A very wet and windy Tokyo

We awoke to some rain and also a reasonable amount of wind, mostly due to the Tempura me thinks, and were trying to consider what we should do for the day as out plans for a river boat ride don't make sense. Shortly after breakfast the effects of yesterday slightly fatty Tempura affected Noel quite suddenly and so he was grounded for several hours and in the meantime he spent time updating the Photo Blog, Jennifer did some shopping whilst Noel stayed in the Hotel, its a real pain when I have this problem as I am still learning what food my body can have and not have. Noel also spent some time going over emails from the last one month which required some action including lots of correspondence on a house development in Wey Road where they are trying to extend, it appears, without consideration of neighbours and flood risks.
We were also able to contact an ex business colleague who lives in Osaka who we are meeting up with in approx. one weeks time on the North Coast of Japan above Osaka for a couple of days. He was saying that Osaka Airport would be closed on Monday, tomorrow, and many people have been advised to evacuate. Boy, Japanese has had very bad Typhoons and earthquakes this year, far more than usual and its been very tough for the population.

Shops en route to Temple

We had some nice ham and chicken rolls , home made, and then late afternoon we were both ready to go out for a walk and clinging on to our umbrellas we walked to the undercover shopping streets in the direction of Asakusa Railway Station to purchase a pre-paid PASMO CARD which can be used for trains, and in cafes etc and is very useful. We then found a Starbucks with an upper floor seating area where we enjoyed the views of people running in the rain and when appearing from the covered area, you suddenly see 80 umbrellas getting raised as they cross the street.

Asakusa Shopping Street

We walked back along the long shopping streets, its about a mile long I guess and we bought some bread and then went on to an amazing shop which is on four floors and crammed with everything from bikes, to oranges and t-shirts to TV’s, The aisles are so close only one person can go down at one time and how they manage stock controls is an example to many other companies. Our visit was to purchase either, or and maybe both a HDMI Cable and a small speaker for the PC. The TV channels are mostly in Japanese, of course, and although there are a couple of English speaking channels you cannot read the programme guide to see what's on and so we use the notebook computer to watch films on Netflix. The volume level on the Netflix is very low whilst the picture is small and so not the best for watching films etc. Anyway amongst the piles of stuff we found an HDMI cable and then went looking for a small PC speaker but most of them were Bluetooth Connection and my notebook is a little old and does not have this capability and so after asking store stuff for speaker not Bluetooth, Ah…Only Bwuetooth available.. but then on further investigation we found one with cables and hoped it would work which it did very well.

No Comment!!!

We got home to the apartment and Jennifer cooked up some spaghetti bolognaise and with a glass of French plonk we looked at the Netflix choice. In the end we settled for ‘Gladiator’ and after pulling out some plugs on the TV from their cable system we connected our PC with the HDMI and Bingo  and great film to watch which lasts over two hours.
Gosh the wind is really blowing now and there is nobody on the streets and even our Hotel room which is on the 7th Floor and the top of the Hotel you can hear the wind whistling around the Air Con unites which are on the roof
And so to bed and see what tomorrow brings.

Typhoon on the way

Well the beautiful weather of yesterday has gone and we found out from a Japanese friend that a strong Typhoon is on its way to Tokyo via Osaka and the day was rather cloudy with a light rain most of the day.

After breakfast we made a quick visit to the Supermarket hoping that the shelves had been restocked, which they had, and purchased some food for a couple of days to cover us  for when the Typhoon arrives. We then decided to go and have lunch at a Tempura Restaurant recommended by one of the front desk staff of the Hotel and so we followed the instruction and went down Orange Street , named because the tarmac is Orange in colour, and the located the restaurant. With the usual pleasantries and bowing we were shown to the table and were given menus with a rather large choice of dishes however  the waitress recommended a particular dish and so soon after up came the usual Miso Soup, a bowl of pickles, a bowl of mushrooms of various types and the a few minutes a very large bowl of tempura prawns, fish, squid and green vegetable. It was extremely good and very filling. Now the wait begins to see if Noel would be affected by the first fried or perhaps slightly fatty batter for a few years as in the past he has dire consequences. However just in case of a problem we returned to the Hotel.

Later in the day we decided to walk around the shopping area which is very large and mostly with a covered archway and as the weather was quite warm it was a pleasant experience looking in at the completely different types of shops, no chain stores here just load of stores selling anything from Kimonos to a leather coin bag and all with great colours and cute faces. It was still raining and all the bars and restaurants were pretty much full and lots of ‘Gaijin’ or foreigners around this quite touristy area.

For tea that evening we enjoyed some sushi which we had purchased for the food store and then flicking through the cable tv channels came across the game between Arsenal and Everton, at the point we joined it was 2-0 to Arsenal with about fifteen minutes to go but at this point it was rather boring and of course the commentary was in Japanese. On our notebook computer we have Netflix and so watched a film which was quite good however the sound volume was low. We plan to purchase a HDMI cable and plug the pc in there and/or a cheap powered small speaker to use over the next couple of weeks as TV in Japan is great if you are Japanese but for us Brits there is only a few channels to watch and that is in Tokyo, in the sticks of Japan we would doubt there are any English speaking channels at all, we shall see.
And so to bed whilst the rain continues to fall.

Tokyo- we have arrived

At shortly after 05.30 we entered Tokyo Bay and after a couple of hours we tied up at Harumi Port, only a few minutes late.
We had to clear the room before 08.30 so they could prepare the suite for the next guests as the ship continues on to Korea, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We had our breakfast outside on the back deck as the sun was shining and the sky was wall to wall blue and a temperature of about 21 Degrees centigrade. At 09.45 we were called forward to collect our bags and go through Customs with our bags and ten minutes later we were in a short Taxi queue . The Hotel is in the middle of Asakusa which is a very popular shopping and tourist spot as it is close to the famous Sensoji Temple (Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺 Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a five-story pagoda, Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine,^[1] as well as many shops with traditional goods in the Nakamise-dōri^{[2]The Sensoji Kannon temple is dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu, the Bodhisattva of compassion, and is the most widely visited spiritual site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually.[It ranks among the top 10 temples in Japan for the number of visitors in the new year.}
  and the Asakusa Shrine.
We knew would have to wait for the room as check in was at 15.00 and therefore we took our free time to fully explore the area and try to find some food supermarket's as the Hotel we are staying in has a mini kitchen which would allow self catering. After almost five weeks of ship and restaurant food some home cooked and prepared food is just what we want. This area was buzzing with people even though it was Friday and its here that young Japanese girls come to rent a ‘Yukata’ and then walk around in their beautiful dresses and taking selfies of themselves and some are even using Go-Pro video cameras. There are lots and lots of restaurants and shops where you can purchase almost anything from a scrubbing brush to a beautiful pair of shoes. We also saw some Sumo wrestlers walking along and other students with long samurai knives.
We found a supermarket, actually we found two, but the first one is primarily food and is owned by Walmart and the other was a four story shop with some much stuff you cannot believe it. They were selling everything from carrots to mobile phones and there were chairs if you were tired which gave you a back massage. We finished our shop tour and had lunch in a help yourself restaurant and we both ordered the hamburger which can be served cold and or hot, which ever you prefer but we tried it cold and it was very good indeed. We checked in to our toom on the 7th Floor and have a fantastic view over the Temple Grounds and koi ponds and in the distance is the Tokyo Skytree Tower. We decided that although the room is not quite as large as the one we had at Citadines Hotel last time were where, this locations is amazing and full of life an no need to find a bus or train to see something.
After checking in we went back to the supermarket and noticed how empty the shelves were becoming which we thought was strange considering its a 24 hour shop and the place was very busy, we found out why the next morning is that there is a strong Typhoon approaching.

