Alaska - 22nd May to 6th June 2009

Introduction

Over 100 000km and 26 months later we start the 3rd and final leg of our journey down the Americas ! We left the comfort of the Fryers home in Bangkok at 10pm and with mixed feelings of extreme sleepiness and excitement, now dressed in winter clothes, we boarded the plane 5:30am the next morning. We actually survived the gruelling total travel time of 24hrs, changing planes in Tokyo , then Seattle and finally on to Anchorage Alaska without the surgical masks many of the Asians wore throughout the flights! The flight up North America's west coast afforded unbelievable views of the Rockies and island-filled fjords, making nodding off virtually impossible. At the Anchorage airport Dane somehow managed to find a $20 note to add to his collection of American money – how lucky is that!! Completely exhausted at this stage, we waited for our ‘one' backpack and darted off to ABC Rentals to pick up our $75 a day camper for the next 8 days – the cheapest way to both explore and have accommodation in this very expensive, remote, huge state of the USA. But its places like this that renews one's vigour to travel – Alaska is amazingly, breathtakingly beautiful!

Background and History

The indigenous Alaskans (Inuit, Aleuts and Athabascans) first migrated from Asia over the Bering Strait in the last Ice Age about 30 000 years ago and managed to survive in this harsh environment until waves of Europeans arrived from the 18 th century - first British and French explorers, then Russian whalers. In 1867 the US purchased the territory for $7.2million and the last frontier revealed its riches beyond whales and salmon with gold and finally oil contributing to it becoming the 49 th state in 1959.

Our Experience

We were immediately struck by how boisterous and extroverted the people were compared to the Asians. Everything was large – the people, the way they package food in the supermarkets and especially the vehicles. We felt like midgets in our replacement campervan from ABC Rentals (twice the size of Tipperdee though – American size!) and it took a while to adjust to the vehicle and the very different system here – back to rules and an organised, yet very friendly nation. We needed to crash desperately and find our feet so we headed straight for the $20 a night Centennial Park campground just outside Anchorage . With the sun only setting at 11:45pm we found it strange once more to adapt to this daylight sleeping regime. The next morning we had our first introduction to Alaska 's wildlife when a huge black bear sent us scurrying with a mock charge – only the back of Jo-Anne was seen as she went flying back to the camper. Later we heard that one should never run from a bear, especially the black ones and if they attack, you have to fight back furiously – as for grizzlies, you have to lie still covering your head and only fight back once it starts to bite – imagine that!!!

We decided to drive around Anchorage visiting ship creek salmon viewing deck and the city's weekend market where we sampled some salmon, caribou and moose to the tunes of native Alaskan music. The souvenirs were just too expensive and we had our first taste of how legally conscious Americans are when Jo-Anne couldn't cross over to a stall one meter away in case she tripped over the pavement edge of the stall she was visiting – hello 1st world!!! After passing Captain Cook's monument with great views over the silt-filled Cook Inlet we were on the Glenn Highway for a 320km drive into the interior. The country's harsh beauty unfolded – expanses of Boreal forests gave way to tireless Arctic tundra of grass, mosses and stunted spruce when we ascended to just over 1000m. This high north on the globe, snow and ice is still everywhere on jutting mountains and we even passed a 3 mile wide Matanuska glacier en route to our wild camping spot just outside Glennallen. The next 560km over the Alaska Range 's beauty introduced us to caribou, bald eagles, still frozen lakes and man's trans-Alaskan oil pipeline. Along the way we popped in at the North Pole (a little town) to visit the world's tallest Santa Claus and adjoining gift shop with a myriad of festive expensive trinkets.

20km further north, the century old gold rush town of Fairbanks proved its historic worth at Pioneer Park where we could step back into a turn of the century steam wheeler riverboat and visit many houses of the period. Misled by the daylight (as it never really gets dark) we continued south on Parks Highway to wild camp 30km short of Denali National Park. A huge moose crossing the highway to Denali prepared us for this wilderness area's wonders, which we explored on a 6 hour shuttle bus through the heart of the park for 80km to Toklat River. Stunning panoramas with sightings of caribou, golden eagles, dall sheep and the mighty grizzly were crowned by North America's highest snow and glacier mountain – Mt McKinley at 20 000ft. We were very amused at the drivers tenacity to keep everybody safe in the bus and to not disturb the wildlife while viewing – even though we were in a totally enclosed bus on an even gravel road, we had to wear seatbelts and when we sighted any wildlife even kilometres away, we had to be VERY quiet, not a word to be spoken while graders loudly worked the land nearby and the buses engine roared quite loudly!!

