Leaving Alaska

Day 44 - 2 August
Awoke to yet another overcast day (thank God for yesterday's magnificent weather) in the capital, Juneau.   There are 3 other ships in port, so we drew the short straw and had to anchor and tender passengers ashore.  We were so surprised that with between 8 - 10,000 passengers in town for 1 day, it did not seem at all crowded and mainly we only met/saw people from our ship.  The rest must have been accosted by bears!

To be honest, we were pretty late in getting up and didn't finish breakfast until well after 9.15.  This was due in part to the US Authorities doing a full hygiene inspection on the kitchen at breakfast time!!  In Seward they did a full safety inspection, which apparently the ship passed with flying colours. 

So after breakfast, down to the meeting room for our tender tickets - we had previously been told that there was no priority for Elites, as there are too many of us.  However clearly the ship's tours were getting some priority,  but given that it was only a 5 minute ride to the dock it didn't matter.

Once ashore we established where the bus terminal was and took the #4 bus to the Glacier Gardens.  Before I go on, the #4 & #3 buses go all the way out to the Mendenhall Glacier and the rest of suburban Juneau for a princely sum of $2 each.  Now the distance would be some 30 miles and if you wished, you could do the whole return trip in an hour for the one price.  Wouldn't it be great if Auckland Transport could do the same!

OK,  the gardens were set up following a disastrous mud slide, about 30 years ago.  This is a private development and is mainly concentrated on the indigenous forest.  One of the peculiarities is the predominance of upside down trees, where the roots are filled with annuals and "planted" with the trunk in the ground.  What we hadn't realised was that the entry fee included a fully escorted tour by golf buggy to the top of the "mountain" 580 ft high, with what would have been great views over the surrounding area, more particularly the Juneau International Airport (they have 1 flight from Canada).

Back into town for another  $4 and found an excellent coffee shop and had a really good coffee.  Yeah at last.  Then a wander through the town, which looked far more appealing than last time.  2 things stand out in Juneau shopping - jewellery & fudge.  Thankfully we picked the fudge, although ounce to ounce the jewellery was probably better value.

At the far end of town we took the tramway, ropeway, gondola or whatever term you wish to use, to the top of Mt Roberts 1800 ft.  Once again what could have been spectacular views were hindered by the mist.  Still pleased that we did it.  On our return, it was a stroll along the waterfront, past the other ships (which made ours look a little dated) and straight on to a tender which left immediately to get us back to the ship in plenty of time to grab a bite & drink at the International Cafe and back here to update the blog before I forget where we have been.  I must comment that after all those sea days, I'd got a bit blasé in recording activities and suddenly the shore days started to blend together.

Although it was relatively clear as we sailed away from Juneau, the fog/mist/whatever soon had us back in a white cocoon.  I thought that I'd seen a couple of small boats in the distance, but they were a funny bluish colour.  Upon closer inspection and a break in the weather they turned out to be very large icebergs.  Well after dinner the weather cleared and the sun returned, along with a number of whales quite close to the ship putting on an extra performance for us.

Day 45 - 3 August
Ketchikan is our last Alaskan port and we are scheduled to arrive just after 10.00am.  Sadly it is yet another heavily overcast day, which seems to be a highlight of this cruise.  We got a note today from the Captain advising that the ship needs some urgent electrical work done and accordingly we're staying an extra day in San Francisco but missing San Diego - darn it, that was really the port we wanted to go to, as we hadn't been there before.  We do however get an additional Hawaiian port, so let's hope the sun is shining by then.

A bit of a shambles getting off the ship, as everyone wanted off as soon as we arrived - although our tour tickets said be on the wharf at 10.40, we were still on board but got to the bus in plenty of time for our 11.00 departure.  More by good luck than touring Co. management.   We got the usual city tour before heading off to the wilderness!  Another Native American corporation property.  OK, it was to be a nature walk through wilderness  (we are getting so over this, with same/similar narrative each time), but there was hope of bear.  Still hoping unfortunately. Probably a better chance here as there were hundreds of salmon, both live and already dead in the river and there was plenty of bear "sign" but they'd obviously had their fill earlier in the morning and we're sleeping it off (like cruise ship passengers! ).  Enjoyable, but this was our last chance at Alaskan bears, and it didn't happen.

Back just before 2.00pm and lunch again at International Cafe.   After that Vivian went downtown shopping  on her own and I ventured up to the supermarket for some decongestant.  I haven't commented on this for some time however I am reminded every morning  that it is now 4 weeks......  It is really just a really annoying cough, particularly bad at night and in the morning.  I do not have a temperature and otherwise feel great but must admit I too am really over it!

As usual, by the time we cast off at 6.00, the weather improved and started to look nice, too late I say. Although there were 3 other ships in port all day, we were the last to leave (yes, we were the last to arrive too).  Nice sailing south through the remaining Alaskan islands - still no bears, but a large number of salmon leaping out of the water as we sailed by.  The Captain advised that we'd be picking up the Canadian pilots about 11.30pm, so this is the end of Alaska.  Still no bears!

Day 46 - 4 August
Wouldn't you believe it, a most glorious day with plenty of sun and a moderate breeze & swell as we head down the coast towards Vancouver.  Quite funny to get back to a sea day routine after all the Alaskan ports etc.  As we only have one more (the last day) sea day before the end of the sector, we have yet another formal night tonight.

Back to our walk around the deck in the morning and it is noticeably warmer, so it'll be back to the shorts tomorrow and hopefully for the next 3 weeks.  Looking at the NZ news, I know that it'll be back to winter woolies on our return 😁   Meeting up with our friends Rohays & Don, who cruised Rome to Singapore with us 3 years ago, in Vancouver tomorrow and then Don & Charles ex Queen Victoria in Victoria on Saturday, so a busy time ahead.  It is great to keep in contact with so many friends we have met on the high seas over the last few years.

Photos:
Juneau :
Glacier Gardens  (6)
Fudge making
Ship's from Mt Roberts
Vivian's bear!

Ketchikan
Salmon waters
Town (2)