It must have been that massive rib-eye that affected the shut-eye… at 5:40am, I’d had enough so grabbed my book and headed down to deck 5 for a pot of tea. The morning’s supply of fresh pastries and doughnuts arrived a little after 6am, so in the interests of quality control, I thought I’d test the chocolate doughnut this time. As expected, fresh and delicious. Not long after, Paula arrived. All the lights flickering was irritating, so we returned to the cabin, before heading up for an early breakfast. We’d paid out big money for a Princess tour and Paula wasn’t too sure whether or not she’d be able to make it, not feeling too good after her toast, but probably against the Doc’s advice, she needed to pop a fizzy Imodium – and did.
Ship berthed on the port side.
Paula’s el Cheapo, $30 Vodafone pre-pay phone worked. Mine didn’t.
Just a walk off the ship. No formalities as we are still in the USA.
The ship is effectively downtown.
Cruise cards checked on returning to the ship.
Ship scanning of hand luggage on return.
Our arrival was about 30 minutes later than planned and on the way in, in just one docking area alone, there were 27 sea/float planes. Obviously, a very popular tourist option around here, as they were taking off and landing all day. Like some other parts of Alaska, there is no external road access anyway. We watched as a three strong stevedore crew, tied up the ship, then we waited until they had finished that before they transferred their attentions to a fork lift truck, then hooked on their gangways to the ship. We were meeting ashore for our ‘Bear and Wildlife’ tour and noted that the queue for the deck 5 exit was very long (due to the delay) and we also knew that a deck 4 gangway had just been connected, so we took that route! Good move. There was a light drizzle and as this area has more rainy days than any other part of the USA, we were prepared for it.
A short drive to our venue, and there were people from the other ships in the port arriving at the same time. I think that once again there were 3 or 4 ships in. We were split into groups of 15 and our guide, Joe, was very informative about the various trees and also about bears. He’d studied them at Uni. This venue had some attractive paths winding through the woods and we then came across a substantial boardwalk, around a partial clearing.
Half way around, Joe spotted a mummy bear and her 2, 2 year old cubs. They were just lazing, partly hidden by the substantial undergrowth. Cameras were clicking like mad, but there wasn’t too much happening. After about half an hour, we moved on to the edge of a salmon hatchery and waterway, then Joe decided we should probably do another lap of the boardwalk. Good call.
Next time around, after a minute or two, the bears headed down towards the water and of course, we were able to follow them. Out in the open, there were better photo opportunities. Once one had had a swim and an unsuccessful attempt to catch salmon, they wandered off again out of sight, so we moved on, past the hatchery. Plenty of (smelly) dead fish around, as they head back to their place of birth to spawn, then die. Nature can be quite tough with some species.
On then towards the old sawmill but on a pontoon out front, we spotted a mother otter with three cubs! That was a surprise to Joe, as even he hadn’t seen them before.
On through the old sawmill and to where a massive totem pole was being carved out of cedar. This was expected to take about 10 months which is why totem poles are extremely expensive. We are talking about $5,000 a foot!
They also have a raptor centre and there was one eagle that apparently got injured in an altercation with a power line. His damaged muscles mean that although he could soar, he can’t take off and lift. He’s been there now for about 11 years and is reckoned to be about 29 years old. He’ll probably live to about 40 in captivity, a few years more than in the wild.
We didn’t have much time to then wander, as the coach had arrived. The morning drizzle had given way to nice bright sunshine for the second half of our tour, but on the way back to town, it looked as though it had been raining.
Paula survived but was done in, so she went to the cabin and I grabbed a bite to eat. They had a really nice salmon, so although it isn’t my favourite fish, I did enjoy a chunk. We have very good friends in NZ who would have been in their element…
I went ashore again and was just about to make a gift purchase or two, or more, when I realised I’d left my wallet on board. (When returning to the ship, camera and wallet go into the backpack for scanning and I’d forgotten to take the wallet out again). By this time, it was getting busy as people were returning, so sorry all you Kiwis, the gifts I’d intended to buy you all, as a souvenirs from Alaska got left behind. I wasn’t going off the ship again.
Paula stayed in the cabin and I went out on deck 11 for the sailaway and I told our table mates we wouldn’t be at dinner.
We did go up to the buffet, but Paula only had a cuppa and we returned to the cabin rather than go to any of the entertainment on offer.
Clocks on an hour – at night this time, thank goodness, so we crashed fairly early.
At least Paula managed the tour and we both thought it a real highlight. Many tours claim to be ‘bear watching’ and almost all have a disclaimer to say, that actually seeing bears cannot be guaranteed. Other passengers took floatplanes and did see bears, some didn’t. Several went salmon fishing and were very successful, so all in all, a good stop. The fact that the weather brightened was a bonus.
So that was our last stop in Alaska and a day at sea tomorrow – Paula’s birthday - before we hit Vancouver. This will be two years on the trot (no pun intended!) that she hasn’t been too good at birthday time, but with a good bunch of table companions, no doubt there will be compensations.
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