USA 39 - 5 Trout and 2 Trees!

I knowwwwwwwwwwwww... you're sick of the Alaska stories...

BUT I'M NOT!!!!

And I can't pass this one up!

I went fishing again yesterday.

Yep, Jason from Drifter's Lodge took me and another guest, Jeff the Fisherman, out trout fishing yesterday - most of the time we were drift fishing, which meant we were fishing as we drifted down the Kenai River.

I won't bore you with all the details...the pics are quite clear about our fishing prowess!

I managed to score 5 Rainbow Trout, the biggest of which you see me very proudly displaying!! It felt rather heavy and slimy (I reckon this is the funniest pic from my holiday so far - I laughed and laughed when I saw it)!

I was also talented enough of a fisherwoman to catch 2 whole trees - yes as I was casting to the right (from the boat), as directed by Ace Fishing Guide, Jason, and also directed not to hit the trees, I managed to catch huge tree branches, not once...no no no, I don't do anything by halves, sportsfans, but TWICE!! You should have heard the swearing - and I think Jason's was louder than mine!!! Ah...My nephew would be so proud!

Anyway.....

Check out Jeff's crazy 26 inch Rainbow Trout (it's his second fish pic) - man that thing was AWESOME - he had to battle it down the rapids...it flipped and spun out of the water (I thought I was in a beer commercial!), then managed to get it in the boat - it was hugely exciting, resulting in grins, high-fives, and backslapping from all three of us for the rest of the day! By the looks of that second last pic above, though, all that Trout action seems to have tuckered ol' Jeff the Fisherman out!

Jeff caught like 8 Rainbows and pulled in a couple of Dolly Vardens (or Dolly Partons as he liked to call them) - these are beautiful trout with salmon coloured spots on the back. Of course us aussies think a Dolly Varden is a girl's birthday cake with the top half of a Barbie doll sticking out the top...but hey, here it's a trout - go figure!

You can see Ace Fishing Guide, Jason, in some of the pics above - seems he's very shy, and just accidentally got his dial in nearly every bloody photo!

Thanks for a great day gentlemen. Bloody loved it!!!

USA 38 - Orcas, RVs and Hiking Part 2

Welcome back sportsfans...to Part 2 - you may have noticed that I was unable to make the video work...I'll keep at it over the next few days to see if I can get it right...stay tuned!

Now. This day was AMAZING. It was the day I did the Northwestern Fjord Tour with Kenai Fjords Tours, out of Seward. OMG, it was more than a cruise, it was really an opportunity to see Alaska on the water - we saw Orcas, a Fin Whale (the second largest whale in the world), Dall Porpoises, Puffins (and a heap of other birds, but as I find birds more than a little boring, I can't remember the others!), Harbour Seals, Stellar Sea Lions, and the most wonderfullly wonderful Sea Otters. All that in 9 hours.

The trip took us from Seward, down Resurrection Bay, into the Gulf of Alaska, around the Chiswell Islands, through the Granite Passage, and up into the Northwestern Fjord, which is home to many glaciers, including the famous Northwestern Glacier.

I won't rave on any more about the local beauty, the amazing sea life, the over-the-top majesty of the mountains...I've already done that, and it's probably getting a little boring by now. All I will say is that this place just never ceases to gobsmack me - more than any other place I've ever been.

I'll let the pics above speak for themselves. Some of them are mine and some are RV Man's - thanks again RV Man - in fact, to be honest, now that I think about it, most are from RV Man - trying to capture the Orcas as they surfaced with my camera was a little frustrating (the boat heard a few choice aussie swear words, let me tell you - all part of a good cultural exchange I suppose!). The pic of the single whale is the Fin Whale, and it was the Captain's first sighting of a Fin Whale this year - YAHOOOOO!!!

For me, though, the cutest thing I saw all day were the Sea Otters. I suspect I was a Sea Otter in another life. They spend their life floating around the water on their back - they have the densest fur on earth, allowing it to trap oxygen and keep them afloat, they just float all day on their back, chatting and playing with each other. The pic of the Sea Otters you see above is actually a Mum and her pup, the pup is actually sitting on her tummy and they float together, sort of like a tandem float! It was sooooooooooooooo cute!

