May 20-27th
Mum wanted to do a cruise up to Alaska and as it costs the same for one person as it does for 2 I jumped on board. A nice way for us to spend more time together, plus of all the places to cruise I’ve heard this is one of the best in the world as most of the ports are only accessible by plane or ship. Our ship the celebrity millennium was huge and as expected mostly filled with the older generation but as always I make the best of the situation by having fun regardless.
We left Vancouver in clear blue skies with the sun shining, narrowly passing under the lions gate bridge and finally out to sea. Our first day was a sea day so we just relaxed and looked around the huge ship, enjoying the luxury of spas (or whirlpools as known in USA).
Our first port of call was Ketchikan, cloudy skies but no rain I went on a 3 hour kayaking trip. As they only offered 2 person kayaks and of course I was on my own, I got teamed up with the only other single person an Indian father here with his 2 grown adult children. He had never kayaked before but was happy to learn, so I sat in the back to steer and attempted to teach him at least the basics. He got tired pretty quickly but it meant I got a good workout paddling us both around. We spotted eagles and seals, quite an easy kayak trip but still fun. Thanks Andrew, Sarah and Ethan for my birthday present :-) I was lucky I met 2 lovely girls Gemma and Charlie traveling together who were my age, so I was able to hang out with them a bit which was a nice change.
The next day we called into Icy Straight Point where we did our own thing for the day. We hiked through a lovely forest area then walked into the small laidback town. We were so lucky to see 2 big Eagles sitting proudly in a tree, the closest we had been to this giant bird yet. A great chance for some photography. Spotting whales on board the ship too, happily cruising their way along. 
Juneau was another port, a really lovely place. Mum and I caught a shuttle bus to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was so spectacular surrounded by mountains and big chunks of ice floating along. I longed to be out kayaking amongst it but alas hadn’t found anywhere to organise it through last minute. Still mum and I went on a short hike to a lovely waterfall and got as close as we could without having my mountaineering gear.
At Skagway I went rock climbing, my first outdoor session for the season who’d have thought it would be in Alaska! There were only 6 in our group but as it was all top roping I was able to jump on the hardest routes, nice sticky rock with views of the mountains around with a 70m rappel to finish. My arms have not been training and well lets just say I felt them the next day :-)
Our final fun day on board was spent out to sea, but with an early cold start. We were all allowed out on the helicopter pad to watch as our ship ploughed through the icy chunks towards the Hubbard Glacier. Most cruise ships don’t come through here but we were lucky even more so with absolutely clear fine weather. So despite having to jog on the spot and do star jumps to keep warm it was worth every second. We could clearly see Mt St Elias and also Mt Logan (Canada’s highest mountain)
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| Our Ship the icebreaker - plowing towards the glacier |
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| Hubbard Glacier |
Though I ate far too much this week, the food was great, I managed to do many laps of the ship on the outdoor running track. We had a couple of formal nights so I got myself all dressed up and had a cocktail to celebrate. The time spent with mum has been special, and memories to last us both a lifetime.
Off the sea, having gained my sea legs, its road tripping next as I get to drive on the right side of the road 230miles or 4.5 hours to Denali National Park, hoping to see beautiful Mt McKinley.........
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