Margerie Glacier, Glacier Bay, Alaska

I've pulled together my favourite shots of this spectacular glacier.

According to Wikipedia, Margerie Glacier is 21 miles long and is an excellent example of a tide-water glacier! Its height above water is 250 feet, and is extends another 100 feet below the water line.

Debris!

What I had not realised is how powerful glaciers sound. It was really exciting listening to all the cracking, ripping and tumbling of ice and debris as it split off the glacier and crashed down into the calm water. You can't hear brilliantly in this video but it gives you an idea.

On this trip we also saw the John Hopkins glacier but I don’t have any photos. Sorry guys.

Skagway, Alaska, White Pass and Yukon Route

Welcome to Skagway. A quaint hick village kept afloat by cruise tours.

The gargantuan Zuiderdam docked in Skagway.

White Pass and Yukon Route Railway

Those hip sunglasses again!

This railway, built in the 1900s, was born of the Klondike Gold Rush to provide an alternative for the treacherous route through the mountains. It winds through gauged out mountains faces, through incredibly dark tunnels and over a few fragile little bridges.

There are some truly amazing views, it was by far the best way to spend our day in Skagway.

Some tips for ultimate enjoyment!

• Board the train early so you can sit with your group. It fills up quickly.

• Sit on the left on the way up to make the most of the views.

• Stand on the platform outside on the way down and let the wind whip around you, not that it goes very fast.

• We went on a sunny day and it was beautiful. It wouldn't be so good in bad weather.

• Good narration giving you a feel for the building of the railroad, and how treacherous the route was before this was built. What people do for gold! I guess nothing changes... Listen to the narration on the way up, as you should be delighting in standing on the platform on the way down.

• If you like card games, buy the historic playing cards. They have unique pictures for each card and although distracting, they are fun to play with!

• More for adults, it’s quite a long trip so maybe not suitable for kids. We didn't see any in our carriage.

• Charge your camera battery! My camera ran out of battery half way up so I actually sat back and enjoyed soaking up the ambience, history and awesome views. However, I don’t have as many pictures to share with you as I’d like!

Juneau, Alaska plus Cable Car Mountain Adventure

After a day at sea, and with wobbly legs, we disembarked the Zuiderdam and wandered into “town”. This was my first cruise and I was overwhelmed by this tourist trap. We found ourselves surrounded by diamond shops, floods of people and general tat so promptly opted to go up the mountain, out of town, via a sturdy looking cable car. Fantastic plan as it turned out.

We trekked along little woodland paths, singing all the way to ward off any hungry grisly bears. It was quite an adventure, following a random route of narrow interconnected paths and carefully navigating our way over some slippery snowy patches.



The top of the mountain gave us spectacular views over the bay and surrounding mountains. The rest of the town didn’t have much to offer us. It may interest those wanting to purchase/ browse sparkly diamonds or buy overpriced tourist memorabilia.

Zuiderdam, Vancouver to Juneau, Holland America

The Zuiderdam, viewed from above in Juneau. This 10 storey ship had multiple pools, a fantastic gym, a theatre and loads of food! Plus a library and a basketball court on the top deck.

Deck 10 -must've been a good book...

Views in Glacier Bay, Alaska. This is the Margerie Glacier which goes 200 miles back to the Canadian boarder.

Little tiny chunks of ice floating downstream from the glaciers.


Can you spot the mountain goat?

View from our cabin window. Now what was that book? Truman Capote?

This is where the bears hang out. We didn't see any though. Whilst playing table tennis, we saw a pod of whales flicking their tails and a pair of dolphins.

Days Out: Polesden Lacey, National Trust, Surrey

"Beautiful 566-hectare estate located in an exceptional setting and enjoying stunning views across the Surrey Hills. The house was remodelled in 1906–9 by the Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville, a well-known Edwardian hostess, and was the venue for the honeymoon of the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth."

So, in our continued attempt to get the most out of our membership, we organised a group trip to Polesden Lacey. We were lucky, we got a lift from my dear friend Mark in his bling VW Golf. After stopping in on his sister and her new, tiny (young) but huge baby, we set on our merry way to this grand Surrey estate.

It was March when we visited so we were presented with a glorious abundance of spring blossom, but the flower beds were a little lacking in, well, anything! We toured the spectacular grounds extensively, wandering through the slowly budding walled rose garden, the orchard with a 'learn a lesson from this' broken pot and the early season kitchen gardens, ending up around the front of the house in time for ice-cream.

After a much anticipated Mr. Whippy we explored inside the house, providing us with both a sun break and an obligatory cultural experience! There were grand hallways, an activity balcony and rooms and rooms full of paintings, sculptures, and interesting old portrait photos. They even had someone tinkling on the piano!

I also enjoyed a very cautious pot on the billiard table - closely monitored by a helpful and friendly volunteer! It's worth the trip, it really is.

Days Out: Cambridge Botanic Garden

The map...

Very useful for getting about! There is quite a lot to cover here...

We started near the Lake/pond,
admiring the bird life and trying to figure out what was what.

The scented garden is always my favourite bit of a botanic garden. Here, it smelt wonderful and reminded me of the Rose garden near Duraswhere I dragged my parents last summer.
We ended up ordering afternoon tea which consisted of rose shaped scones, with rose petal jam and rose leaf tea!! Also, I discovered Escapade roses here. They smell beautiful.


A botanic stump!

This leaf was spectacularly big

Alien lifeform, well not really. This was a really freaky plant though. About 3 foot tall too!


Ha, do you see the sun glasses!! And also the amazing cactus type plant.
We saw a Staghorn fern here too.
It was a pretty freaky growth stuck on the roof with massive horns..


Pink flowers. Beautiful


PinWheel

Swan Lake at Royal Albert Hall

“Derek Deane's critically acclaimed production of Swan Lake caused a sensation at its premiere in 1997 and has since been enjoyed by over 350,000 people, captivating audiences worldwide.”[Royal Albert Hall]

I went to see the English National Ballet performing this beautiful production of Swan Lake last night to Tchaikovsky's score. It really was well worth the trip. Not being able to afford the enviable box seats (with champagne reception), and pricier stalls, we settled for front row seats in the Circle but 90° west of the front. The Albert Hall was more than able to cater for this distorted view and, in fact our seats were superb. Best view ever!

The performance and sheer number of dancers exquisitely catered for the 360° view offered by the Albert Hall. Noteworthy, was the first appearance of the corps de ballet. I was astonished as an growing number of ballerinas filtered on to the stage, 60 in total (although this was a little distracting as I had to count twice – they kept moving about!)

The pas de quatre reminded me a little of Terry Pratchett’s 'luggage’ at first, with 8 little feet (8) moving about individually and the 4 dancers moving smoothly as one body, but then they did some very impressive and fun moves, no idea what these are called but I mean to find out!

On top of these, I really enjoyed shadow watching when the prima ballerina and her man were on, they were surrounded by shadows, very cool to watch. I’m starting to develop a real taste for watching the floor when I go to the ballet!

Oh and the music... I really liked the trumpet solo too, maybe a cornet.

I would see this again, and again. Fantastic venue and memorable production plus the outfits and lighting were beautiful.