A week ago Thursday, my wife and I were in your fair city overnight after spending 24 nights in Canada and Alaska on a tour. An absolute wonderful experience. We had arrived in early evening for the second time in Anchorage after being delayed leaving Fairbanks, which caused us to miss all our connections back to Australia. We were put up at the Microtel off Northwood Avenue and decided to get the courtesy bus up to Spenard Road for a meal -- then, as the bus would have been picking up the rest of the tour group from the airport, decided to walk back to the hotel. We had just got past the Montessori school when a lady slowed down and yelled something we really did not understand; we apologize to that lady for not taking her seriously and asking her to repeat what she said.
We kept walking enjoying the twilight we had got used to and loved. About another 200 meters (whoops, yards) later, another lady pulled up and clearly advised us that we were in danger, as there was a moose on our side about 50 yards further up the road and that we should at least cross the road. When we did, here was the moose no more than 2 yards off the sidewalk that we had been walking along and staring straight at us. If this wonderful resident of your city had not warned us, we would most probably not be telling you this story, as we would not have seen him until the last moment.
We then hightailed it back about 300 yards until we could flag down a young fellow in a pickup truck who was unsure what was happening, as my wife was in his car before he even pulled up.
Suffice to say, he drove us to the hotel back past the moose and saved this pair of dumb Aussie tourists. He made the comment that he believed our kangaroos were more dangerous than your moose. I’ve got to tell you, no kangaroo has ever made me feel as scared as I was with this experience; I’m still having nightmares.
A massive thank-you to these three people of your city for realizing that this was something that needed to be done to protect your visitors.
— Geoff and Judie Graham
Gladstone, Queensland, Australia
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