Julie and I both come from big families, with my mother having 17 great grandchildren and our three Aussie kids having something like 24 cousins. So family is big in our big family. And while Julie and I almost always travel alone we make exceptions for family, including a couple of times travelling with my sister Kathy and her husband John. Kindred spirits in the travel world, we make a … Continue reading →
There was one more place on our Alaskan bucket list before we could say we’ve done Alaska and that was a remote community on the Bering Sea with a rich gold mining history, not connected to the rest of humanity by roads, almost forgotten by everyone else. It was the small town of Nome way out on the Seward Peninsula and it had our name written all over it. We … Continue reading →
Our four night ferry trip down the Aleutian Islands was a trip of a lifetime, that’s for sure, full of spectacular scenery, wonderful wildlife and intriguing little communities we stopped at along the way. But after an overpriced night at Unalaska’s only hotel it was time to catch a flight back to Tramp and hit the road again. Except it wasn’t that easy. We arrived at the small airport, which … Continue reading →
Human habitation of the Aleutian Islands ends at the remote port of Dutch Harbor on the distant island and town of Unalaska. To say Unalaska is at the end of the road is misleading – there are no meaningful roads within probably 600 miles – but it is at the end of the public ferry system run by the Alaska Maritime Highway System. And this is not a normal ferry … Continue reading →
As a young geographer growing up I always thought the state of Alaska was shaped like an elephant’s head, which was kinda odd considering how many elephants there are in Alaska. The key to my imagination was the string of islands that stick out in the North Pacific Ocean just like an elephant’s trunk. That mysterious, remote, obscure and compelling string of islands is call the Aleutian Islands. And we … Continue reading →
The midnight sun was on full lumens at 2am when Julie and I were up swatting mosquitos in our camper. Life above the Arctic Circle is full of strange things besides monster mosquitos, including no trees above the tree line, no darkness or no daylight depending on the time of year, kilometres deep frozen earth and animals that thrive in the most extreme conditions on earth. And don’t even think … Continue reading →
In 1968 oil was discovered up in the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay off the shores of northern Alaska. That moment changed everything for Alaska, and the entire United States for that matter, but the first task was to find a way to move the oil to an ice-free port so it could be shipped to the rest of America. And the ingenious solution was an 800 mile (1,290 kilometre) … Continue reading →
We have mixed emotions about Fairbanks. When we were there nine years ago Tramp had a bad cough and the local dealer said he fixed it and charged us like a wounded grizzly. Further down the road poor Tramp gave it up completely (as it turned out, because of the dealer’s mistakes) and we had him towed back to the dealer. We then spent two weeks in Fairbanks waiting for … Continue reading →
Julie and I have been caught between our old-fashioned love for large fold-out paper maps and the newfangled way of navigating via GPS and talking devices. Both methods of moving from A to B have merit and each has their strengths and weaknesses. We’ve adopted a blended strategy of using legacy maps to plot our bigger, broader and longer-term journey while sometimes using our GPS, which we call Karen, to … Continue reading →
We have spent more than seven weeks in Alaska and driven over 5,500 miles, full of adventure, exploration, discovery, wonder, joy and yes, some frustration with extended car troubles. But all good things must come to an end, preferably before winter sets in, and we reluctantly made our way south towards Canada. But Canada and Alaska are intricately linked geographically and with such few roads in the region we planned … Continue reading →
Locals are a great source of information for what to see and where to go. We try to talk to as many as we can, asking questions about things to do, places to visit, local weather conditions, how long have they been there, etc. On a few occasions we were told by Alaskans the best drive in Alaska was the drive down to the deep water port of Valdez. And … Continue reading →
After ten agonising days in Fairbanks we were finally handed the keys to Tramp and with almost childhood zeal we climbed onboard and hit the road again. Tramp’s extensive surgery to his rear end was more painful for us than for him but the Chevy dealer did the right thing and covered all our costs during Tramp’s convalescence. The whole experience taught us how totally reliant we were on our … Continue reading →
We headed south and east toward the Wrangell St. Elias National Park and the remote town of McCarthy. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, very little traffic, we were looking for bears and moose, as usual. Then a loud clunk, grind, scrape and clang came from the back end of Tramp. We slammed to a stop, jumped out and peered underneath – the rear axle and differential were smoking and … Continue reading →
We’ve been feeling lately like we’re part of Game of Thrones. It is late August and summer is over in Alaska, winter is coming, and everyone is making final preparations before the long dark cold winter sets in. In our case it isn’t so much life and death as just lousy weather, low grey clouds every day, drizzle or rain most of the time, winds blowing, temperatures dropping to chilly … Continue reading →
The Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska is a paradise for those seeking soft adventure and anyone who wants to get close to northern nature. We had already aced the whole bear thing down in remote Katmai National Park and were now headed for Kenai Fjords National Park and the port town of Seward to explore everything it had to offer. And we started with a perfect 10 campsite on the … Continue reading →
We spent 19 fabulous days in northern Alaska, highlighted by world renowned Denali National Park, a day of scenic flights and exploration in Gates of the Arctic National Park, the epic drive up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Ocean and a week in Fairbanks waiting for repairs for the third member of our team, Tramp. Now we were heading south to the waterways, islands, glaciers and hidden secrets of … Continue reading →
In 1968 oil was discovered off the shores of northern Alaska. It was cold and inhospitable land, the oil was prohibitively expensive to pump out and transport to civilisation. Then the oil crisis emerged in the early 1970’s and America was thirsty for its own oil rather than depend on countries in the Middle East. Suddenly the untapped oil up in Prudhoe Bay was a bargain and they built an … Continue reading →
Way up in northern Alaska, far above the Arctic Circle, away from any roads, away from any other towns, away from any navigable rivers, smack dab in the middle of one of the most remote national parks in the American parks system is a small native Alaskan village surviving primarily on subsistence living and generations of tradition. The community’s name is Anaktuvuk Pass and on a recent sunny day Julie … Continue reading →
When I was a young man and exploring the world vicariously via National Geographic, intriguing maps and endless travel books I always thought that Fairbanks was the type of place I would like to live. The northern most major town of the continent, near the tallest mountains, starting point for explorers heading into the cold Arctic, big enough to provide all the essentials, it seemed like my perfect town. Unfortunately … Continue reading →
The world renowned Denali National Park is the centrepiece for outdoors Alaska. It contains the continent’s highest mountain, braided rivers, uncountable glaciers and magnificent remote country touched only by its bears, moose, caribou, wolves, Dall sheep and many other northern animals. It is by any standard an American treasure. In planning this trip over the years our visit to Denali was one of the most anticipated sites. And we finally … Continue reading →
Ever since Julie was a teenager she has wanted to go to Alaska. It was wild and remote and adventurous, had amazing wild animals and was romanticised through movies and documentaries. She read Michener, London and other authors who painted a tantalising picture. I think on the first day I met her she said, “I want to go to Alaska”. It was a challenge I was prepared to accept but … Continue reading →
