At Sea to Hawaii

September 25 - 29

Day 1 at sea and we all needed a sleep in to recover from the busyness of the last 4 weeks! We awoke refreshed and ready for the activities on board the Volendam, which included lei making, ukulele and hula lessons, a presentation on Honolulu and famous Hawaiian ukulele players, and the night's show which was an ABBA tribute band. Angie and I decided on joining the ukulele class while Noelle encouraged us, and Tony had a snooze! Of course there was breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as afternoon tea to fit in, as well as getting some exercise by walking around the promenade deck and taking the stairs. The sea made the ship rock a bit with a 3 metre swell so it was funny watching people walk, or attempt to walk, straight! We also enjoyed the benefit of our watches being wound back an hour so we got an extra hours sleep!!

Day 2 started with Al & Angie's ukulele lesson, followed by some more Hawaiian culture in the afternoon. The Living Legend of Hawaiian music, Henry Kaleialoha Allen demonstrated the steel guitar while his wife talked about the guy who invented it and some of the performers who took Hawaiian steel guitar music to the world. Then the Hawaiian cultural team on board did some hula dancing while Henry performed with the HAL Cats backing him during happy hour in the Crows Nest - it was a good lead in to dinner.

We were pleased to see Yaarni, the band leader and keyboard player who we made friends with on last years cruise back on board, and we've also met up with some of the other crew we met earlier this year.

Day 3 was similar, although as we get closer to Hawaii the temperature is warming up so we could lay by the pool and get some sun on us at last. It's also a pleasant place to sit and have lunch and a quiet read. The afternoons activities included a talk on remembering names, surfing and its history, and enjoying some of the live music on board. We did our usual walk around the Promenade deck for 30 minutes, and tried not to eat too much today as we had a reservation at the Pinnacle Grill restaurant, and that's always a good meal. Noelle and I went for the fillet mignon while Tony finished a 23 oz Porterhouse and Angie managed an 18 oz rib eye! It was a lovely meal enjoyed by all.

Noelle having a rest for walking on the Promenade Deck

 

On Day 4 I had to go to the first ukulele class as we had a Mariner Society brunch at 11:30am, which then required a good 35 minute walk to offset it before heading to the mid ship pool for a sun bake and read. We then continued on with the Improving your Memory bootcamp, followed by a fascinating talk/expose on pickpockets and security fraud - forewarned is forearmed!! For some light relief we headed to Happy Hour and some more Hawaiian music and culture before another lovely meal and entertaining show.

Day 5 was a bit quieter with no ukulele class today, but I did attend the talk on coral reefs which was very informative. To prepare for lunch we did a walk, and just as well because our favourite ice cream, red cactus pear flavour was available today! Yum yum, just as good as we remembered from our cruise in April. Some more walking was required to get ready for the Hawaiian afternoon tea, followed by another concert with Henry backed by the HAL Cats. In between times we've been catching up on some reading and just enjoying the sun, the beautiful blue of the sea and the warm tropical air. Honolulu here we come!

Henry with his wife, and hula girl

 

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Seattle, Washington

Thursday, September 24

A day I have really been looking forward to as we were to catch up with my English cousin, Elaine who now lives in Seattle. The ship docked around 6.00 am and we were up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to disembark at 8.00 am. We breakfasted in the Lido Restaurant and had a great view over Seattle's city skyline and the Space Needle that distinguishes its skyline from others. At 8.00 am we were at the gang plank waiting to leave and after a quick walk through US Immigration, we were out and in the car park where Elaine was waiting. She had borrowed her bosses' SUV to make driving the five of us around that much easier.

Catching up with Elaine at her new Townhouse

First stop was her new townhouse for coffee and French pastries - my ideal start to a day! Elaine moved into it in February and her decorating skills were evident everywhere - a really lovely place with great views too. It was so nice just relaxing and catching up again.

