For all the travels I’ve undertaken over the years, I’ve always had a yearning for Alaska! I’m not sure why, it’s just always held my interest. I’ve been to Canada several times although never had the opportunity to head to the North (yes, I realise, it’s USA). The cruise up the inland passage has always been of interest but as I’m absolutely NOT a cruiser, it’s been beyond my reach. I recall when I was in my late teens I ventured, along with my mother and great aunt, to Sydney, boarded a P&O ship and we cruised for 7 days taking in the sights of Launceston, returning back to Melbourne for the tennis, and then back to Sydney. Out of the 7 days, I spent 5 violently sea-sick. It took me another 3o years before I would try again. I opted for a 3 day Sydney to Brisbane sail. Success, I didn’t get sea-sick although it reaffirmed that I was definitely not a cruise-goer. Too many people in a confined space, and I didn’t have the right coloured lanyard hanging around my neck…

When I ventured to Croatia a few years ago, my travelling buddy – Deb and I, took in a week long cruise around the Croatia isles although there were only 40 on the boat. It was so relaxing, small group and we met some fantastic people.

The yearning for the Alaska trip remained however. When Deb mentioned to me about Hurtigruten Expedition cruises, I thought this might be different from the usual boating experiences. The ship MS Roald Amundsen, the first hybrid-powered ships in the Hurtigruten fleet and the mention of a Science and Education Programme with a Science Centre onboard, peaked my interest. Deb assures me this ship is not like the usual cruising ships, luxury and expedition cruising brings a different experience.

^{© Oscar Ferrara}

So, this brings me to the start of my journey to Alaska! There’s been a few hiccups along the way but they’ve all been overcome to get me here in Canada on an Alpaca farm writing a post about my first week of the Bucket List trip.

The HX cruises are certainly not cheap, I patiently waited for the single supplements to be released, I couldn’t afford to go without a reduction. As the deadline to book neared, another friend (I’ve got more than one it seems) Cecilia reached out. Cecilia and Jim (Jimbo) had been planning a trip to Alaska on a cruise but such trip had been cancelled during COVID, with Jim’s passing, Cecilia was keen to fulfill their dream of also venturing to Alaska to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. So we set some ground rules around sleeping arrangements – both declaring we’re too old to share beds! So the journey of both of us fulfilling our bucket lists in separate beds began!

Our original flight was cancelled, we had the choice to move to a day earlier and we grabbed it, who wouldn’t want an extra day on holiday. As our departure date grew nearer, we compared packing notes and they were similar – well, I ended up with 14kgs and my friend some 21kgs, maybe our lists weren’t quite the same… She’ll be cross with me telling you all this!

4 days before departure, we received notification that our cruise had been cancelled, a devastating blow! Some quick thinking and a phone call to the UK, we had secured our cabin on the next voyage departing 9 June. Oh dear, another extension to the holiday… Cecilia and I added up our $$ could we afford an extra 15 days holidays, we both decided it’s the trip of a lifetime, let’s just go!

Awaiting our 4.46am train | Celebratory breaky at the airport | Here we go… | Snow capped mountains as we approach Vancouver!

The flight was uneventful although we gambled on no-one being in the middle seat – we lost. Cecilia now has a new friend, who speaks no English, although they shared a cuppa or two throughout the flight! Me, I took my sleeping pills and slept!

The first couple of days were somewhat chaotic due to some hiccups with accommodation. As of 1 May, the rules for Airbnb have changed in Canada with many places having to take their listings down. We couldn’t work out why there were so few listings. Anyhow, once we became aware we adjusted and carried on. A couple of days in Vancouver to get over the flight. We opted to extend our car hire a few extra days and hit the road. Now we had extra time, we can explore Vancouver Island. Ferry was booked for Wednesday 15 May afternoon with our first stop a tiny house in Courtenay! Vancouver Island is an amazing getaway from Vancouver, step back in time to a slower pace and if it’s possible, friendlier Canadians!

Along the route, we came across Goats on the Roof (literally) a market style shopping complex, we gathered groceries for our first few days and discovered the Nanaimo Bar, no – not a drinking establishment, a dessert slice toted as Canada’s favourite! Our first stay in Courtenay in a Tiny Home did not disappoint. This quaint little stay had everything we needed and then some.

We meandered our way through MacMillan Provincial Park amazed by the trees and root systems.

