15/06/2009 - Valdez, Alaska - 02/07/2009 Calgary, Alberta

15/05/2009 - Valdez - Not too far out of Valdez we had the privilege of seeing a mother moose and her young calf trot across the road in front of Stubbie. We had a lovely drive into Valdez seeing more glaciers and a number beautiful waterfalls. Valdez is very similar to some of the other little towns on the Kenai Peninsular that we have stopped at i.e. Homer, Seward. We spent a day wandering around the streets and stopped in at one of the Museums. It was interesting to note that back in 1964 -Valdez was only 45 miles away from North America’s worst every Earthquake, the Good Friday Earthquake, measuring 8.4 - 8.6 on the Richer Scale. It is the second largest earthquake ever recorded. After the Earthquake, they actually relocated the whole town. Another interesting little fact is that Valdez is at the end of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. And one more little tidbit it is also where the Exxon Valdez Oil Tanker was grounded on the Bligh Reef, spilling at least 11 million gallons of crude oil. So Valdez was a good little stop where I learnt a few things and once again got to eat some good fish and chips. Of course that is my summary, but I'm sure if Dave was writing this it would be a lot longer and a lot more detailed. The Big Fella was interested in knowing how all the mechanics of the pipeline actually work.

One thing that we have noticed on our travels through out Alaska is the Murals that are painted on many buildings through out the small towns - not too dissimilar to our Graffiti - NOT. They really do take pride in their towns. In away it was sad to leave Valdez as this was our last Alaska town that we were going to visit. So Goodbye Alaska.

17/06/2009 -18/06/2009 - As we were leaving Alaska - we noticed that once again we were going the wrong way, all the other RV'ers were just making their way into Alaska (in this convoy there were 22 RVs) - but not us no we are leaving. Whilst it has been a bit disappointing that a few of the attractions have not been open and we haven't actually got to see Bear catching the Salmon, it has also been great to see so much wildlife on the sides of the roads and also to see many of the mountains with snow capped peaks.

We start to make our way over to Dawson City via the Top of the World Highway. We have been told that this really is something that you must do - we had planned on doing this on our way up - but we were a bit early and the roads and ferries weren't all open.

Well all I can say is the Big Fella is "Not Happy, Jan". This so called Highway is mainly washboard gravel and he is limited to doing an average of about 15 miles per hour, I wasn't game to tell him that the highway only went for a mere 281 km's. So after two days (we thought it would take 3 hours), we finally arrive on one side of the Yukon River - I had also neglected to tell him that we needed to cross the river by ferry. When we got to the ferry crossing there was this tyny ferry fighting the current and was making hard work of it. So with some intrepudatoin we load Stubbie on the ferry amd make our way across to Dawson City.

One of the main attractions here in Dawson City (and the only one we are going to) is Diamond Tooth Gerties - it's a gambling hall that puts on three 1/2 hours shows a night. Of course we just happened to be there for the first two and if the Big Fella hadn't wanted to go home, I'm sure I would have seen all three. We had a great night - except the Big Fella is a LOSER. After losing on the Blackjack Table and the Roulette, he thought he would try his hand at Texas Hold 'Em (first time for Texas), no luck here either.

Of course me not being one to brag just happened to have a small win - okay it covered my two drinks - but hey a win is a win and I don’t have a Big L on my forehead.

19/06/2009 - Whitehorse. On our way to Whitehorse we just had to stop off at this shop to buy one the World Famous Cinnamon Buns. This place actually has an airstrip just across the road which is actually called the Cinnamon Bun Strip. When we were talking to Bobby's brother and sister-in-law about the trip, Maury and Gwen, they had told us stories about people that actually do fly in here just to get these Buns. Well I don't particularly like cinnamon and I'm not a great sweet lover - well you never would have guessed - I hoed into this cinnamon bun like it was my last meal. I'm embarrassed to say that when the Big Fella stopped eating, I was still going and I didn't stop until it was all finished.

