The Receding River of Ice (Juneau, Alaska, USA)

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Only a few miles outside of Alaska’s capital (on the only road out of town) is the blue-white icy travel wonder of Mendenhall Glacier. As a poster-child for global warming, this river of ice has receded almost three kilometres in just fifty years, creating Mendenhall Lake at the front of the glacier. Slowly bulldozing its way down the valley, creaking and groaning, it’s beauty among the trees and lake, masks its sharp decline. Smaller bergs having carved off the main glacier float serenely in the lake.

The area includes a number of excellent short walks where salmon, glistening red in the icy pure waters, struggle their last distance upstream to their spawning grounds. In one of nature’s great mysteries, salmon return from the oceans to where they were hatched for their first and only time (science cannot explain this extraordinary feat of memory) laying or fertilising eggs, before dying. They also survive the transition from fresh to salt water, living their entire lives in the open ocean except for birth and reproduction.

If you are fortunate, you may see a black bear or two feverishly hunting the water to prey upon the salmon thrashing their way through the shallow stream beds. The bears’ skills vary dramatically, some able to comfortably pocket a salmon with a simple strike of a paw while others awkwardly pounce in almost comic attempts to satisfy their boundless hunger. Excited whispers ripple through the gathered walkers as they eagerly view the frenzied feeding as the lumbering black bears continue to fill their stomachs in readiness for the pending winter slumber.

While Juneau is a picturesque and petite capital packed with government buildings, its highlight is undoubtedly the Mendenhall Glacier. After all, not many cities can boast a neighbouring glacier in its list of things to see.



Other Natural Wonder North America Posts
Spiritual Medicine Lake (Jasper, Canada)
Bears, Crabs and Eagles on the African Queen (Alaska)
Feeding Frenzy (Alaska)
Unveiling Nature's Grand Masterpiece (Grand Canyon)
Gorge-ous Flume (New Hampshire)
The Fall Kaleidoscope (New England)

Competition: Guess the Weight and Support a Nepalese Orphanage

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The great Kiwi folks at Capital Cause Charitable Trust are raising money and awareness for the Orphan Help Centre in Nepal, which supports twenty homeless or disadvantaged children in this tiny Himalayan country. You simply have to go to the Capital Cause website, make a donation and guess the weight of the backpack (as shown above). The contents feature a bundle of hiking goodies (explained on the site) and even include the treasured Australian goodies of Minties (a chewy, mint flavoured sweet) which no hiking trip should be without. Looks too heavy to trek up the Nepalese mountains to me!!

Even better, the prize is a 16 day trip to Nepal including the return flight from anywhere in the world, a hike around the stunning Annapurna region (by Intrepid Travel) and a bundle of great hiking clothes.

Entries close on July 31 (in a day or two) so please support this great cause run by this excellent non-profit organisation.

Czech Out the Castles - Part Two (Czech Republic)

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The Czech Republic has the most castles per square kilometre of any country in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. This article features four impressive castles near to Prague to be added to the three UNESCO-listed Czech castles featured in part one.

Konopiště Castle (top photo) was home to the Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose shooting in Bosnia began World War 1 (the actual bullet is on display in the castle). Though built in the 14th century, it is furnished around 1900 and includes the modern conveniences of the time including a flushing toilet, running water and a lift. Somewhat morbidly, the Archduke was a passionate hunter credited with killing over 300,000 animals. The castle including numerous hunting trophies, a shooting gallery (with moving targets), stunning gardens and forests and an extensive collections of medieval arms.

Karlštejn Castle is a photogenic Gothic castle just outside of Prague. Built by Charles IV (the same Charles who has numerous structures named in his honour in Prague) in the mid-1300s to hold the Bohemian crown jewels (now in Prague Castle). The interior of the castle is dull with the exception of the striking Holy Cross Chapel in the Great Tower (the tallest building), guarded by four metre thick walls. The chapel contains pictures of all Czech saints and is richly decorated in gold leaf and in-laid gemstones. Visiting the chapel is difficult and needs advanced purchase tickets.

Hluboká Castle is a gleaming white almost-fairytale Gothic castle in the south of the Czech Republic near České Budějovice (Budweis in German, where the original Budweiser Beer was created and brewed). The interior is typically regal with sumptuous but impractical furnishings and decorated with striking tapestries and paintings.

Křivoklát Castle is a medieval castle set among scenic rolling forested hills, only a short distance west of Prague. Celebrating its 900th year, it served as a brutal prison in the middle ages with a torture chamber and a variety of nasty instruments still on display. A superb library of historic books, knight's dining hall and elegant chapel highlight the castle’s interior while its strategic defensive capabilities are evident throughout. In the courtyard, displays of middle-aged trades are displayed including blacksmithing, wood-carving and ceramics.

The Czech Republic spent centuries at the crossroads of cultures, empires and religions leaving a rich fabric of castles. Enjoy these seven travel wonders that are among the jewels of castles with superb architecture and fascinating histories.

Czech Out the Castles - Part One (Czech Republic)

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The travel wonder of Prague Castle and the spires of St Vitus Cathedral overlooking the Vltava River (top photo) is one of Europe's most enduring images. Central to a number of prominant Prague hotels and being at a focal point of European history, Prague Castle is only one of a number of enchanting, historic or ornate castles around the Czech Republic. This article highlights seven other castles sprinkled across the Czech Republic worthy of a visit - the first three heritage listed by UNESCO and the final four within a couple of hours of Prague.

Litomyšl Castle's detailed decorations are in a style called sgraffito where different coloured plasters are applied to the walls and then scratched to produce outlines of varying colours. The striking design gives the aristocratic feel of a French chateau. A still accurate 1728 sundial sits in the courtyard. Furthermore, the castle is treasured as the birthplace of the country’s most famous composer, Bedřich Smetana, known locally as “the father of Czech music” and which is sometimes played in the attached original Baroque theatre (one of only five in the world). The nearby main square is huge for such a small town and truly elegant with renaissance houses painted in a variety of pastel colours.

Lednice Castle was owned by the Princes of Liechtenstein until communist rule after World War 2. Denuded of all its furniture by the departing family, it has been restored to some of its former glory. The interior includes stunning oriental wallpapers and a staggering wooden staircase, hand-carved from one immense piece of hardwood with intricate railings. Outside is a huge park including the chance of a boat ride down the meandering river highlighting a towering out-of-place minaret (ready for a call-to-prayer) and a purpose-built ruined castle, purely for decoration.

Kroměříž Castle is the baroque palace of the local archbishops in the east of the country. The castle has a historic library and some fine paintings but the highlight is the surrounding formal garden complete with ornate symmetric designs, colourful blooms, crisply clipped hedges and elegant statues. The gardens have a lot of the style of the best of the French chateaux with their precision, creativity and floral opulence. The phenomenal garden has earned this castle its UNESCO heritage listing.

Four more Czech castles are featured in part two.

Photo of the Week - Moon Landing 40th Anniversary (Washington DC, USA)

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Not far from the US Capitol is one of the world's finest displays of air and space objects. Among the Smithsonian's staggering collection of aircraft, rocketships and spacecraft is an original lunar module as used to get the Apollo astronauts from their main craft to the moon's surface and back again (only the top portion is used for the return journey).

I recall being sent home from school as a young child to view the first landing on the moon live on black and white television. It seems appropriate for this image to be photo of the week on this the fortieth annivesary of first landing a human on the moon.

Source: NASA