Steve & Rosemary Blasdale

Granville Island

Posted on May 11, 2025 by SteveJune 13, 2025

11th May 2025

Today we both headed over to the Sheraton Wall Centre, to register with the Rocky Mountaineer. We came away with luggage tags to ensure our stuff arrived in the correct hotels, and importantly instructions as to where we had to be and by when for tomorrow’s trip. R was still feeling the effects of her illness so decided to go back to our hotel for the day. I was full of life and wanted to see the markets on Granville Island. I walked down to the Aquatic Centre Ferry Dock and caught one of the ferries to take me to the island. This area is low lying and lies under highway 99 bridge, which is also known as the Granville Bridge. The area contains marinas, small shops, restaurants and food halls, Oh and a cement works with cement mixers and silos lovingly painted. I did pick up something to eat from one of the stalls.

Walking around, I did spy the Granville Island brewery, where they had a bar. One thing about Canadian and American culture is that you have to meet the receptionist, who then seats you at your table, or bar seat. This was the case everywhere we ate and drank, except for one case later in our trip when we were staying at Banff. In the brewery, I asked to sit at the bar, where I was seated between two females who were each drinking alone. The day was looking up. This was a brew bar, and here was the taproom, with an excellent choice of craft ales. I started with a Hazy IPA. and then a darker beer. I should have gone for a tasting selection where you get a full selection of beers. I so like these NEIPAs and WCIPAs, with the occasional stout, they are a revelation in taste. (I do have a monthly beer subscription which is themed. Selina introduced me to this 18 months ago. When I arrive home, hopefully there will be a case of Italian craft beers waiting by the door.)

My companion on my right, was waiting for a flight home, and was idling away a few hours in the bar. She appeared to work in the brewing industry, making the malt from the barley. The barley is wetted, and laid out on a long tray, and she would go around turning it.

As well as the markets, there were some sideshows, such as this ball run.

Afterwards I walked around the food hall, looking at the tremendous array of produce, both cooked and raw. Then it was home to the hotel to commiserate with R.

Arrival at Vancouver Port

Posted on May 10, 2025 by SteveJune 13, 2025

10th May 2025

We arrived at Vancouver early in the morning. We watched the dockers come and moor us up. We ate our last breakfast on board and prepared to disembark. It was a short walk, carrying our bags to the taxi rank. This was well organised with several lanes for the taxis, and groups of people were let through to an empty lane, where upon taxies would arrive and whisk people away. We were taken to the Holiday Inn & Suites Vancouver Downtown, where we checked in and dumped our luggage and had a coffee. Next, we walked to the Sheraton Wall Centre where we asked about the Rocky Mountaineer reception. We needed to be there on Sunday to get baggage labels.

Now the mistake, I suggested we go to the Museum of Vancouver, it seemed easy to get to but required us to cross the bridge. The bridge is high and goes on for miles, then once off you backtrack to the museum. The museum is small, and also expensive. It does detail how in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Vancouver was created by stealing all the land from the native tribes. You also learnt how the Indigenous nation was banned from hiring lawyers to fight the land grabs from the Europeans. (Oh yes!)

Getting back was easy; we discovered these small bathtub shaped boats which would ferry you around False Creek, taking you from the museum to the other side of the creek, and also to Granville Island and further up the creek. They hold only about eight people but run every few minutes. Some routes there was a boat every 2 or 3 minutes. We had to wait for the second boat as the one that came in first became full very quickly.

We were soon over and had a short walk up from the shore under the bridge and onto Granville Street. We stopped at Maxines’ Cafe & Bar for a snack and a drink before heading back to the hotel. As we left, R spotted a beautiful silver tabby on a harness & lead in her mistress’s arms. The cat batted R’s hand out of the way at any attempt to stroke him.

We were now quite tired.

Koningsdam Cruise Day

Posted on May 9, 2025 by SteveJune 12, 2025

9th May 2025

This was another cruise day. We set off from Ketchikan after 6.30 pm the previous day, sailed all night, then all of Friday and Friday night .This takes us back to Vancover for the morning of Saturday. We were given instructions on packing, where to leave our luggage, or to handle our own luggage. We chose to handle our own luggage, leaving us free to leave on Saturday at the time of our choosing.

Today, not a lot happened, plenty of eating, some drinking, trying to use our 15 drinks a day package. Quite a challenge, even when this includes the purchase of espressos and cappuccinos. In the dining room, the waiters put on a little farewell show. We did listen to some music in the rolling stones lounge. The band there was OK. The couple on the pianos in the other bar not exactly to either of our tastes, and that was not because they did not play our suggestions; just banged hard on the keys.

We also looked at the shops, trying to spend our ‘free’ money allowance, instead we gave some of it away as a tip to our waiter, who came back thinking we had made a mistake in the tip.

Cruise stop at Ketchikan for Photography

Posted on May 8, 2025 by SteveJune 12, 2025

8th May 2025

The overnight ship trip to Ketchikan has us arriving at 11.00am. Today’s activity was a photo safari, which R and I were booked on. R still under the weather, so did not attend. I misread safari and took my huge lens. The safari was around the town at the sites, being instructed by a photographer on how to take better photos. This included looking at the old brothels which they celebrate, but still continue to persecute whores in the present day. Thankfully I had pocketed the small lens. But that still meant lugging around the useless, heavy birding lens.

