Alaskan Cruise

This is a journey that I am taking by myself.  I have left Lance at home and am making my way up to Alaska to join Dillon and Lou'ana on the cruise that they are working on for four months.  My journey will take me to Anchorage and on to Whittier to board the Star Princess and we will stop at 3 ports and view glaciers on our way to Vancouver.

Although I have traveled many times by myself, for trips further afield I have always had company.  And for those of you who know me well, my sense of direction especially in large buildings, is useless.  So it was with a a little trepidation that I boarded Air New Zealand Flight 8 to San Francisco.  My main concern was the transfer to Anchorage when I got to San Francisco.  Well here I am, at S.F. Airport waiting for 7 hours for my transfer flight.  At least with seven hours up my sleeve I have had time to suss the place out and think that all will be well (fingers crossed).

My 12 hour flight was uneventful, I managed to doze for a while, however being school holidays the plane was packed with kids, so it was noisy.  The lady on the inside of me didn't go to the toilet once in 12 hours! I find that amazing.  Having an aisle seat made it easier to stretch out and move around. 

I'm at the airport now, and just had the most delicious quesadilla.  I thought I would be able to have a shower, but because my status for Air New Zealand points is piggy backing on Lance's points they wouldn't let me in. I felt a bit like the poor relation.  So it was a wash with wet wipes in the public restrooms. So here I am, waiting, waiting, waiting.  I have tried to doze but it is not working.  I am slightly envious of a mother and her two little kids who have been fast asleep for a couple of hours on the ottoman next to me. 

Finally I got to leave the airport. I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal. I have walked around so many times in the last 7 hours I am expecting the staff to call out my name and ask me how my family is. 

Toilet report: clean but sensitive flushers. You only need to move a millimetre and the auto flush goes. 

As we flew out I had a grand view of the Golden Gate Bridge (which is actually pinky red) and Alcatraz. Finally I felt like I had truely been sitting in San Francisco. 

I had expected a little bit of dinner or something on the 5 hour flight to Anchorage. But alas, only tea, coffee and pretzels. So I arrived close to midnight starving. Everything was closed except for the bar, so I took a gin and tonic to bed with me. 

Of course I should have realised that this far north there would be daylight late into the evening. A bit like our very southern parts of NZ. However I really didn't expect to be able to see the snowy mountains as we decended into Anchorage.

A deserted city on a Friday night, although the taxi did pass one roof top bar that was packed. It wasn't too chilly, in fact it was 17 degrees, quite mild. 

I am staying at the Sheraton and the king bed was like heaven after more than a 24 hours travelling. But you know what it is like, body exhausted and head running a marathon. 

So here I sit, packed up and ready to transfer to Whittier where I will board the Star Princess and catch up with Dillon and Lou'ana.