Country Archives - Page 2 of 26

Juneau and Whale watching

Posted on May 5, 2025 by SteveJune 11, 2025

5th May 2025

Overnight trip to Juneau, where we arrived in the morning. Breakfast at the restaurant. Today we had a trip out to see whales. Bus trip up the estuary, to where it joins the main water which goes on up to Glacier Bay. The weather forecast was poor, but the trip started dry with sunshine. Later it descended into showers, including hail. We were loaded onto a double height boat, and headed out into the bay. There were several other boats out searching for whales. Yes, we had several sightings, blows, and tail shots,plus a seal. Back on the ship, we heard how another trip had seen a calf with the mother making a leap into the air. All their cameras and phones had been put away as they were on the way back to harbour and it was wet! Likely story.

Several drinks followed by a late supper in the main dining room. This time we were on our own table. Next time we must go earlier and get a shared table. So much more fun. Service can be awfully slow,

Juneau was full of cruise liners, at least 3.

Koningsdam Cruise Day

Posted on May 4, 2025 by SteveJune 11, 2025

4th May 2025

Sunday, so ate a Brunch, again shared a table with some Australians and British. All are still working. Good chat about music and Glastonbury. Rest of day looking around ship, visiting Library and having coffee, reading.

Alaskan beer tasting, interesting conversation about beers with a young couple from Vancouver, who had met each other through their love of craft beers.

Supper at Rudis, which was meant to be one of the posher restaurants, though we were a bit disappointed. This evening was also the opening with the captain, very scruffily dressed, R thought. He introduced us to the other officers, also mainly scruffily dressed.

In the sea we saw a few birds and maybe some fish jumping. Nothing spectacular or interesting. The day also was descending into grey.

Vancouver and the Koningsdam

Posted on May 3, 2025 by SteveJune 10, 2025

3rd May 2025

Today we were boarding the ship, scheduled leaving time was 4.00pm. We were asked to be there at 14.00, and no later than 14.30.

So breakfast at the hotel, and then a walk around Vancouver. Went to see the Marine Building, once the tallest building in the British Empire. Actually, several buildings were so labelled.

Then we headed to the Gastown and Chinatown area, but got hijacked by the Vancouver Lookout, a tower with a lookout. Around the 360-degree viewing platform, were pictures to help you to id the buildings and areas. You didn’t know whether the object was close or 10k away, so we spent some time looking for buildings and areas.

Made our way back to the hotel, picked up our bags and walked over to the terminal. We were early for the checkin. This was very quick, until we got to US immigration. We were in that queue for more than two hours. The US immigration was processing both boats at the same time. The mistake we made was to check in early. We should have waited until 2.30, by which time the queue had seriously diminished.

Both cruise ships left a little later than scheduled, at about the same time. We, the Koningsdam, were in the lead though!

Our cabin was in the basement, should really have had a cabin on floor 4 or upwards, which came with a balcony. All documents and passes were quickly made available to us. This was all well-organized. Met our cabin cleaner who explained to us what he did.

Next we explored the ship, headed to the bars, and supper. At supper we shared a table with 4 others, two each from America and Australia. The Americans were Trump supporters. I soon learned they hated the ‘corrupt’ Biden administration, and when I said Biden had started economic growth, they vehemently denied it. The Australians were ardent royalists.

The day and evening were lovely and sunny.

Marine Building

Canada – Vancouver Sea Wall and Stanley Park

Posted on May 2, 2025 by SteveJune 10, 2025

2nd May 2025

After waking up throughout the night, and going back to sleep, I was finally up at about at 6.30. Actually, for the whole month I was waking up at 3.30 in the morning, and ensuring R was awake, too. It was a lovely sunny day outside; the forecast had been for another “dreary” day.

We ate breakfast in the hotel. We could not understand the charging mechanism, other than it seemed expensive, especially with the Canadian tax, and state tax all added on after the perfectly rounded dollar price, and finally after a 20% tip was added, it was even more so.

We went for a long walk along the shoreline, ending up walking to Brockton Point lighthouse and back. On the way back we saw two Canada Geese with their goslings on the cycle path. They took offence at a small handbag dog; knocking a cyclist to the ground. Some signs showing photos of Canada Geese were captioned “Not all Canadians are friendly”.

In the many marinas, there was the odd ‘house boat’, amongst the motorboats. There was one with a very realistic house built on top. We passed the rowing club as we entered Stanley Park, where there were separate tracks for running, cycling, walking and driving. Vancouver is a very friendly cycling and pedestrian city. Most of the roads have these segregated tracks.

There are some totem poles, which we viewed. We eventually made our way to Brockton Point and the lighthouse. Across the water were the container and coal ports. We could see a huge pile of a yellow substance, this turned out to be sulphur, a biproduct from the oil fields in Alberta.