We did some suitcase unpacking and then had dinner of chicken filet, potatoes and salad and a bottle of Merlot wine. The wine prices in the supermarket were so cheap we could not believe it, two bottles of French Merlot for Yen 1000 or roughly £ 7.00 or £ 3.5 each and it was pretty damn good. A short watch of Tv whilst Noel updated the Photo Blog and also the Blogger written Blog and so we are pretty much up to date after being without  fast Internet for several weeks. The Hotel has good download speed of 50 Mpbs whilst the upload is an amazing 40 Mpbs which meant the loading of the photos on to the Smug Mug was so fast were could not believe it.
The Hotel room is quite smallish and smaller than out lounge back home, but this has a double bed, a mini kitchen and a bathroom with the typical Japanese toilet where if you push the wrong button you get a jet of hot water in the most inappropriate place which could make you jump.. And so to bed.

A day by Numbers 1-8

1- Woke up and had breakfast
2- Packed our bags
3- Had lunch in the buffet
4- Lazy afternoon as boat was rocking
5- Pre-dinner drinks in the bar
6- Dinner in La Terrazzo with Jerry and Muira for last night on board
7- Back to room to catch part of Kavanagh hearings
8- And so to bed

That's what you call an easy BLOG

Aomori Shin (City) day out

No tour today as we wanted to just walk around the town and check out the shops without being followed by 30 people or more, so we were looking forward to the change from going on a tour with a non stop talking tour guides.
So a late breakfast at around 09.30 and then back to the suite to sort our our walking stuff. On the tannoy was an announcement that there would be a fire drill on deck 5 in a few minutes, but this was not for guests. However when leaving the suite we noticed that there were a number of hoses down the corridor and the first fire/water tight door was closed and I though we should go back to the room. Jennifer suggested that we open the fire door which we did and there was corridor full of people, possibly 50 , in fire masks and others with more hoses etc and we felt a little embarrassed and when we got to the main reception area there were another 30 or more staff ready to heal passengers in the event of a real emergency. Its good that they do this and in this case the Captain was still on the ship not on a small lifeboat directing operation whilst people may be drowning.
We left the ship around 10.30 and to save time and Noels knees we took a taxi down to the main shopping street  (Shinmachi) where we checked out several stores including a large supermarket where we roamed the ground floor food store and we looked at the choice of meat and also vegetables and not expensive either. We continued our walk and saw several new, or appeared new, Toyota cars with an odd shape but were quite interesting in design but not sold in Europe. We found the City very quiet and most unlike Tokyo and with a greater preponderance of Older people.
This town is well known for its annual Nebuta Matsuri Festival which is held in August and people come from miles away to see the highly illuminated floats of gigantic  Samurai figures which are paraded around the streets. As the festival is about winning the war its designed to be a very noisy event and people are encouraged to join in and make lots of noise.
Fishing is still important here and particularly for Tuna and also Garlic is grown and also this place is famous for its apple’s which command a high price in the rest of Japan and of course they are packed to safeguard there transport but they largely used as presents between family’s etc.
We visited the Aomori (The A shaped tower) and just missed a local musician concert and then walked around the building and then Jennifer tried a locally baked apple pie which she really enjoyed and then we walked back to the ship for a buffet lunch which was also most enjoyable. We did consider having a local Japanese lunch but actually we have plenty of time over the next few weeks until we leave Japan on the 19th of October for Hong Kong.
The afternoon was spent doing some blogging and Jennifer did some washing and to start planning what to wear for tonight's formal night. The sun is shining and the temperature has risen to 21 degrees Centigrade, the warmest for the last ten days.
At around 17.00 we watched the tug boat pull and push us away from the dock before we headed out of this very good natural harbour following a ferry which no doubt was going to Hakodate which is the well established means of getting from Honshu to Hokkaido before the recently completed tunnel. The tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world and is about 33.5 miles long is and used by trains only and it has cut the time from Sapporo and Hakodate to Tokyo by a considerable amount of time.
Have continued to watch the fun and games in Washington DC over the Kavanagh Affair, its crazy that you have all these congress people who are supposed to working on behalf of the American Public but are wasting huge amounts of time trying to gain and advantage as the mid term elections are drawing closer. Its going to be very interesting to find out what happens and of course there is now the matter of the deputy AG being accused, along with others, of planning to undermine Trump in 2017, which is not what you would expect from a senior Government legal guy.
Anyway a dressy night for most people on the ship .
We hit the bar for a pre-dinner drink and then on to dinner with Jerry & Muira  where we had a great evening. And so to bed and tomorrow is a day at sea before we arrive in Tokyo on Friday morning the 28th.

A day in Hakodate

Hakodate is a 19th Century port town, with clapboard buildings on sloping street, a dockside tourist zone, streetcars and extremely fresh fish on every restaurant menu. In the downtown historic quarter a mountain rises 1000 feet above the city on the Southern point of the narrow peninsular. Russia, American, Chinese and Europeans have all left there mark on this attractive town. This was one of the first three ports the Meiji government opened up in 1859.
We arrived in the port at around 0730 and so we were up having a shower and on to breakfast as we are joining the ‘Highlights of Hakodate’ tour leaving just after 09.00. Our first stop was the Goryokaku Tower, which was built next to the old fort in mid-town, and is an impressive structure ( a bit like the BT Tower) and you take a lift to the top with a magnificent view if you have a head for heights which this blogger does not have. I am good on aircraft but when it comes to tall buildings its not my scene. So I took a few photos and within five minutes the writer was in the down lift leaving Jennifer up their to enjoy the views. I waited in the lobby and we met up and had iced tea and then back to the coach for our visit to the fish market, something Deja Vu going in year, where we not not at a fish market yesterday???. In this market you can catch your liver squid from a tank and take it to the man who chops it up whilst it is still moving and have it for lunch. Jennifer witnessed a lady trying to eat a tentacle from the dead fish only to see it waving around and around as she tried to put it in her mouth, this did not please many of the ships guests who had perhaps not witnessed this type of behaviour before.
After a good walk around the market, back to the bus to go to the Hakodate Ropeway cable car to the top of the mountain. To be frank cable cars aren’t really my thing either  however was determined not to miss out in travelling in a 20 foot container with windows up a thousand feet or so on a couple bits of string with 60 other people. It is' not really hot yet here at the moment and around 16 degrees Centigrade but inside the metal box it was very very warm and with no obvious aircon unless you open the window and jump by  the time we got to the top it was very warm, I hate to think what it would be like in the height of summer.
Then all the way back by bus to the sound of the ‘Busuu lady’ another one with the wish to never stop talking. One American on our bus asked a silly question where was the local Harley Davidson Motor Cycle  dealer in Hakodata as he wants to by his son a t-shirt.  He has to be joking that here in Japan miles from any major city you would hope to find a HD t-shirt.
We usually only have a sandwich lunchtime but were a bity more hungry today after a light breakfast and both had a salad in the buffet although both the roast turkey and the Cottage pie looked very good, but if we east that lunchtime we cannot eat in the evening and we have agreed to meet Jerry and Muira for dinner tonight.
After lunch Noel started working on his photos and sorting them in to albums and Jennifer went to the Panorama lounge to do some reading.
Dinner in the evening was really nice and we compared the two tours of Hakodate and to be frank there was not to much different but equally as enjoyable. Jerry & Muira are on an early tour and so we finished up at about 10.30 and we both headed back to our suites. We have agreed to meet up tomorrow evening which is formal night although Noel does not have an evening suit or dark suit and we don't have to wear formal stuff in the Italian restaurant where we shall eat.

