Whales, Seals, Otters, Birds, Bears, and Beers

1st October – Haines

The next stop on our cruise is the town of Haines. Yet another stunning town surrounded by the most picture perfect mountains. Today’s mountains come with a dusting of fresh snow. According to old mate on the pier, this means they have two weeks until Winter really arrives here in Haines and the cold sets in.

It does not seem like an appropriate time to tell him, its fucking freezing mate.

Today’s excursion is a 2 hour hike. There are three of us doing the hike, Jason, myself, and a nice, older chap, called Chris. Chris is a perpetual cruiser (that sounds wrong), he is retired and does between 6 and 8 cruises each year. He is a wealth of knowledge.

Our guides today are Annie and Abby, they are the sweetest creatures. Very chatty and thoughtful. They are both from elsewhere and have been working in Haines for the summer. Abby is off to New Zealand to work as a guide in Abel Tasman. If you come across her, say hi!

Being the helpful kiwis that we are, we gave her the full rundown of all the things you need to know. Most importantly that the sandfly is NOT your friend and a large dose of deet will be required whenever you leave your tent.

I hope she enjoys her time there.

The hike is out to a beach where we can enjoy the views and the snacks that both Annie and Amy have provided for us. Jason was extremely excited about having a coffee, until they realised that they had forgotten the cups. Tooooooo funny.

We don’t see any critters, with the exception of one squirrel, and the bear spray remains unused. Come on bears, we are desperate to see you!!

Normally this hike takes 3 hours, but we are all pretty fit, and it is not overly difficult so we have it all done and dusted within 2 hours. Even with a couple of detours and lots of photography. So the ladies take us for a bus tour of the town, to help us get our bearings.

Haines was the home of Fort William H. Seward, also known as Chilkoot Barracks or Haines Mission, was built in 1902 and played a big role during the Klondike Gold Rush. It was the last of twelve military posts constructed in Alaska during that time. It is now a National Historic Landmark and offers visitors a chance to explore Alaska’s past amidst beautiful scenery, many of the original buildings are now homes and have been repurposed for the town.

They have a very strange 4th of July tradition here called the 4th of July Panty Fly. 99 pairs of white underwear and 1 pair of red underwear are stuffed into a canon.

The locals all place bets, at a cost of $5 each, on how far the red underwear will fly. The winner gets half the takings and the other half goes towards a local charity. Sounds like a riot, I wonder if it is on YouTube anywhere…

We are dropped off in town so we can do a little bit of shopping. Tomorrow we are heading to Hubbard Glacier and it would be great if we could have a pair of binoculars to see up close and look for any cold critters. There is a sports shop and the guy was very helpful, let us take a couple of pairs outside to try them out. Inside the store there is a huge array of taxidermized local animals. All locally hunted. They are huge. There is the usual moose, deer, bears, foxes, but also a mountain lion (nope, don’t like that), and a seal (are you fucking kidding me). Anyway, it is fascinating, you can also pick up a hand gun, rifle, or semi automatic, if you are in the market for one.

We secure our binoculars and head off to the American Bald Eagle Foundation (American Bald Eagle Foundation – American Bald Eagle Foundation (baldeagles.org)). They rescue and take care of injured birds, those that are on display are permanent residents due to their injuries. Mainly damaged or amputated wings. Most of the birds tangled with powerlines or cars, got their wings caught and down they went, people will bring them into the sanctuary where they are cared for, if the bird will fully recover, it is returned to the wild, if not, they stay here and are often used for education purposes.

There are three large, beautiful bald eagles, and a Eurasian Eagle Owl. No, that is not some hybrid species designed by man, but a bird that is normally at home in much of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. They are gorgeous. Someone had bought it or found it, and now it is “imprinted”, meaning it is attached to humans and would not survive in the wild. It is only 14 weeks old, and it is HUGE. Think of the owls from Harry Potter, but bigger. Just beautiful.

There is also a great museum part to the sanctuary, you pay to get in (they are not for profit and worth the small amount you pay to visit).

We buy a small item from the gift shop, got to support them, and start the walk to dinner. Annie and Abby recommended the Bamboo Room for halibut. Really weird as the name indicates some sort of Asian fare, but that would be completely incorrect. It is a traditional diner with the formica tables and vinyl seats, and the usual menu of burgers, fries, quesadilla, and deep-fried chicken.

Jason gets his halibut fish and chips, we have a couple of beverages and watch the world outside move by. Apparently, the fish is ok, but not as good as The Hanger – not surprising.

Haines is a small town but when there is a cruise ship docked, the streets are rather busy. I wonder if the locals love it or hate it. Probably a bit of both, they need the income but would really love the peace and quiet.

