BACK IN AOTEAROA - Woohoo!

How wonderful having a jumping up and down welcoming committee! Maddy had only just arrived from France and HongKong, and had apparently slept for over 12 hours. I was lucky on the Honolulu flight, sleeping for 6 hours. Makes a difference to the jetlag. I'm trying out placing photos in a different place in the blog. Let's see if it works. I think I could even get 3 in a row . . . . . . .

Prince Rupert, Prince George, Jasper, Colombian Icefield, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, Vancouver BC, Honolulu

I'm sitting in the lounge at Honolulu Airport, about to fly back to New Zealand. A lot of water, some of it with 80 percent pack ice, has flowed under the bridge in the last 3 months. I can't honestly decide which part was the best. Walking with Mark in the Cinque Terre was unforgettable, both for the warm company, wine and food, and of course the coast and villages – I think technicolour when I think of that area - so colourful and vibrant. All the friends I've stayed with along the way – I've been very lucky. Thank you again Peter, Karin and Solvieg in Denmark and Sweden, all so kind and giving. Mark and all the international London flatmates – what a fascinating bunch of people. And Nancy and Paul in Minneapolis – I feel like part of their wonderful family. Kayaking amongst the icebergs, brash ice and bergy bits in Spitsbergen and Greenland was just so different it's still hard to believe it actually happened. Two weeks wasn't enough. And then there was travel with Neville through the fabulously grand and immense scenery in Alaska and Canada, my 2nd time up to the Arctic within weeks. That Dalton Highway takes some beating, if only for the experience of dodging the trucks. Joking aside, it was amazing. Apparently I overdid the word 'phenomenal'. Hard to know another word that does the wonders justice. The Colombian Icefield was all it was made out to be – except it was even far grander and majestic than I had pictured. Phenomenal even. Elk, caribou, russet and gold squirrels, black bears, and bald eagles – so lucky to see them all. A week in Vancouver BC seeing the sights was a great finish for me, although I wasn't able to do much on Vancouver Island, as it was all winding down for the season. I did find a yacht I'd have liked to buy over at Granville Island – I can send you a pic if you're interested. Two nights in Honolulu, and I'm finally on the way home. I believe that Anna, Noel, Emily and Madeline are in Auckland, and I'm so excited to be going to see them, as well as Alistair and Gail, Hamish and Petra, and Venetia, Jude and Theo, plus Aunty Marg. Family.

Juneau - 20th Sept, 08

Now in Juneau, and leaving here tomorrow by Alaska Marine Highway ferry, for Prince Rupert. From there we'll get a train up to Prince George, pick up a rental car, and drive via the Colombia Icefield route down to Vancouver.
Neither of us are going to stay in Hawaii now. I'm spending an extra week in Vancouver, hopefull at the HI hostel, and will then fly directly home. Hopefully my wonderful travel agent Lee Orton (anyone want a reliable recommendation?) will be able to arrange it for me.
Sorry that the photos don't line up with the 'posts'. They say I can rearrange the page, but it won't do what I want it to!!
bye for now - home soon!!

Wrangell St.Elias National Park, 14-16 Sept 08

As it was with everywhere we've been in Alaska, we didn't spend nearly enough time in Wrangell St.Elias Park. We looked at the salmon fishing setups on the Copper River at Chitina, and marvelled at the size of the fish! The fish are caught up in a revolving net system, which is far kinder to the fish than our hook in the mouth (hopefully) way of doing it in NZ. We drove the 100 odd miles in, past Chitina to McCarthy/Kennicott, on another dirt road. Way more potholes on this one though, and our RV bounced and lurched the last 59 miles. We camped at the bottom of the Kennicott Glacier, right by the river, and were lulled to sleep by the sound of the rushing waters. Neville saw a bear while he was out walking the glacier and wished he'd taken the bear spray. I went out walking too, and saw some bear scat, full of berries. Wished I'd had the bear spray too, but did sing and holler a bit, so it'd have known I was there! We went the 5 or so miles to the Kennicott mine the morning of the 16th Sept, before setting out on the drive back to Anchorage. Neville ran the 5 miles – I think he felt he'd had a good workout at last, after all the sitting in the camper.

Prudhoe Bay via the Dalton Highway (aka Haul Road)

What a superb drive, starting with glowing gold autumn colours down near Denali, and then becoming more wintery the closer we got to Deadhorse, up on the Arctic Ocean. Well, nearly on the Arctic Ocean; just a few miles short. We had to go on an 'oil tour' so that we could dip our toes in the frigid water. The weather at Deadhorse was extraordinarily good for us, clear and fine, and really not too cold! The cold part was the snow storm we drove through on the way up, and the -12C overnight on the Chandalar Shelf just south of the Atigun Pass. The most challenging part of all was the truck traffic. Quite menacing really, and we had to keep a sharp eye out in order to let them past. There was no way we could drive our camper as fast as they could.
The wildlife was spectacular. Hundreds of caribou, several herds of musk oxen, artic fox, arctic hare, and birds that were hard to identify - certainly one owl that I'll need to look up sometime.
And then we drove down to Wrangell St. Elias National Park, but that will have to wait for another day.

