Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Hi - well, here we are now leaving the gorgeous PEI - we have spent 3 glorous days reliving our childhoods (yes, we can remember).....This of course is the home of "Anne of Green Gables" & both of us are huge fans!!!!! We went to the house etc & walked the paths that you see in the movie - it was a wonderful experience - we both felt very much as though we were living in the books & the movie. We can both remember key quotes etc, so it was also a lot of fun.
We stayed in a great B & B with 2 wonderful women who made us feel right at home!
We are on our way to Nova Scotia now - a few hours drive (Halifax).

Cheers & love to you all - keep the comments coming!

More photos

Hi again
Here are a couple of photos of two really cute bears (Grinder and Stealth Bomber)at Grouse Mountain, Vancouver. The previous photo was not of the Ice Explorer but Lyn throwing a snowball at me!
I forgot to mention that only did no one speak English, but all road signs etc are also in French - imagine trying to drive through a strange city in the rain on the wrong side of the road, driving on the left hand side of the car, & all signs (when you could actually find one) was in French - I was a tad stressed, but we survived!

Photos

Here is a photo of Lyn on the Athabasca Glacier...standing next to the Ice Explorer.

Maine

Hi all....it's Sunday and we are now in Maine USA...the last state I lived in before making the journey to Australia. We stayed in a small village in Canada last night..Pogonneamook (I think!).very quaint little spot right on a lake. Today in the rain we drove through the remainder of Canada to the US border at Fort Kent then onto Loring Air Force Base where we last lived. It is no longer an air force base but a commerce centre. They just opened an air force base heritage centre there last weekend so we just made it in time before it closed for the day. We will need to dig out some old photos Mum to make some copies and send to them as they dont have much from those years. And yes Loring Drive still has houses on it but they have renamed it!...I think I got some photos of our house Mum and Jane! ...and a photo of me standing on the grounds of the Harrison Elementary School...no building left though. We are now in Houlston Maine for the night before heading back into Canada tomorrow on our way to Prince Edward Island. Lyn will take over now....Well, Jill's navigating skills have not let us down....yet! only day2, so fingers crossed. My driving has been wonderful of course! I have a secret weapon for remembering what side of the road to drive on! I could not believe it when we woke up yesterday & it was raining - just my luck for our first day of driving & trying to navigate out of a city like Montreal! You should see how they drive - don't ever complain about Adelaide drivers again! They get away with 30 kph over the speed limit here & the cops don't give a damn! We forgot that as soon as we passed out of the city limits that hardly anyone speaks English! Not handy for us! Jill's school girl french is getting us by & some of Miss Piggy has come in handy for me!!
I have re-named ice hockey "stick clunking" (because Lyn didnt know what the kids were doing..duh!!!!)
We are scooting along in a Pontiac Pursuat for those that are into cars. Petrol is so cheap - in Canada it is 82.4 cents / litre.
Need an update on the football - please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope you are all well & that Mum & Ruth arrived home from England safely.
Cheers

Montreal

Hi all
well here we are in sunny Montreal but everything here is in French including the computers and internet so its the blind leading the blind...luckily we know how to move around the blogsite and our emails..and fortunately your emails still arrive in english!!! Don`t have our photos with us so we can`t put any on today.
I wish i had of taken more notice of Miss Piggy when i was younger - would have been most helpful! Can`t wait to see how we go tomorrow driving out of Montreal - me at the wheel & Jill navigating - not a sign in english!
Yesterday we went from Banff on the bus to Calgary & then flew to Montreal. Another luxury hotel (probably the last for awhile). Today we have walked all over Montreal (god these non english keyboards are a treat!!!!!!!) Went to Òld Montreal`& the Port - Montreal was settled in 1611, so the buildings & history are fantastic!
Hopefully we will live past tomorrow to do a post on hear at a later date - if you don`t hear from us then you know that Lyn`s driving has failed us miserably (or Jill`s navigating!!!!!!) Will be a glasss on day tomorrow - hope they read French better than we both do!!!!!!!!
Love Jill & Lyn

Forgot to rotate the first picture!!..we may eventually get this right!
You can click on a picture to get a bigger image to view.

