Review of Cruise and Independent Land Tour with photos

[Twinkd]

Big bear munching on Salmon - loads of easy pickings in the stream!!

Looking aorund for more Salmon - we watched these guys from a bank just above them.

Loads of seagulls around to eat the scraps of the Salmon

"Hey did ya hear about the party down the road?"

"Yep we are coming"

"Hey come on keep up!!

[sue402001]

Can't wait to hear more bear "tails"! :D

[Twinkd]

We wandered a little further and came to a river/stream and watched 3 or 4 more grizzly bears – some close and some further away. Throughout the day we ended up seeing about 20 different grizzlies – it was unbelievable!! Some we got within 10 metres of and they were unbothered by us as long as we respected their space. At one point we had grizzly bears all around us and as weird as it sounds now, at the time I felt no sense of danger even though I knew that these huge beasts could have killed us within moments had they chosen too. It was AMAZING!!!

Fishing for Salmon.

Evidence!!

There were bear all along the river - all jumping in and catching Salmon!! So cool!!

Taking a run up before jumping in and catching his next Salmon.

[Twinkd]

This Bear passed us really closely as we were crossing the river to get to the other side to have our lunch - right down by the Bears - AWESOME!!

This Bear meandered by as we ate lunch.

She is affectionately known as "Shaggy".

Shaggy heading down to the river.

 

[Twinkd]

 

It was so cool watching the Bears jump into the river to catch the Salmon!!

Some of the Bears were huge - this one was enormous!!

 

This was our group crossing the river - just down from where the Bears were feeding!!

[Twinkd]

This Bear appeared over the hill and was surprised to see us so spent quite some time eyeing us up - we had to stand really still - shoulder to shoulder - until he decided we were not a threat.

Once he accepted that we were okay he wandered down to the river to feed. (Luckily on Salmon and not on us!!)

 

 

 

[Twinkd]

Such power - the Salmon don't stand a chance!!

[Twinkd]

The highlight of our day occurred towards the end of the day when a mum and her cub ambled over and sat down close to where we were then started fishing in the stream. They were amazing and totally unfazed by the fact that we were sitting so close and watching them. We must have sat there for about 40 minutes just watching them and the others that ambled by, fishing in the stream not far from where we also stood in the stream.

Now isn't that just the cutest thing ya ever did see???

I felt truly priviledged to have experienced something that so few people in this world have ever, or will ever, have the opportunity to experience. But as is always the case, before we knew it, it was time to head back to the plane to fly back to Homer.

[Twinkd]

Just a few more Bear shots!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such an amazing and unforgettable day - it will stay with us forever!!

AND the Exercise Demon has once again been appeased with all the walking around that we did today!!

[sue402001]

The bear shots are amazing! I can only hope that I get some pictures like this next year. Thanks!

[Twinkd]

The bear shots are amazing! I can only hope that I get some pictures like this next year. Thanks!

 

 

Hey there Sue - I really hope that you do too - it was truely AMAZING!! When are you going and who do you do your Bear Trip with - very exciting!!:)

[Twinkd]

Just one thing here – when we arrived at Katmai I was amazed to find that people were camping there. OMG – amongst the grizzly bears – are you kidding me??? One group had an electric fence set up around their tents but the others were right down by the river and had nothing around their tents and the bears were wandering down the river right beside their camp!! Well I might be up for most things but camping amongst wild grizzly bears NAH!!!! Are you insane??

How insane is that?? Our guide was telling us that you can camp there but need to move camp every 12 days. Apparently an Australian guy stayed there for 3 months - moving camp every 12 days. I am guessing this might have something to do with the Bears picking up your scent or something perhaps??? AND at this point just let me point out that I am from New Zealand NOT Australian!!!!

Anyway with great sadness we boarded the sardine tin and flew back to Homer with the knowledge that we had just experienced something truly amazing. Even DH was amazed and in awe of the experience. AND – you guessed it – we got some awesome photos – all 463 of them!!!

[Twinkd]

Once back in Homer we bid farewell to our excursion buddies and headed home for a fantastic feed of oysters, scallops and fish that we grilled on the BBQ then headed to bed after downloading our photos.

Our yummy seafood BBQ to top off an awesome day!!

Sadly we leave Homer tomorrow - had planned on staying another night to spend more time looking around but due to a muck up with our reservation and the owner only booking us for two night rather than the three we requested we will be heading out in the morning. :(

[Twinkd]

Slept in until about 9am then up and heading to Girdwood where we had booked for just one night. The drive, once again was amazing - unbelievable scenery!!

Russian Orthodox Church on the road on the way to Homer. Spent some time just wandering through the graveyard with some very old headstones and graves.

