Road trip

In the long weekend at the beginning of September, we took the Friday off work and drove up to visit Adam & Jeanette (our landlords) in Prince George - still in BC, but nearly 800km north of Vancouver.

We left early in the morning so that we'd be there at a decent hour. There's not much in between - Prince George is the biggest city in Northern BC at about 70,000 people. Between Vancouver and PG there's only small towns, with not much going on, but enough facilities to get you through easily enough. We rolled into PG about 5pm, and were waiting at the traffic lights when the guy in front of us decided it would be a good idea to reverse. Straight into us. There was someone waiting behind us so we couldn't move, so got rammed! It was pouring rain, and his side mirror had got taken out earlier that day when he hit a moose. There wasn't really much damage, so we got $150 and went out for dinner the next night!!

We had a great night with Adam & Jeanette with the usual wine & whiskey, and the next day we went for a drive around town and had a bit of a lazy day - which was really nice after the long drive. On Sunday we headed out on the hunt for moose. We're still yet to see one and we've been here over a year - no moose or bear as of yet. I still think it's all a ploy by Canadian tourism. Adam took us out on the logging roads as he sees them all the time out there - we looked for over 2 hours, and NOTHING!!! Stupid moose. So that night we had moose roast. If you can't see 'em, eat 'em. We'd never had it before, it was a bit gamey and a coarser texture than beef, but pretty good!

Real estate is SO cheap in PG. You can get a nice, 10 year old 4 bedroom house for around $350k. So reasonable! But then you have to deal with the winters - a few months where it doesn't get above zero, endless snow, dark.......hhhmmmmmm......

Monday came and it was time to drive back - the time actually goes pretty quickly. Once you know the places to stop you take advantage of them as they are few and far between!

Alaska

The last weekend in July rolled around and it was time to head off on our cruise to Alaska! We were sailing out of Seattle, so drove down early that morning, stopping over the border to pick up a couple of cheap bottles of wine to take on board, and got to board the ship around 12.30pm - in time for some buffet lunch! We had really been looking forward to this trip - it was one of the things we had decided to do before we even left home. It was just a 7 night cruise, leaving and coming back to Seattle. This time we were on the Golden Princess.


The day after we boarded was a sea day, so we were on the ship all day. It was VERY foggy and quite chilly - the foghorn was sounding every half hour or so. We spent most of the day indoors, playing games and having cocktails. And eating, naturally. Not a bad way to spend it!

The next morning was an early start as before we got to Juneau it was announced we'd have a good chance of seeing humpback whales between 7am-9am. So we were up on deck early and were lucky enough to see LOADS.
They were spouting all over the place. We had a naturalist on board who commentated from the bridge throughout the cruise on any points of interest - wildlife, waterfalls, glaciers etc. Then at lunchtime we arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. It's the only US State capital that is not accessible by road, you can only get to it by sea or air! It's a smaller town, about 30,000 people, but the biggest place we went in Alaska. The area that we went to was very touristy, lots of shops targeted at tourists, souvenirs etc. Apparently the "local" part of town is away from the cruise ports, guess they must be preserving themselves from the influx of tourists they get each summer. The Alaska cruise season only runs from May to September (the summer), so that is the only timeframe for them to make money in these small towns.

The next day we woke up in Skagway, which was the only place we had booked a tour. We jumped on a minibus to take us up the valley and into Canada. You climb up in elevation pretty quickly, and the scenery became very alpine. Still, there are a lot of trees and it's quite lush due to the rainfall, but due to the elevation the treeline isn't far above you, where nothing grows. The views were impressive, the mountains jagged. Skagway itself is a cool little town, which has been maintained/redone to be like it was in the goldrush era (this was the starting point for the Klondike goldrush). Lots of great looking buildings!
That evening as we were leaving Skagway we were sailing down the fjord, with more beautiful views - lots of glaciers which cause these waterfalls to come seemingly out of nowhere and plough through the trees to the ocean. Mountains climbing out of the sea, to massive heights, still snowcapped even at the height of summer. The sun was setting, creating amazing colours - with the depth of field we had with the mountains, creating fantastic colour blocks - gorgeous!



As per usual, the west coast sunsets are gorgeous. I've always appreciated a good sunset, but the west coast, by crikey, puts on a bloody good show. I don't know what it is that causes the colours here, but they're great. Every night.





The next morning was another early start as we were sailing in Tracy Arm Fjord in the morning - so we were up on deck at about 6.30am to see it all. It reminded me a lot of Milford Sound, with mountains rising straight up out of nowhere, and the ship getting so close to the shore that you could almost reach out and touch the trees. The other aim of going into Tracy Arm Fjord was seeing Sawyer Glacier. We did get to see it, but it was very hazy. There were a lot of forest fires going on at the time which caused the air quality/visibility not to be so flash, unfortunately. Still, you could see it and we got pretty close. There were loads of icebergs around, which compared to our 290m ship seemed small, but when you saw the little fishing boats next to them, they gave a bit of perspective!

