Sunday, November 20, 2011

21st November

Only 5 months till the beginning of our Alaska Canada adventure!!!
I've been getting a lot of feedback on the Fodor's forum site which is full of info not found in travel books etc.Some comes from residents who know the areas well that we are going to & others are travellers with some of their own experiences.It's all helpful..
One tip was to get a very early start in the morning from Tok so we will be in Kluane NP in full daylight to get the very best photo opportunities and because there should be very little traffic on the Alaska H/way at that part of the season we should take every chance we get to stop & take in the scenery/wildlife that abounds there(fingers crossed).
The last thing we need to do to finally have everything in order is to do our ESTA applications.These are needed for entry into USA and as we will be crossing the border a couple of times we need to have everything in order.
I think we did the right thing in buying our US dollars when we did as it's struggling to reach parity again.

Monday, October 31, 2011

1st November 2011

After attending the Travel Show at Darling Harbour we were so lucky to happen upon Sean from Flight Centre..He was enthusiastic with our plans and we were able to book our flights with Canda Air at a good discount and arrange our travel insurance while there.
We gave him our itinerary to look over and arranged to have a meeting with him at the Agency to look over his ideas.
He was just brilliant!!He was able to fine tune our trip and booked Rocky Mountaineer,car hires,internal flights,ferry trips and accommodations...We are also booked for a flight over the Arctic Circle where we will land at an isolated Innuit village.
With the exchange rate at $1.03,Leanne and I bought $1000 US for $965.05.Very happy with that..
Now we have to wait for the months to skip by..

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Saturday16th July

This was a good day!!!
We met up with Andrew & Leanne and hit the Travel Agent with a suggested itinerary..I think it was a lot for her to take in but said she will go through it all and send an e-mail with her suggestions during the week..We also picked up a great brochure on independent tours to do in Alaska which created a bit of excitement between us as most of what we wanted to do & see was laid out in it..
Also found what sounds like the wilderness cabin/lodge off Vancouver Island that is only accessible by float plane,something we all wanted to do.Promises lots of bear sightings and other wildlife..
We hope to go to an expo being held at the Travel Agents on 30th July where we may be able to get good discounts on our airfares..
This is such fun planning this trip...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

July 15th 2011

Time is flying by and have spent the last couple of months researching as much as possible to get the most out of this holiday.
Just read the earlier blog where I was excited about the exchange rate being 93cents..Today it's $1.07!! Hope this trend continues until we're ready to buy some US?CAD.....
I think we've all agreed to travel with Canadian Airline with a direct flight to Vancouver..None of us want to be in the air any longer than we have to..The fare is a lot dearer but worth it..
Terry and I have started buying weather gear.Raincoats,boots etc..Have taken advice from other travellers re wearing layers of clothing to be ready for any temerature changes through the day.We could be in for some left over Winter snow & rainy weather so "be prepared" is our mantra!!
This Saturday we are meeting up with Andew & Leanne(The Mayers)and are going to sit down with a travel agent and run through some of our plans and get her thoughts on whether we are biting off more than we can chew or if it's doable....

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

April 20th 2011

Wow! 6months since I wrote the first words about our trip but so many things have been happening in between that have slowed me right down...but now am back on track!
Andrew has put in his holiday application for late April/May 2012,so that's the first hurdle over.
I've bought 2 "The Milepost" books from Alaska to help with planning our itineraries.After reading other travellers trip posts on Fodors it seems to be the one that will help us the most, as planning a doable 4 weeks is mind boggling to say the least!!
Finally managed to buy a decent map of both Canada & Alaska (2 of each),1 to draw on & make changes and the other to take with us.The Alaska part of the trip is the hardest to plot as there are limited roads and so much of the touring will be on marine ferry and light planes that service this remote part of the world and hiring a car can create hassles as you are crossing USA(Alaska) and Canadian borders quite a few times.The most important thing is to ensure that each one of us gets to see and do everything on their wish list whether it be by plane,train ferry or car!!!Glaciers/Whales/Bears/Aurora Borealis/Sled Dogs/Caribou and of course to see & feel the overall culture of the Alaskan/Innuit people.