I think the other really cute pic is the one there of the family of Stellar Sea Lions - Papa Sea Lion, Mumma Sea Lion, and cutey pie Baby Sea Lion - it was magic to see them together like that. Now I believe ol' Papa Sea Lion is a bit of a ladies man - he gets to mark out his territory, attract the ladies...and he's in control of that area, and all the females in it! Hmmmmmmmm.

The other wonderful thing you'll see above is the ice calving from the Northwestern Glacier - RV Man was able to capture the ice as it crashed into the sea - it's called "calving" when ice falls from a glacier...you hear a very loud bang or crack and then the crashing sound...quite amazing!

So, ladies and gents...enjoy the pics - I'll let them speak for themselves.

Oh, and never fear gastronomes, I know I have sold this as a food blog - and I have digressed a little since being in Alaska, but I feel we are about to get back on track very soon!

USA 37 - Orcas, RVs and Hiking Part 1

Yet another great American tradition experienced. RVing!

Yes, my sister has been calling me Trailer Trash all week.

I was fortunate enough, due to the very generous spirit of one Paul from Minnesota, alias RV Man (see previous post on Seward), who, when I arrived for dinner with my last fresh salmon fillet last Saturday, invited me to stay the week! OH YEAH BABY!!!!

If you remember from the previous blog....imagine huge fully-equipped kitchen, recliner lounge chairs and a 3 seater sofa that turned into a bloody huge blow up sofa bed - I could watch the 37inch LCD tv in bed! Now this was the life.

You can see aforementioned tough living conditions above - and the views I had to put up with - I won't tell you that my fave pastime was to sit outside in a sun lounge looking up at those mountains watching the Bald Eagles play. Sigh. Really tough gig!

But it wasn't all about lying around being waited on hand and foot - oh no no no, I had a hiking buddy!! One of the most annoying drawbacks of travelling alone in Alaska is that hiking on your own is really dangerous due to the bears. I saw that first hand last week at the fishing lodge as three of us watched with our mouths open as a grizzly chased a moose and her two babies into the river in front of us and grabbed one of those gorgeous calves, dragged it onto the river bank opposite us (where I had been walking the day before) and started to eat it - while the mommy moose ran between protecting her other calf and trying to save the one in the bear's mouth. We could hear the crying, it was amazing and awful at the same time. What a truly incredible thing to have seen. But it really made me think twice about my solo walks.

Sooooooooooooo...now I had a hiking buddy. And off hiking we went (for you Aussie readers, hiking is walking!).

Now just as a heads up - there are like a billion pics I have to show you from my week in RV Land in Seward, so I've divided it into Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 is all about the hikes, and Part 2 is going to show all the amazing pics from the Kenai Fjords Wildlife Cruise. The other heads up is that RV Man is a bit of photography legend, so alot of the pics are his...thanks RV Man! And just one more heads up...I'm actually going to try and post a video I took - this is a first, never done before, don't know how it works, don't know if it'll work...let's just see how it goes.

So, hiking.

We did two hikes.

Lowell Point
The first was down past Seward to Lowell Point. Only about a two mile hike all up - but it was up and down, a bit muddy, with lots of rocks...and it was awesome...we ended up down on the beach on Resurrection Bay, passing through a magic forest to get there. The tide was out, so we could walk all the way out on the gravelly sand...it was magic. You can see the pics above and the video (if it bloody works!). The pics show the river running out to Resurrection Bay, the magic forest, the views from the beach - one looking up the bay towards Seward, and the other down the Bay which eventually flows out to the Gulf of Alaska. If I am super enough to have managed to attach the video, and you are lucky enough to have sorted out how to see it, then the video is a 360 degree of the views that met us down at the beach. I'm hoping you don't get the audio - cause I sound like a total knob!

Exit Glacier - The Hard
The second hike was yesterday (Thursday) - we went back to Exit Glacier and tried the hard hike (we'd both already done the easy one to the Glacier)! You can hike up 4 miles to actually walk on the Glacier, BUT once you hit about 1.5 miles up, you hit snow...hmmmmm. Once we hit the snow we headed back! Call me a wuss, call me whatever you like, I was totally knackered by the time I got to the snow - a perfect marker to turn back if you ask me! You can see the pics there of the mountains (yes, more mountains), the incredibly stunning views on the way up, crossing the waterfall, me making it to the snow, me looking out at the view on the way down, and yet more mountains! Sigh. It was a truly spectacular hike.

