Montreal

What a schmozzle getting here!  Disembarked ship at 0800, sat at airport till 1350 for flight to Vancouver, arrived Vancouver and it all fell apart.  Luggage wasn't booked thru, had to clear customs again in peak hour, then immigration with no staff and sprint from one side of airport to the other to get flight that they were holding for us.  Finally got to hotel about 2am and waited another hr to get luggage. Nobody happy!

Unfortunately we got the better deal, some of the group had to fly via Chicago, where they were delayed by storms, overnighted in the airport and arrived mid afternoon today.  Boy are scenic getting an earful from that lot.  General opinion of all on our tour is we have not had value for money or the service we paid for.

Anyway had to be up by 8 and breakfasted as we had a morning tour booked (nobody happy about that either).  Raining since we arrived and cold and windy, what with being tired and grumpy really not a happy group of tourists this morning.  The tour turned out to be good and we are all wishing that we had more time in Montreal to explore.  Notre Dame Bascilica is magnificent and old Montreal was just begging to be explored,  Definitely need more than one day and I'm sure the place would be beautiful in the sunshine.

Free afternoon so have done the underground shopping malls due to the wet weather but needed to come back to hotel for a little rest before dinner.  God help Scenic if they put on another uninspiring, cold, mediocre buffet, I'm sure there will be a riot!.  Unfortunately our tour guide is moments away from a mutiny.

Off to Quebec tomorrow.

Seattle

Final day of the cruise was relaxing, meeting re disembarking, a farewell cocktail party and dinner with half the tour.  Sorry to see the end of the cruise, the ship was very nice, our stateroom was very spacious and the food was very good.  Wore my jeans to dinner last night and that will be the last time I do that, they are now stretched to the limit.  Back to tracksuits for me. 

Had a rough trip back, large waves and storms.  Didn't worry either of us, slept thru all of it, some people suffered seasickness for the whole trip but pleased to wasn't me.  Late into Victoria due to weather and was asleep before we left port again

Arrived Seattle around 0700 this morning, disembarked at 0800 for trip to airport, our flight doesn't leave till 1.50 for Vancouver, then a 2 hr wait till flight to Montreal.  Due into Montreal around midnight so it will be a long day.

Not sure what time we are off on excursions tomorrow, hopefully itinerary waiting in hotel room when we get there.

The Alaskan cruise was well worth it - scenery and towns great, only disappointment was not getting too close to the hubbard glacier due to pack ice but we can't control the weather.

Next update will be after Montreal

The cruise

Victoria to Sitka

Friday - Had a farewell dinner at the hotel as the first part of the trip was just about over and we were about to transfer to the Alaskan cruise. Dinner was cold and very forgettable for such an expensive hotel as the Victorian Empress Hotel.

Saturday - Up very early morning and following a similarly lousy breakfast at the hotel we headed for the ferry terminal to board the Victorian Clipper, a high speed catamaran to Seattle, Washington. We completed US customs prior to boarding. The trip took just over 3 hours, but was very smooth and comfortable.  /Everyone on the tour is of the opinion that /Scenic cruises are overpriced and overrated - just heard that one bus is quarantined in Whistler with all passengers down with gastro.

A short bus ride to board the ms Westerdam and then off to the dining room for lunch. Our cabin is quite comfortable, reasonably spacious and with an outside veranda, although it’s too cold to stay out there when we are underway. Ship is much better than the Costa cruise (from hell) that we had last year. Drink prices are very reasonable (especially during happy hour), the meals are tasty and there are lots of activities to occupy your time if you want to participate.

Sunday - Went to a show Sunday night (mothers day Andrew, not to mention mum’s birthday which you also forgot) which was not bad. Quite a few Americans on board, including a convention of over 700 from out in the country areas, and probably 400 Aussies as well.  Some Americans very scary with their Stetson hats, bib and brace jeans and the incredible size of them – Di is feeling very slim now!

Passed lots of whales as we cruised up the Alaskan coast to Juneau, but they appeared to be very small and were not breaching. We decided to cancel our whale watching trip in Victoria (booked for next Friday on our return) because of the poor trip others had last Friday. Replaced it with a similar trip in Juneau on Monday as they offered a partial refund if no sightings (whales, bears, seals etc) are made, unlike Victoria.

Monday - Have now completed the whale cruise which predictably was very ordinary.  What they didn’t tell us was that whales in Alaska are feeding so they don’t breach or tail slap, you just glimpse them under the water.  The only good thing about the cruise was the beautiful weather. Juneau has 305 days of rain per year and we managed to get one of the dry ones with sunshine and no wind so it was a very pleasant cruise.  Again some very scary Americans on board – very nice but certainly strange.  They are all here for a 4H conference – apparently they do something with young people like rug making, hair braiding or some such things – really don’t understand any of the explanations I have been given.  Anyway they are all on board from western country America with their families, at times it’s a bit like being part of the movie Deliverance but nevertheless entertaining.

