Arrival Vancouver/flight to Alaska
Just before Covid my husband and I had a 12 day road trip in Alaska all booked -flights, accommodation, car hire – then the pandemic struck and everything was cancelled.
Somehow it took us until this summer to finally visit Alaska though my ideas on how best to explore it had changed A LOT after racking up 1200 miles exploring Northern Italy in March. I suddenly felt I’d had enough, this year, of big road trips! A cruise had never appealed as the thought of thousands of other passengers all cheek by jowl, gave both of us the shivers. BUT, it was the only way to see what really appealed to me – the world’s tallest coastal mountains, rearing out of the ocean to 19,000 feet plus. Chris took a bit of convincing that it would be relaxing and cheaper too given the astronomical cost of car hire and accommodation these days but I gradually broke down his resistance.
In April, I booked the 7 day ‘Voyage of the Glaciers’ cruise with Princess on the Royal Princess, leaving Whittier late June and sailing down to Vancouver (our hub for flights from Edinburgh.)
We also had a couple of days pre cruise with a car, exploring a little bit of Alaska (Talkeetna and Girdwood) and a final 2 days post -cruise, in and around Vancouver.
My interests generally are landscapes and I SO wanted to see Denali (20,310 ft) having read that in one respect, it is the world’s tallest mountain in terms of the sheer height that can be seen from its base – about 18,000 feet of it, compared to only 12,000ft of Everest. So – Denali looks Himalayan in proportion. We are both also keen on wildlife and had high hopes for whales, especially Orcas. Bears, I have never been that keen on (sorry, I know it’s a star animal) though I have to say this changed substantially during the trip for several reasons.
I’m a bit of a nervous flyer and get quite jittery with turbulence or any ‘weird’ noises I think the plane is making. This was our first long haul flight after quite a few years mostly short haul to Europe or Iceland; the flights seemed SO long and I worried a bit (my default position throughout life) that this would be torture albeit worth it.
Overall impressions – Alaska was OUTSTANDING!!! Scenery – off the charts! Wildlife – magnificent! We were SO lucky with the weather, enjoying 11 days of sunshine, not too hot, fresh light breezes and totally calm seas. We counted about 70 Humpback whales, a pod of Killer Whales, umpteen Bald Eagles, a Golden Eagle, a Beaver, many Sea Otters and Seals, Brown Bears (only one in the wild though) Moose, even a Salmon…
The Cruise Ship – LOVED it. Buffets for breakfast lunch and dinner were superb though desserts were disappointing in quality. Sit down restaurant food was disappointing too.
Staff were delightful, our Inside Cabin was good and very quiet; amenities on board -well, we didn’t really use these and only attended one on board talk as mostly it was Elvis Impersonation Night, or a Quiz or other singing entertainment which isn’t really our scene. Mostly we were out on deck enjoying the never- ending magnificent scenery and upping the whale count.
A Blow by Blow account of the trip:
Arrival, Vancouver/Richmond via Toronto
Our Edinburgh to Toronto Air Canada flight arrived bang on time, virtually no turbulence. Food decent and the 6.5 hours or so passed pretty quickly. As we landed , the stewardess said ‘Welcome to Torono’ not pronouncing the last ‘t’. Loved that! We’d truly arrived in North America( and have called the city that ever since.)
A few hours to wait for our connection to Vancouver so lunch called – had the first of many Caesar Salads to come. Chris had Grilled Chicken and Chips – both dishes tasty enough, not bad for airport food.
Just when I thought – this long haul lark is easy – the next flight to Vancouver was horrible. Firstly, we left an hour late due to a ‘technical issue.’ That always makes me nervous…what issue?? Engine playing up? Wing flaps a bit creaky? The plane was jam packed because WestJet engineers were on strike so our flight was suddenly full.Take off was VERY laboured and we kept super- low for the next 40 mins – under 22,000 feet; my beady eye was watching our progress in alarm on the entertainment screen. However, after that, things settled, we climbed to the normal 39,000 feet and it was truly spectacular once we flew over the mountains of British Columbia. In fact coming into Vancouver was one of the most spectacular approaches ever.