Anchorage - Denali Park

10th September, 2008

Am cheating here - some of you will have read this in an email. Sorry! Time is limited. Hope I can get some pics posted soon from my Macbook Air.

We had 3 days kayaking in Prince William Sound, up in Backstone Bay, round Decision Point from the 'city' of Whittier. We got taken in by boat, dropped on the iceberg strewn beach of Willard Island, and set up camp, hefting the food up a tree out of the way of bears, before taking off for a paddle to and round glaciers quite a way up the sound. All awesome! I didn't want to go any closer than we did! but I think Neville would have. The new Lendal paddle worked wonderfully well, and I was so thankful to have it when I tried the one that Neville was using from Alaska SeaKayakers. The new one pulls apart into 4 pieces, and is just under 800grams. Love it! We didn't see any major glacier calving, but there were some pretty loud booms during the night. We paddled back towards Whittier the next day, staying at Squirrel Cove, and having huge fun watching the silver and pink salmon starting their run up a little creek. We even found a bear lair, where Mr Bear had been munching on his fishy loot. Lots of it. The air was ripe with bear scent, and we got out of there pretty quickly - after the requisite photo! Yes Darcy I got some otter pics but not sure how good they are.

Back through the Whittier train tunnel, Alaska Backpackers that night, to find the next day that we could pick up the camper (solid and good value; a camper unit on a 5.7 ltr ute) 2 days sooner than previously available. The plans got changed rapidly from going down to Seward, to coming north to Denali, and camping at the Savage River campsite for 2 nights. Yesterday we took the shuttle bus about 92 miles into the park, to Wonder Lake, stopping along the way to see amazing views - especially of Denali!!! Weren't we the lucky ones. The autumn colours are brilliant at present, and are amazing alongside the brilliant red of the fireweed and blueberry fall colours. Animals? Oh yes!! Several grizzlies, one Mum with baby, caribou, moose, various eagles and gyre falcon, wolf (only 98 in the park, we really got lucky there) ptarmigan. I completely drained a fresh battery in the Canon G9, and partly used the Leica battery, so lots of pics!

Iceland - London UK - Minneapolis

2nd September. I'm writing this on board the flight from Minneapolis to Denver, which has taken off 3 hours after schedule meaning I'm going to have to make a quick scamper from this flight to the connecting one to Anchorage. Hope there aren't any more holdups!
Staying with Paul and Nancy was a delight. They are so warm and welcoming, their home is an expression of the two of them, creative and interesting, with lovely old polished furniture, pictures, and many many photos of family and friends, Their garden is so creative too, and has obviously grown and matured during the years they've been there. Blue Jays (so beautiful) Red Cardinals, Purple Finches, woodpeckers, and amazingly agile squirrels. Trees grow in lush green profusion, and so do the flowers and vegetables.
We did some shopping at an REI store (just a little!), had a major visit to the MN State fair, (hot, with so many people), then an evening meal overlooking the St Croix river at Stillwell.

I don't know what happened to my London and UK post. It seems to be missing! I loved being at Marks, and meeting all his international and fascinating flatmates. Mark and I met my cousin Judith Phillips and her husband Chris up in Oxford, and getting to know them both. It was the first time Judith and I have ever actually met, and it was lovely actually seeing her face to face. Her Dad, my Uncle David, died 2 days previously, so I was sad that I wasn't able to get to see him before he passed away. Judith showed us around Oxford, her old stamping ground. I have a cousin who graduated from Oxford with Honours!! Wow.

We also visited my niece Libby Lampert (Irwin), and met her darling 1 year old son Harry for the first time. Life's not been at all easy for Libby, and we really feel for her. A plucky young woman, managing a young son plus working, all on her own. I hope it won't be too long before she's able to relocate back to NZ.

Mark took me to Hampstead Heath for the last night of the Kenwood Proms - fireworks and all. What a great evening.

That's mainly the UK. Could go on for ages! Loved it. Loved Mark's flat. Loved being with Mark!

Svalbard - Greenland - Iceland

What an amazing trip! I could never have imagined it would all be so incredibly beautiful, immense, and awe inspiring. We certainly have wonderful scenery in New Zealand, but this was all on a larger scale, and seemed to be unending; it all had feeling of such grandeur than it felt eternal. The company on the boat was varied and very interesting. Mostly from Australia, with a couple of Americans, a couple of Kiwis, and a Norwegian. My cabin mate and I got on very well, which is a definite plus! The sailing all went well, athough the ones who got seasick probably wouldn't agree - I think they were lucky that the rocky sea didn't go on for too long. One of the highlights would have been slowly making our way through the pack ice, getting closer and closer to NE Greenland. We were lucky in that we managed to get further north than they have for a couple of years. So now I've had a couple of days in Iceland, visiting Lanmannagauer two days ago; a wild and wonderful part of the country, with solidified lava flows, amazing craggy peaks, red soil and bright green grass. The green grass here in Iceland is a very deep and bright green, and somehow looks overdone in the pics. Yesterday I flew up to Isafjordur in the Westfjords (google it), for a little kayaking, a most enjoyable seafood meal in a quaint little old restaurant, a drive through a 9km tunnel through the mountains, and a walk around a puffin nesting island called Vidur - only saw some puffins out on the water, black specks in the distance. Bother!
Off to London this morning. Better hurry and put some pics on - taxi due in 10 mins. Bye!