Kushiro Port and our day

Having had three consecutive days gaining one hour and though we knew we had an early morning we awoke at around 06.30 and said we might as well get up and get ready for the Immigration and have breakfast before we head out on our tour. We were just leaving the room shortly after 0700 and heard that all those on the 08.30 Tour should go right away to the main lounge for immigration procedures and so off we went and the queue was very short and in less than ten minutes we had passed all immigration requirements.

The Immigration officers had arrived with complete on line system and finger and face scanners and so they were able to scan our passports and fingers and faces and see online whether we should be allowed in to the country and thankfully they did and we are cleared to stay until the end of 20128, except we have to go homer earlier than this. Following this we went for breakfast and then down to the quayside to join our tour to the Highlights of Kushiro.
The tour bus lady actually lived in Sapporo and had come down prepared to talk for every hour we were on the bus and so she did. We first of all went to the crane sanctuary where we spend just about an hour and visited the various cranes in there fenced off living area. From there to the Observatory which entailed a long walk over decking which did not look in good condition and so Noel decided not to do this as it would mean watching every footstep. The footpath led through some small forest and then to a viewpoint which was a bit misty which is not unusual for this town which is called ‘The Town of Mist’  . Clearly it was a bit damp and slippery in places on the walkway and two elderly people both slipped over and no doubt will visit the on bboard Doctor when they get back  and so we hope they will be OK. But I was surprised when Jennifer told me that the walkway was partly rotting and covered in wet leaves, it had rained overnight, and some mould and so it no surprise that it was a bit dangerous and people fell over. I am glad I did not attempt it.
To the North of Kushiro lies one of its well know attractions called the Kushiro Shitsugen, Japan’s largest marshland and accounts for about 60% of all Japans wetland. It was confirmed as a National park in 1987 . There is a considerable amount of flora and fauna in this area which is now protected.Back on the bus and this time to the City Museum which was in a purpose built building and was laid out very well and covered many aspects of Japanese life including one floor dedicated to the Ainu people who used to frequent this area who’s race was nearly stamped out by the land hungry Southern Japanese. The town now has about 200000 resident's and is a large base for deep sea fishing and fishing boats are dotted all over the harbour where we parked up for the day.
Back in the bus again to Washo Fish Market where we really had insufficient time to fully explore and enjoy but the tour was running late due to some guests not following the timing schedule proposed by the guide and hence we only had time to sample some sushi which was excellent and not expensive. Had we more time then we could have investigated the complete site and perhaps had some additional food to fill us up. One coupler ordered some prawn tempura but it took so long to make they had to bring it back to the bus to eat and boy it smelt good.
Finally back to the ship and as were still a bit hungry went to the pool patio bar for a lunchtime snack. Having a very early breakfast when you are not used to it messes you up a bit but never mind it was an entertaining morning and a lot better that the Highlight tour in Russia, in fact there was no comparison.
A quiet afternoon and to be honest we had a quick zizz after getting up so early and then dinner in our usual restaurant before retiring to the suite to finish blogs and some reading etc. Tomorrow we arrive in Hakodate where we have a tour but the ship will not leave until late evening allowing us to to some evening and night exploring

The sea has really calmed down

Following several days of really quite rough seas in to and out of Russia and having moved more South West in the direction of Norther Japan and passing by a row of Islands the sea has really subsided and last night we got a good nights sleep with rolling around in bed. Yesterday evening we also had to fill out the Japanese Immigration forms which we returned this morning and including the stops on the Norther Island Hokkaido we will be in Japan for 24 days.

The weather is a bit misty this morning after we returned from breakfast and chatted to the staff who are servicing the room. On Silver Sea they give you your own butler, it says on the brochure , who you can call at any time for make a table reservation or bring you tea or clean your shoes and/spectacles which sounds good but actually my shoes and spectacles are clean and I can easily make a table reservation but he is need for a cup of tea. For some reason the American based ships don't allow you to have a kettle in your room to make a cuppa and we understand it is due to safety concerns with someone leaving the kettle on and setting off all the water spray system. However somebody told us that Cunard do have a full set of cups and kettle in their suites so who is right,I do not know but we would prefer to be able to make our own cuppa without having to call somebody.

Today is an all at sea day and we arrive in the Port of Kushiro tomorrow morning and we are on the Kushiro Highlights tour and we sincerely hope that the highlights of Kushiro are better than those in Petr… etc.

No doubt we will have to put the clocks back again another hour tonight which should bring ships time in line to Japan time but to be frank we think we will find this tour much better but tomorrow we will know for sure.

In the evening we returned to La Terraza for dinner which was really good again with the Chef coming to discuss my choices, what more could you want. We had a brief stop in the main bar and lounge and then back to suite where we are lose another hour and we have to go through Japanese Immigration tomorrow before going on our tour

A further two days at sea crossing the Pacific

No need to get up early this morning except that breakfast does finish at around 10.00 for last sitting so what with the clocks going back last night we were up quite early and toddled off for an early breakfast.

We bumped in to Jerry & Muira in the breakfast room and asked where they had been for the last couple of nights but they had been using the main dining room but we agreed to meet up tonight to discuss the Highlights of Petropavlosk which should at least take up two minutes of our time.

We then retired to the Lounge as it been a little bumpy overnight and again this morning and so we thought we would try the lounge at the AFT ( see I know)of the ship to see if that was any better and it was, but only just. Noel must have eaten something this morning which affected him and we can only guess it was sourdough bread instead of his usual plain white bread and so that was a bit of a nuisance but Loperamide works well. Jennifer was reading  most of the morning and Noel stayed in the cabin for security reasons and watched to TV and some more antics on the Kavanagh case in USA which has tied up the complete Government for the past week on only a possible sexual assault which apparently became known many years after with her Doctor thought that this may her problem with mental issues or something like that.