Unfortunately, I’d got a text from the airline saying that Chris’s case was delayed and wouldn’t arrive till a later flight. Very pleasant, helpful guy at the Lost Baggage desk who confirmed they’d keep it for us until our afternoon flight to Alaska tomorrow.He got a complimentary overnight pack…shaving stuff, soap, small towel and a white T shirt.Good idea, all that, didn’t know they did that these days!
Richmond
Our Airbnb accommodation tonight was in the Burkeville Historic District of Richmond, on the edge of Vancouver. I’d arranged an airport pick up by our hostess, Maye, who offered that service for only $10.My heart sank a bit when we got into her car because the smell of dog was overpowering, and the interior was really scruffy. However, she was a very nice lady with a simple but clean villa surrounded by a beautiful rose garden.It was ideal for one night and the neighbourhood was very attractive.
We’d baulked at the crazy prices for city centre hotels and didn’t reckon they were worth it given how short a time we had in Vancouver at this point.Chances were, we might just crash on arrival though actually, that didn’t happen.But knowing Vancouver now, I’m glad we stayed in Richmond.
What was very obvious once inside the house was the incredible noise from nearby YVR with planes continually landing and taking off! It reminded me of a trip we did to Windsor last year…we just couldn’t believe the aircraft noise over the Castle.I suppose the Royals must get used to it!
We were famished and- surprisingly – not sleepy at all, despite the fact it was 2am in terms of our body clocks.Adrenalin was keeping us going, we really felt so excited to be here!
The Flying Beaver
Recommending The Flying Beaver restaurant, Maye very kindly dropped us off and this was an excellent recommendation.It was also a Float Plane hub on the Fraser River and given the 40 min queue, clearly very popular. But by agreeing to eat at the bar, we got immediate access.
We loved this place right away – the atmosphere was very buzzy, there was lots of interesting memorabilia on the walls or hanging from the ceiling.Just a really great set up.I had Caesar Salad with Prawns; Chris had the same but with Char- Grilled Chicken.The salad dressing and fresh Parmesan was excellent though my Tiger Prawns were quite rubbery and tasteless , pretty much the same as the imported ones we get at home! I’d hoped they might be fresh and local. Never mind, hunger makes good kitchen and we overall were very happy with our choices- AND we had float planes landing and taking off outside. A great start to our trip.
Walked back to the house, about 30 mins on flat paths, very safe.Just as we came out of the restaurant I noticed something swimming in the river, quite big too.A beaver! Very apt! Quite thrilled by this as neither of us has ever seen one before.
Asleep by 10pm (6am UK time) and awakened at 5am as the big jets began to roar once more.That was ok as I was really pleased with how much sleep we got!
Birds, birds and more birds
Beautiful sunny morning and there was no dispute about where to get breakfast – The Flying Beaver it had to be.We both have the Merlin Bird App on our phones so we switched it on as we walked, the birdsong loud and varied.Nice neighbourhood altogether, really liked it (and subsequently wished we’d stayed here for our 2 days in the city after the cruise.) The App identified White Sparrows, Bewick Wrens, American Robins, Flycatcher, Woodpecker, Grouse, Savannah Sparrow.Most of these were new to us though I appreciate they might seem very ordinary if you live here!Thrilled also by seeing a Bald Eagle on a lamp post which didn’t move an inch as we walked below.
Got a great window seat this time and watched the float planes taking off. A tasty Veg Frittata for me and Scrambled Egg and Bacon for Chris. We had ordered tea but added our own teabags brought from home as somehow, tea tastes very weak outside of the UK.
Our hostess drove us back to the airport at 11 am for our 1pm flight with Air Canada to Anchorage.At last, we were heading for The Great Land!
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Arrival Vancouver: Arrival Vancouver/ RichmonD via Toronto
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