We've decided to spend the night at Wal-Mart as tomorrow morning we are going to see the Fish Ladder - one of the sights we missed out on our way up, plus we need to look into getting a windscreen chip repair fixed (thank goodness I wasn't driving when it happened). After walking around the parking lot, Dave is now threatening me with what our next motorhome could be. He has told me that it will be a lot more economical, easier to manoeuvre, easier to clean and we would be a lot closer - have a look, you could probably guess my reaction. But hey I think it's just perfect for Darian.

We are planning on spending a few days in the Whitehorse area to get a few things done. Stubbie got a nice grease and oil change, and she finally got her windscreen repaired. Dave needed to do a makeshift fix on the Back-up Camera -I'm always a little bit frightened when he goes into Tim the Toolman Taylor mode. I must admit he is becoming very handy and I think he is actually enjoying most of this work, even if he wont admit it.

23/06/2009 - We are now on our way to Jasper, Alberta just a short 4000 km trip (give or take a few km's). It's now about 7:00pm and we are heading towards Dease Lake when we have a sighting of two Grizzly Bears on the side of the road - another great sight. So after stopping and watching the Grizzlies we keep on driving for about another 10 minutes down the Cassiar Highway - (another dirt road - but no where near as bad as the Top of the World Highway and at least this one does have some sections of bitumen) when Stubbie decides to fail us. She just stops we have lost all electrical, we have no ignition, no lights etc etc. So the Big Fella gets out and after a while realises that there is nothing that he can do. So after about another 10 minutes we finally hail someone down who gives Dave a lift into Dease Lake, I stay behind to guard Stubbie, plus I'm hungry, and there is a fridge full of food here. Dease Lake supposedly has a population of 450, well I don't know how they got that number, I think they must count the number of tourists who drive through as well. At around 9:30pm Dave finally comes back and tells me how much fun he has had trying to find a mechanic and / or a Tow Truck that will pull Stubbie, at this point I don't tell him that I've been lying down reading my book, having a nice cold glass of wine with a few nibbles, I do tell him that I was worried about him. At around 10:00pm a Semi Tow Truck pulls up and we safely hook Stubbie up. So now we have to ride in the front of the Semi (I'm right in the back) for the next 40 km's towing Stubbie to the nearest RV park. Dave explains to the Towie what happened and what he thinks is wrong, but unfortunately they are unable to do anything. Well it's way past midnight now and I'm tired, unfortunately for me, Dave is a little wound up and frustrated and decides to starts taking the Dash apart (oh - with the very quiet electric drill) - (of course I still haven't mentioned that it was only one day ago that he had the dash out to fix the back-up camera - now is not the best time). Not sure what time the Big Fella got to bed or if he did at all, because he was up at 7:000am (as most people will know this doesn't happen too often - oh unless of course it's for golf) and was heading to the mechanics. Dave arrives back to Stubbie and says the mechanic will be here when he has finishes his current job - of course I ask how long - and Dave tells me that the answer from the mechanic was when he finishes his current job. Well the young mechanic (Bill) finally shows up - this guy makes Dave look like a teenager. ...... I think the sad thing was that Dave actually knew a lot more than the mechanic (it was an electrical problem after all). So after a few phone calls to technicians and rv mechanics (what makes it even more fun is our cell phone has no coverage and there is no cell phone coverage for any carrier in this town) this is where Bill came in handy to a point, he let Dave use the phone, but of course some of the techs and mechanics said they would ring back - great. Except that when Bill's phone rings he doesn't answer it, he lets the machine take a message. They finally get the okay to do a fix that Dave had actually figured out a couple of hours ago (he was just making sure that it was okay and that it wouldn't cause any more problems). So now we just need to get to Calgary and get the new part installed - should be there in a couple of days. Ohh and of course we managed to gather another windscreen chip.