Sorry guys...forgot to tell you what the photos are...first one is of a spirit bear in Vancouver...artists of Canada create them then they are auctioned off in October for charity. They are all over the streets and very delightful to see. The second one is of Lake Moraine near Jasper in the Rockies...one of the most photograhed lakes in the world.

Hi all
Just a quick one to post some pics....found a cheaper place to download. We are having a great time in Banff....more wonderful sightseeing, unfortunately no fresh snow but lots still up high on the mountains. Off to Montreal tomorrow then around Maine, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia. Will try for a moose photo for you Jane! Thanks Kath and Nic for your comments!!...how could you be jealous with all your travelling?
Happy birthday to Harry, Fay & David B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Madeleine - great if you could catch up with us in Norway - Chez has the itinerary - see what you can do!

Jill and Lyn's Great Escape

Hi all
Well here we are in downtown Jasper, Canada in the icefields and enjoying every minute of it. Thanks for all the comments, its great to stay in touch...and dont worry Ruth and Mum, the UK will be pretty exciting for you (and tell the drama queen to get on with it!!). Won't be any pictures this time round as it is really expensive here to have memory cards downloaded...will wait til Montreal where hopefully it will be cheaper.
On with the 'virtual tour' - we left Vancouver on the Rocky Mountaineer Train to head to Calgary - & funnily enough, that is where we ended up (Jill is still wondering how the hell that happened!!!!!) We did enjoy the train, but some of the other passengers we had to spend 2 days with were a bit of a worry - the couple sitting opposite us were like the Queen & Prince Phillip - in voice, accent & manners - they even suggested that some of the trees along side the tracks should be cut down to improve the view!!!!! Lets just ignore the fact that we were in a pristine wilderness!
We got off the train & headed across the street to the hotel - it was incredibly luxurious! (Of course our bags had been transferred earlier & were already there for us!)
Then onto the tour bus the next morning for the icefields - Banff, Lake Louise & now in Jasper - lots of snow in Banff & Lake Louise - started just after we left Calgary & great Xmas photos (snow was unexpected by Jill!, so that was a great treat!) We have walked on a glacier which was sensational - had to get there on a gigantic snow mobile!
The weather in Jasper is wonderful - sunny with snow topped mountains - just like you see in the photos!
Have been out canoeing on Pyramid Lake today - wonderful - no wind, in tee shirts, water like a mirror!
Tomorrow off to Banff for 2 days (just down the road really). Have continued to meet lovely people - Jill has found a quilting buddy - a lovely woman (retired opera singer) from Florida (of course - isn't that where everyone in the US retires to????) There is a quilt shop in Jasper - off there in a minute - I think it is time for me to have a coffee.
For Lyn's friends at work you would be pleased to know that people are much thinner in Canada - more outdoors sort of lifestyle (except for a poor woman that we read about in the paper who choked to death in a contest to see how many marshmellows you could put in your mouth & still say "chubby bunny" (not funny really, but you do have to wonder why anyone would want to do that).
Nearly forgot the best part - yesterday we went rafting on the Athabasca River (just out of Jasper) & I (Lyn that is!)got to be the raft leader for about 10 minutes - it was the best - darn hard work, but fantastic experience trying to guide it through some rapids & around bends - a test for my muscles (that have turned to flab with my winter coat).
Hope everyone is well....love to read your comments.
Love Jill and Lyn

Jill and Lyn's Great Escape

Hello....anyone out there??????....we love to get your comments....makes our day after a long day of walking, sitting, exploring etc. We are now on the Rocky Mountaineer Train for 2 days with a night stopover in Kamloops (look it up!)...then a 7 day bus tour of the Rockies taking in all the sights.
We have issues a 'BA' - thast is a buffet alert, so we are steering clear of any all you can eat establishments! Had another early morning this morning - up at 5.30am!
Up again early tomorrow to get back on the train to calgary (cowboy city!).