Again, only by midnight were we able to rest our weary bones at Riley Creek campsite. By 9am the next morning we took the free shuttle to an informative husky sled dog demonstration where the kids just loved petting these beautiful work dogs. Back at the Visitors Centre, Jade and Dane completed their Junior Ranger activity guide after learning about the park and were sworn in as Denali Park Rangers – badges they proudly wore for days!

The driving then continued for 370km south along the Parks Highway to Anchorage with stops at numerous viewpoints of the ‘big one' and a detour to Eklutna Lake . The weather was on our side and the beauty was amazing! Again close to midnight we wild camped near ABC Rentals at the airport. New to the camper, we enquired about how to dump sewage as they do not operate on portable toilets (they call it grey and black water) and filled with gas, water and were off to explore the Kenai Peninsular, a wilderness broken up by mountains, fjords and glaciers. Unfortunately clouds and rain put a damper on outdoor activities and capped the views, but the scenic drive along the Turnagain Arm with its various view points still had us ooh-ing and aah-ing!! Just outside Portage at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre, a drive around trip educated and enthralled us with sightings of moose, black and brown bears, elk, caribou and huge ice-age musk ox and wood bison.

Continuing down the Seward Highway , a road east took us to glassy Portage Lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains and fed by glaciers with huge chunks of its floating ice. The cold wet weather contributed favourably to this incredible sight – unbelievable! A drive through the rather narrow, but longest highway tunnel in North America, let to Whittier, but it had the look of a small working port and the poor visibility had us backtrack southwest on the Sterling Highway through Kenai and small coastal villages, to wild camp outside Ninilchik. It was always such an ordeal to find the right wild camp spot in the USA especially after all the horror movies like ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre' or ‘Blair witch Project', that we were always rattled when coming across the many lonely homes with numerous rusted and broken old cars – luckily it never gets really dark!!

This 200 year old wooden Russian village had campers clamming away in muddy beaches and appeared its ‘age' with little to offer so we continued to colourful Homer sitting on beautiful Kackemak Bay and flanked by the Kenai Mountains. The 8km sand bar extending into the sea known as the Homer Spit with shops, restaurants and boatyards was just the setting for lunch as seagulls and bald eagles swooped overhead. We were at the end of the road, 360km south of Anchorage and had to reverse the drive stopping at Soldotna for some free wifi before bush-camping along the highway near Cooper Landing. More stunning scenery led us to Seward, nestled on the shores of Resurrection bay, where we wild camped for the next 2 nights. We decided to extend the RV rental to the day of the cruise to avoid the huge hotel costs – this meant that Gary had to drop the rest of the family at the Cruise Terminal early the morning of the 31 st May while he drove the 400km to and from Anchorage .

We enjoyed Seward, a beautiful 100 year old town and nearby Kenai Fjords National Park . The main attraction was an hour long hike to the toe and face of Exit Glacier, one of the tongues of the massive Harding Ice-field that covers most of the National Park. To touch and gaze into its mass of brilliant ice was just amazing! After experiencing the National Park, the kids earned their second Park Ranger badges on completing an educational activity book on the local fauna and flora. That night we wild camped on the NP's fringe amidst its snowy mountains and perfect views of the massive Exit Glacier. Rain and the exorbitant cost of attractions resulted in us lazing away, doing laundry and just driving around Seward on our last day until we wild camped that night on the pier where our ship was to arrive the next day. At 7am the next morning, we proceeded as planned and Gary was on his way to Anchorage to return the camper. With the kindness of the Seward bus line in Anchorage , he not only received lunch but also a 50% discount on the $50 bus ticket back to Seward. Meanwhile Jo-Anne and the kids boarded the ship and were completely overwhelmed with the abundance of food available that the waiter actually came to ask if everything was okay! By 6pm we were reunited and introduced into a world of complete overindulgence.

