Arrived in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, in the morning to be met by drizzle and some amazing scenery. The only way into Juneau is by water or by plane, there are no roads through the mountains.
About 30,000 people live here and mainly work in Government. There were a number of options to spend the day on shore and we chose a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier.
Unfortunately is was really wet so we had to get rugged up. Coach driver there was great, however we started to walk to the glacier only to find the path was flooded; so it was do we wants 2 hours of frozen feet or not. We chose the latter so just walked around amazed at the view. There was a huge waterfall to the right of the glacier which started at the tip of the mountain next to it.
Checked out all the salmon trying to swim upstream, then went to the Visitor Centre and whatch a movie about the history of the glacier.
Back on the bus to the ship and upon arrival the rain stopped and the sun came out! Heard people coming back who had also done the sea tour and they saw Orca, Otters etc. Maybe we should have done that as well, would certainly recommend others doing so. Headed out of Juneau that evening and on our way overnight to Skagway.
The below photo shows our suite which is the top left of the levels where the balconies are shown, we had the corner wrap-around and the one to the right, perfect for checking out the Glacier National Park in a couple of days.
Had a quite day the next day until we headed down to the shipping terminal to board the Pacific Princess mid afternoon. The suite was fantastic, 2 large rooms with 2 bathrooms and a large wrap-around balcony as we were right on the port stern (left rear) of the ship.Unpacked once on then went up onto the main deck to see Vancouver as we headed out to the inland passage. Got about 5 hours of viewing the coast before dark. The ship sailed through the night and we awoke to open seas on one side and the coast off in the far distance on the starboard side. Very cloudy, drissled most of the day so we just read mainly. About 5pm the seas on both sidees of the ship began churning with Orca everywhere, some close, others up to 5kms away. Unfortunately not good for photos so we just watched on awe.
Sailed though the night to end up in Juneau the next morning.
Headed off to Vancouver for an overnight stay so we could board the ship the next day. Stayed in a lovely little serviced apartment/hotel right in the middle of downtown, called the Carmana Plaza, would highly recommend it, really clean, handy, bottle shop around the corner and a fantastic Japanese right next door, where we ate that evening. Also has a bar across the road, which should be open by now. Had a walk down to the port area where our ship was leaving from and got our bearings sorted out. Really nice area with a new Convention Centre, shops, restaurants and bars. Went to the Tap and Barrel and sat outside for some drinks as it was a beautiful day, 32 degrees. They even had a beer called Bomber, so I had to have one of those.
In Canada you aren't allowed to smoke within 6 metres on doorways so we had to take it in turns going for a ciggy. As mentioned, great Japanese that night then finished with drinks from the bottle shop on our balcony.
We pottered around DC for a couple of day, went over to Pentagon City for some shopping, boy do we get ripped off on clothing prices here, Georgetown via Embassy Circuit and Dupont Circle, beautiful houses in these areas, but expensive. Friday night was a pre-wedding cocktail party mainly for everyone who had travelled and a great time to meet Steph's relatives, a great night. We also went down to 7th street and had a fantastic chinese meal, way to much food!
Saturday night was the wedding in the atrium part of the Old Ebbit Grill (Hope I spelt that right) which we had lunch at one day. Lots of polititian eat there and we were lucky there was just the 2 of us as we would have had to wait, packed!
Digressing; the wedding was fantastic, Steph & Gary looked stunning, then after we went up to the 13th floor which overlooked the White House, complete with snipers on the roof, and most of Washingtons features.
We then went back to the Atrium, eat, drank and had a fantastic time with the absolutely lovely Afro-American on our table, they were great. So welcoming & fun. Everyone was up and dancing, boy these guys have rythm! A great evening all around.
P.S. Forgot to mention earlier; you can't smoke in the Sofitel however they do provide you with a room service menu for your dog, which can stay in the room with you, go figure!
Arrived late on the 7th August, so we actually had 2 Wednesdays, and we were shattered when we finally got to the Bar at the Sofitel to throw done a few, and I mean throw. We would recommeend the Sofitel to anyone travelling to DC, it's a bit more expensive but in a great location, only 2 blocks from the White House.
Really solid sleep then went for a long walk to check out the sights, White House, Lincoln Memorial, all the usual stuff. There was an African Heads of Nations event going on at the time we were there and all of a sudden we would be walking along when Secret Service (not so sectret with big signs all over their cars) and motorbikes would screeam to a halt, block intersections and motorcades would fly by.
Got back to the hotel knackered, Mandy's had a sleep, I read and had a few beers, Steph, future married girl, was about to arrive, then I had a Skype job interview this evening!
Tip for young, well slightly older travellers: do not to the 26 hours straight, it's a lot, brings on hysteria!
We decided to make the most of the Easter and ANZAC Day holidays so we headed to Samui with a few of our friends dropping in throught the 10 day stay. PJ & and Bernie had been to Vietnam and Rich and Tina flew in from Melbourne. Darren just did his normal thing and came as well.
Had a fantastic time with Perm driving us everywhere, around the island, up to the Jungle Bar. Had Tina's birthday on the beach in front of the Hotel and got spoilt rotten by all our friends over there, the staff at Chaba Cabana. Also had yet another great meal at The Shack over at Fishermans Village, just Mandy, me & Daz.
After years of being nagged by Mandy about getting a dog, now that the new house has plenty of room, I finally relented. So as only Mandy would do, she purchased our new child, Bomber, on the internet. We didn't take delivery of him until the 27th December 2013 after we had got back from Xmas with TC at Coffs.
I have included a few photos of him growing up throughout the year, hard to believe he will be 1 year old on the 2nd October. He brings so much joy to Mandy and so much hair to the house that I have to vacuum every day, but we love him. He totally runs the roost with very little intervention from anyone.
As you can see, he even has his own Bombers jacket!