Tuesday - we cruised to the  Hubbard glacier, a sedate cruising day with spectacular scenery.  Unfortunately being the first ship of the season the Captain was a bit cautious and as there is still lots of pack ice and little icebergs we could not get c loser than 2 miles to the glacier so didn’t get the full effect.  Certainly got the full effect of the wind straight of the glacier. Stood on deck for about 3 hours and we were frozen solid but felt we needed to see first hand not thru glass.  Eventually retreated to our room to thaw out and much more pleasant watching thru the glass.

Had dinner at the Italian restaurant on the ship.  I’m going to wear a Typhoid Mary sign as everyone else said the restaurant was good but of course our meal was less than ordinary, cold vegetables, lukewarm pasta and tasteless.  The best bit was the bread and olive oil. Now updating log as we will be in Sitka tomorrow and hopefully get internet access, Likely we won’t have internet again until Sunday in Montreal.

Wednesday.  Arrived in Sitka, absolutely beautiful part of the world.  Takes your breath away coming into the harbour with all the little islands, houses and spectacular scenery. Stood on balcony watching whales (yep get to see them for nothing after paying a fortune to not see them) seals etc.  The day is glorious and we set off on a sea otter tour.

Found a raft (official term) of otters and they are gorgeous, then another raft of mothers and babies.  Andrew they are the ferrets of the sea.  Could watch them for hours, fabulous creatures.  Then saw whales  who were showing their flutes (tails) and lunge feeding (coming out of the water with their mouths open).  Then bald eagles on nests.  So finally a tour that delivered what it promised.  Then went into Sitka and walked around, but couldn’t find internet cafe.  As I said an absolutely brilliant sunshiny day in a fabulous little town.

Back on board and we had a special dinner tonight where the waiters were the entertainment.  First course was served by ballerinas (hysterical) and second by ‘swingers’ and desert was can’t remember – had too much wine by then.  Followed a great dinner by another bottle of wine in the piano bar.

Am now updating blog before biting the bullet and paying the outrageous amount of money the ship wants for using the internet.  Don’t expect to upload again till we reach Montreal on Sunday.

Tri – they had Nachos and all sorts of Mexican every lunch time!

Thursday – internet not working last night so about to try again

Arrived in Ketchikan this morning, this is still very much a frontier town.  Nowhere near as pretty as Sitka but again a lovely sunny morning so we disembarked and walked the streets.  Spent more money in shops and have had to buy a couple of bags to bring things home.  Very busy in town as 3 cruise ships in dock. Now back on board for lunch and going to try out the spa this arvo.  The weather has closed in so nice to be back in the room.

Whistler to Victoria

Reasonably easy morning to pack up and and get the bus to Victoria.  Stopped at Shannon Falls at Squamish, amazing amount of water coming down considering the 'melt' hasn't started yet.  Rain set in and stayed for rest of day.

Got to ferry terminal to cross to Victoria and ferry smashed into pier (before we got on) so caused delays and had to hang around for hours, finally got on ferry at 3.30.  Took 1.5 hrs to Victoria, boarded bus for an after hours viewing of the Butchart Gardens.

The gardens are an absolute must see, at present they are full of tulips, daffodils and all spring flowers.  They change the displays for each season and no doubt they are spectacular all year round.  Unfortunately due to our late arrival we only had one hour to look around and all the tulips were closing for the night.  You really need at least 1/2 day if not longer to fully see the gardens.  Definitely visual overload!

Finally arrived at hotel, grabbed a maccas for dinner (yuk) and fell into bed.  Up this morning and its still raining. About to go for a walk around town and this afternoon we are going salmon fishing.

Evening update: Walked around town which was very pleasant. It really is a pretty city and finally found a shop to buy another pair of tackpants - finding the jeans are getting too tight!  Lorraine a note of warning no shops open before 10am and usually its 11am as this applies to the whole west coast of Canada, but they do stay open late at night.

Spent the afternoon Salmon fishing.  Its been raining all day and standing on the back of a little boat in the rain waiting for the salmon to bite is cold and boring.  I spent afternoon sitting in only seat undercover and the other 3 hung around the lines.  Alan kept his fishing record intact by catching nothing but the other couple got a 10lb salmon and the other boat got a 15lb and a 25lb salmon. 

Now home and showered to warm up and off to dinner.  Join the cruise tomorrow so not expecting mobile phone to work and not sure when we will have internet access, but expect at least 2 or 3 times over the next week.  Photo of building is the hotel, another magnificent old building, lovingly kept up.  The rooms are good but bathrooms very small.

