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Canada and Alaska 2010Welcome to our Canada and Alaska escorted tour page for 2010. Between now and our departure on the 18th of June will be publish useful information and links. Once we are away we will be running regular updates and photo galleries so that friends and family can follow along with us. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me on 0417 690 533 Bill Forrester. Current Weather - Click on the icons for the detailed 5 day forecast |
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 Vancouver |
 Banff |
 Juneau |
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Click here for our pre-departure information slide show With two days to go before departure a quick weather update. The weather for our arrival in Vancouver Friday is good with a top of 21 degrees. Saturday is also forcast to be clear and sunny with a top again of 21 degrees. A quick reminder of the pick up times: Departure from Frankston 3:00 am Follow us on SpotThis year we will have gps tracking so you can follow our route as we progress through our trip. The adventure has begunDay 1 - Vancouver After a long day but a very smooth flight we all arrived here in Vancouver. The afternnoon has been spent down on the waterfront with a nice lunch and drinks. It is a perfect day here in Vancouver sunny and a temperature of 21. |
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Day 2 - Grouse Mountain After a long flight our group had a rest day on Grouse Mountain. Grouse mountain is a great asset for Vancouver being a winter ski field and a summer playground all within 20 minutes of the city. We elected to use the public transport system consisting of the seabus from Vancouver's central station and the bus from the north shore to the base station of the Gondola. We had a great relaxing day looking at the woodcarvings, lumberjack show and a truly amazing experience with Coola and Grinda, Grouse Mountain's two resident Grizzly Bears. Tonight was the official welcome dinner with host tour director Laurel and tomorrow our tour starts in earnest. |
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Day 3 - Vancouver Today was the official first day of the tour with a relatively early start to give us a private session at the Capilano Suspension Bridge prior to the park being open to the general public. The Capilano Suspension Bridge is Vancouver's oldest tourist attraction being first opened in 1889. The bridge stretches 450 feet across and 230 feet above the Capilano River. On the far side of the bridge is a nature trail, treetops boardwalk and a lower boardwalk giving spectacular views down to the Capilano River. |
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Day 4 - Rocky Mountaineer to Kamloops Today we started our journey towards the mighty Rocky Mountains by boarding the Rocky Mountaineer in Vancouver in our Gold Leaf carriage. We followed the mighty Fraser River out of Vancouver and into the coastal range passing the infamous Hell's Gate. Our track took us into and over the Coastal Range and into the semi arid region between the Coastal Range and the Rocky Mountains. We joined the Thompson River which we followed into Kamloops for our over night stay. As always the service aboard the train was impeccable starting with breakfast and followed by our three course lunch and drinks bringing us into our destination in a happy and satisfied mood. |
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Day 5 - Rocky Mountaineer Kamloops to Lake Louise After an early start the Rocky Mountaineer pulled out of Kamloops Station at 7:00 am for our journey to Banff and the Rocky Mountains. This section is what earns the Rocky Mountaineer's reputation of being one of the great rail journeys of the world as the scenery is nothing short of breathtaking. |
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Day 6 - Lake Louise Today was our free day in Lake Louise. The day was perfect beginning with a stunning sunrise over the Glacier and followed by a day that most people chose to explore the many stunning wallking trails, including the 6 Glaciers walk, Mirror Lake the lookout or simply lounged around the Chateau and enjoyed the views from there. We had a group photo taken this afternoon followed by a surprise encounter with a Canadian Mountie. |
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Day 7 - Lake Louise to Banff It is fair to say that most of us were sad to depart the idyllic setting of Lake Louise, but today we headed out to our next two day stop in Banff. Our first stop of the morning was at the beautiful Emerald Lake. The day was perfect with no wind allowing a perfect reflection of the mountains behind and our first bear sighting of the day. A pair of small Black Bears were on a grassy paddock on the far side of the lake. After a short stop we headed to Natural Bridge which is a rock bridge over the Kicking Horse River. We are still marveling at the quantity of water in these rivers. |
