Monday, July 20, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
All about Alaska
Everyone presumes we live an adventure filled life in the US - which just isn't the case.
We live in Anchorage, Alaska. Which while beautiful, is NOT the happening metropolis of say.....New York.
Total distance from the Canadian Border to Anchorage is about 417 miles (671 km).
If we lived in Juneau there would be no where to go by road. There are two way in and out of Juneau by air or by sea. Juneau is surrounded by ice fields and mountains, so there are no roads to there.
At the moment we still have roughly 18 hours of daylight each day, which will go down to around 5 in December.
Alaska is the largest U.S. State - in fact it is larger than all but 18 countries of the world, and about 1/5 of the total land area of the 48 contiguous states.
Alaska is 2 times the size of Texas, has 29 volcanoes, 33,000 miles of coastline, over 1/2 the world's glaciers and we are 55 miles East of Russia.
The summer here has been truly gorgeous, and it makes me understand a little more why people chose to live here. The winter though.....which is fast approaching. That is why I don't understand why people choose to live here. Maybe if I was born and raised here it would be a different story. But it is for to cold for this Aussie wanderer and I will be glad to move on next near.
We live in Anchorage, Alaska. Which while beautiful, is NOT the happening metropolis of say.....New York.
Total distance from the Canadian Border to Anchorage is about 417 miles (671 km).
If we lived in Juneau there would be no where to go by road. There are two way in and out of Juneau by air or by sea. Juneau is surrounded by ice fields and mountains, so there are no roads to there.
At the moment we still have roughly 18 hours of daylight each day, which will go down to around 5 in December.
Alaska is the largest U.S. State - in fact it is larger than all but 18 countries of the world, and about 1/5 of the total land area of the 48 contiguous states.
Alaska is 2 times the size of Texas, has 29 volcanoes, 33,000 miles of coastline, over 1/2 the world's glaciers and we are 55 miles East of Russia.
The summer here has been truly gorgeous, and it makes me understand a little more why people chose to live here. The winter though.....which is fast approaching. That is why I don't understand why people choose to live here. Maybe if I was born and raised here it would be a different story. But it is for to cold for this Aussie wanderer and I will be glad to move on next near.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Seward trip
This weekend we went to Seward, Alaska.
We went with Anne and Dan and started our trip leaving Anchorage at 6:45am on the train.
The train took just on 4 hours to get down to Seward. We saw some amazing scenery and some truly beautiful sights on our way down, which really made me appreciate living up here.
Once we arrived in Seward we headed down to the harbor for a wildlife cruise. On the way to our boat there was a really big (well I had always thought they were small little critters - so this one seemed HUGE) and came really close meaning we could get some great pictures.
Our cruise which we did with Renown Tours was 6 hours long and we saw some truly amazing animals and sights.
We saw sea lions, harbor seals, orca whales, a humpback whale, dall porpoises, a black bear, all sorts of birds, and a glacier calve.
Dinner that night was at Ray's Place and the food was awesome! That night we stayed at the Windsong Lodge.
Next day was back to Anchorage on the bus - and the highlight at the end of the trip - the bus was had a heap of Aussies on it! It was so awesome hearing the accent and then talking to them about their trip.
It was a awesome trip - big thanks to Anne for organizing everything. Definitely a once in a lifetime trip!!
We went with Anne and Dan and started our trip leaving Anchorage at 6:45am on the train.
The train took just on 4 hours to get down to Seward. We saw some amazing scenery and some truly beautiful sights on our way down, which really made me appreciate living up here.
Once we arrived in Seward we headed down to the harbor for a wildlife cruise. On the way to our boat there was a really big (well I had always thought they were small little critters - so this one seemed HUGE) and came really close meaning we could get some great pictures.
Our cruise which we did with Renown Tours was 6 hours long and we saw some truly amazing animals and sights.We saw sea lions, harbor seals, orca whales, a humpback whale, dall porpoises, a black bear, all sorts of birds, and a glacier calve.
Dinner that night was at Ray's Place and the food was awesome! That night we stayed at the Windsong Lodge.
Next day was back to Anchorage on the bus - and the highlight at the end of the trip - the bus was had a heap of Aussies on it! It was so awesome hearing the accent and then talking to them about their trip.
It was a awesome trip - big thanks to Anne for organizing everything. Definitely a once in a lifetime trip!!
Monday, May 11, 2009
This dog is so darn cute!
Max is now 4 months old and thinks he rules the house!
He is relatively well behaved and will be even more so after we finish obedience classes! He sits on command, does down with encouragement (read treats) now if only he would learn to be quiet until 6am lol.
He has definitely made things better home sickness wise as it's given me something to focus on apart from family and friends not here.
Once we get through the basic obedience class we are thinking of putting him into agility classes to burn some of that extra energy off.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Meet Max!
Our newest addition to the family is Max, a black and white with a little big of brown hyper Shih Tzu!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Some of the Dumb!
So I know that I am in a completely different country and people don't know alot about where I am from but I DO!!
So this past few weeks seems to have bought out the curious about OZ peeps.
Today I get a phone call, we made small talk and then "So is Mik Dundee like the average person down there?". I didn't quite know how to respond to that.
I also get ALOT "Did you know Australia is the only country that is also a continent" umm yes I sat through years of history class!!!
Another "So I never knew Australia had camels". Well it's not something I would just randomly mention........
And my favourite (which has been said repeatedly to me by various people) "So Steve Irwin" and I say "Yeah?". "He's like what real Aussies are like eh?" My response today "Crikey mate he sure is" and I hung up.
I know from my own experience that unless you specifically go out and seek the info about another country your only impression is from what is on TV. Heck I thought Alaska was going to be like Friends (joking) but sheesh....how can people think we are like Mik and Steve!!
So this past few weeks seems to have bought out the curious about OZ peeps.
Today I get a phone call, we made small talk and then "So is Mik Dundee like the average person down there?". I didn't quite know how to respond to that.
I also get ALOT "Did you know Australia is the only country that is also a continent" umm yes I sat through years of history class!!!
Another "So I never knew Australia had camels". Well it's not something I would just randomly mention........
And my favourite (which has been said repeatedly to me by various people) "So Steve Irwin" and I say "Yeah?". "He's like what real Aussies are like eh?" My response today "Crikey mate he sure is" and I hung up.
I know from my own experience that unless you specifically go out and seek the info about another country your only impression is from what is on TV. Heck I thought Alaska was going to be like Friends (joking) but sheesh....how can people think we are like Mik and Steve!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
It's snowing!
It's snowing tonight and I NEVER ever thought I would find myself saying I love the snow! But yes, those words came out of my mouth a few times today - mostly because it means it has warmed up. By warmed up I mean -3c lol, but its a VAST improvement on the -26C of the past few weeks.I have never even been as cold in my life as I was the past few weeks...and it sucks.
The daylight is getting longer, which means only one thing - SUMMER IS COMING! WOO. And hubby informs me (although he my be lying - like when he said it would be cold in AK, cold...cold...COLD is like the temp in the freezer - -26C is beyond insanity lol) and hubby informs me they are forecasting a warmer summer than last year. You know last years summer should have been my first indication that AK wasn't going to be quite what I was told lol.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)