Our 2950km on the MS Statendam of Holland America Lines to Vancouver was just fab! Top class 24hr entertainment just like the Americans can deliver in an impeccably managed ship with an array of cuisine in 3 different dining areas around the clock – and presented in true European style. It was tough juggling our time between eating, being entertained by the gorgeous singers and dancers, various performers, informative talks, techno workshops, movies in the theatre, cooking demonstrations, on board shopping, heated pools, hot tubs, dancing in the clubs and the views – WOW!!! We thought driving the 2500km through the picture perfect interior was great but this was mind blowing sights! They even had a kids program until 10pm each day, which gave us plenty of time to just enjoy and soak in all the sights at our own leisure. We tried attending the early morning stretch and body toning classes in the gym but it didn't last long because the bed was just so difficult to get out of in the mornings!! Blessed with blue cloudless sunny skies, we cruised the inside passage to Vancouver , a waterway made up of thousands of islands, glacier filled fjords and snow capped mountains.

Our first treat on the 1 st June was viewing College Fjord and Prince William Sound before heading for Cape Spencer and the entrance to Glacier Bay . That evening we donned our formal wear and headed for the dining area, but all Jo-Anne could think of was how to keep down the food she consumed earlier – she was sea-sick! Unfortunately she had to excuse herself and headed to the bedroom for the rest of the evening - luckily this only lasted one night!

Early the next morning we slowly made our way up a 100km waterway with many fjords and tidewater glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, a world heritage site. Words cannot describe the incredible wild natural beauty. Sightings of sea otters, porpoises, seals and even whales paled in comparison to the beauty of the massive Margerie glacier calving with loud cracks that broke the serenity, huge chunks of blue icebergs would break off from the face and bejewel the sea with a thunderous noise. To crown it all, a member of the native tribe shared her stories, customs, songs and the Huna way of life with us during the day. We only left the bay at 7pm still bedazzled by our surroundings that was an ice-choked river just 250 years ago.

Still zigzagging this beautiful body of water we then made our way up Lynn Canal ( N. America 's longest fjord) to the home of the Tlingit Indians at Haines. Port Chilkoot still resembles an old frontier town with Fort Seward , a 100 year old US Army site that's been a historical site since WW2. We spent a beautiful day hiking over the peninsular to the Chilkat River and visiting the Bald Eagle Foundation with over 100 species of animals in their natural habitat. For hours we listened as the passionate curator educated us on the ways of nature and he loved telling his stories to the people of Africa ! By 9pm we left the scenic grandeur of this small town to the capital of Alaska , Juneau . Hemmed in by huge mountains and glaciers, the only access here is by sea or air. Established as a result of the ‘gold fever' in the 19 th century, its bustling waterfront is now to satisfy the fever of cruise ship tourists shopping for jewellery and souvenirs. But we were here just to collect free coins for Dane and a charm bracelet for Jade that the shops use to entice customers into buying the other more beautiful but expensive pieces. After walking through downtown, we were on a bus to Mendenhall Glacier and the east trail to a glacial waterfall where unbelievable shimmering blue icebergs floated on the lake. At 11pm that night the Statendam had a chocolate desert extravaganza, a high calorie photo opportunity of chocolate and ice sculptures with delectable concoctions of chocolate deserts that added more inches to our ever-expanding waistlines!

Our final port of call was Ketchikan , known as Alaska 's ‘ First City ' as it was the first town travellers reached when ferrying north. Typical Alaskan scenery and character greeted us with more jewellery shops and totem poles. Jade and Gary made a little detour to the historic Creek Street to visit the region's notorious ‘Red Light District' of the early 1900's that's built on a zigzagging boardwalk on pilings above the creek. Today Dolly's House is just a tourist stop with the other ‘sporting houses' all shops. That night we crossed the border into Canada, continuing south easterly through the inside passage for a full day of cruising until we reached Vancouver on the 7 th June at 7am.

Alaska is a place to intrigue and inspire one, to see all that's possible in nature – it's more than a journey through geography, it's a journey through time witnessing ice-age glaciers calving and retreating and the cycle of life unfolding before ones eyes. There are a few places on earth where the beauty of nature is so powerful that one is at a loss for words. If there's one thing to do before you die, it's to do an Alaskan cruise - and it was cheaper than any form of public transport from Anchorage to Vancouver, Canada. What a wonderful treat!

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