As we walk down the waterfront, we notice a bunch of tourists (because we are locals of course) staring up at the trees and, sure enough, there is a huge bald eagle, hanging out and enjoying the attention. How cool is Alaska?!?!

There is a plant in Alaska that we have heard about from several of our tour guides. It is called Devil’s Club and the indigenous people use it for medicinal purposes. They turn it into tea, a paste, put it in meals, and also create a balm you can rub it on your skin (Clarise) to help with rashes, pain, arthritis, swelling, practically everything. Or so the advertising goes.

My scar has been insanely painful the last couple of weeks, I think all the nerves are beginning to wake up or repair, and everything hurts. Sitting, standing, rubbing, its unpleasant. So, I have decided to buy into the hype and find some of this balm. It surely can’t make it any worse… can it.

We find the local store that has the balm, and I buy a couple of tubs to take with me. I have been using it for a while now, and my scar feels better. No idea if it is the balm or just time. But I will assume, because it suits me, that it is the balm. I still get the occasional stabbing pain that stops me in my tracks, but nothing like it was before.

At this store they also sell fudge, and Jason needs this for medicinal purposes also. We purchase three different flavours to take back on the boat.

Our tour of the town ends at the brewery, Jason has been circling it since we got here, and it is now open. NAME OF THE BREWERY, the beer, apparently is very nice. The views out the back are spectacular, the constant blah, blah, blah of our fellow travellers… not so much.

Having completed two tours of the town, seen everything we want to, filled up on nice food and beer (not me), we amble back to the ship.

Jason is napping so I head up to the Spinnaker bar to write some postcards, I really wanted to get them done asap and sent from Alaska. Over the next hour I watch entitled people come and go from the bar, I watch the bar man manage the behaviour with a smile and a song. He is also the master of accents, which he tries out on every punter. I am amused.

As I sit and write, someone orders a Baileys and Club Soda. WTAF! I had to double take, as did the bar tender, but sure enough, that is what she wanted. I thought I might be sick.

I complete my postcard writing assignment, with enough time left that I can actually go ashore and post them! Which I do. Jason is still resting, and I feel very pious for getting them done. Yay me.

At 430pm we say goodbye to Haines, Alaska. What a beautiful place.

Tonight, we hang out in the bar before heading back to the Sushi restaurant for another delicious dinner.

Tomorrow we are at sea, we are going to view Hubbard Glacier. I wonder what that will be like.

2nd October – Hubbard Glacier – Jesus Wept its Cold

Today we figured out that it is possible to have breakfast without the hordes and madness. We head downstairs to the Seven Seas restaurant. The menu is al a carte, you are seated at tables, they bring you food, it is bliss.

It is possibly the reason why Jason was not arrested at sea. I think if I had taken him back to the trough again, he would have lost it.

They have eggs benedict, his favourite breakfast ever, and he is very happy. They will also allow you to change what is on the menu and are very accommodating. Overtime I figure out I can get more and more vegetables and fruit, which I desperately need.

A lovely session at the gym where we see whales in the distance, how special is that. Not something you usually see as you slog it out on the treadmill. It was amazing.

We head up to the Spinnaker Bar, which will be the main location for most people wanting to head out onto the viewing deck when we get close to the glacier. Now it is raining and cloudy, we wonder if we will see anything at all.

Due to the weather and slightly choppy seas, we are delayed getting to the glacier, but you would hardly know as we sit, sip drinks, eat a DELICIOUS salmon chowder, and listen to music. The bar fills and fills with anticipation of the glacier.

We are lucky, we have a seat, and a table. I can write and have a place to put my cocktail, and Jason can wander about and have a home base for his beer. Then we start to get close.

We laugh at couples who are wearing matching outfits, jackets, shoes. Until we realise that we are matching, thanks to Krys and David who lent us their super-duper warm jackets. Jason says it doesn’t count because ours are black. I will take it.

You can see the glacier looming in the distance, we start travelling past large clumps of ice in the water. I can only assume there was nothing big enough to tear a hole in the boat. As we get closer more and more people appear and start going outside to view the glacier. The rain is still coming, its very cold, and one stupid woman decides to take an umbrella outside. For the love of all things sensible 1. Its windy out there; 2. Think of other people you selfish twat. The twat in question did not last long and waddles her way back inside.

We step outside as the ship gets closer and its just breathtaking. The photos and my ramblings do not do it justice. The colour and magnitude of the glacier is heart stopping, occasionally you hear the crack and boom of pieces falling into the sea. Unlike most other glaciers, Hubbard Glacier is growing and growing fast. Pushing its way into the sea. I hope this is a good sign that the planet is not completely fucked.

It is pouring, off and on, but we are warm, even though we are in shorts. The warm jackets, hats, and gloves make a difference. Until my feet get wet, damn it, then it is just cold toes. Brrr.