Back at the restaurant area, we stopped for a snack and a pint at the Tap and Barrel at the Convention Centre, accompanied by some good pita and hummus. Met a few English tourists, who were also here for a cruise. There seems to be a cruise ship in port every day. Tomorrow there will be two ships. We are heading out tomorrow on a seven-day cruise to Alaska and back on the Koningsdam. The other Brits were there on an eleven-day cruise to Alaska and back on the Coral Princess. They were both due to leave tomorrow at 16.00.

We had a walk around the empty ferry port to get the lay of the land. We also checked we could store our luggage at the hotel after we checked out and before we boarded the ferry.

We again ate supper at Rogue Kitchen and Wet Bar. Started to rain, so slightly damp on the walk home to the hotel.

Canada – Flying to Vancouver

Posted on May 1, 2025 by SteveJune 10, 2025

1st May 2025

Phil picked us up from home and drove us to Terminal 2 at Heathrow. Checking in, passport, and baggage check were all easy to do. There was a new system, hand luggage & pockets did not have to have bottles of liquid and electronic gadgets removed. We also did not have to take our belts and shoes off.

We boarded the flight, and were herded towards the back, but we did have a spare seat next to us. A man kept on saying “water” to one of the cabin crew. She turned around to face him and told him that if he said “please”, she could probably help him, which she later did. Great stuff.

Of the films on offer, I watched Black Panther both of us watched Paddington in Peru.

Air Canada was quite good on the food and drinks side of flying, I managed a couple of beers and a wine. I even turned down a beer for a fourth round from the trolly.

The captain, a woman, was retiring at the end of this trip after 40+ years service. Ground breaking. Lots of cheering on the flight. She said goodbye to each of us as we left, R gave her a good hug. (Actually, we were routed through business class to meet her at the posh aircraft door.) I believe there were water canons doing an arch of honour in front of the plane to commemorate her retirement.

Passport control in Canada was a first for us, all machines, and open, not like the intimidating UK ones. Where you are locked in. No questions on entry so we were automatically herded through with almost zero human interaction.

Bags picked up, and the driver that Trailfinders had ordered was there in a Tesla model X to take us to the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel opposite the cruise terminal. I have not seen so many Tesla cars on the road together. There were at least five, all next to each other. And we saw two Tesla Cybertrucks. One downside of the X, was that one gullwing door did not open at the airport, but it later opened when we exited. I suspect the Tesla thought the door was going to hit an obstruction.

It was a lovely day in Vancouver, quite warm, and no clouds. Better than the forecast, which, according to Air Canada was for “dreary” weather.

We arrived at the Fairmont, and were soon in our room. Time was around 7.0 We headed out for supper. The lift was full of people, huge queue at the lobby. It appears a group from the Rocky Mountaineer was checking in.

We found an ATM which charged us $3.50 to use it. We ate in the Rogue Kitchen and Wet Bar. It’s part of the station. Good selection of beers, I had a cloudy IPA (a very cloudy IPA, never seen one so cloudy, even had swirls in the cloud), and a Stout. Kept the food to one course, bowls of rice and salmon.

An American ship, The Ruby Princess with 3700 passengers, was in port on its way to SF, leaving at 10pm . Our ship, the Holland and America Koningsdam, was heading south from Alaska, to arrive on Saturday. It will spend the next six months back and forth between Vancouver and Alaska, then when winter arrives it will head to the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies

Back to the hotel for an early night, we had been up for 24hours, but R found the bed problematical. Too high! Above her waist!

French Camping 2024, Day 29 Home

Posted on September 19, 2024 by SteveOctober 13, 2024

19th September 2024

Early rise at 7 today to do the final packing up before driving home. Never seen the shower block so busy, everyone was there, also preparing to move on. At this time of year this campsite is a stop point for all the Dutch and Germans heading home or driving to warmer climes. It fills in the evening at 5.00 and empties by 9.00 in the morning.

We were off home before 8.00 and drove non stop to Calais, caught an earlier trip under the channel than we had booked. Took the wrong decision and travelled around the Southern part of the M25. Alas there had been an accident and delay.

French Camping 2024, Day 28 La Liez

Posted on September 18, 2024 by SteveOctober 13, 2024

18th September 2024

Today we drove to a supermarket in Saints Geomes to do our last minute shopping , basically 3 litres of Ricard at £18.00 a go. The E.Leclerc was large, and there were various other specialist E.Leclerc outlets on site. The carpark was being newly painted, the isles in the shop where wide and airy. All seemed positive, but there seemed to be a lack of the items we wanted. Saints Geomes also has a dedicated E.Leclerc drive a mile away. Saints Geomes does not warrant such a large supermarket, it is not much bigger than a large village, but then I suppose there is not much around other than small villages. While here we bought the local cheese called Langres.

Afterwards we headed to one of the four lakes nearby, La Liez. A man-made lake for water supply. It did have some water sports and fishing, but this was all closed for the season. We ate our lunch in the sun and went for a walk along the lake. The water sports are sailing, water skiing and some huge plastic island runways set up in the lake for kids to run and play on.

After a walk along the lake, we wandered back to the car and to the campsite where we did our initial packing before going home.