The next day we were in Ketchikan just for the morning. Ketchikan is known for it's salmon and totem poles. We actually found out the next day that the ship picked up 900lbs (400kg) of salmon from Ketchikan, and 3 mealtimes later, it was gone! As we walked through the town and along by the river, you could see the river was full of salmon - they were everywhere! That afternoon it was lovely and warm so we got some sunbathing in and lazed on the deck, reading our books and sipping cocktails - bliss!

We also did a wine tasting session that afternoon, and got to try wine that was $180 a bottle, which was nice! More free cocktails later on, as that evening was the Captain's Circle cocktail party, which is for any repeat Princess travellers. I won a bottle of champagne, which was mixed blessings really - on the second to last night we ended up with a bottle and a half of red wine and a bottle of champagne to drink! We pushed through it though and managed to polish it off.


The last day we were supposed to dock in Victoria, BC for the evening - we were prepared for our 7pm docking with an early dinner (and had the champagne!), when it was announced at 6.30pm that we wouldn't be docking as it was too windy! Not too big of a deal for us as we can go over to Victoria any weekend, but I felt sorry for all the others on board that were from further afield and missed out! There seemed to be a lot of Texans on board, complete with giant belt buckles, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats - and that was at breakfast! There was also a lot of big family groups - exteneded family, grandparents, cousins etc, which was nice to see.

When we docked in Seattle we umped in the car and went shopping - as we'd been away for a week we had full customs quota to take back to Canada so it was all on! Had a good day shopping and got back home in the evening. Alaska was really pretty, but I'd like to see more. I'd like to get up to Denali and see more inland, but we didn't have enough time. Maybe next time?!

July's exploits

This photo was taken as we were ready to go out to the Flight Centre annual ball - this is my team, we were going for the cheesy "family in front of the fireplace" look - I think we pulled it off! We had a great night, in a huge place big enough to fit all 800 or so of us, and hot enough to melt everyone's makeup.

July was the month of "waiting for our visas - and waiting some more". We applied in February, and after much chasing up, finally heard back in the last week of July that we'd been approved for another two years. It was a loooong wait, but worth it in the end! So we're here for a bit longer, staying in the same apartment and jobs as well. It's a relief to be able to plan more than a month in advance!

We did try and make the most of the nice weather we got and saw a few sunsets - they're just gorgeous here, they get a deep red or bright pink colour, so different than at home. There was also a fireworks festival on, which had four displays in a two week period - there was a barge set up in English Bay and they let them off there, the weather was great so it was pretty cool.

Andrew's brother Aden and his girlfriend Kristin also came to visit for a few days. Kristin is from Calgary so they were over visiting her family and stopped in for a few days on their way back. Was great to see faces from home and catch up. We went up to Whistler for the day (it's so different in the summer!), watched the fireworks, had a nice leisurely lunch in the sun by False Creek, it was great.

Shopping in Seattle

Friday after work we drove on down to Seattle. American immigration officers get a bit of a bad rap worldwide about being strict and staunch - all the times we've crossed the border we've always found them to be reasonably relaxed and friendly and quick with a joke. It's the Canadian ones that are serious and don't show any personality! On previous trips they've told us that they've had the immigration froms translated into Kiwi. This time on the way down the Americans are asking the usual - where are we going, for how long, how much cash do we have in the car.... and then he says "Alright guys, give it to me straight.................. (our hearts pound, what have we done wrong??!!)......... which is better, vegemite or marmite??" We laugh, shout our answers and he gives us back our passports and we're on our way!

We stayed at the Sheraton that night - we had a free night to use, thanks to travel agent discounts - and when we arrived they had a little plate with meats, crackers, buffalo mozzarella............ lovely. We were lucky enough to get a corner suite, so the windows went right around and gave us a great view. After a relaxing night we headed out for a spot of shopping. This weekend was supposed to be about sightseeing, but all we did was see the inside of shops - but what great shops they are! I hardly ever go shopping in Canada, I save it all for the USA - much more variety and it's cheaper. Win win! Andrew was amazingly patient with all the shopping.

5 new pairs of shoes later and we went out for a great dinner - to the Cheesecake Factory. They do have a lot more than just cheesecake, but booooooooooy is their cheesecake amazing. They have a full cheesecake menu with about 30 different flavours. We were so full after out meal that we had to get the cheesecake to go - and had it for breakfast! We picked up a bottle of wine - one that we normally buy in Vancouver for $13.99 we got in Seattle for $4.99. I say it again - God Bless America. That night we stayed at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle.