Sigh again. Such beautiful mountains. Everywhere.

And then, there's the water...

USA 36 - Sockeye Salmon and Rainbow Trout

This post is dedicated to my eldest nephew who, unlike his aunty, is an accomplished fisherman! Perhaps he can give a beginner a few tips when she gets back!

(My sister told me on the phone the other day that it's great to see me learning new skills at 40, she wasn't exactly referring to fishing, but hey...she was BLOODY RIGHT!)

OH MY GOD. I had the day of a lifetime yesterday...it was absolutely INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC. I am now in love with Sockeye Salmon, and hold a very dear spot in my heart for the Rainbow Trout.

Yes, I went fishing. Guided fishing. With Jason, the backwoodsman fishing guide! And three other guys from Colorado/Vegas (father and two sons). There are no words for just how cool it was, how exciting, how thrilling, how stunningly beautiful it was. No wonder it's a national sport here - I've met people from all over the USA and even Alaska how come here to the Kenai for salmon fishing. It's like a mecca for fisherpeople! Lucky, I'm back here at Drifter's Lodge, right on the bloody river!!!

I'll put it right out there now - I caught 7 Sockeyes, 4 of which we could keep and the other three were released (it was just so much fun I wanted to keep catching!), and 2 Rainbow Trout, both of which we released back into the river.

Now here on the Kenai, you can fish for a few types of Salmon - Silver (which I think has finished running), Sockeye, also known as "Reds" because their flesh is so dark and they actually turn red on the outside when they spawn, and King Salmon. Kings are the prize salmon - they are absolutely huge - and at the moment you are only allowed to keep one per person - and they've only just started to allow fishing for Kings because the numbers have been so low this year!

Anyway, I digress. Back to my extensive fisherwoman prowess...

I was more than chuffed with myself - I seemed to equal all the legends around me - even Taylor who was an Anchorage boy fishing next to me who gave me a few tips!

We were off and running at 3.45am, we needed to get in the water early to find our spot - the Sockeyes and the King Salmon have really only just started running so Jason knew things were going to be very busy. We drifted down the Kenai River in his drift boat to a little spot he thought perfect. There were already people around with their rods out and fish being caught.

As you can see, I was all decked out for the gig - I had full thermal underwear on, jeans, t-shirt, caridgan, woollen jumper and my very attractive waders and waterproof fishing boots...later the gloves and beanie appeared - it's bloody cold out on that river, especially with your little tootsies in the freezing water for 7 hours!

The other 3 guys knew their stuff, so I got the full lesson from Jason - we were using fly rods, but using a special "Kenai flick" he called it, especially for the Sockeye - they don't actually eat food, they suck up plankton and stuff, so the idea is to let the line get in their mouth as they are coming upstream, then you "flick" to catch the hook in the side of its mouth! COOL!!! After some embarrassingly bad casting, a few tips from Jason and my new mate, Taylor, I was starting to do something that looked vaguely decent...the other guys had already pulled in a few, and I was still waiting....

Jason was getting impatient for me to pull one in...he was more stressed than I was about it! He moved me literally two metres back from my original spot...changed my sinker, then BAMMMMMMM!!!! OMG Sockeye were flying left, right and centre!!!! IT WAS FANTASTIC. I couldn't get enough of it!! The first few were pretty easy to get in...but then I had a few that I was sure were sharks...they were soooooooo strong, and just ran with the line...I lost a few of those ones, but I did manage to bring in two of the really feisty ones! You should have seen the smile on my face! Well you can see the smile on my face, above, with my first Sockeye for the day!

Now, we are only allowed to keep 3 Sockeye each - I caught one for Jason, so we had our full 15 by about 7am, then we stayed for a bit longer to "catch and release" - you can see our trusty guide, Jason, above with our stash! He got to work filleting right there on the bank, pic above, while we kept at it! BLOODY GREAT FUN.