As with every tour there are view hogs, blocking others from seeing the glacier or getting a photo, it winds me up. Deep breath, not my circus, not my monkeys. Assholes! We are lucky though, both of us are reasonably tall and can see lots. Also, we have pretty good constitutions when it comes to the cold so, even though we are both in shorts, we stay out for some time and get some great shots when the crowd thins.

The captain was brilliant, he circled and circled, even when we went down to our cabin, we could stand on our balcony and get a good view. We are lucky, we are blessed.

It is time to defrost and head up to the specialty Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Yet again we are impressed with the service. Even though we feel the cruise and the boat are not what we had hoped, we cannot fault the enthusiasm and care of the staff. They are wonderful, as we start to see the same faces around the place, we become known as J and J. Too funny.

Its amazing how a little thought and care can make a difference, no big surprise really!!! As we speak to each person we interact with we get to know them, there are so many from the Philippines so I practice all my phrases from our visit last year. They love it, a wee touch of home, and the fact that we went there!!!

A lovely day and evening, time to sleep.

The clocks go back or forward or something!!! This happens every few days so it’s a touch confusing.

Sitka – 3rd October – Forever a place in my heart

We had sorted out an agenda for today.

Get up, go to the gym, have breakfast, and hit land for our tour.

But the time change royally fucked that. Instead we skip breakfast and head out to the tour. I pack snacks because I know it will not be good for anyone if we both get hungry/hangry.

As we wait for the ok to disembark, we notice a man on a scooter, one of the old people scooters you see around retirement villages (and cruises), with his suitcases and, oddly enough, a skateboard strapped to the front. This chap is not old… but does have one leg, below the knee, amputated and has a prosthetic. He is accompanied by two ship security guards, and they are the first to disembark. Turns out, this guy is a bit of an asshole. Or a lot of an asshole, very drunk, throwing up in the hallways, falling on people, and then skateboarding on the deck (I actually would have liked to have seen this), so he is being escorted from the ship. Later mate, find your own way home!

Dumb ass.

Sitka is the largest city in the United States by size, at 4800sm. However, by population, they don’t even make the top 100.

We make it to the excursion in time, unlike some who were left behind. We end up sitting next to a very delightful young woman called Willow. She was doing the excursion on her own so we hung out a bit.

The excursion is on a reasonably smaller boat, so not too many people and the crew are very cool. The tour guide has a full set of terrible jokes, the captain is very knowledgeable, and the deck hand did not fall overboard. Excellent.

This excursion is called Otters, Eagles, and Bears Oh MY! We are to go looking for sea otters and bald eagles, then, after the boat tour, we are transferred to a bus where we will go to a rescued bear sanctuary. Sounds like fun.

The sun is shining, there are only a few clouds in the sky, we have really lucked out.

Within minutes of setting out, we see whales, its like they were waiting for us to join them. Really showing off and looking spectacular. They were not even on the viewing menu for today! We head over to a little bay where bald eagles are often sighted, sure enough, there were lots. Including one who had recently caught herself of a lovely big fish and was having breakfast, sorry for the interruption.

It is cold on this boat, I have seven layers on, and still my toes are cold! Suck it up, get the views. It is worth it.

The otters are a little harder to come by, they are not as flashy or outgoing as the seals and whales, but we do see them, wallowing about and putting their cute little tails in the air.

Our captain who, I have to say, sounds just like Dolly Parton, says she will swing by a salmon catchment, as there are often bears in this area. Sounds great to us. We all scan the waterline looking hopefully. Is that a bear? Nope, a stump, a log, a shadow. And then……

A BEAR! An actual bear, swimming along, playing in the water, looking for fish, completely oblivious, or does not give a shit, to the fact that we are here. Then, ANOTHER BEAR. Two bears, one on the outside of the catchment (dumb bear) and one on the inside of the catchment, with a meal of fresh salmon (smart bear).

They are Sitka Coastal Brown Bears and they are freaking adorable. I just want to give them a snug, not wise though. Not wise at all. Keep your hands to yourself.

We watch the bears for a while, it is incredibly special and a big step up from the black bear doing a runner up the street in Juneau.

How good is this!

Its time to head back to the mainland. Past the giant sea lions lazing on the bouy and catching some rays. Past the whales and otters. This has to be the best tour ever. We came here to see the wildlife and see it we did!

Back on land we are heading off to the Fortress of the Bear. This seems a little senseless having seen some in the wild, but no, it was really great. And what a story. Apparently, in the past, if a mumma bear was killed they euthanised any baby bears because there were no facilities to take care of them. That is just unthinkable.

One person wanted to open a facility to take in these babies and keep them safe!

