London - Singapore - Melbourne 22 hours

I left London on October 2 and arrived in Melbourne on October 4. We stopped in Singapore for a few hours and saw the beautiful orchids throughout the airport.



I arrived at Gary and Sebastians flat at about 6am. After a quick shower we picked up my other friends, Bill and Ian, and were on the road to the King Valley Wine region. Absolutely no time to worry about jet lag. Pictured above - Sandy, Bill, Gary, Ian and Sebastian.




The first stop of the day was wine tasting at the Gracebrook Stables Vineyard. For $10 per person we were able to taste over 100 bottles of wine. I had my picture taken for the local paper with Julie.





After a fantastic dinner at Rinaldo's, the designated driver - ME - drove on the left side of the road all the way back to our Guest House. No, that isn't the car I drove. We thought it was the local taxi.

On Sunday we were off to taste wine and cheese at a few more vineyards. See the pictures we took of the newest boy band - Gary, Ian, Sandy and Sebastian.

Around the World 2 - London

This is the second half of my 2008 Around the World adventure. Its also my third trip to London this year. I'm staying with my good friends Norman and Ann Shuker. Above is their modest home. My room is on the second floor on the far left. I've already reserved the room for the 2012 London Olympics. Below is a picture of my hosts, Norman and Ann.




We were very lucky with the weather, sunny and cool on October 1. We visited Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Hundreds of acres of beautiful plants and trees, missing most of the flowers which bloom in the summer. Above is King George III's house. He invited me in, but I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside. Below are some beautiful lillies in one of the many greenhouses. The original greenhouse was the largest in the world when it was built over 100 years ago.


That evening we celebrated Norman's birthday, having a fantastic meal at a refurbished hotel. In attendance were Norman and Ann, Alex and Tamsin (whose wedding I attended in June - see blog entry below), Amber and Mark, and me. I didn't have my camera, I'm waiting for Mark to send me the pictures so I can post them.


On Thursday I took the train to London. Who says it rains in London? Again, perfect weather. Above is the BA London Eye, and below is Big Ben.



As usual, I cannot leave London without my portion of Peking Duck. Above you can see the ducks hanging in the restaurant window.

Tonight I leave for Melbourne, Australia. Its a 22 hour flight, with a stop in Singapore. I let you know about the flight and Melbourne sometime next week.

Final Day on Cruise - Victoria, BC

One of the best food items on the ship was the chocolate chip cookies. But most of the time they were out of them. On the last day I found out you can order them from room service. So I picked up the phone and ordered six cookies and look what I got, six orders of cookies. I still have a few in the freezer. Of course I had to order some ice cream to go with the cookies.

As we docked in Victoria, the sun came out. This is a picture of Mount Rainier, in Washington State, over 50 miles away.

The flowers in Victoria are some of the most beautiful in the world. We didn't get to Butchart Gardens, since our ship didn't get into port until 7pm.



I hope you enjoy reading about our entire Seattle/Alaska/Victoria vacation in this and the next four postings.

Raining in Sitka and Ketchikan

I think this sea plane picture was really taken in Juneau, when it was sunny. We had rain for three days, in Sitka, Ketchikan and on the way to Victoria, BC.

Looks just like one of our hurricane evacuation signs.

This was a close call, but I escaped from this black bear. We did see a real black bear from a distance by one of the glaciers. We also saw a pod of Orca whales, a sea otter and porpoises.

This is the marina in Sitka.

This is Creek Street in Ketchikan, old buildings converted to tourist shops.

Juneau Alaska - Helicopter and Dog Sledding

Here's our first port of call where we could get off the ship. The weather was amazing, sunny and warm. In the morning we walked through town - it took almost 20 minutes. Above you can see an eagle posing by the American flag.

The big event of the day was a helicopter ride to the top of the glacier, where we went dog sledding. Here's captain Eric in the back seat of the helicopter. I was in the front where I was able to take some amazing photos.

Here we are as we left the helicopter and get ready for the real fun.

Yes that's me, taking the huskies out for a run.

And here we both are on our own dog sled.

I took this as the dogs were mushing along. We went about 6mph, less than racing speed of 10-12mph.

And here is part of our dog sled team. Below is a short video of our ride.

Alaska Cruise - Glacier Bay

It was a little cold, but beautiful in Glacier Bay. The water was calm and the only noise you heard was nature itself.
Eric bundled up more than me. Doesn't he look like an eskimo?

We stopped at three glaciers, this one being the largest. The color is amazing. I think this one is 200 feet high, and 100 feet below the surface.

This photo is just following a calfing (where the ice falls away). It happen when the ice below the surface melts, and the weight of the ice above crashes into the water. It is beautiful and very loud.


Here we are enjoying ourselves as we leave Glacier Bay. Below is a video of the glacier.

Seattle - Pre-Cruise Visit

Eric and I were in Seattle the two days before our Alaska cruise. The first night we had dinner with Tom and Jeanne and their family. The next day we spent with Allen and Tim, two of my Frontrunner friends who moved to Seattle. We had a nice breakfast, went to Pike Place Market, The Seattle Art Museum and had a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant.

These are some of the Dungeness Crabs we had for lunch.

The flowers were amazing throughout Seattle.

Of course Seattle isn't Seattle without the Space Needle.



And with a little help from Eric, the needle is still standing.



Remember these erasers from the 50s. I wonder if you can still buy them.