G: Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve

One of my favourite days on our Alaskan cruise was the one we spent cruising around Glacier Bay. It was spectacular. It started with lectures from the National Parks rangers who had come on board to educate us on the history and all things relating to Glacier Bay. I was fascinated as we have nothing like this is Australia. Mother natures grandeur was amazing.

On the day we were visiting the rangers told us that two brown bears were walking along the shoreline. I didn’t see them but many others did. I did however see some otters floating on some ice as we cruised past.

We stopped at three glaciers throughout the day. Lamplugh Glacier and John Hopkins as well as Margerie Glacier. All were different and spectacular in their own way. We were able to hear calving but I personally didn’t see any of the ice come crashing off the glaciers.

The major disappointment we had was that the weather was turning bad so the Captain cancelled our trip to the Hubbard Glacier the next day, which I am told is the most spectacular. Oh well that just means that we have to go on another Alaskan cruise.


A: Artic Circle

To start this years A-Z Challenge I thought I would take you to the top of the world. Or at least that’s what it felt like to me when I visited the Artic Circle last year. I was so excited. I live in Newcastle, Australia which has a latitude of 32.9283 degrees South. The Artic Circle is 66.33 degrees North. To me that is hugely different.

We went in late September and to my surprise there was no snow or ice on the ground. I’m sure however it wasn’t far away. We flew from Fairbanks, Alaska and landed in Coldfoot above the Artic Circle for lunch.

It is a small community 34 people at the 2020 census. With lunch I enjoyed having a beer in the Farthest North Truck Stop in America.

We then boarded a bus to the Artic Circle sign. It felt so special and almost unbelievable.