There was no call to notify us of the Aurora Borealis last night, the lodge has an arrangement where if it is visible they call the room, with a wakeup call (if you ask them to), we thought this was a great idea as if we are going to see it, it would be between 1am and 3am.So the morning started in a relaxed fashion, we caught the bus from the lodge to Talkeetna at 9.30am for a Wilderness Jet Boat along the glacial fed Susitna River, there was a stop alongside th...

We were impressed with how everything was arranged so smoothly to get off the ship – at our final port Whittier. It was very early when we left in the morning, before light and it was overcast and drizzly.We walked straight from the ship to the train, the station is located at the port and we were on our way to Talkeetna, a town situated in the Denali National Park.The train actually begins in Seward in the Gulf of Alaska, then it stops in Whittier, Ancho...

We woke today with the Captain advising it was a little rough and he'd be taking a different route to what was planned and it should be much better around midday. The swell was about 2.5 to 4 metres. After a smooth sail in the inside passage, it was noticeable once we hit the open waters.We spent the morning sleeping in - which was nice and then repacked bags etc.   Just after lunch we ventured into the crown jewel of coastal Alaska - Prince William Sound...

The National Park Rangers boarded our ship around 8am and for the rest of the day, it was all about the "picture of icy wilderness unspeakably pure and sublime" said by John Muir a Scottish born naturalist that placed the wilderness bays of Alaska on the map.The Rangers point out areas of interest all morning, over the speakers in the cabins, so you can venture out to see what was hard to see by ourselves. We rugged up, layer upon layer, and threw on the raincoa...

Our last port of call, Skagway located at the northern tip of Alaska's inside passage, became one of our favourites, because it included the famous, White Pass and Yukon Scenic Railway journey. The discovery of gold in 1896 in Yukon, was enough to cause the stampede in Skagway the perfect starting point for gold miners hoping to strike it rich. A narrow gauge railroad was built in a mere 26 months, blasted through the rugged coastal mountains to create what...