Wednesday - So another sunny day dawns (technically true, though it never gets dark: official sunset time for the solstice was 12.36 am!) and we leave at 6 am to begin a memorable journey through Denali National Park. Led by Gita, our Danish guide who has lived in Alaska for 20 years, we look for wildlife - and find a moose beside the road within minutes. It's a fantastic and incredibly lucky day - amid magnificent mountain scenery (and at times precipitous mount...

Tuesday - Well, we made it! A lot of hassle (never explained!) with USA immigration but eventually they let us in. The flight to Anchorage was busy but uneventful, with some great views of glaciers (there are 10,000 in Alaska!) as we came in. Anchorage is warm and sunny, with a friendly feel. Nice hotel beside Ship Creek close by the train station. We ride a free tram car up to the city centre, do a bit of shopping and a lot of walking - parks and waterfront, w...

Sunday - An early start today to catch the 'Sea to Sky' train, run by Rocky Mountaineer. We were in the two-storey dome coach with wide windows and glass roof. The staff are relentlessly cheerful and very efficient, food and drink plentiful and the scenery fantastic. The first half of the three and a half hour journey runs along the coast with islands and mountains in the background. Then from Squamish we turn inland and upwards, through the Cheakamus Canyon - a ...

Thursday - We set off from Ilkley by train yesterday and, after meeting Emma in Leeds for coffee, continued on to Kings Cross. After some hassle over return train tickets, we head out to Heathrow and finally reach the EasyHotel around 10pm. Not completely orange, thankfully, spartan but comfortable enough. Oddly, it feels, we're in a villagey suburb with views from our window of a huge wheat field. Short walk to The White Hart in the village for a quick drink bef...