Once his job was done, we had life vests on, were back in the drift boat and on the hunt for Trout. We were going to do some fly fishing. Check out the pic above, me in the river fly fishing...that was what we looked at, that beautiful mountain as we flicked and flopped our rod around. There was only the five of us here, it was quiet and oh so beautiful...this is the part I loved the most. The fly fishing was tricky, but I liked the challenge, and I loved the serenity around me, it was quite something special.

And I got one!!! I'm proud to say I was the only one to get a trout!! OH YEAH BABY! She was a bit of a struggle to bring in...but boy was she a cutie pie. You can see her there, my face close to hers...a really beautiful friendship beginning! We popped her back in to fight another day.

I caught one more trout on the drift on the way home - we drifted downstream, through the nature reserve, eyes open for bears, and I had my fly rod out and Jason would tell me where to cast...he knew all the good sites...and bammmmm just as we were coming to the boat ramp, I got one - a tiny widdle one! But hey, a fish is a fish is a fish!!

Thoroughly chuffed, tired, hungry and thirsty - we headed back home, head held high...I informed the guys back here we would be having salmon for dinner!!!! And we did!

You can see above - we rubbed one fillet with a salmon rub called "Rub with Love" which is a mix of smoked paprika, thyme and brown sugar, we marinaded one in Teriyaki Sauce, and I asked for one to be left "virgin" so I could get the pure salmon flavour.

Jason wacked them on the barbie, and we ate like kings. I LOVED the virgin one - first I ate it completely pure to taste the salmon and it was soooooooooo good, it was perfectly cooked and just melted away in my mouth with a wonderful salmon flavour - lightly fishy, but clean and smooth...I then added a bit of salt which of course was yummmmmmmm - and that's what I ate - the others of course loved the marinated and rubbed ones...they'd been eating salmon forever and loved the extra flavour.

Bob, one of the owners of the lodge gave me his perfect salmon cooking recipe - take off the skin and brown fat, melt some butter so it's hot but not too hot to burn the butter, season the fish with some salt and a little bit of pepper, and put it in the melted butter to gently cook...add a touch of lemon and voila...perfect salmon. I'm hoping to give that a go next week, when I come back yet again, I'm hooked on the fishing...perhaps I'll go for Kings....hmmmmmmm!!!

PS. One tip for beginners fishing in Alaska...DO NOT TAKE A BANANA ONTO THE BOAT - bananas, so I discovered after I took my breakfast banana out of my backpack to eat in the boat just as we started moving, are BAD LUCK in Alaska for fishing. Let me tell you, things got ugly!!!

USA 35 - Sea Otters, Fudge and Anzac Cookies in Seward!

I saw my first Sea Otter in Seward. Well my first wild one.

Mr Sea Otter was frolicking in the harbour...floating on its back with its hands out of the water sort of waving hello or splashing...I'm not sure which! I giggled with delight as I watched, wishing desperately I could join him. I'm laughing as I remember...it was magic.

Seward is one of the earliest settlements in Alaska, it was where supplies were dropped by ship, way back in the beginning, then were sent up by sled to the townships all the way to the goldfields - it was the original starting point of the Iditarod. It's a cute little place. Sort of like a grown-up Homer in feel, more sensible I suppose. Not as wacky, very quaint.

I ate well, heard some Alaskan politics at the bar, had my first inside look at an RV, and even saw my first yanky Anzac Cookies. All in all it was a very groovy 3 days!

I stayed in one of the cute little cabins, Abode Well Cabins, you see above (with my dodgy car out the front!) - it was wonderfully quiet, and conveniently located next to the Seavey's Place. Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod (that crazy dog sled race run in March every year, 1200 miles from Anchorage to Nome) a few years ago, and his property is next door - this is where they keep some of their kennels!! In the middle of the night I would hear howling or "singing", as I later found out, of about 80 dogs together in chorus! Lovely.

I actually went and did one of their "Ididarides" - they take people on their dogs' training runs...you get hooked up to a 16 dog team and they do their thing - it was a hoot! You then get to see how it all works - it was fascinating. You can see Claire, the dog, up there with all her kit on (minus her little "slippers") - check out the little um fur warmer...it keeps the boys' "bits" from freezing in the snow!!