Fish and Chip lunch at Dicks in Campbell River. As we sit to enjoy Dick’s Fish and Chips, three young lads walk in, of course they’re Aussies, three brothers travelling, where from – Miami and Mermaid – they literally live around the corner from us at home! These boys are off to drive to Alaska. A visit to a local winery 40 Knots Winery and a lot of sitting watching the world go by. We noticed the beaches have logs strewn about, we’re thinking this may assist with beach erosion.

A stay in a family’s basement apartment in Shawnigan Lakes, allowed us to explore the Kinsol Trestle, standing at approx. 40m high making it one of the highest wooden railway trestles in the world. Fascinating to inspect the construction and the thought that it would have held the weight of a train and carriages.

We came across a small town Chemainus without a doubt one of the most gorgeous seaside towns I’ve ever visited. This artisan village is home to over 50 large scale murals scattered throughout the town. Somewhere I’d love to return and spend more time. If you’re travelling to Vancouver Island, Chemainus should definitely be on the list of places to see.

It was time to think of heading back to the mainland to continue the journey of discovery, making our way towards Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff, the first stop – Chilliwack. As it turned out, friends of Cecilia’s, Sue and Justin, are abroad for 3 months, celebrating the birth of their second grandchild, the son and family lives in Chilliwack! The world is such a small place. We met them for dinner and chatted all things Australians travelling. There may have a been a conversation or ten about our grandkids. We opted for a stay in a heritage listed manor, which is a labour of love for hosts Cindy and Rosally!

The ferry system in Canada is amazing – the number of vehicles that can be moved in such a short period of time, is no mean feat. Very similar to the vehicle ferries I took getting across from UK to Ireland.

We’ve decided on our drive tour, to keep off the highways where possible, to enjoy and take our time, soaking in the scenery and the small villages along the way. We happened across the Hope Landslide site. Basically the side of a mountain fell down, one of the largest landslides ever recorded happened in 1965 after a small earthquake. The signage indicates 46 million cubic metres of earth was dislodged. It’s hard to imagine how much that is but when you see the site, I mean it’s literally half a mountain!

One of our first grocery shops on Vancouver Island, yielded a little organic red, the Robin Ridge Gamay, I had commented to Cecilia, definitely one of the better wines I have had. As we continued our journey, passing through villages of Princeton and Keremeos we spot a sign to Robin Ridge Winery – can it really be the same? A detour was definitely warranted. A wine tasting ensued and whilst more bottles of the Gamay were secured – a Chardonnay and Rose have joined the crew. For those that know me, I would never usually drink a chardonnay although this wine, is very good! I quite easily could have sent a carton home of each.

We noticed ‘Boil Water’ notices and discovered this little village of Princeton has had a rough few years, whilst it sits high on the mountain tops, it was hit with an atmospheric river in November 2021 and caused widespread devastation. I had never heard of an atmospheric river and I need to research if this is the same style of event, that caused the catastrophic floods in Queensland in 2011.

Cecilia declared I was not permitted to visit more wineries until I had consumed my recent purchases, reluctantly I accepted the challenge as we headed for our next destination of Penticton. Our stay was in a recently refurbished motel – Kettle Valley Beach Resort, we splurged and enjoyed a curry at Penticton’s best Indian – Lachi Fine Indian Restaurant

You can see how Penticton would be a holiday haven for British Columbians, the Okanagan Lake is sensational with so many spots to camp, park up an RV and enjoy the spoils of the area. There’s a white sandy beach in Penticton, which for we Australians, was a standout, as other beaches we’ve encountered were pebbled and rocky outcrops and needed reef shoes.

We took the route less travelled and headed north towards Salmon Arms via Peachland, Bear Creek and Fintry. I would love to share with you the travels to Kelowna however I fear, a random roundabout set us astray and we totally missed the biggest City in the Okanagan Valley.

Bear Creek yet again held a devastating tale of destruction, where the scars of a fire from September 2023 remain.= A quick Wiki search shows us that lives were lost and 189 properties were destroyed with 12,000 hectares affected.

There’s certain similarity to home, fire – flood and beaches, another indication of the connection between Australia and far northern counterparts – Canadians.

The search of a Starbucks has become our early mantra for we realise the coffee is, at the very least, consistent! Our next stay is at Stoey’s farm, located in the hills above Salmon Arms. There’s chooks, Alpacas and homemade wine – I’ll need to leave this until the next post, the rhubarb wine is taking its toll!