Monthly Archives: November 2016

The Last Frontier

Cottesloe Beach – a Perth institution that attracts bathers by the thousands on a lovely sunny day. So many in fact that you will struggle to wander the sands without falling on someone!

Well, if you are a moose and find yourself just across the border into Alaska and you replace the beach with tundra and scrub and bathers with camouflage wearing, armed, quad bike riding hunters then that would be your impression should you be that moose!

American hunters returning home with their trophy

American hunters with their trophy

Must be a gory old afternoon dressing down one of these animals back to the bone for meat and a set of antlers, but hey, what else can you hang on your wall!

After passing through several old gold mining tenements we arrived in the odd little town of Chicken!

The town of Chicken, Alaska

The town of Chicken, Alaska

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Back on the black top and Delta Junction signalled the end of the Alaska Hwy! Mosquitos had become prevalent of late and a local sculpture suggested that it wasn’t rare…

The end of the Alaska Hwy

The end of the Alaska Hwy

This is how big the Mosquitos felt too!

This is how big the Mosquitos felt too!

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Next destination was the town of North Pole! Named by some enterprising locals who had hoped they would become a mecca for toy manufacturers, the name stuck and Santa Claus House (the year round Xmas Shop with resident Santa) was born.

Not exactly the Geographic North Pole but as close as we'll get!

Not exactly the Geographic North Pole but as close as we’ll get!

Santa's Throne

Santa’s Throne

Jen was keen to walk away with a Xmas souvenir from a town named North Pole but those hopes were quickly dashed as we entered the gift shop and observed some of the prices! Shouldn’t take long to pay back that 19 000 000 000 000 (yep that’s how many zeros are in trillion) National debt at such prices although I guess it’s all made in China – hmmmm! A souvenir from the North Pole Safeway would have to suffice!

Real Live Reindeer!!!

Real Live Reindeer!!!

Fairbanks came and went as we began our descent south toward Anchorage but not before meeting some Brazilian overlanders on the road – literally!

Brazillian Travellers

Brazillian Travellers

Denali National Park provided an opportunity to make a little headway west from the Hwy and enjoy some magnificent scenery! We wandered along the road back and forward in what turned out to be a futile attempt to spot some rutting moose!

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Denali National Park

Denali National Park

Husky Pups that will grow up to be Ranger Sled Dogs in Denali NP

Husky Pups that will grow up to be Ranger Sled Dogs in Denali NP

Murphy’s law would have it that just outside the Park and back on the Hwy, a moose pair were munching away on the side of the road. We enjoyed watching them at a comfortable distance for some time before a mini bus load of tourists turned up with enormous zoom lenses but decided that approaching them within metres was the only way to secure a good photo! Moose ran away – Moose viewing over. Pure Genius!!

Moose!!!

Moose!!!

Moose Buck and Cow

Moose Buck and Cow

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A dodgy rest bay with a free camping area was next in our very long list of places we’ve slept! A few vehicles were parked sporadically around the allotted area and opposite us was a VW camper. In the morning we would meet the occupants Myron, Mary-Bethe and their son Bryan.

Myron and Mary-Bethe at Camp

Myron and Mary-Bethe at Camp

On our journey through the Yukon and Alaska, we’d been lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis quite a few times in varying states of allure! On the night we camped opposite the VW, we’d camped alongside some tall trees and thought our Aurora viewing would be limited, so decided on a solid nights sleep instead!! Little did we know that we had missed an excellent light display according to our VW camp buddies! Isn’t it always the way? Nonetheless we were lucky enough to enjoy this cosmic lightshow the following night with a spectacular display and felt relieved that we hadn’t missed what may have been the one and only night!

The Aurora as best as my happy snap could get it

The Aurora as best as my happy snap could get it

Another of my efforts

Another of my efforts

The Aurora is more fluid than I’d imagined. It ebbs and flows, a curtain of striking greens, yellows and occasionally red swirling in the night sky.   It really did convey our proximity to the North Pole as it wrapped the horizon.

We headed through Anchorage toward the Kenai Peninsula and as luck would have it, we managed to time our travel with a bore tide in Turnagain Arm! The whole bay is filled with a sort of bottomless quicksand and, on a high negative tide, the water rises from the Cook Inlet (named after Captain Cook) with a constant wave and a steady stream of surfers riding it! Of more interest to us though was the opportunity to view Beluga wales as they drift in with the deepening water and fill their bellies on salmon and other fishy treats.

Bore Tide arriving in Turnagain Arm

Bore Tide arriving in Turnagain Arm

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle

The best shot i could get of a beluga whale

The best shot I could get of a beluga whale

Mo and Jude met while watching the Bore Tide

Mo and Jude met while watching the Bore Tide

Turnagain Arm

Turnagain Arm

Salmon! What a weird life these fish have… a life designed around making their way to the ocean, maturing and then swimming back upstream to spawn and die in the same place they were spawned. We’ve all seen it on TV so I’ll just wack in a few pics of our various encounters with jumping and dying fish over our time here.

Salmon waiting to spawn

Salmon waiting to spawn

Red Salmon

Red Salmon

With a long weekend in full swing, we set about campsite hunting and with a little luck; we managed a nice little site right alongside a creek on the road out to Hope which lies on the opposite side of Turnagain Arm to Anchorage!

Occupied when we arrived, the campsite incumbents told us they were moving on and that we were welcome to the site! Not only that but there was the possibility of gold being panned! And it got better; Kath and Roger provided us with a bag of organic veggies from their home garden and also invited us to visit them should we be in their neighbourhood!

The rain settled in giving a stark grey feel to the campsite, pools of water slowly enlarging around our camp but it wasn’t enough of to stimey Jens gold panning enthusiasm and wouldn’t you know it, arsy Jen grabbed a shovel full of mud from right beside the car and yep – found a nice little spec!

