We had agonised over whether to spend more than $200 each for a shore excursion while in Skagway today.
Feedback from others was that the White Pass Railway trip up to the Yukon (Canada) was worth doing so we locked it in.
And what a great day 🙂
We started the day with an early breakfast onboard in the International Cafe around 6.45am. We’ve gone with the hot breakfast every day since we’ve been on the ship, so we thought we’d go for a sugar overload as a quicker alternative.
And coffee, of course.
I understood that the forecast for today was 10°C but either I was mistaken, or those jokers at the weather bureau yanked our chain and got it wrong.
When we left the ship this morning it was 1°C.
We rode the White Pass Railway from Skagway for almost 2 hours up into Canada and the Yukon.
What a breathtaking trip!
To think that early gold seekers used to walk the same route is amazing.
We arrived in Canada, showed our passports and changed over to a bus which took us the rest of the way, stopping at various places for photo opportunities.
Yukon is the 60th parallel, representing a point 2/3 of the way from the equator to the North Pole.
The scenery was absolutely breathtaking – snow capped mountains, clean fresh air, crystal clear lakes. And cold air. Breathtakingly cold.
The sky was so blue and the sun so bright it was difficult at times to get decent photographs.
And the glare coming off the snow on top of many mountains around us made it even harder!
We stopped for lunch at Carcross. The Caribou Crossing Trading Post to be exact.
Roast chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, and “all you can eat” donuts.
And coffee. Not the best coffee I’ve ever had, but not the worst.
Certainly the best coffee I’ve ever had in Canada. Actually also the worst coffee I’ve ever had in Canada, as it happens.
During the trip we’ve been keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife. Nothing significant to report although we did have a brief encounter with a brown bear.
Only kidding. The bear was stuffed … a bit like me after the “all you can” donuts 🙁
To be honest, I’ve started sucking my stomach in when TOTIL takes a photo with me in it.
In some pictures it may look like I’m grimacing … that’s because she has taken too long to take the photo and I couldn’t hold it in much longer.
On the way back to Skagway we stopped at a few photo-worthy spots including Emerald Lake – a stunning, clear lake with an amazing colour.
We also stopped briefly in Carcross itself.
Here’s a fun fact: you can see these poles at the side of the road. I’m told they get 30-40 feet of snow in the winter so the snow ploughs use the poles to know where the edge of the road is. The line between white and red is the position of the guardrail.
Sorry it’s a bit hard to see in the photo below.
Apparently the snow plough drivers work on the basis that “if you are in the white you’re right. If you’re in the red, you’re dead.”
It is very confusing here. In Australia we have toilets and bathrooms.
In the USA they have restrooms.
Now we are in Canada, they have washrooms.
A great day in Skagway and the Yukon.
We rounded out the day with a birthday dinner at the Crown Grill on the ship.
After dinner, we went to the “Best of Brirish” show at the Princess Theater.
We had heard that some passengers got to see the northern lights a couple of nights ago. There was a chance of seeing them again very early this morning, so we go up at 1.00am and sat staring into the sky until 3.00am but didn’t see a thing 🙁
We certainly weren’t blinded by those lights.
Maybe we’ll try again tonight.
Ciao
#G&KTAKEUSA
Wow! It was worth the $400 (says me who didn’t part with a cent!)