North to Alaska

We rose late, tidied our apartment, sorted out the intricacies of exiting our high security abode and headed for the ferry. We had a pleasant, if rather windy, crossing through the little islands that dot the ocean between Vancouver Island and the mainland; with views north of the snow clad mountain area we were heading towards the next day.

The Pacific Gateway Hotel proved to be a good choice with a comfortable room, pleasant staff and a shuttle bus to the airport every twenty minutes. It was quite warm so dinner that night was outside in the courtyard and was a beautifully cooked sirloin steak with Yorkshire pudding, vegetables and lots of gravy. It was so massive I couldn’t finish it and Ed had to help me out. Even so I opted out of breakfast the next morning.

The next day was clear and sunny – perfect weather for our flight to Prince Rupert. We flew in a Dash 8 and I had booked us both window seats so we could see the amazing scenery below. We flew along the coast with alternating views of coastal inlets and snowclad mountain ranges – quite spectacular! There is no suitable place at Prince Rupert for an airport so it is on the adjoining Digby Island. Last time we flew in our bags were put down on the edge of the strip and there was an old bus to take us the rest of the way. This time there was a marked improvement with a new terminal with baggage handling facilities and two shiny shuttle buses to take us on the ferry to the mainland. Tourism must be looking up, though the young man who served us at the bottle shop, who had lived in Prince Rupert all his life, couldn’t understand why anyone would bother to come.

In actual fact Prince Rupert is a charming town with an excellent museum,

some lovely gardens

and if you walk down to Cow Bay, some good places to eat and shop.
The Crest Hotel, where we stayed, is a top class hotel with spacious rooms overlooking the water and an excellent restaurant.

The next day we went through customs and passport control, left Canada and headed for Alaska aboard the MV Malaspina. The Malaspina is one of the smaller boats in the fleet and doesn’t have all the facilities of the bigger boats, like a dining room or a cinema, but it has plenty of space to walk the decks and look at the scenery and the staff, like all the Alaskan Ferries, are very friendly and helpful.
Our cabin was basic but comfortable with a good size window looking out on the passing scenery and a fairly spacious shower and toilet.

Prince Rupert to Wrangell is not one of the premium routes, so the boat was not crowded. We got a good table by the window where we downloaded our cameras, caught up on our blog and had our meals – all the time attended by the redoubtable Eleanor, who made sure we were looked after, gave us plenty of advice, expressed surprise that anyone would pay to see bears that wandered freely in her backyard and offered to show us around Juneau so we wouldn’t be ripped off by the touristy places (including her good friend Tracey of Tracey’s Crab Shack, though she did admit she had the best crabs).

The meal was served cafeteria style where you lined up with your tray and proceeded through the doors to the galley. There you told the cook what number meal you wanted. #1 was hamburger and fries #2 was corned beef, mashed potatoes and gravy #3 was (very fancy) French Provincial Chicken and fries with vegetables. This simple way of serving meals was very effective because if you asked for anything by name you got a blank look and were asked again what number you wanted. I might say the meals, though basic, were very good.

After dinner we sat in the lounge and alternately watched the scenery go by and read getting up to go outside when a particularly spectacular view passed by. We waited until the sun set (about 10pm), took some photos and adjourned to our cabin. The next morning we were packed, ready and breakfasted

as the ship cruised into Wrangell