One thing I really hated out of all this was: When Dave gets stressed he doesn't eat, but I eat for both of us when he is stressing.
Of course now we are a bit nervous that every time we turn Stubbie off - she might not start, so we decided to head for some larger towns.

Jasper National Park– We arrive in to Jasper (a really pretty little town) and spend the afternoon wandering around the shops. We then head on to our campground Wabasso Lake. We have a great night; we light the fire, have a couple of drinks and just sit back and relax. I think this is where Dave releases some of the stress and frustration of the last few days, he really does need it.

We wake up in the morning and head onto Athabasca Falls, the most powerful flow to be found anywhere in the mountain parks.

After the Falls we then head on up to Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake and Maligne Lake – all extremely beautiful. It is a shame that it is not a very clear day, as the photos really don’t do the colour of the water etc any justice. From here we headed on back down to Sunwapta Falls, past the Columbia Icefields (leaving Jasper National Park behind and entering into Banff National Park) and onto our camp for the night. We have decided to boon dock tonight in a great little pull off on the high way. About 100 meters from where we are staying, there are a group of young kids trying to get the last bit of their snow boarding season in, they are walking up the mountain and then snow boarding back down – we are not that keen and definitely not that fit.

After another good nights sleep we drive onto Peyto Lake. After a short walk uphill we are led to a view of Peyto Lake, glacially-fed and brilliantly turquoise. This has been one of the most brilliant lakes that we have seen to date, the colour is just awesome.

We have decided to talk a small detour into Golden and go white-water rafting; people have been telling us that this is the place to go – down the Kicking Horse River – Grade IV rapids. We have booked ourselves in for the most extreme part of the trip, you needed to have previously negotiated Grade IV rapids. We head on over to our campground – which supposedly has wifi – we are feeling a bit lost lately without our access to home. Well you do get wifi from the motorhome if there is no other motorhome parked between you and the office; you stand on one foot and hold your tongue to the left. The next morning we wake up and prepare ourselves for our white-water rafting experience. We are feeling a bit tentative not knowing what to expect and especially when the guide tells that for the first 15 – 20 minutes, there will be no stopping (paddling) and that it will be very hectic. So we all jump into the raft and off we go, well we had a good time, but unfortunately I don’t think that the rapids over here compare anywhere to our rapids back home. These were more like our grade III rapids.

From here it is onto Lake Louise, we have been looking forward to seeing Lake Louise in the summer, we have preciously visited here only in winter. We were really surprised by the huge number of visitors to the Lake, it was hard to even get a park in their many car parking facilities. The Lake was beautiful so after a walk around – it was onto Banff.

Well we thought Lake Louise was busy – nothing compared to Banff (oh we have found out that the School Summer holidays have started – could explain the volume) – but from what we have seen we believe that Banff and Lake Louise are busier in the Summer than the Winter, not sure if this is really the case or not.

Calgary – We are staying in a campground just across the highway from where we need to get Stubbie fixed. Of course whilst we are here, our TV in the front decides to pack it in – ouch. This is one of the reasons Dave and I haven’t killed each other, we both have a TV and a Laptop. We phone the Technicians and they advise that it is a known fault and that the problem will be fixed under warranty, we just need to get the mechanics to phone them and get a new circuit board forwarded on and replace the one we currently have. So after a couple of nights here we finally have the first problem of Stubbie fixed and it’s onto our Calgary West Campground. The RV dealership will contact the TV technicians, they believe the whole TV will need replacing, obviously they’ve seen this problem before, oh well they will keep us informed, when they talk to the TV tech, it is of course the 4th of July weekend. We arrive at our campground where we will be spending our time for the whole of the Calgary Stampede – Yee Haw. The campgrounds are completely booked out – we were lucky that for once we did book in advance, not something we usually do, you never know how or if our plans will change (one of the things that we love about our trip). We are really looking forward to catching up with the Howard’s and the Navin’s.

