On our way home from France, we stopped in Alaska for a 3 months road trip. We arrived in a land where the eagles are bigger than dogs, and where moose, bears, and hundreds of spawning salmon appeared almost daily.

It was truly one of the best times of our lives travelling through Alaska. It is a place of wonder and wilderness that keeps drawing us back.

Here is a rough map of the places we visited…

The pink line is our route in a camper van (generously loaned to us by our good friend Pete) along some insanely stunning roads visiting places such as Denali National Park, Valdez, and little towns along the Richardson and Glenn Highways. We were fortunate to spend quality time with dear friends and to meet locals who live life so differently to us at home in Australia.

The yellow line marks a ferry we took to Kodiak Island, where we surfed our little hearts out and watched bears snacking on salmon that battled their way upstream.

The green line shows the route Mike and Wendy took us on, aboard their boat, the Milo. It was a dreamy surf trip through the Kenai Fjords, where once again we found ourselves surfing in faraway places.

We arrived at the tail end of summer and left at the start of winter, watching the landscape transform around us. Bright greens and the pinks of vibrant fireweed slowly gave way to autumn’s yellows, oranges, and reds. In our final days, the mountains were dusted with ‘termination dust’, that icing-sugar veil of snow that signals winter’s arrival.

Driving through Denali National Park (above), we couldn’t believe our luck when the clouds finally lifted to reveal the peak of the great Denali (below). Apparently only about 30% of visitors ever get to see it, which made the moment feel even more special.

Denali is North America’s highest peak, reaching 6,190 m (20,310 ft). We walked a good 20 km through the park and spotted Dall sheep standing precariously on craggy outcrops and bull moose with antlers so large they struggled to move through wooded areas.

Autumn Traditions

On Kodiak Island we saw the great brown bears searching for salmon in the rivers and berries in the bushes. Kodiak Island has one of the densest populations of bears in the world and also the biggest (after polar bears). With a population of 3,500 on the island, that is approximately one bear every square mile! So we had to do a lot of signing and clapping whenever we went for a hike or run! 

It wasn’t just the bears hoping for a good catch. It was salmon season, and the riverbanks were choc-a-bloc with hooks, lines, and sinkers. Alaskans lined the shores to fill their freezers with enough fish to carry them, and their families, through the year.

Ben, however, went the more ‘caveman’ style, choosing to catch our dinner with his hands.

Further inland, we discovered it was also moose-hunting season. I hope this doesn’t make you feel too squeamish, but this is a fundamental part of life in Alaska – hunting and living off the land to survive the frigid winters. We met many families who would hunt a moose and share it with their neighbours. A single moose can feed several families for an entire year.

I never imagined surfing a bore tide! Near Anchorage, the Turnagain Arm bore tide is when the incoming tide rushes up the inlet as a breaking wave. It is fast and is surfable… on the right day. We joined our good friends, Rachel and Scott, to give it a go. We missed it the first try, but the swell was up and we called it a success the second time! 

Aboard The Milo

Time on the Milo was absolutely magical. Surfing, singing, fishing, laughing and so much more. Words won’t do it justice, so we’ll just say the hugest thanks to Mike, Wendy, Peter, Casey, Alex, Ethan and Kodiak for the lifetime memories.

By the end of October it was time to head home to Australia. We’d slept in the van more nights than we could count, chased surf in places that felt like the edge of the world, and learnt from others with big, bright minds. A big thanks to all our Alaskan friends for making us feel so welcome.

Australia to Africa…Here we go again!

Back home in Australia, time has once again flown. It has been the cup-filling, heart-warming time we needed, albeit a little hectic at times (as expected!). We have spent time between Melbourne with family and friends, and the Surfcoast, house-sitting our friend’s magnificent home and hanging out with our coastal community. Among all the shenanigans we also had two screenings of our travel film – Niokobokk – one in Jan Juc, and one in Melbourne. Our friends, families and even strangers turned up for us and showed us some serious love. We appreciate you all and can’t thank you enough.

Senegal to South Africa

This Saturday 24th January we will travel to Senegal to jump back on our bikes and start riding south towards South Africa. We hope to reach Cape Town by October this year. Ben has done some incredible research to align our travels with the surf seasons, minimise time in the wet season where possible, and collate all the information to make visas and border crossings as smooth as possible.

As we cycle our way down the coast we will continue to raise awareness and funds to support the Environmental Justice Foundation to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in West Africa. So far, we have raised over $16,400 dollars and we are now aiming for a stretch goal of $25,000!

We would like to thank all of those who have donated to the cause, and to those who have also taken the time to learn about it, as we recognise that it is another global issue that can add to some already heavy-hearts.

We’re waving a big see-you-soon to you all! We wish that we had more time with our Aussie family and friends, but it won’t be long before we’ll be saying, ‘hello again’.

More soon.

Laura and Ben