Sneaky Peek : Alaska – 20 years on

I have been reflecting on an amazing journey I did exactly 20 years ago! In 1993 I went to Canada with a friend called Lindy and we ventured to the northern frontier of Alaska.

Apologies for the quality of these photos (I don’t have a scanner) but they certainly depict the fashion of the era – apparently happy pants; purple fleece; shell necklaces, John Lennon glasses and a little bit of chubbiness were du jour of the day!

The highlights of our trip included meeting a couple from North Carolina – Greg and Jackie LaBarbera in a Juneau Youth Hostel. They were travelling from the ‘Lower 48’ in their jeep and asked us to join them on their journey through Alaska! How could two Aussie girls refuse such a kind offer?

We travelled up the Inside Passage via the Alaska Marine Highway ferries which was such an amazing experience and arrived late into Skagway the gateway to the Klondike gold-rush. We found a ‘clearing’ out of town to camp for the night, only to realise at dawn the ‘clearing’ happened to be the end of an airport runway and a light aircraft was taking off over our tents!

For two weeks we continued our travels through the Yukon, Fairbanks, Denali National Park, Anchorage, Valdez and saw the wonders of Mt. McKinley, wild moose, grizzly bears, went whale watching in the Kenai Peninsula and marvelled at icebergs on lakes.

Greg & Jackie dropped us back off at Whitehorse in the Yukon (Canada) where we hitched (sorry Mum, I probably didn’t tell you that at the time) back into Alaska and returned to Vancouver.

It is one of those trips that I always think fondly of and would dearly love to return with my family one day. I am still in contact with Greg & Jackie after all these years and they are even coming to visit me in Tasmania next February. So I am sure we will reminisce about our adventures all those years ago, and I dare say – the fashion too. Xxx