Vancouver September 11th-14th

Hi Everyone - here we are in very sunny Vancouver - about 22 degrees for the last 2 days! Beautiful blue skies - not a cloud in sight! The ship docked at 7.30am yesterday, so we have had 2 days walking the sights of Vancouver - we walked for 8 hrs yesterday & 7 hrs today - lucky the hotel has a spa & pool where I can recover from the days exercise!
Yesterday we went to Capilano Suspension Bridge & Grouse Mountain - they were both fantastic! Saw bears & birds & a great lumberjack show - really entertaining. Went to the top of the mountain on a cable car - 3000 feet straight up! Today we walked to Granville island & then to Chinatown & Gastown - it is a bit disconcerting walking around as there is a large homeless population here & they beg on the streets - yuk!
Is a bit hard for us to get used to having to do things for ourselves - we actually have to think - being on the ship is a very closed environment - the rest of the world seems a very long way away - it is like living in a fantasy land! But, we are now in the reality of travelling in the real world - at least until we get on the Rocky Mountaineer Train on Thursday morning - we also miss the friends we made on the ship!
Photos are prior to arriving in Vancouver as we have not down loaded them as yet.
Thank you to those who have sent comments - much appreciated.
We are off to Vancouver Is tomorrow morning & then on to the train.

Jill and Lyn's Great Escape

Hi again - just making the most of our 1 hour on the internet - it won't let us on to check our banking - which is probably a good thing - don't want to have a heart attack in Alaska!
As we said it we are in Ketchikan - average rainfall of 162 inches - not surprising it is raining today! Only 1 of the 240 days it rains here per year.
Shortly we will head back to the ship for more food (Andrew, you would love it - remember all the post cards describing your food on your holidays?)- we are starting to issue BA's - which stands for buffet alert! You should see how much people put on their plates - us included! Oops - only kidding Julianne! Even managed to do a line dancing class this morning - second for the week! Have managed to fit the gym into our busy schedules as well, but somehow I do not think it will be enough to fight off the 'buffet bulge!
It is hard to resist when it is so plentiful & delicious & FREE!
The best part of the cruise is the number of staff that rush around to do everything - I don't know how we will ever get back to picking up our own towels of the floor!
I must say that it was a huge privelege to get to spend my birthday this week in such majestic surroundings - it was very humbling - for those that remembered my birthday, just send money - it will be put to good use - those that have bought me great presents, please hold them until I return!!!!! I might add that Jill has not bought me a gift!!!!!!! I think she thinks her company should be enough - as if!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Jill here....as it should be....my company is always enough!!!!
Love to you all from both of us.....

Hi again all
We are so new at this we dont know what we are doing so this photo is in a new post. The other photo was of Lyn and our new friend Annette lazing about on the deck while Tony and I were busy photograhing the Marjory Glacier in Glacier Bay. The photo in this one is of Lyn and I at Mendenhall Glacier out of Juneau. Well thats it for today...for real this time!!!

Ketchikan Alaska

Hi all
We have finally been able to find a cheaper internet here in Ketchikan of all places so have put a couple of photos on for your enjoyment...or jealousy. The train photo was taken by Jill..it does look picture postcard like though!!! Today it has been rather wet here but we still managed to walk around the town....saw salmon fighting their way upstream against a very strong current...its a wonder any of them survive! Have also found yet another quilt shop....very big one with fantastic fabric...even Lyn found lots of things she liked...may make a quilter out of her yet!
Shortly we set sail for Vancouver...will take a day and a half...so we can relax a bit on the ship...although there is so much on board entertainment that we are having very late nights...great live shows, movies, bands and dancing. So ......we will update you all later wherever we may be.
Love to you all Lyn and Jill xxx