French Camping 2024, Day 27 Langres

Posted on September 17, 2024 by SteveOctober 13, 2024

17 September 2024

Should be a sunny day today, but it was not quite as good as it had been hyped up to be. We thought we would do a walk to a local site of ‘Escargots de Cohons’. Unfortunately, the footpaths where my Outdooractive map wanted to take us were overgrown and impassible. So, after 20 minutes we gave up and headed back to the campsite.

We now drove into nearby Langres, which is a fortified town.

Langres was only a 9-minute drive up North, first through the town of Saints-Geosmes, not much there to keep one, and then to the town itself. At first Langres did not impress, we drove though some terrible derelict army barracks type buildings. Some of which looked disused and about to be knocked down, and others repurposed for the Gendarmes. It looked more like a prison.

We arrived near a carpark, parked, and realised we now had just reached the main town of Langres. We searched google maps for sites to see and visited a few notable sites. Lunch called, and most of the restaurants looked dismal (pizza, burger) and empty. There was one, in a small square, which was being dug up and repaved. Being lunch time, the workers were all sitting down eating. The restaurant we headed to was called Le-Foy. It seemed to have people in it. We headed there, but a notice on the door said it was full, as we tuned away, a waitress ripped down the notice. We headed in and had a simple, but pleasant lunch.

The rest of the day, we walked around the ramparts of this town, which is twinned with Beaconsfield in the UK. It was an excellent trip around. There was a restored rack and pinion locomotive, parked at the top of a foot bridge. This had been to enable passengers to enter the town from the railway below. One section of the ramparts had a plaque stating Beaconsfield was 372 miles away?

Further around we could see a statue, The Statue de la Vierge Marie de Langres on a small hillock in the distance.

Finally on completing the walk back to our van, we passed the Navarra Tower. There was a small campsite here. A beautiful place to stay, right in the town, with excellent views across the valley. Rather a public campsite, as tourists and locals are able to walk through.

Leaving the town wass a bit of a disaster. I made a wrong turn, ending up on narrow roads, with 320 degree turns, on steep hills.

Back at the campsite, we had a vey light supper, while the campsite yet again filled up with people on their one night stopovers.

French Camping 2024, Day 26 Saints-Geosmes

Posted on September 16, 2024 by SteveOctober 13, 2024

16th September 2024

Tongue felt a lot better today, so I was ready to travel.

We packed away and headed North, the wind buffeting us as we drove. Before I set off, for some unknown reason, I decided to check my tyre pressures, three were at around 3.3 bar, while the driver’s front tyre was at less than 2 bar. Oops what had happened? A puncture? But I could see no obvious suspects. Pumped up the tyre to 3.3 and we headed off. I stopped at a layby after an hour’s driving to check the pressure. Seemed to be fine.

We continued on, and after a few more hours stopped again for lunch and to check the tyre. It still seemed to be OK.

By the by, when I refer to the van’s willy, I mean the drainpipe from the built-in sink. Not sure what else to call it.

The drive was long, there were some roadwork delays that google at one time put in as 20 minutes, thankfully our short stops and long trip allowed for these delays to disappear as we progressed. Lyons was its usual crapness, especially in the bit where the road goes under several buildings.

We arrived at our destination, Camping de la Croix d’Arles near to Saints-Geosmes, in the late afternoon. Checked in for three nights and found ourselves a plot near where we had camped previously. But, oh no, the loos and showers near us had been closed, so we had to walk more than 240 steps to the open sanitaire block. Luckily the nearby sanitaire had ample washing-up sinks. The restaurant was closed, as was the chip van.

Quite a few Dutch and Germans arrived after us, all staying one night as they were travelling. I presume home.

Ordered bread and croissants for tomorrow.

Supper was cooked, the remainder of the roasted chicken we had a couple of nights before.

The weather was a little breezy, but not too much, allowing us to put up the small awning.

French Camping 2024, Day 25 Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

Posted on September 15, 2024 by SteveOctober 11, 2024

15th September 2024

Reckon the mice could still be getting in by jumping up and clambering up Morrison’s willy. So, I pushed it up higher. This seems to have cured the problem, as no more mice caught during the day or night.

Today we walked across the saltmarsh. Interestingly the water level was higher, and possibly had been higher in the hours before. Where we had walked on previous days, was now flooded. They must have been letting the Rhone flood into the area. Not much was happening, several groups of horses were trekking around the landscape, catching up on the previous day. Yes, today was still windy, but not as bad as yesterday.

While we were sitting outside the van in the afternoon, drinking beer, I managed to drink down a wasp which had inveigled its way to my beer bottle. It stung me on my tongue, prompting me to spit out the beer all over the vans foot step. R was not impressed. She leapt for the Epipen, but, hey, that’s an injection! Instead, I ate a couple of anti-histamines and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening being really miserable. No supper for me tonight, but i did think a JD & coke would help anaethetize my poor tongue. R said, unhelpfully, that I sounded like a bad imitation of Sean Connery, ie rather shlurry.

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