The fun continues in the USA as well as it has been reported in the New York Times that the Assistant Attorney General who was upset about something and thought Trump was a loony and wanted to illegally record all his conversation/meetings  with Trump and with the assistance of FBI to try and prove that Trump was unfit for office and should be kicked out. In the meantime Trump carries on regardless with his task of cleaning out the swamp and clearly there are many people worried. Also Trump plans to release all the FISA papers on the arrest and surveillance of one of Trumps men which should show that the Attorney Genera, Jim Comey ( ex Head of the FBI) Comey’s assistant and several other people may have conspired with the Clinton Bunch to illegally tap the wires of the Trump Campaign and this current Kavanagh sexual assault claim is just a diversion away from the Clinton family and Democrats who have lost their power. We know have to wait till next week to see what is else is now on these matters.

We watched the Japan presentations made by ship presenter earlier today on the TV, they are recorded and shown continually all day on TV and quite frankly they are not good. It looks like cut and paste and the time scales move back and forth. In one part the presenter said that in Kushiro you will never meet anybody who speaks English so we should stay close to her. Does she not know that the English Language is taught to Children between 10-12 year olds and  is a compulsory subject at all Japanese schools. This was started in 2011 when Japan w anted to ensure that its future management had a good understanding of the language in the real world where English is most common. We know that if you want to ask a question of a Japanese person look for somebody late teens' and/or early twenties and they will love to talk to you as it helps them improve their English. We know that being on buses and trains in Japan people up to the mid 30’s will often strike up a conversation as it helps them to improve which is what Japan is all about.

We are also watching the EU Games, no not the Football, but the PM’s attempts to sort out a deal with the EU who are trying to play tough. This has nothing to do with what is right or wrong but all about bloody politicians playing games to try and maker themselves look good before losing their jobs next year. Oh yes, many ERU jobs are for grabs next year and its like a feeding frenzy at the moment..

We received notification today that the Satellite Communications are back to normal, however to connect to web page using my PC can take 5-8 minutes to get to say my Bank Login. I use an offline program to write these blogs and once I have completed it I can send it to the main Blog and this works well, but if you want to go to GMAIL on the PC you have time for a cup of tea and a pee and maybe a trip around the M25 and the page will finally appear. Strangely looking at emails on the mobile phone is much quicker but more difficult to write a long email with small keyboards etc. Oh well not long before we hit Tokyo and will have a decent connection to catch up with photos etc.

Dinner tonight with Jerry and Muira was good fun and the food was good as usual and the Chef came out to confirm that everything was fine which Jerry and Muira found very good. Jen and I finished the evening with a good night drink in the Panorama bar before heading back with another night of gaining an hour. And so to bed and look forward to another day at sea but the weather forecast if good.

PETROPAVLOVSK- Is it a bird?, is it a Plane? not its a place in Russia

Actually, Kamchatka is a spectacular landscape dotted with Volcanoes, actually 150 of which 29 are still active and the largest brown bear population in the world of about 10300,give or take a few, counting their legs and dividing by four is not easy after a couple of Chardonnays. It is also the home of the largest Eagle in the world , the Stellar Sea Eagle with about 4500 birds currently. It is also a salmon fishing paradise with an estimated one third of the world Pacific Salmon stocks.

We arrived in Port at around 07.00 this morning and we were awake due to the continual losing of one hour per night, and so we were up a bit early. A quick breakfast and then wait for our tour to be called which is the Highlights of Petropavlovsk  and we were due to leave at around 10.00, so not to early.  But shortly before 10.00 we were called to the show lounge to collect our passports and immigration cards and then proceeded down to a very modern terminal where we went through immigration and on to a waiting bus of uncertain age. The first stop was the recently constructed, and still being finished, Russian orthodox church which was quite interesting and lots of gold but just as were were leaving it would appear that it coincided with a funeral and so we had to quickly move out of the way as four men struggled with an obviously heavy coffin, they were not the UK typical well suited and booted guys you get but a bunch of lads who were earning a fast buck. Then on to another important site which was under refurbishment so we could not get clear photos of the place. Great that's two places where construction is taking place. Wow this is getting exciting. Then up to the top of the hill to get the view of the major harbour only you could not see anything due to a thick fog, so not to good so far.
Now to the famous Kamch

atka Museum which was a bit antiquated and the group for about 25 of us listened to the Museum staff explaining what is obviously taking place in the picture and or scene and then being translated in to English and after about 20 minutes people were beginning to lose interest., Jennifer did follow it all the way through and found it interesting but Noel is not good for long distance standing and so found a convenient chair to wait for it all to be over. Then back to the Bus and on to the famous market!
The market is very new, announced the tour leader, in the last couple of years, which may be true but the roads surrounding it and to the market belong to the dark ages and as it had rained that morning there was mud everywhere. This explains why there are so many Toyota Land Cruiser here, I guess every third vehicle is a Land Cruiser it look like. Anyway in to the market we went and indeed it was quiet new with downstairs with clothing and rubbish electronics and other tourist stuff, there was also a meat section and a large fish section with mostly Salmon and lots of caviar, and I mean bucket full’s. But after about 25 minutes of wandering around we decided it was not for us and headed back to the coach.
The building designs we saw en-route were quite amazing from one perspective but absolute rubbish from another and most buildings were either new, one they  very much like the White House in Washington but many others decrepit and falling down although they are trying to improve the centre of town with a new tourist site by a lake and perhaps in a year or two it would be Ok. Then back to the Immigration and the guy had to check my passport, which is brand new for this trip, several times and then show it to a colleague before allowing me to leave the country, but then again why would I want  to stay?
We were back on board for a brief lunch by the patio pool and at 15.00 retired to the suite and Jennifer went off to do some washing and Noel caught up with some photos and tried to do some stuff on the internet but it is so painfully slow you could grow old waiting for the page to appear and so in the end gave up. We had a little glass of plonk and went for dinner at La Terraza where they now all know us and aware of Noels food restrictions and again the Head Chef came out to check if everything was OK, which of course it was.
Boy we lose another hour tonight, actually i mean we gain an extra hours sleep as we head onward to Japan, in fact we have to lose another three hours after tonight so that when we arrive we will be in time with there clocks but hopefully without any jet lag perhaps just some boat lag caused by excessive amounts of Chardonnay, Whew I joke of course.
We have two sea days ahead so not much to do unless you join in the bridge classes or name that bloody tune etc. and so to bed.

