Juneau, Alaska

Travel Photo Tuesday

Welcome sign, Juneau Alaska
You can fly to it or you can sail to it but Juneau, Alaska is the only mainland U.S. capital which you cannot drive to. Like much of south-east Alaska, Juneau is unconnected by road to the rest of North America. In keeping with my Travel Photo Tuesday theme this post will be long on photos and short on narrative. Click here to read more about our time in Juneau.


The Six Essential Rules of Holiday Cycling.

Holiday cyclingAs travellers who cycle or cyclists who travel, I am really not sure which, I have drawn up the following guide to help anyone contemplating a cycling holiday. First, I need to explain that David and I are in our autumn years. We are not especially athletic or fit. We cycle for pleasure and because cycling is a great way to appreciate any travel destination. The fact that we often return from travel fitter and trimmer than when we depart is an added benefit. We don't cycle on busy roads, nor do we cycle long distances, or up and down hills if we can possibly avoid it, and we always have a car with us as well as our bikes. If cycling is the new golf, we are definitely at the amateur end of the spectrum.

Alaska - Wrangell, Petersburg and the Wrangell Narrows

Travel Photo Tuesday

The Wrangell Narrows are a 22 mile stretch of water between Wrangell and Petersburg in south-east Alaska. Navigating the narrows has been likened to playing nautical ping pong with a twist of Russian Roulette. Each turn of the ship must be lined up precisely with one of 60 navigational lights and buoys and the history of the narrows is littered with stories of vessels which failed to make it through.

Most cruise ships are too large for the passage and must head out to deeper water, missing the most exciting part of our journey on the Alaska Marine Highway.

Murray to Mountains Rail Trail - Australia's Premier Rail Trail

Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, Bright
Location - North-east Victoria. From Bright to Wangaratta and Milawa
Side Trails - Everton Station to Beechworth (16km one way) and Bright to Wandiligong (11 kms one way)
Ride - The Murray to Mountains Rail Trail
Distance - More than 100 km (one way)
Terrain - Sealed and separate from the road for the whole way
Difficulty - Easy
Highlights - Cycling past the gardens in and around Bright.
Website and map - Click here
My tip - Visit in Spring, during the Bright Spring Festival and combine your cycling with visits to some of the beautiful open gardens.


Ketchikan, Alaska

Travel Photo Tuesday

Creek Street, Ketchikan
Ketchikan, the southeasternmost city in Alaska is likely to be the first Alaskan port you will call into if you take an Alaskan Cruise or, as we did, drive the Alaska Marine Highway. Like so much of south-eastern Alaska, Ketchikan is not accessible by road. It has a population of 9,000 but if you expect to find the 'real Alaska' here, whatever that is, you will be disappointed.

Ketchikan has embraced tourism in the way that Walt Disney embraced entertainment, with loads of razzle-dazzle. That is not to say you won't have a ball in Ketchikan as long as you know what you are in for and enjoy the show.  If you do visit Ketchikan, don't say you weren't warned. Oh, and remember to take a raincoat - we got lucky and had a beautiful sunny day but Ketchikan is known for its high rainfall (150" a year).

Alaskan Cruises - Do Australians pay more than Americans?

Glacier Bay Alaska
Open the travel section of any weekend newspaper in Australia and you might be forgiven for thinking that Alaska is the only travel destination on earth. Page after page, story after story, advertisement after advertisement - it is all about Alaskan tours and cruises.  I appreciate that travel is our 'national hobby' but it seems you can't call yourself a true Australian until you have been on a cruise to America's 49th state. After Americans and Canadians, Australians make up the largest tourism group by nationality in Alaska - quite an impressive statistic for a country with only 24 million people.