Queen Anne Lookout

From there we drove to Queen Anne lookout where the best views over Seattle are had. Sadly, it was a bit misty but we still had a good view over Puget Sound and the outlying islands as well as the city skyline - and Mt. Rainier was visible too! After lots of photo taking we headed for Chihuly Gardens and Glass - an exhibition of Northwest artist, Dale Chihuly's fabulous glass work. It includes both indoor and outdoor spaces as well as a glasshouse. It is, without a doubt, one of the most sensational exhibitions we have ever been to and the glass sculptures were nothing short of amazing. We could have spent much longer there but had the time constraint of having to be back on board the ship by 3.00 pm ready for our 4.00 pm sail away.

Works by Dale Chihuly

Next stop was Pike Place Market. My recollections of Seattle and the market are clouded by the fact that last time we were here, I was coming down with a bout of flu and a fever so didn't take too much in but it was great today to be fit and well and able to absorb the vibrant atmosphere. The market includes the famous fish stalls where salmon are thrown and caught by the vendors - no mean feat with a slippery large salmon. We were surprised to see how cheap flowers are in Seattle - good sized bunches start @ $5 and go to $15 - imagine that in Melbourne! Tony found a couple of Collectables shops so, of course, had to check for medals. It was then time for lunch but it took quite a while to get to the restaurant because we all found great photo opps along the way, including the first Starbucks store and the only one remaining using the original "risqué" logo.

Pike Place Market

The restaurant was excellent and we all enjoyed a lovely meal and glass of wine before heading back to the car, via the market, so that I could stop & buy some of Seattle's famous (& absolutely delicious) doughnuts with maple syrup and bacon!! Elaine's timing was impeccable and she had us back at the ship just before 3.00 pm. A really nice day was had by all - thank you so much Elaine. Looking forward to reciprocating in Australia!

 

 

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Leaving Vancouver

Wednesday, September 23

We all endured a noisy night in our hotel, consequently none of us had the good nights sleep we were looking for on our last night in Vancouver. As well as an AC/DC concert which brought an extra 50,000 (odd) people into town, there was also a girl throwing the biggest hissy fit you could imagine next door to our room! Probably half of the city could have heard her she was so loud, and using the choicest of words, which went from about 10pm to 3am!! We don't know what happened after that but at least it was quiet.

We checked out at 11am and caught a cab to Canada Place to go through Customs and Immigration, before finally boarding the Volendam about 12pm. It was a lot quicker and smoother than when we boarded the Coral Princess but we were the only cruise ship in port today. It was good to be back on a HAL ship and to see some familiar faces from when we cruised on the Volendam in April.

Farewell to Canada and Vancouver

Lunch beckoned, followed by a welcome reception in the Crows Nest. We then took Tony and Angie on a tour of the ship, by which time our cases had been delivered to our rooms so we spent some time unpacking. There was the mandatory safety drill to attend, and then we went to the top deck to watch us sail out of Vancouver harbour - as we sailed under the Guiness Bridge it started to rain, a fitting way to end our time in Canada, but especially Vancouver!!

 

The unpacking was finished just in time to go for an early dinner so we could see the comedian at the early show, and hopefully have a quiet night ahead of an early start in Seattle tomorrow morning.

 

 

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Advance Notice

Wednesday, September 23

Just to let you know we commence our cruise home today, with a stop in Seattle tomorrow (so we will have wifi access), but then we are at sea for 5 days and won't have wifi access until we reach Honolulu.

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Peachland to Vancouver

Tuesday, September 22

We enjoyed another delicious breakfast with Wes and Di before saying our goodbyes, and then it was time to head off for Vancouver. Wes advised us to take the fastest route instead of the more scenic route, as he wanted us to avoid the peak hour traffic in Vancouver.

Autumn colours on the road to Hope

Tony did the first shift and we reached our favourite little town of Hope in 2 hours, where we topped up with petrol, enjoyed another good lunch and coffee at the Blue Moose cafe, walked around in the sunshine to stretch our legs, and then hit the road for the 2 hour trip into Vancouver.