A BRIEF UPDATE IN BETWEEN BLOGS

THE INTERNET HAS BEEN DOWN FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS AND WORKED ON AN INTERMITTENT BASIS AND SO HAVE BEEN PERSISTING WITH KEEPING UP TO DATE.
IN THE MEANTIME WE CROSSED THE INTERNATIONAL DATELINE AND LOST ALL OF WEDNESDAY THE 19TH OF SEPTEMBER, LETS HOPE WE FIND IT ON THE WAY HOME.
CANNOT POST ANY PHOTOS TO THIS BLOG OR SMUG MUG PHOTO ALBUM UNTIL WE REACH TOKYO AT END OF SEPTEMBER.
OTHERWISE APART FROM STRONG WINDS AND HIGH SEAS ALL IS FINE.

Bouncing around in a Boat on the Behring Sea

Well we now have two nights when the ship has been pushed around by the 40 mph winds and waves which really did exceed the 18 feet the Captain estimated. This meant two rather sleepless nights but on the first night perhaps as previously mentioned the air con got stuck on high, which was not conducive to a good nights rest at all.

So this morning we were up a little bit earlier than usual whilst the clocks also went back by one hour and then forward by one day as we had crossed the International Date Line, which was noticeable as there was a blue line in the sea and an EU Customs Post with Mr Barnier holding up a blue flag and shouting Non!!

Overnight we had received an circular regarding the previously failed internet and as an apology they opened all the band width available to all guests and not only those in the more expensive suites and so we could start sending and receiving emails only.  It was still rather slow and impossible to logon to either Lloyds Bank or AMEX to check the accounts, Oh the pleasure and frustration of internet at sea. I did try to upload one simple photo but that was going to take ten to fifteen minutes and so gave that up.

As we had pretty much stuck in the suite for all of yesterday as it would be potentially dangerous for us to walk about the ship which was going all over the shop. So after doing some stuff this morning and Jennifer spending time looking at her maps of Japan so that she can easily remember how to use them together. She has a map of japan with locations in English and then a Map of Japan with Japanese Language and can compare the two so that we can see where we are going. We will have a Sat Nav but often we do not want to go direct from one place to another but tour around and even divert to lesser roads and towns and try to avoid the motorways. By the way, the Motorway stops in Japan often look a bit antiquated but they sell pretty damn good food and perhaps the cleanest toilets in the world with most of them having the multi flush arrangement

For lunch we went to the see if the Patio by the pool was open, the bar was but not the food counter, however after 20 minutes drinking a Stella we both decided it was little cold and so headed down to the buffet in one of the restaurants. It would be very easy to overeat on the ships, and watching some people you would think they feeding their families as well, so perhaps we are little unique by just having Noel his Weetabix and yogurt  and Jennifer her Muesli and fruit. Lunch time we have a sandwich and look at others eating their large bowls of pasta or piled high with so much stuff and I don't think the waiters believe us when we say after one plate, Yes thanks we are done.

In the afternoon we cheated and had zizzzzz to make up for the lost sleep of the two previous night and felt much better for it. Also they have finally sorted out the Air Con and we now have the right temperature for both day and night time..

Today in the suite was the arrival information for disembarkationvsk and immigration at Petropavlovsk and we are doing a tour called ‘The highlights of Petropavlovsk ‘ which should either be amazing or a let down. The alternative was a two hour dive to see a Kennel for Dogs, not quite Noels thing.

Glad to see Chelsea are still doing well and Hazard hat trick was good to hear about but unfortunately not see. The sea in the afternoon had calmed quite a bit since yesterday but the ship was still rolling about. We have not seen Jerry and Muira since the other night at dinner and I know she was concerned about the weather but hope they are OK.

We have also booked dinner tonight in the Italian restaurant and have pre-order the veal chop and at lunchtime today one of the staff came to our table to confirm that the Chef will take care. We talked to people on nearby tables which was interesting by sharing travel stories etc.

So we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and and went for dinner which was really good and the Chef came out to check exactly what I wanted and the veal chop was amazing.

After dinner we went to the lounge bar and there was hardly anybody there, where is everybody?? and had a nightcap and then to bed and lose another hour.. Where do all these hours we lose go??? that is the question…

18 feet, you must be kidding

Well overnight the weather started to create some ever growing waves and initially it was difficult to see how high t hey were but it was moving the ship around quite a bit and and making it difficult for sleeping as every now and again you felt you would fall out of bed which would not be good.

Before leaving the suite again we had have a go about the failing air con in our room as last night it was set to minimum and still reached 26 Cent, so gave them hell and ten minutes later three engineers turned up with a complete new unit so lets hope that works.

Getting up in the middle of night to visit the Loo was also a challenge and if you can imaging somebody very, very drunk trying to walk by holding on to anything you can find to hold on to it certainly was a challenge. Anyway being bumped around all night meant we were up much earlier than normal and so we headed up the La Terrazzo  the Italian Restaurant where they serve a buffet breakfast and place was a bit quiet and the waves were getting higher. As the Captain and crew had recommended not moving about the ship so we decided to stay in the room and watch the sea go by and watch the news and read books and Noel to watch some videos.

The Behring Sea is well known to be rough at certain times of year and if you have seen on Tv the series about the crab fisherman who operate from Dutch Harbour you will fully understand how bad it can be. The Captain came on the intercom at midday to give us an update and said they had hoped to take a different line closer to the coast but as the Russian and Chinese Navy were have war games in the Behring Sea a large part of where he had intended to go had been closed off to commercial shipping and so we have to carry on as before.

By lunchtime the sea was getting really high and we are on Deck 5 and a good forty feet above the water line and the waves were smashing in to our balcony, great if you want cold swim. They were also planning to empty the swimming pool and hot tubs to reduce upper weight and improve stability although they have full time stabilisers. We also continued watching the antics in Washington with regard to the apparent sexual assault??? and its all set up for next Monday for an official hearing which the lady in questions first of all wanted to attend but now is saying she want the FBI to investigate this. You must be joking. The FBI investigate Federal matters and not this type of thing and have already concluded five separate investigation in to this guys as part of his appointment. Anyway how can you investigate something which probably did not happen and when you cant remember where and when. We also have seen somewhere that she said she had a witness but the this so called witness said he did not see anything to do with this matter and what's she talking about and then at the end of the day a Democratic Senator was beginning to indicate he did not trust her anyway. Talk about Monty Python…

Going to the Loo is interesting at its like riding a bucking Bronco in the crazy house at Southend Pier.  However to watch guests negotiating the hallways is also fun as they stagger from side to side clutching on to anything that is stable and when you reach and open space a look of panic is visible, will I or will I not make it across the next 25 feet to the wooden handrail

We continued with a quiet afternoon and have booked for dinner in the Italian again tonight as Jennifer prefers this restaurant as she has a good view of the horizon which helps her overcome any risk of sea sickness but so far she has not been affected and her wrist bands seem to work very well.

Well we arrived in the Italian Restaurant which was quite empty either because people were in the lower deck main restaurant or were in their cabins anyway the Maitre D said, The Chef is on his way and shortly afterwards he arrived and said what to do you want tonight, I can do anything you need, amazing!!!. Anyway I was so impressed with what he prepared for me the other evening which was a mixed seafood Linguine which was bloody brilliant i said he could he do it again for me please. No problem he said and once the ‘secondi’ course was being delivered he arrived at the same time and said I only used lobster, even better I said and it was really very good again.

