Wiseman
Word-of-Day-Challenge-Distant
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distant
While London is only 51.50 Degrees North…
…London is a massive 16,893 kilometres
from Melbourne.
I know readers will find this difficult to believe,
but it is true!
There have been times
when I have grumbled about the distance
we are from many parts of the world.
However, this is one of the few times I am pleased
there is distance between Australia
and other parts of the world.
Stay Safe.
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FOWChallenge-Cabin
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It is difficult to imagine that we travelled from…
… nearly, the bottom of Australia…
…to Wiseman, Alaska,
about 100 kilometers…
…inside the Arctic Circle.
These cabins are home…
…to the small population of Wiseman.
Google says it is 12,939 kilometres
from Geelong to Wiseman
as the crow flies.
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Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Cabin
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Cee-BW-Challenge-Hot-Cold
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Although it did not…
…feel cold from the comfort of our coach,
it was snowing outside as we approached
Alberta’s, Columbia Icefields.
Nor did it feel cold while walking
on the Athabasca Glacier.
However, 63 miles inside the Arctic Circle
at Wiseman, Alaska, the sun was shining and
shirt sleeves were almost
the dress code of the day
Certainly the exact opposite of what we/I
expected weather conditions
that far north to be.
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Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Hot-Cold
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Word-of-Day-Challenge-Odyssey
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odyssey
I am inclined to suggest that any journey
originating in Australia and visiting
the northern hemisphere
could be described as an ‘Odyssey’.
Last year’s travel to Canada took us about
16 hours flying time to reach Vancouver Island
to the start of our Canadian/Alaskan adventure.
Falling snow on the Columbia Ice-field was
an event we had not counted on.
Our sled ride on the Mendenhall Glacier was wonderful.
Followed by the Red Carpet treatment
when boarding our
Rocky Mountaineer
Gold Leaf Carriage.
Our Final day, not included in the tour,
was a visit to Wiseman,
a very small township
inside the Arctic Circle.
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Word of the Day Challenge: Odyssey
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Word-of-Day-Challenge-Nearly
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nearly
Compared to living on…

…38 parallel south of the Equator…
…it could be argued that our excursion…
…to Wiseman, Alaska, was nearly
at the North Pole.
After all we were 63 miles
or (101.389 Kilometers)
INSIDE the Arctic Circle.
Wiseman is 67.4100° North,
according to Google.
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Word of the Day Challenge: Nearly
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Lens-Artist-PC-53-My-Choice
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First up, Happy Birthday
to all concerned with the
Lens Artist Challenge.
The My Choice theme has seen me needing to curtail my choices….
and still there are too many images.
Sorry.
I have quite a few ‘favourites’ of Corio Bay.
This is one of them.
The Het Zand Square fountain in Brugge, Belgium.
Special, because I like the fountain and it was
our first night on the European continent.
In Canada’s Rocky Mountains,
in the province of Alberta is the Columbia Icefield.
It was here on the Athabasca Glacier that many of us
experienced falling snow for the first time in June 2018.
Our visit to Wiseman in Alaska
took us further north than ever before.
At 67.41 Degrees North and
63 miles north of the Arctic Circle,
took us further north than ever before.
Prior to last year my furthest north was
about a half-hour drive north
of Loch Lomond in Scotland.
October 2018 was also when we visited
Shires Rest and Hobbit movie set
in New Zealand.
Definitely the first of our wonderful travel experiences
was the last evening and an unexpected game drive
of our 2013 African Safari.
We came across Limpy and her cubs.
For around 20 minutes we had these two cubs
within a few metres of our vehicle.
A day or two ago I read on Facebook
of a Namibian tusker being shot.
When beasts will come to within a few metres,
where is the sport in shooting them.
I refer to this shot as my ‘National Geographic’ shot.
Probably because I had only ever seen this shot in a
National Geographic magazine.
Again the leopard sat there while we clicked away.
In 2017 I was fortunate enough to return to
France and Belgium and tour
the Western Front Battlefields of world War I.
I visited many of the well known areas, memorials
and sites of (to me) lesser known battles.
All I could think of was how lucky my Grandfather
was to survive when so, so many didn’t.
The Last Post Ceremony at Menin Gate
was worth the visit alone.
Finally, a recently posted blue hour
image of Geelong’s Western Beach area.
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Lens-Artist Photo Challenge Patti: Your-Choice
Lens-Artist Photo Challenge Leya: Your-Choice
Lens-Artist Photo Challenge Amy: Your-Choice
Lens-Artist Photo Challenge Tina: Your-Choice
Word-of-Day-Challenge-Vacation
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Twelve months ago…
…we had completed our flight to Coldfoot (Alaska)…
…visited Wiseman, inside the Arctic Circle…
…and were preparing for our journey home to Australia.
After all the preparation and organising,
our vacation was over.
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Word of the Day Challenge: Vacation
FOWChallenge-Bargain
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For last year’s visit to Canada and Alaska we
flew with Air Canada on a 2 for 1 deal.
Because we only stepped onto
an Air Canada flight in Brisbane
I initially thought the 2 for 1 deal
referred to the Brisbane – Vancouver leg.
While speaking to the travel company
I learned that the 2 for 1 deal applied to all flight sectors.
So we flew from Melbourne to Brisbane,
Brisbane to Vancouver,
Vancouver to Victoria and
from Fairbanks to Vancouver
then all the way home to Melbourne…
for what seemed the bargain price of $2,000.
I was expecting that per person.
Thank you Air Canada.
The only flight we had to pay for was
our Air Arctic flight to Coldfoot.
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Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Bargain
Word-of-Day-Challenge-Trip
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noun