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Day 8 - Banff Today was our free choice day in Banff. Some of our group took the spectacular helicopter flight over the Three Sisters, some the cruise on beautiful Lake Minnewanker, some the river rafting down the Bow River and some went golfing. The afternoon was spent shopping in Banff's great shopping strip. |
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Day 9 - Icefields Parkway On all tours you hope for good weather, none more so than the day down the Icefields Parkway. Leaving the Castle this morning the skies were clear as we headed towards what has been described as one of the top five drives in the world, the Icefields Parkway. This drive follows the Rocky Mountain Trench with the towering peaks of the Rockies on the right and the Continental Divide on the left. Our first stop was also the highest for the day at just over 7,200 feet at the picture perfect Peyto Lake. Pushing on towards the Athabasca Glacier we were rewarded with towering Peaks, Hanging glaciers and finally a Black Bear huddled in a tree on the side of the road. Perhaps the highlight of the day was the stop at the Icefields Centre and our trip out onto the Athabasca Glacier on board the Ice Explorer. At the point we stopped and walked on the glacier the ice is over 1000 feet thick. The Athabasca Glacier is fed by the Columbia Icefield which is the largest icefield in the world at over 200 sq kilometres. The experience is surreal and I will let the photos in the gallery convey the image more than words can. |
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Day 10 - Jasper After a long day on the road yesterday, today was a day to relax around the Jasper Park Lodge and enjoy our free choice activities. The weather was again in our favour with a warm and balmy day in the mid twenties. We had everyone doing almost everything today from the Malign Canyon and Lakes tour, the Malign Lakes Cruise, Rafting on the Athabasca, a journey to the spectacular Whistlers Mountain on the Jasper Tramway, and a couple on the Harley Ride. The afternoon was spent at leisure although a few did take the opportunity to ride the tramway. A special wildlife tour was offered in the evening and we were rewarded with sightings of Elk, White Tail Dear and a Black bear. Just on dusk a family of Elk strolled through the Jasper Park Lodge completing a great day. |
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Day 11 - Jasper to Sun Peaks After a day of leisure yesterday we awoke to another beautiful morning, our last in the Rocky Mountains. After a late breakfast and a finally look at our beautiful setting we headed of for Sun Peaks at a very civilised 10:00 am. Our first scheduled stop was the Mt Robson lookout however a timely spotting of another Black Bear at the side of the road necessitated an unscheduled stop. It was perhaps our best and longest sighting to date bring our tally for the trip, excluding the wildlife safari, to 13. |
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Day 12 - Sun Peaks to Whistler After a couple of early morning bear sightings on the ski slopes of Sun Peaks we headed off towards Whistler. We proceeded through Kamloops and on to the Hat Creek Ranch for morning tea and a tour of the traditional Shuswap display village before proceeding on to Lillooet for lunch. Lillooet was the centre for the gold rush and is known as mile zero. All distances were measured as miles from Lillooet. The area around Lillooet is the arid rain shadow belt. After lunch we proceeded on the Duffey Lake road and our 14th bear sighting for the trip, this time a young male Black Bear. Climbing sharply into the Coastal Range the vegetation changed to the lush green temperate rainforest. We passed Duffey lake and two Beaver Lodges before descending to Lake Lillooet and on into the beautiful Alpine Ski Village of Whistler, the host centre for the Alpine events for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralymic Games. |
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Day 13 - Whistler On the way to Whistler we were greeted with some good news about the dog sled. A recent heavy fall of snow and the continued long winter meant that the dog sled activity would still be available. 3/4 of the the coach decided to dog sledding leaving some to do the 4WD tour up Blackcomb Mountain and some others to take a ride on the Peak to Peak Gondola. In the afternoon most who had done other activities still managed to fit in the Peak to Peak in the afternoon. The Peak to Peak Gondola runs between Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains and set some new world records when it was constructed in including the longest span between pylons at just over 3.5 km and height above the valley floor at just under 1500 feet. Two of our party managed to fit in the zip line as well as the Peak to Peak!! |
