Here are the rest of our photos from Anchorage to the end of our North American journey... They say a photo is worth 1,000 words, so hopefully this will do for now, as we are a bit short on words. We'll send stories soon...

The Great Salt Lake Desert:




A rainbow in the Grand Tetons:




Paintbrush Trail, Grand Tetons:




Holly Lake, Grand Tetons:




Bison, Yellowstone:




Lower Yellwostone Falls:




Daisy Geiser, Yellowstone:




Random Westie encounter, Glacier National Park:




Our new friends, Kate and Jimmy at the Calgary Folk Festival (Beer Garden):




Andrew and Mick, Calgary Folk Festival:




Athabasca Glacier, Jasper National Park:




Peyto Lake, Jasper National Park:




Our great hosts in Jasper, Jen and Brent:




Geraldine Falls, Jasper National Park:




Liard Hotsprings, Northern BC:




Our mechanic in the middle of the Yukon:




Yukon Brewery, "A Beer Worth Freezing For":




Kluane Lake swim, Yukon, our Northernmost (ie freezing cold) freshwater swim:




Stone Mountain Sheep in the Yukon:




A Wild Moose in Denali (don't shoot!):




Amusing ourselves at Denali National Park -- yes, in case you were wondering that is Mt McKinley right behind us:

We're really not too good at this whole journal thing. We've fallen a couple of weeks behind on our personal ones, and never seem to update anyone most of the time. Taking a year off is much busier than one would expect!

We're now in the comfort of Jeff & Tammy Pickett's house in Anchorage. They have been so hospitable putting us up for two nights, and with the heat wave we're having right now, we have to leave tomorrow - anchorage is way too hot!! It's been in the 80's for the past few days - crazy stuff.

Again, lets try an update:

VALDEZ: Arrived with very low expectations of an industrial wasteland, and to our surprise it was stunning. The town is on a narrow bay with enormous snow capped peaks surrounding it. Huge waterfalls coming down from great heights. The town itself is full of RV parks, and not too much else. But they do have a fantastic high school pool - and can you believe a Synchro team (Valdez Synchro Seals - sponsored by the Alyeska pipeline), what more can you ask for! We had a few days to just hang out in the town, and lucked out with timing. We were given tickets to the Annual Valdez Playwright Conference, with special guests Edward Albee (who's afraid of virginia wolf), Terrance McNally (The Full Monty & Ragtime) and a few other famous playwrights. There were also some well known actors there, Chris Noth a.k.a Mr Big (from Sex in the City) made many appearances, and even smiled at me in the parking lot as we crossed paths one evening :)

Included in the price of our tickets (free) was a banquet with live music (from a famous Alaskan native band) after the first night's show, and a free cruise to the Shoup Glacier after the second night. Both were excellent events. Valdez was definitely being kind to the budget!

The other activity in Valdez was fishing. The pink salmon run was in full force, and fish were literally leaping out of the water whenever you looked. Andrew (being the strong provider type) decided to try us with the subsistent lifestyle for a few days.

Below are our photo highlights. We've got some great stories that we've written down, but will put them online later - check back.

Our lovely hosts in Anchorage, Tammy and Jeff:



Driving in our van to Anchorage:




Our last night out with Wiggen in Seward:




Our cute neighbor, Tanner, from the Virgin Islands:




Tammie and Tanner and Chris with Wiggen in Seward:




Poor Mandy with Giardia in the Van:




Andrew's catch in Kodiak ;) :




A sheep dressed in bear's clothing:




Bear viewing in Katmai National Park, at Brooks Falls:




Sunrise in Homer (at 4:30am):




Cooking in Van in Homer:




Wiggen kayaking in Blackstone, only a couple of hundred yards from the glacier:




Sipping on "gin'n'juice" after three hard days of kayaking:




Kayaking at the Blackstone Glacier:




Our first night of camping in Blackstone Bay, with our fridge/chair/iceberg (Note white spots are mosquitos in front of lens):




Crossing Prince William Sound, the Columbia Glacier, a gigantic tidewater glacier and icefield:




False Advertising for our campground in Valdez:




Andrew and Fred fishing for Salmon in Valdez:




Us in Juneau at the Mendenhall Glacier:

We've arrived in Valdez and are slowly regaining our white colouring after the green we had become during the 2 day ferry from Juneau that crossed the Gulf of Alaska. First of all, thanks to all of our generous hosts so far, Chris Stratton in Portland, Mike & Julie in Seattle, and Pat in Vancouver, it is so nice to be with familiar faces along the way.

So much to report, but here are the highlights since Seattle:

VANCOUVER: Spent a day with a very "Sneaky Canadian" Pat, who as our fanstic host, showed us all of the best places to drink, including the Grizzly bear orphan sanctuary at the top of Grousse Mtn, Grenville Island Markets, and a great sushi joint.

