A very very early wake up with the ship docking at Whittier, gang planks being put into position, suitcases being moved off the ship before we disembark at 7.30am. A super organized affair with each group given a time and place to meet before disembarking the ship.

We were met by our new coach driver Devon who will be our driver for this next leg of our journey. We headed off out of Whittier which is a very small harbour town created by the US government during WWII as a shipping centre the only access was by water or rail link to Portage via the Anton Anderson Tunnel which is now a single lane combination highway/railway so you have to take it in turns to go through.

By 8.30 we were waiting at the gate of a Wildlife conservation refuge which houses a wide variety of rescued animals.

Moving along to Anchorage for lunch we were dropped off at a Saturday market to wander around and if you were game a reindeer hot dog or a halibut roll was on offer. We settled for a very juicy hamburger.

The day just keeps rolling along and we are now at Talkeetna to meet the jet boat which will take us upriver to the Denali National Park and our accommodation for the night at Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. Beautiful park surrounds with many wildlife sculptures dotted around the many accommodation lodges. When the weather cleared we got a view of the peak of Denali or formally known as Mt McKinley which is North America's highest peak.