Jill and Lyn's Great Escape

Hi All - my gosh, we have become the cruise queens (no pun intended!!!!)We are having the time of our lives - I have never seen such luxury & opulence - we have just slipped right into cruise culture - & let me tell you it is a life of it's own. There is so much money on board! It is a cash free environment - everything you do is with a swip card (looks exactly like a credit card & boy, does it act like one!) - it geys you into your room & everything else - including your security pass - when you scan it, your photo appears - it is magic - we don't want to get off! Alaska has exceeded by miles any expectations - we want to move here! We are in Ketchikan on the coast of the inland passage today - we docked at 10am this morning - we already did a line dance class at 9am - it is all go!!! There are so many things to do you don't want to sleep for a minute! There are 900 crew for 2000 passengers - they wait on you every minute of the day & night - the entertainment has been wonderful - hard to imagine that such talented people work on a ship.
We have seen wonderful sights & done great things.
Jill has managed to find a quilt shop in all ports so far!
We have made great friends with some of the other travellers - mostly those that were on the land tour part at the start - we caught the train from Anchorage to Denali & then on to Fairbanks, then flew back down to Anchorage & then bussed to Whittier to get on the ship, so we have had great fun with them. Hard to find them on this huge ship though - if anyone is interested to see what a luxury this ship is, thwen log onto their website as they have a web can & you can do a tour - it is the Coral Princess in the Princess Cruises - 15 floors of floating luxury - you want for nothing!
it is costing a fortune to do this onboard, so with my peck & hunt style I had better make haste!
We have a quieter time today - on land shopping & checking the beautiful town!
Will post again when we get to Vancouver in 2 days. At least it has been smoother sailing the last few days!
Hope you are all well - thank you to those who have posted notes to us on this - it is a delight to get your comments - believe it or not we miss you all!
Special thank you to Al - yep, you can have aprize when we get back.
To SDBKRMC - love you all - miss you madly - Aunty Lyn & Jill
xxxxooooo

Jill and Lyn's Great Escape

Well, here we are on the cruise ship - in hurricane force winds - could not get into College Fjord this morning - first time that the ship has has to divert for weather - thought I was Shelley Winters in the Poisden Adventure - Jill slept through my incredible trauma!
Everything so far has been wonderful - weather, scenery - less than 30% of people get to see Mt McKinley - we did (3 seperate times!!!!!!!)! It was awe inspiring!
It is formal night on the ship tonight - that is why we are on the internet & everyone else is dressed to kill! Hard to pack formal wear when travelling for 14 weeks! - not high on the priority list!
The organisation of everything has to be seen to be believed.
We have seen bears, moose, wolves (up close & personal)- Denali Nat Park is a majestic place - puts things in perspective!
The hotels etc have been most luxurious - don't even have to carry a bag! - except Jill's bag has been ruined - they are trying to fix it - really useful at the end of week 1 with 13 weeks to go!
The food here is way to plentiful & very nice - we are putting on our 'winter coats' ready for a harsh winter in the luxury! Lucky for us that Norway will be so expensive that we won't be able to afford to eat so we will lose the fat! (that is the theory anyway!) There is a gym on board - lots of equipment.
Jill found a quilt shop in Anchorage (surprise, surprise). Would like to immigrate to Anchorage - a lovely city!
Julianne - your work is not done - you are needed over here! More 'fat police' are desperately needed here! I have never seen so much food & so many fat people! This is realy the land of the bold & the big...oops I mean brave!
Not down loading any photos at the moment - no where to plug in the camera & way too expensive! Will try in Vancouver.
Disney Land was fantastic - she who didn't want to go was plotting how she could fit in rides on the ones she liked best before the park shut! Remember the tea cups - Jane & Mum? Jill didn't like them - felt sick - Lyn was turning the wheel too fast!
We have met some great people on the tour - heaps of fun for old people - we feel very young! Average age on the ship must be at least 65! We expect a death or two - some have been pleased to know jill is a nurse - I told them not to get excited as she is on holidays!
Will do another soon - hope you are all jealous....oops I mean well!
Love to everyone - miss you (not the work though!)
J & L
xxxxxxooooo

Alaskan Holiday

HI all
Its been a wonderful adventure so far...we are currently in Denali National Park after a stunning train journey....absolutely breathtaking scenery...snow capped mountains, moose in rivers, cabins in the woods. It's been hard to get on the internet so wont post any photos for now...too hard and limited time...might try tomorrow. Lyn is finally relaxing and is off at the gym right now (surprised???). Disneyland was such an adventure...will tell you all about it later.
Have to go now.
Talk soon
Jill and Lyn