Japanese garden in Hope

Approaching Vancouver

The speed limits dropped as we got closer to town, and the traffic increased, but we relied on our GPS to guide us to our hotel. We quickly checked in, took our bags to our rooms, and then jumped into the car again. We had to top up the fuel before returning the car to the AVIS downtown location - with only a few circuits around the block due to the one way streets, as well as me not listening to the navigator!

We then walked down to the river to catch the little "pickle boat" across to Granville Island to do some last minute shopping, and then walked back to our hotel for happy hour and dinner. We celebrated our road trip in Canada and our Alaskan cruise and inland adventures, as well as toasting the next leg of our journey, the cruise home!

 

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Peachland, BC

Monday, September 21

Wes and Di treated us to a beautiful breakfast, and then we headed south from Peachland along the shore line of Lake Okanagan towards the winery region at the bottom end of the lake. The lake is about 120 km long and 3-5 km wide, so it really does look like an inland sea. The hills are steep and quite rocky in parts but with the sun shining (at last) and clear blue skies it looked a picture.

Our first winery was called "Dirty Laundry" and was a lot of fun, with the name coming from the colourful background of one of the local characters when the area was first settled! His first venture was a laundry which wasn't successful until he ran a brothel on the side!! Then he had clean and happy customers!

Scenes from the Dirty Laundry winery

After a yummy lunch and excellent coffee in Penticton we continued driving around the winery region and wound up at one called "Church and State". Again the scenery was fantastic, although there was still smoke from a recent bushfire rising from the surrounding hills. The wines from this winery have won many awards and a couple were really good, but we picked a couple that weren't to our taste. We took some funny photos before heading back to Peachland to get ready for dinner.

Photos from winery #2 - as if you couldn't tell!

 

Back at Wes and Di's we did a quick turnaround and then headed off to dinner at a restaurant called The Blind Angler - appropriate for us based on our experiences at Lake Eildon in Victoria! We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Di's son Mike, as tonight was our last night before driving back to Vancouver tomorrow.

Thank you Di and Wes for your hospitality, we loved visiting with you and your house is lovely.

 

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Genelle to Peachland

Sunday, September 20

View of the garden at Genelle B&B taken from our bedroom window

After a good night's sleep in our lovely B&B room, we went downstairs to enjoy a fantastic breakfast of fresh fruit including yellow raspberries grown in the garden. The two owners, Todd and Gordon, are avid gardeners and their back garden was just divine. Breakfast continued with eggs and bacon with the eggs taken from the hens this morning. We voted it our best breakfast so far on this trip.

Scenery along the way

We headed off for Peachland around 10.00 am knowing we had about a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us. The scenery wasn't as grand as on previous days but still lovely. Tony was driving and all of a sudden Al yelled, "There's a bear". By the time we all looked it was nowhere to be seen - of course! Tony did a u-turn and back we went and to our joy, we all saw it.

We stopped at Greenwood - a town with old style western buildings often used in movies. The bakery proved a great choice for our coffee and cake as we just loved the huge pecan and apple scroll we bought. We swapped drivers and headed for our next break stop in Summerland. Unbeknown to us, Tom Tom took us on another route and we missed all the beautiful wine-growing area. We did however see some deer grazing in someone's front garden! We also drove through the Rock Creek area where we saw the devastation of large bush fires which burnt through this area just a month ago. The only town we passed through was Beaverdell and when we arrived at Wes & Di 's home, they were horrified that we had driven on that route because even the police don't like going to Beaverdell - there are so many rednecks there and it is considered really dangerous. Oh well, what you don't know often doesn't hurt you.

The Bakery and Saloon in Greenwood

Before too long, we woke up to the fact that we were on another route to what we had planned and so headed for Kelowna where we stopped to buy flowers and chocolates for Wes and Di. It was only another 45 minutes and we were in Peachland. Wow! Wes & Di's home is amazing and the view from ALL the living areas is just sensational.