After a tad more shopping the next day (no more shoes, just clothes and alcohol this time), we trundled back across the border and were home in time for dinner. Productive weekend!

Vancouver's Lighthouse Park

It's the middle of June, and we're still waiting for summer here. The temperature I'm ok with - around 18-20 degrees. But some blimmin sun and blue sky would be nice, Canada. We did get a day that was beautiful - so decided to make the most of it and go exploring. We drove over to Lighthouse Park, which is over in West Vancouver, about 20 minues from our place. To get there you drive through the swanky suburbs and straight away it feels like you're away from the city. I do love that about Vancouver - it's so easy to get out! As we're still waiting to hear on whether our visas have been granted so we can stay another year, we're trying to make the most of it at the moment in case we don't get to stay. Lighthouse Park was beautiful, and so close to the city, and yet you feel like it's a world away. Lot of different trails to choose from so there doesn't seem to be a lot of people around either. One thing we did find really odd, was that in NZ if you meet people while you're tramping, you always say "Hi" or at least smile and make eye contact. Oh no, not in Vancouver. It became a bit of a game to us - we'd say "Hi" and smile and watch them try and hide and avoid eye contact at all costs!

Oregon

The weekend before my birthday was a public holiday, so after work on the Friday we drove across the border and towards Oregon. We were going to stay in Astoria, with my Mum's penfriend of 50 years, LaRee. My sister also lived with her for 6 months when she was 17, so there has been a family connection there for a while! We had a beautiful sunset on the way down - the summer sunsets in this part of the world are beautiful. Astoria is just on the border of Washington and Oregon, on the Oregon side, at the mouth of the Columbia river. It's about a 6 hours drive from Vancouver, plus border crossing time.

Saturday morning we went for a drive up to the Astoria column, which has a great lookout over the area. We had a great view of the bridge spanning the river between the two states - all 6.5km of it! Breakfast was at a great little cafe which reminded me a lot of home - very "Wholemeal"ish for those of you that know it. This is the kind of cafe that is missing in Vancouver and makes me drink Starbucks. Amazing cardamom buns and cardamom coffee - Mmmmm cardamom is highly underutilised in everyday life. Astoria has a lot of great Victorian architecture as well - some great buildings.

Andrew and I then went down the coastline - when we visited LaRee when Sheryn was living with her, I was only 7 - and hadn't been back since. I remembered bits and pieces but was really looking forward to seeing places I'd remembered. The big one was Cannon Beach, as that's where LaRee used to live, so we'd stayed there for a couple of weeks. The weather wasn't the greatest (but we're used to that by now!), but part of what makes the coastline so beautiful is the weather and the moodiness the clouds lend to it. We stopped for a look around Cannon Beach, lots of quaint little shops, arts/crafts stuff, and salt-water-taffy a-plenty. 25 years later I still have nightmares about the stuff! We went down as far as Tillamook, and went to the French cheese factory - lots of tastings - cheese, wine, dips, preserves, mmmm....... That evening we went for dinner at the Supper Club in Astoria. I had the most amazing cajun prawn linguine - I have since tried to recreate it at home, and it came close - but this stuff was amazing. I'd drive 6 hours just for some more of that!

Sunday morning and LaRee and her husband Andy took us sightseeing - first to the markets, which were great - there was a lot of willpower needed not to buy anything, and now there has been a bit of regret at not buying anything! Oh well, you can't have it all. It was raining on and off, but luckily by the time we got out to the coast again it had eased for a bit. We went to where there was an old shipwreck on the beach - very cool. It's the "Peter Iredale" and was wrecked in 1906 - so over 100 years old.


We drove over the aforementioned bridge to Washington state, and up to Cape Disappointment. There is a lighthouse there, and more rugged coastline. Lovely. It was so nice to be out of the cities, as even when we drive down to Washington state we stick around the cities as we're normally there to shop! We stopped at a small town called Ilwaco, where we went to a couple of art galleries, and one couple who have a gallery there actually spend 6 months of every year living in New Zealand! A lot of their paintings had NZ influences - pohutakawa etc.

In the evening as dinner was cooking, LaRee took us down to see the sea lions. Just down by the docks there are masses of them - as soon as you get out of the car you can hear them, it's amazing!
They're barking like mad - most of them are pretty sleepy, but there were a few that were perky enough. Apparently they cause quite a bit of havoc with the boats and fisherman, but they were really entertaining for us! So much so that the next morning we went back for more on the way home!

Iceland volcano eruption

I took SO many photos of the volcano erupting in Iceland and wanted to share a few - the lighting was amazing! It seems surreal now, looking back on it, that I was so close to something that caused so much havoc to people around the world.