Wolf, was our guide. Our group was only 6 strong, so we could always be close to Tracey. From the forest, returning to Ketchikan, we stopped at Totem Bight Totem Park. Using original totem poles as examples, copies of old poles and a replica of an old longhouse were set up. The old craft of carving totems has been revived, and even young boys are learning to carve.
We have been on our feet for nearly 3 hours, so will leave the exploring of the town of Ketchikan for our return trip to Vancouver. After lunch we returned to our cabin and slept for nearly 2 hours. This evening we enjoyed an acrobatic show performed by a husband and wife team, former members of ‘Cirque de Soleil”. Clocks move back another hour tonight.
Thursday, 6 June - We docked in Juneau at 10 am. There were already two others in port, ‘Carnival’ and ‘Holland America’ cruise ships. Our ship was berthed some distance from town and there were shuttle busses provided to ferry us back and forth. Of course, with 3 ships in port at the same time, the place was swarming with people. We looked into visiting the botanical gardens but my back was extremely sore and after a quick look around we returned to the ship. The rest of the day was spent on board. We were eating dinner when the Carnival ship left and were surprised to see a small coast guard boat with a machine gun mounted on the bow cruising the harbour as she left. Our ship sailed at 8 pm, just behind the “Holland America” ship.
Friday, 7 June - Skagway arrival was at 7 am. Our ship turned and backed into the dock with the Carnival Miracle behind us. We had no tours planned and spent the morning on board. After lunch we headed for town. A ‘golf cart type’ vehicle took us to the bus stop but we decided to walk the ½ mile from there to town. Skagway is quite small, 3 streets wide and 6 long constitute the ‘main drag’. One local owned shop sells smoked salmon for $16 lb. and we may buy some when we get back next Friday to take to Bruce for one night’s meal.
We visited several other shops and finally went into a ‘saloon’ to have a drink and snack but the music was too loud. Moving on, we entered the Red Onion Saloon”. It had the feel of an old time saloon and the waitresses were dressed in period costume. One interesting photo is of a ‘bar girl’ of the 1800s operating a touch screen. We enjoyed a drink and a large plate of cheese nachos. Another interesting building is a former ‘Arctic Brotherhood Hall’, now a tourist bureau, that has a facade of short pieces of driftwood. We left Skagway at 8 pm.
Saturday, 8 June - Today we cruised ‘Glacier Bay’. As the ship approached the glaciers at the end of the bay it moved slower and slower, finally coming to a stop amid large and small pieces of floating ice. We could see quite a contrast between Marjorie (white) and Grand Pacific (black) Glacier faces. Several small “calves” broke off Marjorie while were there and the captain slowly turned the ship using side thrusters so we spun around in the same place. We then headed back out the bay, headed for Hubbard Glacier on Sunday.
Sunday, 9 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier --The Hubbard Glacier is North America’s largest tidewater glacier. It is 76 miles long,7 miles wide, and 600 feet tall at its terminal face (350 feet exposed above the waterline and 250 feet below the waterline). The Hubbard Glacier starts at Mt. Logan (19850 ft) in the Yukon Territory. Mt. Logan is the 2nd tallest mountain on the North American continent. We were so far away for safety reasons that it didn’t look that large. The ice we see at the terminal face is approximately 450 years old and is over 2000 feet thick at some locations.
Monday, 10 June- Whittier, Anchorage, 8:00am - 9:00pm - High Tides during this trip have been quite dramatic. In Whittier they can range up to 14 feet between high and low ties. We took the NCL arranged bus into Anchorage. Just outside Whittier is a 2.5 mile, single line tunnel, (shared with a railway line) and is the only land route to Alaska. Direction of travel in the tunnel changes every ½ hour. There are 8 ‘emergency shelter’ rooms inside the tunnel in case of accident, fire, or other problems. The busses go through as a group, spaced 1 shelter apart in case of emergency. Arriving at Anchorage, we went and cancelled our reservation for the shuttle to the base of the Flat Top Mountain trail as we would not get back in time for the bus back to the ship. We then walked around the downtown area and found an exhibit on the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan Earthquake, the Portage Earthquake and the Good Friday Earthquake. It was a megathrust earthquake that began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing structures, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 143 deaths.
Lasting nearly three minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph. It had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the second largest earthquake in recorded history.
One side of Fourth St. dropped 14 ft and was filled in and totally rebuilt.
We later had reindeer sausages from a street cart for lunch. The weather was extremely warm and sunny, shirt sleeve weather. We bought some souvenirs for the family and ourselves here in Anchorage. At 3:30 pm we boarded the bus back to the ship. The driver gave a running commentary on the area which we really enjoyed, along with a stop just before we reached the tunnel to Whittier while we waited for the traffic direction to change.
Tuesday, 11 June - Cruise Hubbard Glacier - A Day at Sea we saw some fair sized icebergs on the way to the glacier, several more than when we visited on Sunday. Again we didn’t get too close for safety.