No, not our room. Wes & Di's master bedroom

.. and their ensuite - with views!

We had a "tour" of their beautiful home and were gob-smacked when shown "our" bedrooms - absolutely 5 star - what a blessing! It was then time for all the catch-up chatter, both before, during and after dinner. The four of us feel so at home. Thank you Wes and Di (& Billy, the friendly lab/staff cross).

 

 

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Banff to Genelle, BC

Saturday, September 19

Google maps told us we had a 6 hour drive from Banff to Genelle, so we planned an early start (for us)! All was going well until we came across our first construction site where we were held up for a while. Fortunately the flag person was a chatty young girl who was obviously bored, so she started chatting to Tony and me in the front until she realised there were girls in the back! She was very friendly, like we've found most Canadians to be, and regaled us with stories about the animals we may see on our travels.

We did spot a few deer and one good size bull moose right beside the road but were going too fast to stop and take pictures. Again the scenery was stunning as we skirted rivers and lakes as we made our way through the valleys between the mountains.

 

More magnificent scenery

The first stop was in Radium Hot Springs, and later in the afternoon we stopped in Cranbrook for lunch. As we turned south as well as west we left the Rockies behind and started driving through more open farming country. Based on the vegetables displayed in the fresh produce stores along the road, particularly the pumpkins, we figured it was good farming country! After our third stop and driver change in Creston we then headed into a smaller mountain pass where the weather went from sunny and 20C to rainy, cloudy and down to 7C until we went over the summit and headed down.

Heading for Genelle

To find our B&B in Genelle we had to rely totally on our GPS as Genelle is a very small town outside of Castlegar, and the B&B was in a suburban area, just near a river and surrounded by tree covered hills. The house is gorgeous and our rooms beautifully fitted out in hand crafted Canadian timbers.

The countryside near our B&B

The Genelle B&B

We drove into Castlegar for dinner and then decided on an early night after our long travel day.

 

 

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Banff - Day 2

Friday, September 18

With sun shining on the mountains surrounding Banff, we awoke to see brilliant white mountain tops, trees changing gold to red and the flower basket outside our window brimming with bright petunias - what a lovely waking sight.

We decided to go to the Visitor Centre to work out what our best plan of action for the day would be. We decided to take the gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain then drive out to Lake Minnewanka - on the recommendation of Heather and Dave. After the Visitor Centre we went for our morning coffee and obligatory Facebook catch up but sadly the wifi connection was too weak. This was probably a good thing as we didn't linger as long as usual.

The top Gondola Station

Views of Banff and beyond

We drove to the gondola station still uncertain as to whether we would walk one way and catch the gondola the other. Once in the car park the decision was made as we stared at the steep incline. We bought our tickets and joined the queue (sorry, line) to wait for our gondola cabin to come around. Wow! What fabulous views of Banff, the surrounding mountains and distant lakes. We were really pleased with our choice of activity and even more so when we saw a deer on the way up. When we got to the top we found there was a boardwalk to climb right to the summit. As we hadn't walked up the mountain, we felt we should at least do this walk/climb. Again, it was a great choice as the views were sensational but the climb was steep and covered in ice and snow - thank goodness for our Goretex shoes. After taking heaps of photos, we headed back to the gondola for our descent and more great views.

It was then time for lunch and we went to Tony Roma's. Service was slow so we were there way longer than planned but our meal was worth it. We then drove to Lake Minnewanka and were pleased to see a deer on the way. The lake was lovely but with the now clouded-over sky, was no match for yesterday's lakes.

 

Enjoying a rest on the climb to the summit

Tony & Angie in the Gondola

We took some more pics and headed home. More excitement with two large caribou grazing on the side of the road. In all our time in Alaska we had not seen as many animals as in Canada. More pics then back to the Red Carpet Inn in time for Happy Hour. Travelling is such hard work!

 

Lake Minnewanka

Grazing Caribou

 

 

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