By Robyn Mulvenna

It seemed that I had been dreaming forever about visiting Alaska, and then in July '99 it finally became a reality when Katrina, Jason, and I jumped on a plane bound for Anchorage. I have to say we were not disappointed but awe struck, enthralled and, amazed! It was everything and more than we had expected. This must be the only place on the planet that man has not managed to stuff up.

Of course we did it tough in the Final Frontier. We spent our first two nights in Anchorage at Frontier Gardens B & B. What a place! Every comfort including a huge spa in our bathroom along with every bath oil and bubble bath you can imagine and breakfast to die for. Although Katrina could not handle the Reindeer sausages--thought it might be Rudolph or one of his cronies.

On the second day we got up bright and early and headed for the ghost town of Portage. The only thing in Portage is the railway station. The original town of Portage was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake, and it was never rebuilt. There are a couple of old buildings half buried in the ground--all that remains of the original town. From Portage we caught an old double-decker train to Whittier--there are no roads to Whittier. Then we boarded an enormous catamaran and began an incredible journey around 26 glaciers. "Awesome" probably best describes the glacial experience. Along the way we saw lots of sea otters--really cute little guys they were. No whales, sad to say.

Next day we said farewell to Anchorage and headed for North Pole (not the North Pole) but a little town near Fairbanks called North Pole. It was a long journey to North Pole and made even longer because there was so much to see along the way. First we stopped at a tiny Russian cemetery at Eklutna where all the graves were covered by little mini houses painted all different colours. Also in the cemetery there were three churches and several spirit houses. After this we visited a little town called Talkeetna that has a Northern Exposure flavour to it, especially the local pub where we had lunch. In fact it was probably more of a museum than a pub: Every inch of the walls were covered with memorabilia, and on the ceiling there was this huge bear skin.

Finally after many hours of travelling, we reached North Pole where the main attraction is the Santa Claus House and where we spent quite a lot of time and money. We also visited the Knotty Shop, which was really interesting. The owner collects all these weirdly shaped tree trunks and branches and joins them all together and makes all sorts of animals. In North Pole we stayed at the Birch Tree B & B where we enjoyed yet another night of luxury in the "rose room" and were treated to another huge breakfast of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and eggs all on one plate. The American thing would have then been to smother the whole lot in maple syrup!! However we decided to do it the Australian way and ate the bacon, eggs and sausages first and then added the syrup.

Don, the owner, does woodturning and has a huge workshop where we went and watched him making bowls. He acquires wood from all over the world and makes beautiful bowls that are for sale. He also makes wine stoppers from wood and I purchased one of these due to the fact that a bowl would not fit in my suitcase, which was already full of souvenirs.

The next night we spent in Fairbanks at A Taste of Alaska Lodge, and of course we were spoiled rotten once again. One of the main attractions at this B & B is the fact that you get a really excellent view of the Aurora Borealis; however it did not get dark at all the whole time we were in Alaska so we missed this event.

Then came time to head back the way we had come. The next night we spent at Gigglewood Lodge perched on the edge of a beautiful lake where we went paddle boating. The owners of the lodge also collected weirdly shaped tree branches and used them to build the lodge--they call this wood "gigglewood," hence the name of the lodge. This was situated not far from Talkeetna where a very important festival was about to happen, so we decided to revisit Talkeetna for the Annual Moose Dropping Festival. No, they don't drop the moose, just the moose droppings. One thousand numbered pieces of moose dropping are dropped from a balloon and the five that landed closest to the target won prizes. All the moose droppings were sold when we got there so we missed out. Believe it or not you can buy moose dropping necklaces--lacquered of course--and swizzle sticks with lovely lacquered moose dropping handles. Just the sort of gift to take back to someone you don't like!

From Gigglewood we headed down the Kenai Peninsula to Seward. This must be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. On the way we visited Alaska's Ski Resort at Aleyska and caught a tram to the top. What a view!

In Seward we stayed at The Farm B & B where we got to sleep in an enormous four-poster bed. In Seward we visited the famous Exit Glacier and then decided to climb up to the snow fields above--a three hour climb uphill on a narrow path that we had to share with the bears if they happen to come along. Needless to say, we made a lot of noise while climbing to let them know we were there. I made most of the noise gasping for breath! Two hours from the top I refused to go any farther, mainly because I couldn't, so we headed back down.

From Seward we headed north to Kenai where we spent the night at the Aksala B & B on the beach. Not at all like the beaches we are used to; the sand was black from volcanic ash. We all agreed that this was the best B & B we had stayed at. Not the most luxurious, but it had a real family atmosphere. The highlight of our stay in Kenai was a raft ride down the crystal clear, turquoise-coloured Kenai River. It reminded me of our very own Brisbane River - not! We also visited a museum where we saw a photocopy of the cheque the USA used to pay for Alaska when they purchased it from Russia in the 1860's. They paid $7.2 million dollars for it--less than 2 cents per acre.

Then it was back to Frontier Gardens B & B in Anchorage for our last night. And what a sad night that was--we didn't want to leave! We dined at Denny's and drowned our sorrows in coke (coca cola) until 1:00 a.m.

Then it was good-bye to Alaska, but we have all decided we are definitely going back--but next time in the winter. Before visiting Alaska, I had read where people had gone there on working holidays and ended up staying for 20 years. I must say I can understand how that could happen.