After dinner we went in the bar/lounge for a nightcap and that was deserted and we thought everybody may have gone to the show but apparently not as it had been cancelled due to the weather. Oh well one more day at sea and then we arrive in the Soviet Republic of Russia, winners of the US Presidential election. Ha

Now for four days at sea heading for Petropavlovsk-Russia

No need to hurry this morning and we got an extra hours sleep as we had to put the clocks back by one hour and we do the same again tonight.

So after our regular breakfast we spent some restful time in the Panorama Lounge and then headed back to the suite for Noel to finish yesterday’s blog and work on another long document, but more of that at another time. Just after lunch we were notified that the Captain wishes all guests to join him in the main Show Room to discuss two important items, one being the weather and also the failure of the internet connection which is most irritating for everybody. Jennifer then went off for a facial in the Spa and indicating I would not recognise here when she got back ?? but somehow I did .

So watching the news we have seen the storm devastation in the Philippines, Hong Kong and China and also North and South Carolina and so its not very good weather wise at the moment. To see some of the photos around Hong Kong  with the bamboo scaffolding falling down and we also understood that part of a new building built built fell off? not good. The news, particularly the American News is now full of the lady who says she was sexually assaulted by the proposed Attorney General a certain Mr Kavanagh. First of all the Democrats sat on this information since early July and through it in at the last moment to try yet again to delay Trumps ‘clean the swamp’ activities. This lady said this occurred some 35 years plus ago but somehow does not exactly where, when and how. This cannot be possible as if you were sexually assaulted as a teenager you would certainly remember and hopefully report it. Jennifer and I discussed this and we both agreed that certain significant events are always remembered, your first kiss or first boyfriend and/or girlfriend etc and when you first met your partner. So to not remember a sexual assault is quite ridiculous and its only more Politics from the absolutely lost Democratic Party. Also Hilary now wants to change the voting process for the future so this way she thinks she can win. No chance!!!

So we went to the Captains presentation where he explained that the ship was heading in to rough seas with waves perhaps 18-20 feet which should throw us around a bit but he would try his best to out manoeuvre the storm and still get us to Petroplavlovsk as planned, we shall see. He says it is quite normal for the Behring sea this time of year to get a bit rough not that I saw that in the sales brochure? Anyway they speeded up the ship earlier in the day to make up time which they may lose avoiding the storm which is no way connected to the storms in China etc. There were some questions raised by guest’s including one complaining about the Future Sales cruise staff which both Jennifer and I thought was done in very poor taste, but using the opportunity to embarrass the Captain in front of 328 guests plus staff. So the storm will arrive with breakfast tomorrow morning and possibly last about 16/17 hours and that we should be very careful when moving around the ship and of course our suites. Lets hope its not to bad.

With regard to the internet connections, what connection as there is not any. Apparently they have either a breakdown on the ship and/or with the satellite and they are working on it but when we get closer to Russia we should pick up another satellite and it should improve very much., we shall see.

Tonight we had dinner with Jerry and Muira which was very nice and we chatted about us moving house next year and they are also doing the same and plan to rebuild in the local village.We also discussed all our past travels and compared notes on places to visit. Jerry and Muira are trying to travel around the globe by land and sea, not all at the same time mind you but over a period of years. We also a  virtual walk around ‘The Roads’ and updated them on all the changes which was quite interesting for them.

Then back to bed and get ready for Armageddon…. or a mild storm which ever arrives.

Dutch Harbour and place to forget.

I think they may be a bit desperate in looking at places to land based on the visit to Kodiak and now Dutch Harbour.

Having had a night with the balcony door open with the sound of wind and sea neither of us really slept well and so I called the butler and got a little more cross this time and then went off for breakfast.

Upon returning to our suite we now had three engineers working on the system, so it was one engineer the first call out , then two for the second call out and now three engineers on this third call out. At this rate I will have half the ships company on my doorstep by the end of the cruise if they don't fix it. We gathered our things for the trip in to Unalaska where where we were to be taken by a typical yellow school bus where they are due to make four stops, two at  museums, one at a Hotel in the middle of town and also a visit to the Russian Church which was by the sea front. The museum was again very small and we decided to stay on the bus and the next stop was the Aleutian Hotel but unfortunately today the café was closed but you can by some tourist stuff and this place was barren, a bit like the old 1970’s Dubai town with two shops and a hotel and a some ships spares people. So again we decided to stay on the bus which then drove about 50 yards down the road to another museum and we though the bus would continue to the church on the waterfront and then the driver announced that we could not go there as a senior member of the  Russian Church and there was a funeral taking place and they did not want foreign bloody tourist gawking and taking photos but if we wanted to go the lady has a friend who has a taxi who will take you there??? Am I being suspicious and she is try to general income for a friend by dropping us off early. The other funny thing  was on board was an American Chinese student who was to give a running commentary on the area and clearly the female bus driver thought she could do it better and kept interrupting and disputing with him some of the facts. Oh lovely days.
So after twenty minutes or s we arrived back at the port and then Jennifer decided she would like a walk on the ground and stayed on the bus back to the first museum with a view to walk back to the ship. Jennifer found the WW2 museum to be quite interesting and it focused on the Japanese invasion, although rather limited, of Western Alaska in the Aleutian Islands where they attacked the American Forces base. This area is great for hiking, fishing of course both sea and lake, We left Dutch Harbour just after lunch and Jennifer was looking out the window saw a group of hump back whales jumping (breaching) completely out of the sea but of course by the time the camera was ready they were half way to Jamaica.
As usual we do not tend to join all the lectures and card and other games on board but if we want to watch any lecture you can see them on the TV in the room. I have watched some of the presenters in the past and a lot of it seems to be have been gleaned by them from Wikipedia and similar and in case we tend to research the areas we plan to visit in great depth even before booking and so we think we know enough, which of course may be wrong.
As previously mentioned what is laughingly called the Computer Room ( 8 desks and one computer) now has a sign on it saying “The Officer is not available due to Technical Difficulties”  which says it all.
We decided to risk going to the Italian restaurant which is all Garlic and Onions but when booking the table at lunchtime I raised this matter with Maitre D and he said he would discuss with the Chef to ensure everything is fine for me, we shall see.
So following a brief glass in suite we went to the Restaurant where immediately the Head Chef ( an Italian) came out to discuss my menu for the evening and don't worry I will make you a special pasta for a main course which is safe for you to eat. We agreed on linguine pasta with seafood and tomato sauce and I must say it the best pasta I have had in absolutely years and just hope there is nothing nasty in it which I had perhaps forgotten to mention. we  also saw Jerry and Muira the other side of the restaurant and we tied up at the end of the mean and will have a joint table tomorrow.
We are not really in to shows and I would be happy if they  killed all the entertainment and reduced the price. However I think I am in the minority here …..
Ando so to bed and music …

NB Cannot do photos on this slow internet which only just about allows email and that takes ages to download. Actually I think the upload is faster than the download

Kodiak Alaska should not be on your bucket list!

