Fairbanks

Back on the tourist trail!  This Alaskan part of our tour is geared for the American cruise lines (Princess and Holland), so we’ve been sharing it with thousands of others.  Not really our cup of tea.  The long queues get me - my patience wears rather thin at times.  Today was the worst I think.  We were taken to Santas House at North Pole first.  That wasnt too bad and many on our tour were keen to stock up on Christmas trimmings.

Doesn’t have quite the same effect without snow though.  It was 27 deg, and smoky from all the wildfires in Alaska.

Then on to paddles steamer for the afternoon.  Actually, it was quite interesting because we visited a recreation of an Alaskan Indian fishing village.  It was just a pity about the crowds.

The river is lined with interesting properties.  Some pretty lush.

We are not finish with Fairbanks though - this afternoon we’re taking a light plane flight across the Arctic Circle.  Don’t get back until late, then tomorrow we leave our Tour to set out on our own - first Barrow which is very remote, so not sure if we’ll have the internet.  We return to Fairbanks for a couple of days to explore downtown this time.