The instructor on our trip was Randy Kirby. His photography company is called Bear Paw. For this trip he was guiding, he was working for Ketchikan Photo Safari.

Oh, and it rained.

We also visited a waterfall behind a shopping mall, where there were many mini buses from the ships bringing in staff to buy necessities. Ketchikan is a busy port with up to eight liners there. Most stop to fill up with water.

After the falls, we went on to a museum of Totem Poles.

I did learn from the photo lessons, including some interesting techniques with a mobile phone.

Short Video of Totem Pole

Glacier Bay

Posted on May 7, 2025 by SteveJune 12, 2025

7th May 2025

I was up and about early, but still missed the Park Rangers coming on board, although I did hear them talk at the Observation Deck. The Park Rangers remained on the ship for the duration of the visit to the glaciers

At around 9.30 we saw the first glacier, the John Hopkins Glacier. This Glacier filled the inlet where we were sailing up until the 1907. We did not get up close to the ice wall because of baby seals who live on the ice. In the water we saw numerous otters swimming on their backs. Some were carrying babies, others were swimming amongst the ice flows. On the bank a bear and a mountain goat were spotted. I did catch a picture of the goat. It was a very small indistinct picture as the goat was far off.

We got up closer to the next glacier, the Margerie Glacier, where we waited around for here for some time. Unfortunately, we did not see any calving of the ice. This Glacier filled the Tarr Inlet until 1892. I viewed the glaciers from the foredeck, where we were served Dutch Pea Soup. A very thick soup which was to be eaten, rather than drunk.

When we left, there were still otters to catch on camera, when I had the big lens. Some of the pictures show a juvenile otter being carried by the adult. The weather stayed mainly dry, but did have the odd cold shower.

R missed all this, she was laid up in her bed. Steve not wanting to eat on his own, went to the dining room and asked for a shared table. Four others joined him for the evening meal.

We heard the history of Glacier Bay, how that in the 1600s it was farmed, and a river flowed through it. Then a mini ice age occurred and the ice formed and swept through the valley. The whole bay filled. The Glacier reached its maximum extent in 1750. Since then, it has retreated 65 miles to the heads of the two inlets.

As we were leaving, another Holland America cruise ship, the Noordam, came in to replace us, This ship was on an 11-day cruise. The Alaskan Parks limit the number of ships allowed into Glacier Bay, so when we were visiting, we were the only ship there, to be replaced by the next ship. Not all cruise liners get to go to Glacier Bay, so make sure you check the itinerary before booking.

Skagway

Posted on May 6, 2025 by SteveJune 11, 2025

6th May 2025

That evening the Koningsdam sailed on to the next stop of Skagway. It left after 10pm and arrived around 6.00am. We headed for an early breakfast on the upper deck, a self-service buffet. Seemed complicated, and if you left your seat to get something else, there was no guarantee your plates would not be cleared away, and someone else would have taken your space. Light breakfast. Oh, and there was a whale in the harbour blowing in the docking area.

Skagway is the port where the gold miners came during the Klondike gold rush in the last decade of the 1800s. We were heading out for the White Pass Summit Rail train trip. Some issues with the audio on the coach taking us to the start, so a stop beside the road to have the sound system fixed. This was the first time the guide/bus driver had taken this trip. We drove up to the border and entered, yet again, into Canada.

The road snow depth indicators are unlike UK and European ones. The European ones are poles on the side of the road, how near to the pole are you able to go before you are off the road. The Alaskan guides have a horizontal section at the top, pointing in towards the road. These are painted with red and yellow paint. The red near the edge, and yellow over the road. This gives an indication as to where the roadside is.

The Canadian customs guy checked our passports at the customs post several miles into Canada. Here we joined our narrow gauge passenger train. The trip was all the way down to the bottom, through gorges, tunnels and across bridges. Oh, and this time we went through American customs, and they didn’t bother checking us face to face. They said all checks had been made.

On the trip down, we saw the cross on the boulder for Maurice Dunn, buried by massive boulder in a blasting accident, while building the railway. There was sign on the mountain, “On to Alaska with Buchanan” this refers to a series of adventure trips organized by George E. Buchanan, a Detroit coal merchant, beginning in 1923.

The line was mainly single track, with a dual track halfway down to allow upcoming and downcoming trains to pass each other.

At the bottom we went onto a BBQ and goldpanning show. Don’t think any of the meat had seen a real BBQ. Chicken and ribs were on offer. There were some lovely spicy hot baked beans as an accompaniment

Met a couple from the US on the trip. They were from Houston in Texas, and had come on holiday to be somewhere where it was cooler. Their first cruise as well.

After the BBQ we did some gold panning, and lo and behold found 1.8 grains, of gold, worth $38. Ha!

Back to the ship. But why the two checks for entry, a facial recognition system, then at the ship, a scan of the cruise card. Oh and bags x-rayed, to check we were not bringing any alcohol on board. So irritating.

We ate in the dining room, again just the two of us, but this time it was upstairs.

We set sail some time in the early evening, on our way to Glacier Bay

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.