We arrived early morning at the port of Kodiak which is primarily a fishing port  and shortly afterwards they delivered the breakfast to our room. We had hoped to sit on the balcony but it was not warm enough so we stayed in the suite.
After having recovered from breakfast we took the shuttle bus in to town and wandered around for about an hour which was even much to long to see it all. It had a Ford Car showroom, a bank and few shops and a Russian Church and Museum. Jennifer went to look in the Russian Church but it was closed and then subsequently paid $5.00 to walk around a museum a lot  smaller than our house in Weybridge but she said it was interesting but no ecstatic about it. Apparently is looked at early man in the area and the fishing heritage. There were lots of fishing boats in the harbour and many Sea Freight Chilled Containers stacked up which no doubt contained, ort will contain fish for the overseas markets. Apparently there are about 6500 residents in this town but hardly a sight of this number anywhere so they must all be out on fishing boats.
We caught the 12.00 hrs shuttle back to the ship and went to the promenade  patio café for a light lunch and with Noels diet requirement to be considered. So he ordered a Hot Dog and Bun only with fries, simple yes, but it came with a piece of bacon which was small and would cause an issue, but as the waiter said No Onions Sir except two minutes in to the bun, guess what there were onions. They all apologised most profusely but how difficult is it to put a hot dog on a bun without all the crap that goes with it. In the later afternoon Jennifer went for an hour long massage in the Spa and Noel had a quick ziz and did some more photo updating in Blogger but it is so painfully slow you feel like screaming.
Jennifer got back from her massage and did a F1 pitstop change and we headed down to the main restaurant for the Formal night to meet our host who turned out to be the guy who manages all the Butlers on the ship. Yes this ship is where you have you own personal butler to take care of everything. Anyway the table comprised of the Mumbai born host, an English couple for Southampton on there 98th Cruise and two single lades and one from Bolton near where was raised. The service speed was just a bit slower than the internet speed and it took almost 35 minutes to get the first course and then another approx. 35 minutes for the main course to arrive and unfortunately mine was also incorrect as it had asparagus on the fish.  So I said to the waiter that I ordered without the asparagus and so he took it away for 20 seconds, whipped off the asparagus and gave it back. What I asked for was a completely new bit of fish not contaminated with natural juices from the asparagus, so I will take this up with the Boss. When you consider we sat down at the table at 19.50 and at 21.45 desert was offered the couple from Southampton left without so they could see the show. Our host then made it apparent that he wanted to leave asap as he was probably embarrassed like hell.
We had planned to go for a goodnight drink in the observatory bar but it was too late and we got back to the room to see that the engineers were just about finishing trying to solve why the heating part of the aircon was not working as the room was very cold no matter high the thermostat was set. The parting words of the Chinese engineer was keep you curtains closed to improve warmth!!!!
Not looking for our review of Silversea at the moment and Seabourn are looking quite brilliant.

All at sea all day

The air-con was still playing up this morning and so we got the room butler to try and sort it out whilst we went for breakfast in the Italian eatery which serves a buffet in the morning. On the way in to the breakfast room the Italian  Maître D was on reception and so I gave him a tough time over the onions in the hot dog and also the heavy delay  for the food and when it arrived it had the asparagus on to which he almost crawled on the floor with apology and he will make absolute certain it will not reoccur.
We did a walk around the ship to fully understand where everything is and was surprised to see in the ‘computer room’ 8 desk’s but only one computer which somebody was having problems with.  How can they only have one computer for 328 people on board. Apparently we learnt the previous evening that there were three suites vacant but not all suites were full and so the ship would normally hold about 380 people but with so many singles it was down to 328. Must be a big singles party going on somewhere
After a little paper sort out in the room we met up with our friends Jerry and Muira  at 12.30 in the empty lounge for a longer catch up chat and we were there for almost two hours and of course missed the lunchtime restaurant openings and so headed back to the room and decided to have room service.  We found the room was just vacated by the engineers and that the heating is now working and so it did no matter but it seemed that  what  ever you put on the dial made no difference to the  room temperature  was very warm and the dial up quite high and so we turned it down and thought that perhaps in an hour or so the room would cool down. Jennifer went off for another Spa treatment, courtesy of the onboard allowance, and has so far run up a bill of about US$ 400.00 on stuff and I am so pleased that she is enjoying that.
We went off to dinner and the Italian Matre D was at the main dining room reception desk and started to talk about the last nights occurrence to his staff surrounding him and as we left the reception desk he asked to see our waiter to instruct him what he should and should not do. So Noel went on the room menu, which is also the classic menu and available 24 hours, and chose  some basic pasta with tomato sauce to start and a filet mignon as a main course with mash potatoes, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower which I thought , how could they get that wrong. The starter was ok but up then came the main course, the steak was more luke warm than hot and I had a little helping of broccoli and a separate dish of cauliflower and carrots. However on the plate  was also  a tomato and some courgettes which I had not ordered so this time I got mad and I told my waiter how disappointed I was, he told his boss and the next thing the Maitree D is back apologising all over again. I said , when I give a specific order that is exactly what I want and nothing else. Its like going in to a restaurant in Rome and ordering a bowl of spaghetti bolognaise and finding there is a lamb chop and roast potato on it as well!!!
I also went on to explain to him some of my challenges and what the impact is if they get it wrong. Lets see what happens tomorrow.
A quick visit to the observatory lounge to watch the world, in the dark, go by  and then back to the suite for reading etc just as the engineers were leaving . The room was showing 26 degrees Centigrade so clearly the engineers had changed something so that instead of the cold air we are now only getting hot air. Rather than mess around at 11 pm we gave in and left the suite balcony door open all night which made it a little noisy but kept the temperature down. I will have a real go at them tomorrow morning me thinks.
In the meantime I have been watching the Amazon prime series on 2017/8 season of of Manchester City and been very good to watch and is highly recommended.

Boarding today followed by a big surprise

No rush to get up this morning but Noel overnight was uploading photos to our SmugMug Photo Album requiring two times getting up to add more to the list but the whole process was so painfully slow. We went down for breakfast and Noel had his Weetabix which Jennifer had found in the local Safeway Supermarket at £7.00 a box of 24 so a little on the expensive side. So following breakfast Noel continued doing the photos until 11.00 when we had to check out of our room but not the Hotel.

