All at Sea

Getting to Alaska was neither straightforward nor cheap; after considering many options we eventually decided to fly to Anchorage from Vancouver via Seattle. For the return journey to Vancouver we were lucky enough to find a special offer on a cruise ship, so after a terrific train ride through mountain passes, across gulches, lakes and rivers, we travelled back in some style aboard the Radiance of the Seas.

Our first stop was the most spectacular. We spent the first day at sea, getting to know our fellow 2,398 passengers and picking out our favourite bars and restaurants etc, and on the second day we approached the Hubbard Glacier. We could only stand on deck and gape in amazement at this 250 foot high, mile wide, wall of blue-ish white ice. The captain parked up our massive ship 150 yards away from this wonder, and allowed us three hours to ooh and aah and take our photos. From time to time huge chunks of the glacier broke off and with a great splash crashed into the ocean, to float away as icebergs. If we were tired of the glacier we could shift our gaze to snow-covered Mount St Elias rising 18,000 feet beyond the ice.

We made ourselves very comfortable in our stateroom, and were thrilled every time we spotted a pod of orcas or a humpback whale swimming by. We were denied the pomp of the Captain's dinner because we hadn't packed a tuxedo for Brian and a ballgown for me, but we were content to eat in the excellent buffet cafe, maintaining our "supersize me" programme with round the clock food.

Each day we docked at a different town in Alaska, having the option to wander ashore alone and explore, or take one of the many excursions such as bear/whale viewing, zip-gliding, deepsea fishing, glacier walking, kayaking etc. Call us party-poopers, but we were mindful of our budget and happy just to wander ashore and walk a trail or two. At first it was almost disheartening to pull up to every dock and see the huge signs for Diamonds International, Alaska Souvenirs, Authentic Totem Poles etc, but we quickly learned to whiz straight past and seek out the real town behind the tat.

Our first stop was the capital, Juneau. This charming little place of 30,000 inhabitants is accessible only by sea or air, and I'm thinking of dropping a line to Sarah Palin suggesting she might like to think about moving the state capital to Anchorage, which is easier to get to and has more room to expand. Just a thought.

We also checked out the old gold-mining and salmon fishery towns of Skagway and Ketchikan before proceeding back to Vancouver by the very lovely Inside Passage. More fabulous scenery - high forested mountains, pretty islands, gorgeous sunsets, all viewed this time from the sea rather than from the road.

I should also mention that we had more than our fair share of rain on the cruise; it rained at every port of call except Ketchikan, but we can do rain - we have kagouls and waterproof ponchos, and how tiresome would it be to have eight months of wall to wall sunshine?