Now I'm thinking about it, Seward was really about animals! After visiting the Sea Life Centre, which is a MUST (DO NOT MISS IT), and seeing that wonderful sea lion you can see above, I was actually walking by the harbour and saw a snout pop up...and there was a bloody sea lion checking me out! It was about 10 metres away in the water having a play. Bloody great place, this Alaska, let me tell you!

But while I'm talking tourist stuff, let me tell you a few more things. Exit Glacier...oh wow, it's soooooooooo cool. You can walk almost right up to the glacier...you can see it there above, it's one of over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, is quite something. This one is part of the Harding Ice Field which is the biggest ice field in the USA. How's that for tourist knowledge! One of the best things about going out there was that I me an RV-er - yep, Paul has been full-time RVing around the USA for the past two years...CRIKEY! So, I invited myself round to check out his rig!!

HOS and I had spent many a car discussion on exactly what these things look like on the inside - we would drive past about a billion a day on our road trip over here, and now finally I was going to get a look inside....so let me fill you in. Paul's RV was AMAZINGGGGGGGG. A full kitchen, two leather recliners and a 3 seat sofa looking towards his 36 inch LCD screen! Should I go on??? A bloody separate loo, complete with tassels on the curtains, and a luxury bedroom suite with designer throw cushions and another LCD telly...the thing was bloody INSANE!!! A big thank you to Paul who tolerated the invasion to his privacy, and my copious prying questions, with such good grace. Thank you.

Now, down to the good stuff. FOOD.

Again, I can't highly recommend a restaurant. The food I had was good, but not OMG-YOU-HAVE-TO-GO-THERE great! Ray's on the harbour was the best dinner...Cedar Plank Salmon, they cook it on the wood to try and get some of the flavour into the salmon...unfortunately though, they put a sweet sauce with it that killed the flavour of the fish...bugger! It looked great, and the veges were yum, you can see it there above, and the mashed potato was the best mash I've had in the USA - really really good, so it wasn't too bad at all. The bread pudding for dessert was a little over the top though. On dessert, I had dinner the previous night at Chinook's, also on the Harbour, dinner was average...but the dessert....OMG - DIVINEEEE, it was home-made Blackberry Crisp...it was wonderful, tangy yet sweet blackberries with a topping of what tasted like wonderful crumbled shortbread...very very very nice - gourmet, but still so basic and comforting, like a big warm, yet sexy, cuddle!

Speaking of great sexy cuddles...there's one place that you MUST NOT MISS...it has fabuloso fudge, to-die-for taffy, and gewonderous gelato!!! And it's all made on-site!! Sweet Darlings, is the name (it's on 4th Street, Downtown), and there are Jordyn and Brea, above, with their funky fudge - happy smiley faces because they make happy smiley stuff!!! Everything here is good, believe me - I tried the choc coconut fudge...mmmmmm...and a range of their taffy, and it was spectacular, particularly the ginger taffy, made with fresh ginger - really something special.

As for the gelato...well I've found it almost impossible to find gelato in my travels...yet here is a place that not only sells it, they make it themselves and it's belissimo!!!!! I had a scoop each of their banana and their double choc gelato...oh myyyy...really really delicious, plus I was fortunate enough to sit with a wonderful family and we chatted while we ate our gelato - thank you for sharing your table and your warmth!

The other place to visit, which reminded me a lot of a New Zealand tea house, was the Ranting Raven Bakery. It's also on 4th Street, almost opposite Sweet Darlings. This is a sweet little place, behind a gift shop, but well worth the effort. I had their wonderful Strawberry and Rhubarb Coffee Cake with my Cappuccino and surprise of all surprises...they had a basket of ANZAC cookies in their bakery window! Yes, ANZAC cookies!!! We had a little chat about that. I didn't taste one though - I wish I had... the next day I remembered they don't have Golden Syrup here, so I don't know what they put in that cookie!!!!

So...Seward...put it on your list. It's full of history, pretty good food - really great local taffy, and the most beautiful beautiful mountains...breathtaking on so many fronts...it's also the launch point for the Kenai Fjords boat tours...which of course I didn't get around to...maybe this week!!!