Wednesday, 12 June - Icy Point Strait, 9:00am - 5:00pm - The nearby village is called Hoonah and the native peoples have developed several tourist attractions. This was the only stop where we had to take tenders to shore. 4 of the lifeboats served this purpose. We took a tour to the village where we saw eagles and ravens and got some good photos. For lunch we went to the Landing Zone Bar and Grill for grilled salmon, delicious.
Thursday, 13 June - Juneau, 7:00am - 1:15pm; Tracey Arm, Sawyer Glacier - Our time in Juneau was short and we had booked tickets for the Mount Roberts Tramway. We had a spectacular view of the area and watched an interesting video on the Tlingit people and their history, especially as it related to the white men. We then walked to the main city bus terminal and caught the ‘Mendenhall Valley bus to the Glacier Gardens. We didn’t realise it was so far out of the center of town and it took ½ hour to get there. The gardens are beautiful and we had a personal guide. We were then put on a ‘golf cart’ and taken to the top of the park by a very knowledgeable driver. A beautiful view from there. Realizing the time we would need to get back to the ship we had to cut the visit short. Just a couple of minutes after we got to the bus stop the bus back to town arrived and we made it back in time.
On the way up Tracey Arm to the Sawyer Glacier we saw seals on some of the ice flows and in the water. These were also some of the largest icebergs we had seen to date.
Friday, 14 June - Skagway, 7:00am - 5:00pm - 8:50 am and we met ‘Madam Ida Dunham’, one of the madams from the Red Onion Saloon, (and brothel) for the Ghosts and Good Time Girls tour. This was a great tour and our ‘Madam’ really strutted her stuff and explained a great deal about the early history of the town, it’s ‘girls’, their trade, and the numerous ghosts in the area.
At 12:35 we again met at the end of the pier to board a bus to the Liarsville Salmon Bake. This was a really busy place with “all you can eat” BBQd salmon and chicken, salads and desert followed by a show talking about Liarsville and it’s history as the jumping off camp before the infamous Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike gold fields. (At least they claimed it was there and now Skagway.)
Saturday, 15 June - Ketchikan, 1:00pm - 8:00pm - On the way into Ketchikan we saw our first whale of the trip, an acrobatic Orca leaping out of the water and turning somersaults.
The Great Lumberjack Show was a real treat. We were divided into 2 teams to root for the two competing teams, (our team won). This is the same show that has been featured on TV. After the show we shopped for gifts.
Sunday, 16 June - Cruise Inside Passage, weather was sunny and warm again. We attended the presentation put on by the kids who had been in the child care area. They did a great job.
In the afternoon several of the staff put on a presentation of dance and song. They also did a great job, particularly the last act where they began so formally then wound up spitting water at each other. There was a draw in the gift shop for jewelry, but we didn’t come close. After dinner we picked up some purchases they were holding for us then returned to the room to pack and put out our suitcases for collection overnight.
Monday, 17 June - Vancouver, Calgary, Canmore. - Disembarkation started at about 8:15am, depending on the colour of the tags on you luggage. Since we had an 11 am flight we were one of the first to leave and get to our bus. Customs consisted of handing in a declaration and I never did see Immigration. We boarded the bus for the airport and received a 3 hour tour of Vancouver in the 45 minute trip. We had the first flight out and everyone worked to make sure we made it. Norwegian had someone at the airport to direct us to the special check in counter. Things went very smooth.
When we got to Calgary we bought lunch at Timmy’s then sat and read until Bruce arrived from work to take us to Canmore. The condo facility where Bruce and Yuna live has a hotel attached, the Windtower Lodge and Suites, and we were assigned a lovely room with a small kitchenette.
Wednesday, 19 June, - Canmore - It’s wet. It’s been raining, and raining, and raining. The trans Canada Highway is closed due to washouts in both directions, as is Hwy 1A, and there’s no way into Calgary. The forecast is continued rain. I took a short walk during a break but otherwise we have stayed inside. Bruce cannot get into Calgary to work and the bank where Yuna works has been closed.
One bright note, we are eating fabulously. Our son Bruce is a professional chef and he loves to cook at home. I don’t think my “waste” line could take too much of this.
Thursday, 20 June, - Canmore - Still raining and the rest of the country is beginning to hear of the extensive flooding. Eva, Bruce, and I took a walk a short way along the Bow Valley Trail and viewed the flooding and washout there. Then proceeding across a rock strewn former meadow that had been washed with flood water we saw the water flowing off the Trans Canada and trucks trapped on the highway. Late this afternoon, Bruce’s friend Anthony was evacuated from his home here in Canmore and placed in a suite here at the ‘Windtower’ with two friends.
Friday, 21 June, - Canmore - More rain and the water in the rivers has reached Calgary. I’m sure if you check out the internet you will find lots of images showing the flooding. Eva and Yuna went grocery shopping to the Safeway store. It was extremely busy but they were still well stocked. Cashier lines stretched to th back of the store.
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