Alaska's Inside Passage

Skagway, our fourth port of call, is located at the northern tip of Alaska’s Inside Passage. It was established in 1898 as the Alaskan gateway for the early Klondike Gold Rush. There are only about 1000 year round residents but of course this number swells through the summer months to cater for the ship loads of tourists. Many of the original buildings have been preserved in this very picturesque and tranquil little town surrounded by snow capped mountains and the Skagway River.

We went on the most amazing 3 hour round trip to the White Pass summit, aboard the White Pass and Yukon narrow gauge railway. There was snow piled high on each side of the track and it was absolutely “freezing” when I stepped out onto the platform between the carriages to take some photos.

Unforgettable Hubbard Glacier

The next day we cruised the Hubbard Glacier and it was an experience I’ll never forget. It’s right up there with the Taj Mahal and Niagara Falls as ‘spine tingling’. This is where having a balcony cabin is especially great.We were able to spend the day alternating between balcony/cabin as the ship cruised closer and closer to the glacier, looking down at the icebergs getting thicker and thicker on the water. We all ordered soup from room service and literally put on most of our warm clothes. Everyone on the ship was so excited as it was such a beautiful day and we were very lucky to see the glacier ‘calve’ as almost half of the entire ice front crashed into the bay. You could hear the collective gasps of wonder throughout the ship. I was lucky enough to capture this moment on video but it really doesn’t do justice to the majesty of it. Prior to the ice breaking away, there was a sound similar to that of thunder and then after the ice fell, a huge wave rocked the ship. It was so great to share this once in a lifetime moment with Phil.

I was so lucky to have my camera poised to shoot the glacier calving.

Sitka

The day after Hubbard Glacier was spent in Sitka learning about its Russian history and how the native Indians battled the Russians. Sitka was once the capital of “Russian America” and only came under US ownership just over a century ago. There were more interesting totem poles to view and the dormant volcano - Mount Edgecombe - with its snow capped peak. We also hiked through our second temperate rainforest.

Nanaimo

We bid Alaska farewell and cruised on to Nanaimo, the 3rd oldest city in British Columbia. We enjoyed a leisurely day strolling through the town and finished with fish and chips on this cute wharf restaurant before reboarding the ship. As we sat there we watched people buying live seafood from one of the moored trawlers.

Victoria

Victoria is on Vancouver Island and is rather British like with its impressive parliament buildings and this beautiful Empress Hotel. We shared a cab out to Burchart Gardens on 55 acres and were happy we took the advice we were given to spend some time there. The gardens started as a hobby to cover a worked-out limestone quarry. I took over 40 photos of the Sunken, Rose, Japanese, Italian and Mediterranean gardens.

Vancouver

We are now enjoying Vancouver, which is Canada's 3rd largest city and of course home to this year's Winter Olympics. It's about the same size as Brisbane and has a beautiful harbour which enables the cruise ships to berth right in the centre of the city. We've spent three days sightseeing and love the place.