05/06/2009 - 14/06/2009 - Anchorage to Seward

05/06/2009 - On our way out of Anchorage heading to Homer we decided to stop at the Alaska Zoo. Whilst it was great to see the Bears i.e. Polar, Grizzly and Black up close, they were in what I considered to be a small enclosure, which was a little bit distressing. I much prefer to see them out in the wild. All of the animals are rescue animals which was a good thing. I really am in awe of these magnificent creatures. I could honestly watch them for hours and hours.

06/06/2009 - We arrived in Homer and just couldn't believe the number of people fishing. They were fishing for King Salmon. A couple of things we found out:

1. You have a maximum limit of 2 King Salmon a Day - a maximum of 5 per Season.

2. You need to not only have a Fishing license but you also need to have an additional King Salmon license.

3. Up until the end of June you are not allowed to Snag a King Salmon you must catch the fish via the hook in its mouth - if you do happen to snag a fish in the tail etc. you need to release it immediately. Dave did mention that I would go hungry, but I told the Big Fella that I landed him by the .....

4. And that the time of day does not predict when you fish only the tide. There seems to be just as many people out at 3:00pm as

there is at 3;00am. This photo was taken at midnight.

Dave and I are both having a bit of trouble sleeping, it never gets really dark as you can see from the photo above. This photo was taken from where we were Dry Camping, we looked straight into one of the inlets where the fishing just never stopped.

Another little interesting fact that we have found is that around most of the boat harbours they have a Life jacket Loaner Station (no fee) - for Life jackets for Children whilst out in the boats. The law is that children under the age of 13 must wear a Life jacket while boating - I think it's a great idea to have the Life jackets so handy and it is such a great honour system. We had a good time in Homer - it's a small fishing / tourist town.

07/06/2009 - 11/06/2009. After leaving Homer we headed straight for Seward. We spent our first night in a small RV part about 10 miles outside of Seward. At the back of the campground was a creek, where we actually got to see the Salmon Spawning - unfortunately or probably more fortunately there were no Bears in sight. Seward is another lovely little fishing / tourist town. Apparently the cruise ships dock in Seward 3-4 times a week. Seward has a great vibe, a really pretty Marina and a really cute little downtown area. Seward is situated at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is known as the 'Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. On one of my walks along the shore front, I ran into 4 Americans from Mississippi. We had previously seen and had a quick chat with through out our travels around Alaska. I stopped and had a little chat with Jerry and Irma and then headed on back to Stubbie. After a short time Jerry and Ed both arrived at our motorhome and invited us back to their motorhomes (they both have huge and fantastic motorhomes - makes Stubbie look so small) for a drink and then out to dinner. We arrived at their motorhomes for a drink before we headed out for a lovely dinner. It was a really wonderful evening. They are such lovely people you could not help but enjoy yourself, whilst also learning a bit more about their country and I finally got to try the King Crab. It was nice but for me our Mud and/or Sand crabs win hands down. Dave tried the famous Halibut, which he enjoyed but also said that it doesn't have a lot of flavour. The next afternoon Dave and I went for a walk to see them all and to drop off some DVD's that we had already watched. Well their hospitality was just amazing. We ended up having a few Margarita's , a lovely Taco Salad for dinner and another great evening.

