Around Town

After a great night's sleep in a very comfy bed and a hearty helping of the complimentary hot breakfast we were all set to explore some of Anchorage.

We started out doing a walk along the coastal track towards Earthquake Park, which commemorates the 1964 earthquake that caused a lot of damage here abouts. Along the way we read a notice board about how to tell the difference between a "curious moose" and an "angry moose" - with the matching advice that you can safely continue to watch the former but retreat quickly from the latter! It was a pleasant view along the walk - with ice in the bay and snow covered mountains in the distance - but we eventually decided to bail on the idea of walking all the way to Earthquake Park. Partly because the scale of the map made it evident that it was still a long way and we'd have to retrace our steps to continue with our plans for the day.

So instead we walked back toward the main thoroughfare - C Street - to catch a bus to our next destination. Along the way we saw a moose and her calf grazing on the branches of the leafless birch trees in the grounds of a pre-school, so we wandered in to get a closer look. The staff at the pre-school were most concerned that we did not come between the mother and her calf on the way back out so they invited us to detour through the (otherwise empty) school buildings. (We never did find out why they were at work when there were no children - on a weekday).

Moose grazing

We managed a good bus connection down to the Dimond Mall in south Anchorage where the Native Craft Market was on its last day. The markets had been running for about a week, with native artisans from remote settlements all over Alaska having stalls set up in the aisles of the mall. The range of crafts on display was both extensive and impressive, including carving, painting, fur products and wood works. All hand crafted, no mass produced works in sight.

After a late lunch we bused back to the Sears Mall in mid town where there was an amateur photo exhibition on display. Given my interest in such things it was very nice of Sam to have noticed it was on and put off going until I had joined them in Anchorage. There were a number of categories, with the basic requirement that all photos had to be taken in Alaska since the start of 2013. There were some very good images on display, but as usual we didn't necessarily all agree on the judge's choices for the various category winners.

Thereafter we made it back to out hotel just in time for the 6:00pm "Meet and Greet" with the two Iditarod contestants who were sponsored by Clarion Suites - the husband and wife pair of Aliy Zirkle

Aliy Zirkle with insulated water container

(runner-up in the last two Iditarods) and Allan Moore  (a dual winner of the Yukon Quest). It was an interesting meeting as they both explained the equipment, training and tactics required to win these long distant sled races and told some funny stories about their experiences. They also brought in some of their dogs for us to meet. And just to cap off the evening, when it came time to raffle the door prizes Sam won a framed poster from the 2013 race autographed by Aliy. Top stuff!

Aliy's sled packed with equipment

With the day's activities accounted for, the four of us enjoyed a game of Settlers of Catan before bed time - which was won by Sam. Again!

A 44 Hour Day

The three leg flight from from Sydney to Anchorage (Sydney -> Vancouver, Vancouver -> Seattle, Seattle -> Anchorage) was smooth and uneventful. Except for the fact that for all three flights (for which we were either too late or unable to do our own pre-flight seat allocation) we found ourselves allocated seats that were 1 to 15 rows apart. At least for the first flight we were able to change this on check-in to be seated together but there was nothing we could do about the other two flights.

Some of Aily Zirkle's dog team

Once on the ground in Anchorage at 3:45pm (after 23 hours in transit but only about three hours after the "time" we left Sydney) the free shuttle to our lodgings took a little longer to show than one of us would have liked - standing outside in the cold waiting while every other hotel shuttle seemed to cruise past twice. Otherwise the check-in was smooth and we were soon catching up with Sam & Keira who had checked-in earlier.

We also found our that one of the Iditarod contestants (Aily Zirkle, runner up the last two years) was also in residence and the truck with her dog team was parked outside. The dogs had just been fed and we were able to check them out.

Our party of four went for a stroll through the Anchorage down town precinct, which Sam & Keira had some familiarity with having been here for two days already.

Keira and Sam in pioneering mode

We ended up having dinner at a Thai restaurant before going to have a look at the snow sculptures. Well, at the remains of the snow sculptures. They had been carved a few days ago and with Anchorage's unseasonably warm weather (40F, 4C) they were looking a bit past their best. A couple had even collapsed altogether. Nearby we could only admire the fortitude of those who were going for fair rides at a carnival in the chilly evening air, but it did provide the opportunity to try a "funnel cake" for dessert.

It was only a few blocks back to our warm room where Laura and I were more than ready for  good night's sleep.

One of the aging snow sculptures

We are going where?

We were thinking of going to somewhere warm about now - like the South Pacific - but instead our son Sam said it would be really cool to see the famous Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska which runs each year from Anchorage to Nome. Of course given the time of year it is likely to be a little more than just cool. The sweetener is that a little further north in Fairbanks at this time of year - close to the equinox - it is pretty much viewing central for the Northern Light, aka the Aurora Borealis, or the "Heavenly Dancers".

So we are off to see the Huskies and (fingers crossed) the Northern Lights, accompanied by Sam and his girlfriend Keira.

At the back end of the trip we are hoping to take in some of Seattle and Vancouver Island before revisiting Whistler where Sam has led us to believe that he can procure worthwhile discounts on some of the activities there - such as zip lining, snow shoe tours and snow mobile excursions.

So it is time to pack the thermals and get ready for our 27th Feb departure.