MIRACLE BEACH: Camping 1/2 way up Vancouver island, with fantastic views of snow capped mountains of the mainland.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS: Our whole voyage north was kind of a build-up for this trip, our first real adventure of the entire journey. 7 days kayaking in the remote wilderness of Gwaii Hannas National Park. To get there, first you have to get yourself to the "big city" of Prince Rupert, take an 8-hour ferry to the Queen Charlottes, another 15 minute ferry to the southern Charlotte island, then about an hour on windy dirt logging roads, then an hour and a half on high-speed Zodiac boats puts you in the park. Once we were there, we saw very few other people: just the occasional fishing boat, park ranger, and a few "Watchmen" -- very hospitable Haida folk who fed us well and told us about their ancestral sites.

The Queen Charlottes acquainted us with all sorts of different types of rain, and for the first few days it was a struggle to keep dry. But we were rewarded with plenty of wildlife, from abundant bald eagles to a bear swimming across a channel, and plenty of curious but skittish harbor seals watching our progress. One calm and quiet night, we heard a pod of Orcas from our campsite and saw them passing very close to us -- I think they were sleeping. One day some humpback whales popped up right next to our kayaks and we followed them for a little bit.

The highlight for Mandy, though, was on day 4, when everything we owned was wet and cold, we happenned to find a yurt along shore, equipped with a pot-belly stove and plenty of wood to keep us warm for the day & night. We then went out and caught some fish which we fried up (delicious!) and then finished the celebration off with a chocolate fondue! The next day we went to Hotsprings Island, and further warmed up in the hot pools overlooking mountains and sea. The last couple of days we saw tons of marine life and enjoyed some unusually nice weather for the Charlottes.

JUNEAU: Very cute town - unfortunately overun by cruise ship passengers. We went into town while 4 cruise ships with 3000+ people each were docked. Our entertainment was counting how many tourists did NOT have shopping bags in their hands (very few).
Went for a hike to the Mendenhall Glacier, and camped near the bottom of it, beautiful place. Our first of many glaciers to come.

Grousse Mountain Bear Sanctuary

Miracle Beach

Queen Charlotte Islands

Hotsprings in the Queen Charlottes

Whew, we finally left Kensington on Monday at 2pm, only a day behind schedule. We need to make a mental note not to try selling a house and 2 cars, buying a van, moving countries, planning a year-long trip, etc. etc. all at once! We're now clean and warm in Seattle, staying with our good friends Mike & Julie (the Culver branch.)

Difficult moments on the first couple of days:
1. Driving for 5 hours through the central valley at 110 degrees (a quick discovery that our a/c does not work)
2. Sustaining multiple head injuries while moving around in the van. Including (but not limited to) gas grill head wound, a/c head injury, van door head wack etc etc.
3. Realizing that a $4.50 smoothie on a 110 degree day, may no longer fit in our daily budget.
4. Filling up with gas in the hick town of Medford, Oregon to discover that the gas was flowing out of the van almost as quickly as it was entering. (note to self: a 17 yr old van is not always as reliable as a 3 yr old SUV)
5. Hiking in Crater Lake in shorts & t-shirt in June, on a semi-vertical trail with 2+ feet of snow (that was probably closed), fearful of falling to my death and ruining the rest of the trip for andrew. Luckily for him, I made it ;)

So far, we're managing to chill out a little, fix the van, and we finally realize that the trip is actually happening. Our plans for the next few weeks include:

June 6th - Drive from Seattle to Vancouver
June 7th-8th - Vancouver & Victoria
June 9th-10th - Driving up Vancouver Island
June 11th - First ferry through the inside passage
June 12th - 20th Sea Kayaking in the Queen Charlotte Islands (off the coast of BC)
June 21st - 26th On random ferries, between Prince Rupert (BC), Juneau (Alaska) and Valdez (Alaska)
Post June 26th - Wander around alaska, alberta, montana, wyoming etc.

If for any reason you are desperate to get in touch with us, we still have a cell phone 650 799 6939.
You can also email us at mandrewadventure@yahoo.com

Our new home fits into the carport of our old home:

Crater Lake National Park - Oregon:

Mandy concerned for her life:

Mandy happy to be on the way down:

Hi all, in case you haven't heard we have sold our house and are embarking on a year-long "world trip" after which we intend to move back to Wellington.

Our new contact details are:
email: mandrewadventure@yahoo.com
cell phone: (650) 799-6939

In case you care to keep track of our movements, our rough itinerary is as follows:
June: Seattle, Vancouver, BC, Alaska
July: Alaska, Alberta,
August: Montana, Wyoming, SF, London, somewhere else in Europe?
September: Slovakia, Hungary, maybe Croatia?
October: Spain/Portugal
November: Italy
Dec-March: Turkey, South East Asia, China?
April-May: Mexico, Cuba?
June: tired of travelling yet???

We'll send out updates as we go. Feel free to unsubscribe through the email service.

Cheers,
Mandrew (Mandy and Andrew for those who have no idea who "Mandrew" is)