Dave and I have decided to lash out and have a splurge on one of the tours, it's a helicopter ride to Bear Lake where we will land and then Kayak for about 3 1/2 hours around Bear Glacier and the Ice Bergs before returning back to Seward via helicopter. Of course the morning of our tour, I'm awake at 5:00am we are not getting picked up until 8:15am, but I can't sleep in anymore, I'm like a big child at Christmas time. Up until this morning the weather had been sunny and and a nice warm 12 degrees- but not today it's overcast a nice cool 7 degrees and it looks like rain - oh well not to worry. We arrive out to the helicopter pad and the pilot is a bit worried about the weight, but after a couple more calculations - it looks like it's a goer. We are given a few quick instructions and then we are off. It was just awesome, we only flew about 200 feet above the ground and you could see the coastline so clearly. The coastline was a lot more breath taking than what I had expected, an added bonus was that I got to see another Black Bear wandering around just below the helicopter. After we landed and walked to our Cache to collect our Kayaks, a surprise was that Dave and I are in a double kayak. We are given a few minutes of instructions and away we go. The Lake is just like glass, there are hardly any ripples on the water - it really is magnificent. The ice bergs are just striking - they really are a lot like some art sculptures - only to me a lot more beautiful. The blue ice bergs are just absolutely gorgeous. It was just so peaceful and tranquil that sometime the only noise that you could hear was the great boom of either an ice berg breaking in two or part of the Glacier calving away. After about 3 hours of kayaking it is time to head back to the Cache - It's now that I realise that my right shoulder is really starting to ache and that tomorrow I might be in a bit of trouble. But all I can say is that it was totally worth it - it was just such a marvellous day, one that I will always remember. On the ride back I got to sit in the front of the helicopter, the view was just fantastic. All in all the day was over way to quick, even though I really don't think I could of kayaked for too much longer, luckily we were in a double and the Big Fella really dug deep at the end. Luckily because I did notice that in the beginning he was being a bit slack and that I had to paddle a lot more because he was "busy taking photos".

After our Big Day we stop in to see Ed and Falba (our friends from Mississippi) unfortunately Falba has developed laryngitis - so unfortunately we will miss out on their lovely company for dinner. Dave and I have a lovely meal at the Salmon Bake and start to make our way into Anchorage - Why are we going back to Anchorage, one might ask, well I might as well tell you - because if I don't I'm sure the Big Fella will dob me in. Okay so I left the Cell Phone at the Alaska Zoo - well at least I found it. So after another quick stop in Anchorage we are now on our way to Valdez.

Just in case you are interested Dave's team won the NHL Stanley Cup this year....The Penguins..Yep they beat the Flames and the Canucks..

11/05/2009 - 04/06/2009. Skagway to Anchorage

11/05/2009 – 14/05/2009 Skagway to Haines. We put Stubbie on the Ferry for the trip from Skagway to Haines and headed up on to the top deck. It was great to be out on the water and seeing the magnificent mountains meeting the Gulf of Alaska. We arrived in Haines and drove straight to the RV park so the Big Fella could get his fix of the Internet and watch his beloved Penguins. The RV park was situated in a beautiful spot and we enjoyed a couple of nights here just taking it all in and appreciating the beauty. We were hoping to get some delicious seafood – but unfortunately the crabbing season hasn’t started, we are looking forward to getting our teeth into some Dungeness crags – they are very similar, in taste, to our Sand Crabs back home. I went for a walk around the town of Haines and wandered upon Fort Seward. The fort was built at the turn of the century as a military base to secure a region heated by gold fever. The name of this fort honored the man who had negotiated the purchase of Alaska from the Russians. Enlisted men were assigned to look after the Officer’s quarters by keeping the fires going, emptying the ashes, cleaning up kitchens, and at times, helping with parties. These men were known as "dog-robbers", because apparently they had to rob the dog's bowl to get a decent feed.