Banff to SunPeaks to Whistler

Left Banff very early for a marathon trip to SunPeaks ski resort.  Got held up on road by avalanche - the Army was out with its cannons which they fire at the slopes to have a controlled avalance, then held up by accident, so very long day.  Rained all afternoon and arrived at hotel in time for dinner.  Worst meal so far, a buffet with absolutely nothing of any flavour or variety, had lettuce and bread for dinner.  Dinner was followed by a presentation on the history of canada and the fur trade.  Would have been better if I could have lay down to listen to it.  I was exhausted and my cold was giving me grief but the presentation was good.

Up early next day for Whistler.  Stopped at a First Nations (native Indians) ranch for a look see and a dance show etc,  They had yummy home made bikkies.  Back on bus and backtracking over country we passed on the train, not much excitement in scenery till the afternoon when we travelled up into the mountains again to Whistler.

Arrived about 4 and went into the Black Bear presentation.  Very interesting and managed to stay awake for this one.  Learned lots of stuff about bears and not so frightened of them know.  But then again we haven't come face to face with one yet.  Wandered into the village and found a pub for dinner and had our first lot of ribs.  Very nice.  Back to hotel which is another very fancy one but with a lot bigger rooms this time.

Nothing on this morning!!!!  (previous 3 mornings we have had to be up by 5am) yeah got to sleep in on my birthday and then had a very leisurely breakfast, read a bit and then went off for our snowmobile ride.  Beautiful day, clear skies and no wind and all very excited.  Off we went and within the first 5 minutes the guides snowmobile broke down so we sat and waited for a new one to come up the track, on our way again and we had to stop just round the corner as the group in front had lost someone so we had to sit and wait until their guide came back which took up all our time so we then had to turn around and come back.  We, meaning all of our group, were severely pissed off and didn't the company get a mouthful from us! We were supposed to have an hour and only got 20 minutes.  Unfortunately the company didn't understand why we were upset, saying we had to come back as it was a safety issue, but they were just keeping to their schedule.  Certainly spoiled our day as the short time we had was fabulous.  Sue I think it was the equivalent of a Harley on snow.

We are now back in hotel, doing the laundry, eating muffins I stole from breakfast and having a cuppa.  We have booked in for a nice dinner tonight but decided that we really couldn't be bothered looking around the village again so going to have a lie down and read a book for a couple of hours till dinner.

Another long trip to Victoria tomorrow so will update again on Friday night.

Banff

Set off early yesterday for Banff, going via Emerald Lake which would be beautiful in the summer but still snowed in. They had an avalanche this winter and all the trees etc are still laying halfway across the lake, awesome sight, it barely missed the lodge located there.

Next stop was the cable car to the top of a mountain (whose name I can't remember) in Banff.  By this time the weather had closed in and it was snowing like mad and very cold on top of the mountain. But managed some great views inbetween snow showers.

We then arrived at the Banff Springs Hotel( photo 2).  Talk about jawdropping! Its just like all its photos and absolutely awesome.  Its been built to resemble a scottish castle and has majestic ballrooms, little alcoves, hotel rooms, massive open spaces etc.  Its a real rabbit warren and very easy to get lost in but great fun finding your way around and getting little surprises wherever you go.

Had dinner at the Walhause restaurant last night.  It is German/Swiss and the best meal we have had so far - absolutely faultless and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was included in the trip but suspect that it would be very expensive to eat there normally but well worth it.  Great place on a snowy night as its built like a swiss chalet with lots of dark wood and open fires and big hearty meals.

This morning it was up early, wandered around the hotel till we found yet another ballroom where we were scheduled for breakfast - like walking thru underground caverns and emerging into this spectacular room and a great breakfast.

Followed breakfast with a helicopter flight - again it was a magical experience as it snowed last night but this morning was brilliant sunshine, cloudless blue skies and pristine snow capped mountains.  Very special. 

This was followed by checking out the town of Banff, which was bigger than I expected and full of tourist shops.  By lunch time my sore throat was making itself apparent so headed back to the hotel for a little rest.  Nose is now running like a tap, the head hurts and the throat is raw, its bed for me.

Alan has gone to a Country and Western Show and BBQ- yeah I know he hates them but its a freebie that is being filmed for some promotional thing and the tour group has been invited so there will be an audience - no way was I going out in the cold tonight.

Photo 3 is the Lake Louise Hotel - another postcard spectacular one, although the rooms are small and the bathrooms tiny

Meant to say that when in Vancouver we saw all these street signs with a closed on 1 May sign and found out that they are filming Criminal Minds there today, so will have to watch for that episode.