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, northernmost Norway

Denmark and Sweden were such a breath of fresh air. I had this strange wafting feeling that I'd come home. Quite odd. They all spoke to me in Danish or Swedish too, thinking I was Scandinavian. Lovely being amongst so many blondes! It was such fun have days with Karin and Peter - nothing like being shown around by the locals!

After a huge chaotic schmozzle at the airport here I arrived relatively easily at the Basecamp Spitsbergen Hotel. Longyearbyen had been cut off for 3 days because of fog, so there were many people; 600 arriving and 700 wanting to leave. And of course all had luggage, heaped up everywhere. One lady who was on my flight arrived at Basecamp 3 hours after I did - wasn't I lucky!

I went on a day trip on a small ice ship called Polar Girl, to visit both the Esmarkbreen Glacier, and Barentsburg. All very fascinating.

I'm frustrated with this blog. The photos aren't appearing together with the posts and I can't find how to shift them. And the last photos are large, while the one of Mark in Genova is small. ?? Emily! I need some help here. Ah well. Life could be more frustrating than this. I'll keep trying.

We leave this afternoon for Greenland, aboard the Polar Pioneer. I've met quite few of the other passengers, and many of us are sitting here at the Basecamp hotel lobby, waiting to be picked up for our tour of Longyearbyen. I doubt I'll be able to post another blog until Iceland - on the 20th August. Bye for now!

Cinque Terre

Eight days of glorious Italian sunshine, with everything working out well with our accommodation, and wonderful food and wine! What more could we ask for. After our train trip from Genova to Riomaggiore, we walked for 20 minutes beside the sea, along the Lovers Walk, to Manarola. Our accommodation was way up the hill, but really that's pretty much the only option, as there's very little flat ground. We had a delightful little bedroom ad bathroom, and could have breakfast out on the terrace, listening to the church bells. We did go back to Riomaggiore the next day, dive - nice to dive, but it was fairly desolate underwater. We did see an enormous octopus!

From Riomaggiore we walked to Corniglia, then Vernazza, and Monterosso. The walks got progressively harder, but we were very lucky in that we went from southeast to northwest, and had the sun behind us in the mornings. The last day was the hardest, very steep going up and down, but the steps downwards into Monterosso went on and on, and were more like a ladder! I was very grateful for walking poles. And the knee was fine!! Such wonderful views along the coast, and I was continually enchanted by the colourful and quaint many-storied building stacked up the hillsides like dominoes. Some of the villages, and churches date back to 1000AD. Mark organized a rental car for us the last day, and we drove from La Spezia to Levante via the coast (sometimes a few 100 metres above the sea though), and back again inland, along narrow little country lanes, with blackberry vines trying to entangle our wee Fiat. That was such a superb day, and I was very lucky to have Mark as chauffeur excellente.

Italy - Denmark - Sweden

Such a long flight from Christchurch to Genova, 32 hours in all, but somehow it all went very smoothly, aided by 3 hours sleep at the Singapore Airport Hotel, and then a little white pill on the way to Frankfurt! Mark said I must have been a little jetlagged, but I can't believe how good I felt - probably that jetlag homeopathic helped too. The best sight of all was Mark arriving up the Passo Palestro with his bags, and I knew then that the Italian interval was really underway. Superbo!

Getting Started

Even getting this title was hard! But 'daring' describes how I'm feeling right now; as though I'm attempting something that is more than I'm easy about doing. Reading stories about people kayaking around Greenland is awe-inspiring, until I remember that that is part of what I'm setting out to do too - and then I feel scared. Scared of? The immensity of it all, the landscape, the ice, the snow, the wind and the freezing cold water. It's the beauty that makes me want to go, the randomness of it all, the perfection without imperatives, beauty without falseness and pretence. I love getting out into the wilderness. It's like a pulling, that draws me. Going beyond the known, to the unexpected, and seeing the gift in the unknown places. Discovering the unknown, and being part of it for a while. Italy - the Cinque Terre - and Mark. Denmark and Sweden - and Peter and Karin. Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland. England, with Mark again. Then Minneapolis, and Nancy and Paul. And onto Alaska, meeting Neville; travelling to Pr.William Sound, Prudhoe Bay, Juneau and Prince Rupert, the Colombia Icefield, Vancouver, Hawaii and home. But really, honestly, I can't wait!!!