14/05/2009 - 20/05/2009. Haines to North Pole. We left Haines and started to head on up to North Pole, Alaska. On the way we camped at a couple of great National Parks. The US and Canada really know how to set up their campgrounds for the campers. Every Site is well maintained with most campgrounds having fire wood available, a fire pit and picnic table at each site. One of the things that we have noticed is that there doesn’t seem to be any vandalism at these sites – Dave did comment that if this was back home the wooden picnic tables would either be used as fire wood or would have peoples names engraved on them everywhere. We woke up early (something very unusual for Dave) and got on the road, it was well worth the effort of dragging Dave out of bed before 7:30, we got to see some more Moose and another Bear. Also on this leg we have sighted trumpeter swans, porcupines, rabbits and of course squirrel. Not far outside of Delta Junction, Alaska we stopped at the Delta Meat and Sausage Company where we purchased some Yak Rib Steak and Elk Porterhouse Steak – not sure what they are going to taste like but we are going to give them ago. We also purchased some Rib Eye Steaks and some fresh Pork and Buffalo Bratwurst Sausages.
When we arrived at the North Pole, Alaska we noticed that all of the lamp posts are decorated to look like candy canes. The RV Park that we are staying at is called the Santaland RV Park and right next door is Santa’s house. Dave has decided that he feels that I could be there for a while that we will wait until tomorrow to go see Santa’s House. The RV Park is located on St Nicholas Drive and is well decorated; the Office is decorated to look like a barn. We have parked in Prancer Lane. It is a really friendly RV park and we have access to Wifi and Cable TV. I have become really surprised at how much we rely on Wifi, it is our connection to back home in so many ways, I know I would certainly be home sick if I wasn’t able to talk and write to everyone back home. After a good night’s sleep we woke up and yes I was excited I was going to go to visit Santa House’s. I was so hoping to be able to see Santa, but unfortunately he is on holidays and he wont be back for about another week – oh well I suppose even Santa needs a holiday. Luckily Santa hadn’t taken all his reindeer's with him so we g9t to see four of his reindeer's, I think they were Comet, Cupid, Donner and Vixen. On our way to the North Pole we were lucky enough to see many Moose, Caribou, Porcupines and 1 Black Bear. To see the Black Bears wandering around the highways is just fantastic.
I'm starting to wonder if I'm settling into Retirement too well: I'm starting to bake, I've made muffins, cakes, bars and cookies from scratch - no packet mixes here - oh except for the Muffins - Dave says he prefers these to my cooking (I don't think that says much about my cooking - but no matter what I make he eats it - so it can't be too bad). I enjoy driving and just watching the beautiful scenery go by. Many people said that I would be bored - can't see that happening in the near future. Dave has been downloading DVD's onto his Ipod Touch so that we can watch movies when we are boon docking.

20/05/2009 - 22/05/2009 - We left North Pole and headed out to Chena Hot Springs. We did a tour of the Ice Museum / Hotel and yep it was bl**dy cold. I had on my Ski Jacket and then I put the supplied parka on over the top, I also had a pair of gloves on and I was still cold. The Ice Museum is the the world’s only year-round ice environment. It was created from over 1,000 tons of ice and snow. The Aurora Ice Museum gallery features amazing ice sculptures created by 13 time world champion ice carver Steve Brice and his wife, Heather, they are also 4 time champions as a husband and wife team. Within the museum, they have created a bar, a two story observation tower with a circular staircase, life size jousters on horse back, a polar bear bedroom, a Christmas tree bedroom, an igloo and an ice outhouse plus many other pieces of ice art. When we were visiting Heather was making a waste paper basket. We didn't make it to the Hot Springs but it was really interesting walking around the Ice Museum. On our way to Chena Hot Springs we had noticed a great little parking area that would be fabulous to boon dock for a few nights - so that's where we headed. We set ourselves up right next to the River and decided that we would spend the next couple of nights right there. On our 3rd day two great couples (Norm and Gi Gi and Michael and Susan) arrived they were going to be setting up camp for another couple of nights - they had two buds that were to join them later on. They invited us over for a drink - so not to be rude at around 4:00pm we wandered on over. Well lets just say that by the time that I got up to leave it was after 11:30pm the sun still hadn't set and my legs were like Jelly. We had a great night and yet again the people that we met were just wonderful, it was actually a shame to leave.