In the downstairs lounge we set up the computer and Jennifer went off to but some sandwiches for lunch as we understood we could board after 15.00 and so shortly before this time we caught a taxi to the Port and it seemed like we were only people boarding and as it tuned out most of the guest were coming down by train from Anchorage and would arrive 17.00 allowing a 19.00 push back. However this is an Italian managed and run ship and timing is not what they are good at, its more of an indication than an actual time me thinks, as the instruction in the room say the muster is at 18.00 and don't bring you life vest and yet the announcement says bring your life vest?. Interesting as well the daily journal was saying the ship was going back to Vancouver whilst listing all the ports to Japan, confusing perhaps but so Italian.
We had been watching various web sites where Silversea were pushing for the last minute cabins to sell and included a $1000.00 on board spend FOC which we di not have when we booked but in the cabin was a note to say that were are entitles to this cash back bonus and so Jennifer is now planning all the facials, nails etc in the Spa. Anyway they called the muster at 18.20 and we are on deck 5 but where we go outside to the walkway and were heading for the muster point a voice shouted at saying hey you guys from Piplin House, Wey Road and we turned round and there was jerry and Muira our ex neighbours from Wey Road, what are the chances this happening must be quite considerable. We agreed to meet up after dinner as they were booked in the Italian Eatery whilst we were in the main restaurant.
Dinner was fine and the Chardonnay which was Italian was also very good and so we consumed a few glasses and then went to the bar to meet up with Jerry and Muira and we spent about an hour catching up by which time it was 10.30 pm and were all tired and so off to bed.
Lets hope we sleep well in the new bed which we have for the next fourteen nights. Tomorrow is Formal night and we have received an invitation from one of the officers to join him for dinner so we will do so. Tomorrow we arrive in Kodiak.

Seward Alaska is a great place but extremely expensive

After yesterdays drive to Anchorage, which as reported earlier was magnificent, we had pre booked a cruise to the National Park which was departing at 11.30 for six hours but first some things to do.
The cruise indicated that food in the disguise of a chicken wrap would be provided as part of  an inclusive lunch package but with things you can never tell what else is in the wrap and so we went to the local Safeway Store for Noel to get a hand made sandwich which ensures he knows what in it and then on to the Fuel Station to fill up the tank on the Toyota Camry that we had from Hertz rental which was necessary before returning it. We filled the gas tank, as they say here in America for the grand total of US$ 19.50 which is about £ 15.00 so fuel here is still dirt cheap as we have covered over 250 miles in the car without pushing the accelerator pedal to much. We then returned the the car and we knew it would be expensive and it fact its been the most expensive car rental that we have ever encountered as 24 hours and covering 250 miles cost USD 245.00 or roughly £ 200.00 which is frightening to say the least. Unfortunately everything in Seward is expensive like hell!!!
Last night we had a mediocre meal for about £ 125.00 and tips here are suggested as 15/20/25/30%%%% what!!! but we gave 20% which we thought was enough but got stabbed in the back, metaphorically speaking, as we left the restaurant. Anyway back to today.

Then on to the cruise which was on a quite a large boat and it was a very nice catamaran  with sightseeing potential and off we went for our six hour cruise to see the local wildlife which I thought would be Whales and Dolphins etc but the first thing they showed us was a mountain Goat and some Ducks, so I was getting a bit worried that this might turn out to be a bit of a dud cruise but things changed dramatically the longer we went on.

We then carried on deeper in to the Kenai Fjords National Park and lo and behold there basking in the sunshine was the Seabourn Sojourn looking at the Aialik Glacier together with a number of people in the Zodiac rubber boats and also in canoes. However our metal hulled catamaran was able to get up really close and we were very able to get some really good photos. Then on to see some seals which were enjoying the sun on a large rock and also a few Dall’s porpoises which sometimes followed the boat but not on this occasions they were not interested as they were watching Chelsea beat Arsenal.
We then came across some Hump Back Whales which are always difficult to photograph as you never know where they will come up and when, and so you have to be on your guard and holding the camera like a gun ready to fire so as to ensure that you can get a photos which we did eventually. We also saw quite a few birds and tufted ducks before returning to Seward Harbour at 17.30 and then we headed back to the Hotel on take stock on what to do next. 
We also saw the Seaborne Sojourn our recent cruise ship which had left Seward and now up at the Glacier with the Zodiacs out.
We were both quiet tired with all the sea air and standing with a moving and swaying boat, not good for Noels knees.
The choice of restaurant was limited either due to location and/or they were closed on Wednesday and so went next door to a place called Chinooks which was quite busy and had a much better atmosphere than last night in Rays Steak and Fish restaurant and we enjoyed the experience whilst looking at all the boats in the Dock, and it was half the price of yesterday which cant be bad.
I am writing this blog and its 21.30 and slowly, very very slowly uploading the photos from the past week to our SmugMug online photo album but its painfully slow. Out home internet provides an upload spead of around 50 megabits per second  but this this is less than 0.5 a megabit and so at home I would upload 20 photos in a minutes this is the reverse. Oh well will keep my busy for a while and I still have tomorrow morning as well but this does not take into consideration the hundreds of photos taken during the past week. So hope to finish by Christmas and also not of the photos have been adjusted and cropped yet.So much to do and so little time.

Off the ship today

Well the phone went off again at 04.00 and so we rushed upstairs to see the amazing light show whilst the crew provided tea, coffee and biccies.

I had intended to use my camera tripod to get better photos but unfortunately one of the legs had broken and day earlier when testing it with the new time lapse app on my camera and so it was back to leaning against the ships rail and trying to keep the camera steady whilst it took a night shot, but the photos seem to have come out when looked at them on the small camera screen but I will know more when I come to put them on the computer.
So back to bed until it was time to vacate the cabin, by 08.00 please, and head off for breakfast and a chat with some other guests. We departed the ship around 09.00 and of course no immigration to worry about and found the shuttle to the Hotel and went there and after a short wait we could check in to our room which was really great. Boy what a lovely view from the room overlooking the Harbour with the distant mountains covered in snow. We picked up the car from Hertz, boy is it expensive here to rent a car, and due to shortage of cars we were upgraded to a Toyota Camry against the little Kia we had booked which was really great. It is 2.5 hours from Seward to Anchorage and our target there was to go to Best Buy, a bit like PC World, only much better, and purchase a new tripod.

I had read that the drive from Seward to Anchorage was amazing but that did not prepare us for the glorious views we encountered en-route with snow covered mountains, loads of trees changing colour as winter is drawing on and huge lakes. What an amazing journey this was. We were beginning to get a little hungry and found a Burger Chain called Red Robin where they catered for Noels dietary restrictions which was good. Then  on to Best Buy where we found just what we were looking for and then left to head back to Seward where we arrived at about 18.15 after stopping at a supermarket for some water and milk. The journey back was just as interesting with the sun being at a different location and creating some lovely shades on the trees and mountains. We did not have time to stop and photograph properly and so Jennifer was taking lots of photos from the car.
A cup of tea and then for dinner we walked along the road to a Trip Adviser recommended  fish restaurant which was very good, but not cheap, but to much food on the plate and so by 21.00 we were back in the Hotel relaxing before sleep and checking on our exploration cruise in the National park which leaves at 11.30 for 6 hours and hoping the weather will be fine.
And so to bed after catching up with some emails.