The beauty of the place just keeps getting better and better - every postcard that you have ever seen about Alaska is exactly as it is!!

[Twinkd]

 

 

 

 

 

More and more beautiful glaciers!!

[Twinkd]

 

 

We stayed at the Alyeska Resort which is the only Ski Resort in the whole of Alaska – is that weird?? A place that is covered with soo much snow and ice and they only have one ski resort?? Seemed kinda odd to me. Anyway it was a lovely place and I managed to get in and have a massage not long after we arrived – it was devine. Just chilled for the rest of the afternoon (what was left of it) then headed to the restaurant for dinner and to bed by 11.30pm.

The Entrance to the Alyeska Resort - fabulous place that I would definitely go back to.

[Twinkd]

This was a fabulous gas heater outside at the Resort.

Me enjoying lounging by the heater - was really lovely - trying to convince DH to build one for home!!

 

Water Feature in front of Resort.

 

Front of Resort.

[Twinkd]

Entry to the hotel lobby.

Another gas brassier. Pretty cool!!

Today we went for a wander around the resort - it was like a small town with a number of places to eat, shops, spa, gym, pool etc. About noon we headed out for our short drive to Anchorage. Weather remains nice – sunny and warm – much warmer than we had expected. For the next 3 nights we are staying at the Grand Anchorage Hotel and we are looking forward to staying put for a few days and not rushing off. Put a couple of loads of washing through and hoping that my clothes will still fit me when they come out of the drier!!! I feel the Exercise Demon tutt tutting at me as I say this – I just give her my evil stare and after a while she lurks back into her corner and shuts her eyes!!

Just one other thing that I have noticed – it isn’t only the Cruiseships that have those hideous circus mirrors – it is the whole of Alaska!!! They all have them – how unfortunate is that – everytime I walk past one I see this short fat thing looking back at me – what the hell is that all about????

[sue402001]

Hey there Sue - I really hope that you do too - it was truely AMAZING!! When are you going and who do you do your Bear Trip with - very exciting!!:)

 

Hey Twinkd, we're going to be in AK from August 15 - 26th. We haven't set up a date for the bear watching yet but it is on our list of things to do.

[knukruzer]

hey Twinkd ~

am totally loving your review! pictures and commentary are brilliant :D

i believe the mirrors are a definite conspiracy :eek: :D

please keep it coming and thanks a bunch for posting!

[Twinkd]

Hey Twinkd, we're going to be in AK from August 15 - 26th. We haven't set up a date for the bear watching yet but it is on our list of things to do.

 

Oh wow - you will have the BEST time!! Are you cruising or just travelling around? On our first trip we went out to Traitors Cove from Ketchikan with Island Wings and it was an amazing day but have to say now that I have been out with the Grizzlies - they were sooo much better. Both pretty pricey though BUT - a once in a lifetime experience!!

[Twinkd]

hey Twinkd ~

am totally loving your review! pictures and commentary are brilliant :D

i believe the mirrors are a definite conspiracy :eek: :D

please keep it coming and thanks a bunch for posting!

 

Thanks so much - I am really enjoying doing it - all those wonderful memories!! And yes, now that you mention it, I think you are right about the conspiracy theory!!!

[Twinkd]

Today, much to the delight of the Exercise Demon, we are hiring bikes to bike around the Tony Knowles Trail which is 11 miles long and follows the coast on the outer side of Anchorage.

Hoping to see some Moose as this trail is well known for Moose sightings. So off we stroll to the bike rental shop. The guy who served us was something else!! Either he was on drugs or he needed to be – he was bouncing off the walls!! Very enthusiastic about his job and the rides/bikes!! So after finally extracting ourselves from the shop we headed off.

Wow the trail was awesome – not far into our ride we came around a corner and there right in front of us directly beside the trail were two baby moose just hanging out and eating the vegetation.

How cute are these guys??

We stopped and waited quite a while just watching them and waiting for them to move on. You can not approach the Moose and have to wait for them to move and, as we found out, this can take some time as they are not in any hurry!

[Twinkd]

 

 

They were just hanging out and eating the trees - in no hurry to move.

[Twinkd]

At this point, as the Exercise Demon rolled her eyes in disgust, I hopefully suggested to DH that we could go back now as we had seen what we came for. He was not having a bar of that so we headed on.

A little further on in the ride, about the same time as Mr Grey’s nipple clamps again attached themselves to my nether regions, we came across another baby Moose grazing beside the track.

Whilst we were watching her, the mother appeared also. Now we had to stand and just watch these two for quite sometime as they were having a good old feed and showed no interest in moving on. This was kind of a blessing in disguise really as it gave me time to inhale some much needed oxygen before the paramedics needed to be called and to allow the feeling to return to my butt!!

Mum Moose checking us out!!