23/05/2009 - 26/05/2009. After leaving the Chena Hot Springs area - we took our time and drove into Fairbanks. We visited the Alaska Museum at the Alaska University. The Museum was extremely well set-up and one that interested us. We watched 2 videos, 1 on the Northern Lights and 1 on the Winters in Alaska. The Museum also had a great display on the wildlife that is found in Alaska. We were both surprised at the size that the Grizzly Bears can grow to. The Grizzly Bears on Kodiak Island are the largest in Alaska and have been known to grow up to nearly 14 feet and weigh over 2500 pounds (that's over twice the height of the Big Fella and about 10 times heavier in weight). After leaving the Museum we went back to the RV park and we couldn't believe it - a caravan of about 26 Aussies were setting up camp. They were on a guided tour where they flew into Seattle, drove their rented C Class motorhomes upto Anchorage Alaska (approx. 3 weeks) and then took an Alaskan Cruise back down to Seattle. We had a couple of drinks and a chat by the river, it was strange to hear our accent all over the RV Park. Dave and I were very hopeful that the weather was starting to warm up. The Big Fella actually got into a pair of shorts and a short sleeved shirt. The Aussies were worried they hadn't bought enough Summer / Spring clothes with them.

27/05/2009 - 30/05/2009. Denali National Park. We were both looking forward to our time in Denali National park and in particular to viewing the Brown / Grizzly Bears and other wildlife. We started off on a good note, whilst at the visitor centre there was a large Bull Moose walking through the bushes.
Well after driving through some rain and mud to get to our Campground, and hearing the weather report we soon realised that we had left the warmer weather behind us. We had booked ourselves on the first bus through the park. At Denali National Park, private vehicles are only allowed so far, from this point you either hop on a Park Bus or walk / hike. Unfortunately, we were a bit early and full park was not open yet. So our first day, we were both excited - Dave not as much, he needed to get out of bed a bit earlier than he would like - 7:00am - The bus trip to approx 5 hours round trip. Everyone on the bus had their eyes peeled for sightings of wildlife. Our first sighting was of a few Dall Sheep, for Dave and I we really didn't get that excited about this, but the majority of the people on the bus were very excited. After stopping here for a while and viewing the Dall Sheep we moved on to our next sighting of a Grizzly Bear foraging around the creek beds. Wow this is what we are here for, we are both so excited that we are fighting of the binoculars (yes, they are The Big Fellas' but he should share). After watching this Grizzly for awhile we spotted a mother Grizzly and her two cubs further up the river bed. Now this is just topping it all off, the cubs were running around playing, climbing trees etc. oblivious to everything that was going on around them, whilst Mama Bear was keeping a good eye on them. At one stage Mama Bear stood up on her rear legs to give here back a good old scratch, this was one of my highlights, it was just spectacular and a memory that I'm sure will last a lifetime for me. Unfortunately, we had to move on. We reached the end point and had a stop for about 15 minutes, at this stop there are racks of Moose, Caribou and Deer, these are a lot heavier than what I expected and I would hate to have to carry these around. Back on the bus and time to return to camp. On the Back we tried to see the Bears that we had spotted on the way into the Park, but to no avail. However, further down the road we did get to see a Male and Female Grizzly foraging up on one of the mountain sides. On this trip we also were able to see some more Caribou and Moose. One of the things that we are a little bit disappointed about is that we don't have a camera with a good zoom to take some pictures, with our little camera, the Bears look like a speck of dust. We returned to camp and had a late lunch and decided that we still had time to take another bus tour, so off we went. This bus trip was a bit disappointing, we didn't get to see any Grizzly's, apparently it's just the luck of the draw. We were talking to another couple we said they got to see a Grizzly cross the road right in front of them - ohhh I was so jealous. We did get to see some Dall Sheep and their lambs cross in front us - not quiet the same. The next day we decided to take a later Bus and do a bit of hiking, we put on several layers of clothing as it really was cold about 2 degrees and that was without the wind chill factor. We got off the us about an hour into the trip, and with one sighting of a Grizzly already under our belt and about 3 km's before our sightings of the Sow and her Cubs from the previous day. Of course about 5 minutes into our first hike it starts snowing. Unfortunately after about 1/2 hour of walking we couldn't find any trace of her. We stopped and were talking to a couple from the Netherlands and had a bite to eat, after saying good-bye and walking about 50 meters we were stopped by one of the buses and told that the Sow and her Cubs were just behind where we were sitting down in a ridge, and that it was best to stay a little bit further away - we had no idea they were there. So we walked up the hill a bit and there they were, I don't think that I would ever get sick of watching these magnificent animals. So after they had disappeared we jumped back on the bus and took it up the mountain (we prefer to walk down). So after a nice hike (about 45 mins), we jump back on another bus heading back to our camp. On our way back we were lucky enough to see another 3 Grizzlies, we were both really surprised at just how fast these animals can move. Denali National Park is a great park for both the scenery and the wildlife. The Park is also the home to Mount Denali, also known as Mount McKinley - North Americas tallest mountain - due to weather conditions we didn't get a chance to see the top. Mount Denali is 20,320 feet high and the vertical relief of 18,000 feet which is greater than that of Mount Everest. We had a great 3 nights at Denali and yet again it was a shame to move on.