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Day 14 - Whistler to Victoria - Canada Day Most of us dressed in our red and white to celebrate Canada's birthday headed of for Victoria on Vancouver Island. The first stop of the morning was Shannon Falls which are the third highest falls in Canada. Following the falls we took the spectacular Cedar to Coast Highway along Howe Sound to Horseshoe bay where we boarded the ferry for the trip across the Georgia Strait to Nanaimo and then on the Victoria. The Empress sits right on the inner harbour and the harbour precinct was buzzing with activity as the Canada Day celebrations were in fill swing. A concert was on on the lawns in front of the Parliament Building and at 10:20 we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display on the Harbour. |
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Day 15 - Victoria This morning were all visited the Butchart Gardens, Victoria's number one tourist attraction. The gardens were stunning as usual but I will let the photo gallery convey the true beauty of these gardens. Our afternoon was spent on our free choice activities which ranged from Whale Watching, Scenic float plane flight and high tea at the Empress, |
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Day 16 - North to Alaska It was an early start as we left the Grand old Empress Hotel to make our way back to Swartz Bay and the ferry back to Vancouver to board the Zuiderdam, our home for the next week as we cruise to Alaska. Our ferry ride this morning was through the islands and was quite spectacular. We made our way back to the Canada Place Cruise terminal and were lucky getting through US immigration is less than an hour and were settled onboard before lunch. Right on time at 4:30 pm the Zuiderdam set sail and made its way under the Lion's Gate Bridge and into the Georgia Strait. |
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Day 17 - At Sea We continued our sailing North. Our group took the opportunity for a sleep in and wind down after two weeks on the road. At 4:00 pm we all got together for the first Bill's Swill of the cruise up in the Crows Nest Bar. |
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Day 18 - Tracy Arm and Juneau After another smooth night we entered one of the highlights of the cruise Tracy Arm. Tracy Arm is a deep and long glacial cut fjord. The walls and waterfalls are majestic. The weather was misty adding to the beauty of the Fjord. Unfortunately this year the Captain turned the ship around before reaching the viewing point for the Sawyer Glacier which was a pity. The afternoon was spent in Juneau, Alaska's State Capital. Apart from shopping our group was spread far and wide on the various shore excursions. The weather was not the kindest with light coming through in the afternoon. All excursion went ahead with the exception of the dog sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier. All of the sightseeing flights took place, however. |
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Day 19 - Skagway Today we are positioned in the old historic town of Skagway. Once it was the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush via the White Pass. The town has been fully restored to its glory days of the gold era and is a great place to wander around and work the credit card a little more!!!! |
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Day 20 - Glacier Bay
After sailing through the night we entered Glacier Bay at 8:00 pm to spend most of the day in this majestic and remote National Park. Glacier Bay is a product of the Little Ice Age which reached its maximum extent in 1750. Unlike many parts of the world some of its Glaciers are advancing the most notable being the John Hopkins Glacier. Glacier Bay is only accessible by boat or plane and lies 65 miles from Juneau. From the entrance of the Bay it is a further 55 miles to the tidewater glaciers. |
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Day 21 - Ketchikan Our run of brilliant weather continued as we pulled along the wharf in Ketchikan. Blue skies and a temperature of 27 degrees came as a shock not just to s but the locals alike who were are searching for the fans to keep cool. Some of the youth of the town were swimming off the Jetties!!!!! |
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Day 22 - At Sea. Today was our final full day at sea, crossing the Queen Charlotte Strait before reentering the Inside Passage back to Vancouver. The trip down is more like cruising a river and at times the channels are so narrow you can feel as if you can touch the shore. |
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Day 23 - Vancouver Right on time this morning we docked back at Canada Place and relatively painlessly disembarked and were ferried back to the Hotel Vancouver for the day and some last minute shopping. I hope you have enjoyed following along on our Canada and Alaska adventure and we will see you tomorrow on the flip side. |
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Click to view photo gallery
Click to view photo gallery
Click to view photo gallery