Gold panning and found some!

Gold panning and found some!

Worth more than the spec of Gold, however, was the amount of free time I was now finding myself with as Jen spent every waking minute panning until her hands were blue! And not another spec was released from it’s watery home!

Continuing down the Kenai it’s pretty easy to make numerous stops and side trips, one such was to Russian River Falls where we were able to view Salmon making their blind leaps in the hope of clearing the white water blocking their onward journey, seems that only one in every hundred jumps is successful, Amazing!

Airborne Salmon

Airborne Salmon

Skilak Lake was another great detour, nice camping and wildlife spotting opportunities; we saw a Black Bear and 3 cubs cross the road here!

Two bear cubs

Two bear cubs

Rainbows are always nice to see

Rainbows are always nice to see

Gotta love this camera setting

Gotta love this camera setting

Onto the beach at Anchor Point and we were now as far west as we were able to drive in Alaska and hence all of a sudden we realised we’d just driven “Around The World!”

We've made it as far as we can drive west without being back where we started in Vladivostok.

We’ve made it as far as we can drive west without being back where we started in Vladivostok.

Our Cook Inlet beach camp with volcano across the bay

Our Cook Inlet beach camp with volcano across the bay

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Sea Otter

Sea Otter

Russian Influence leftover from when Alaska was Russian territory

Russian Influence leftover from when Alaska was Russian territory

Jen the aggressive statistician has a few stats for those interested!

Time away to get to this point : 2yrs 5months exactly

Kms Travelled : 86,356kms

Hottest Temperature experienced : 46 Celcius in Uzbekistan

Coldest Temperature experienced :   -12 Celcius in Siberia

Countries Visited : 41

Continents visited : 4

Awesome people met : countless!!!!

Homer is as far south as you can drive on the Kenai but you can explore a little farther if you wish to board a car ferry but we were content.

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We met Laura and Doug from Texas...

We met Laura and Doug from Texas…

Seafarer's Memorial Homer

Seafarer’s Memorial Homer

Pretty much a fishing port, it’s also home port to some of the boats from the TV show “Deadliest Catch”… Whilst I’m on the subject I was also enlightened to the fact that one such TV show regarding Wild Alaskan folk out hunting and struggling to stay alive failed to mention that a Safeway supermarket is 7 miles from their remote island cabin where they struggle for survival on a daily basis! A little like our Australian “Outback Truckers” I guess. Truckers battling the elements in the North of Australia on the edge of survival the whole time! Only an onboard fridge full of food and cold beer and roadhouse food to sustain them! Staggering stuff really and about 180 degrees opposite to the actual situation but hey it sells!

Homer Harbour

Homer Harbour

On our way down to Homer we’d stopped by Kath and Roger’s home in the hamlet of Clam Gulch and they’d kindly invited us to drop in on our return for a night of relaxation! An offer too good to refuse.

Upon our arrival, these awesome people had organised a Margarita beach party. Their amazing log home sits atop a cliff above said beach and overlooks Cook Inlet and 5 active volcanoes. Truly stunning!

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Volcanoes across the bay

Volcanoes across the bay

Neighbours Debbie and Robert joined us on the beach and we began guzzling margarita’s and cold beer whilst wolfing down sausages and amazing salads. It was one of those experiences that I can’t really describe effectively here, partly due to the fact I can’t remember quite a bit of it!! Hahaha. It was one of the highlights of our trip to Alaska and epitomised the hospitality and generosity of Alaskans!

All set and ready to drink!

All set and ready to drink!

Important to have the generator to run the margarita maker!

Important to have the generator to run the margarita maker!

These Alaskan's made us feel so welcome

These Alaskan’s made us feel so welcome

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What better than a night by the fire on the beach in Alaska!!

What better than a night by the fire on the beach in Alaska!!

So much of our trip has been about the people we have met and we really have been lucky consistently since the moment we began our journey!

The lovely Rog and Kath!

The lovely Rog and Kath!

Leaving these people was tough and they saw to it that we would not starve on their watch! With a fridge full of delicious Salmon and Halibut fillets, and some home smoked Salmon courtesy of Robert, we headed out to Seward for a visit.

Last cruise ship of the season in Seward

Last cruise ship of the season in Seward

The weather was forecast to deteriorate and that it did, Rain, rain and more rain for a spell as we headed north back to Anchorage.

We arranged to visit the VW campers, Myron and Mary Bethe whilst back in Anchorage. They had only just arrived back from a short trip of their own but were keen for us to drop by.

Myron and Mary-Bethe

Myron and Mary-Bethe

It seemed that whilst we’d been in bed back at that roadside camp whilst the Aurora did its thing over our snoring selves, Myron (being a professional photographer) had snapped a rather cool pic of our Patrol! I think you’ll agree…

A copy of Myron Wright's Photo

A copy of Myron Wright’s Photo

Couldn’t thank him enough. He generously printed off a copy for us to frame when we return home. A great afternoon of conversation and great people.

Lake Hood Float Plane Base

Lake Hood Float Plane Base

Sitting at the end of the runway at Anchorage Airport

Sitting at the end of the runway at Anchorage Airport

Whatever Dude!!

Whatever Dude!!

After a last lap around Anchorage, we made toward the Canadian border. The Autumn colours were striking! Although travelling a little later in the season has some negatives such as bouts of rain and cooling temperatures, the advantages are stark! A huge reduction in other tourists and being able to witness Alaska and the north in the Fall

Amazing autumn colours

Amazing autumn colours

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle

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Before we knew it we were back in Canada but our Alaskan adventures would continue with a visit to Haines, land locked within Canada but accessible by sea. Tight planning meant that we had just enough time left on our US visa to allow a visit!

Till then

Justin