31/05/2009 - Today we went on a hike on the Matanuska Glacier. Our guide, Matt, was from New Zealand, so no problems with accents here. It was my first time on a glacier so I was glad that we had a guide, plus we got to use these great add ons to our hiking boots called Cramp Ons, they made the hiking so much more easier and I got to enjoy the Glacier a lot more rather than worrying about the hiking on Ice etc. One of things that we did learn was a Moulin is a narrow, tubular chute, hole or crevasse through which water enters a glacier from the surface. They can be up to 10 meters wide and can go all the way to the bottom of the glacier and can be hundreds of meters deep. After a great day on the Glacier it was time to head on to Anchorage. We had a great night boondocking besides one of the little lakes, before entering the Big Smoke, population of approx. 277,000 on Monday night.

01/06/2009 - 05/06/2009 - We can't believe we are already in June, the months just seem to fly by. After not being in a park for over two weeks that had a working laundry, it was time to get in and some dirty clothes etc. Anchorage reminds us a bit of Townsville, except a lot cleaner, friendlier and a lot more touristy. It is amazing the volume of pride that the locals have for their city / country. Locals are always happy to strike up a conversation on what they are doing and also asking if you need help, or letting you know to enjoy their beautiful, big, State. We went for a walk down along Ship Creek, only about one kilometer outside of the downtown area. It was a bit of a surprise to see just how many people where fishing - they ranged from business people who had just put their waders over their long pants, to families, to older couples, to single young people in their 20's - oh they all had waders, some in the camoflouge material to match their hats - it really was a sight. After this we went for a wander around the downtown area and hopped into a taxi and headed on to the Moose's Tooth, Pizzeria and Brewery. We had a couple of nice beers and an even better pizza -mmmm, it's been a long time since we've had a good pizza.

Whilst in Anchorage I needed to see a doctor (a rather daunting task in the US), you hear all these horror stories, so I'd been putting it off. I phoned the clinic and made an appointment and was advised that I would need to pay a deposit of $150.00 prior to seeing the doctor - ouch. I arrived at the clinic the next day just before my appointment at 3:30pm and was greeted by one of the receptionist, who advised me what the process would be, got me to fill in all the forms (about 5 of them) and took a photocopy of my VISA. Within 5 minutes I was then greeted by a very happy and professional Nurse, who took all my vitals and took me into the doctors room and advised me of the process. The lovely doctor then entered the room and we started talking and I found out that his wife was an Australian - so we started talking football etc. I was in with the doctor for about 45 minutes, having a chat and doing what I was there for (I needed a prescription), no rush in and rush out here. After the time with the doctor, I then went back to the reception area. I handed the form over to the receptionist and held my breath. The receptionist then advised me that the doctor had written that there was no charge and proceeded to rip up my VISA details. I just couldn't believe it, I was treated with so much respect and professionalism and all by very helpful and happy staff and then at the end of it all there was no charge - what a great surprise. I still would hate to see what the charge would of been.