It took years and more hoops than an Olympic hula hooper (imagine that as an Olympic sport). But eventually they got there. They currently have 6 bears. 4 brown bears and 2 black bears and they are just goofy. Especially the brown bears, playing and lolling about. We named one Harri, she just seemed a bit confused by life and completely incompetent. Not sure why we chose that name.

By chance we met the man that started it, he was very reserved and all about the bears. What a guy. Fortress of the Bear

Next stop, Alaska Raptor Center! No, not the raptures from the Jurassic movies, those are raptors. Quite different, though they can be very deadly.

Like the facility in Haines, the Raptor Center take in injured and abandoned birds. They have an amazing facility for rehabilitation, you can watch them through one way glass (so they don’t get used to humans), where they fly and get their strength back. Its impressive. When they can fly to and balance on the highest rope, they are ready to go back to the wild. Alaska Raptor Center – Rehabilitation. Education. Research.

There are also those who cannot return to the wild due to their injuries. These have wonderful environments where they can hang outside, no nets, no cages, just sunshine and freedom, and a safe place to sleep at night where predators cannot get them. An amazing facility.

We do a little bush walk down to the river, there are salmon skeletons everywhere. It looks bad and smells worse. In a movie we would look around, see the skeletons just a moment too late, before some unknown creature swoops down and has us for lunch. In this case, we just gag at the smell, look at the remains, and head back. Apparently a lot of birds and bears hunt salmon here.

Our tour is complete! What a fabulous time. By far the best excursion we have done so far. I cannot imagine anything topping it, all this before lunch. Speaking of which, the driver drops us in town and we head to Beak Restaurant for some much needed food. Noting that all we have had today is a muesli bar and some wasabi peas! Probably a good thing as we have been over indulging.

This restaurant focuses on creating an inclusive environment, sustainability, and utilising local produce. The staff were very sincere and lovely. The food is ok, and they refuse to accept tips. Any tips that are left will be donated to charity.

After lunch we explore town, which takes about 35 minutes, tops. Then it is time to head back to the ship. As we line up for the bus there are two dogs just BEGGING for pats. I had to oblige. According to their mum, they would happily come home with me.

We find a lovely seat to sit and watch as we depart Sitka.

Dinner is at Seven Seas tonight and our lovely Filipino friends welcome us. It is busy so we share a table with Kiwis and Aussies, of course.

A nice meal, a night cap, a happy day.

WE SAW BEARS! IN THE WILD.

Icy Strait Point – 4th October – They were not wrong

OMG the 4th of October, time is zipping by so quickly. I mean it feels like only yesterday we boarded this ship and I was complaining about it. Don’t get me wrong, I am still sad that its not what we had expected, but the excursions, the experiences, and the staff are so good. We have seen everything we could have hoped for. With the exception of an Elk. But that was never really high on the list – well, my list anyway.

Up for breakfast, our lovely hostesses arrange us a table by the window. As we eat we see a bald eagle swoop in, grab a fish and fly off to have its own breakfast. Gold.

Icy Strait Point is located in the town of Hoonah on Chichagof Island. The population is 946, approximately. I mean at any time one might arrive and one might leave.

Today’s excursion is whale watching and bear searching. Sounds great. We are due to spend three hours out at sea looking for different whales, and then 2 hours doing a bear search. I am not quite sure what that entails, but I am also super stoked that we got to see bears yesterday!

We board a much bigger whale watching boat than we did at Sitka. So many more people including the notorious platform hogs. Renowned for taking space and not sharing with anyone, unfortunately they behave the same way today. Meh, fuck em.

It’s a bit slow going, at least 45 minutes before we even see a spout of water.

Now, I need to tell you what that spout of water is. When whales dive under water, they don’t exactly take a big drink of water that gets blown out. Instead this is the water that sits on top of the blow hole. Around 1-2 cups of water, it looks like so much more. Also, it includes anything that has accumulated in their blow hole, think… whale snot. So when they blow that out, they are, essentially, blowing their nose.

From all accounts it smells bad and tastes worst. It all comes down to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I am somewhat pleased I have not had that experience!

Then it all happens. Whales start appearing and they are putting on quite the show. I am desperate to get a good photo of a whale tail, but I am slow or misstep, or they are just playing hard to get.

Regardless, I am spending my day chasing tail. That feels wrong.

Jason got a great video when we were following mum and baby along, they both dove under, and he captured both their tails. Well, done!

Then a pod of orca whales turns up. How freaking cool is that. You can tell by their dorsal fines. They are very different to the humpback whales we have been seeing. If you use binoculars you can see a lot of white on their backs. We follow them for some time, seeing their fins as they sail along.

Before you know it we have seen dozens of whales and it is time to head back to shore, to top things off a group of dall’s porpoise. I had erroneously been using the term dolphin. But apparently these are different things. There is a whole list of differences you can search, but I won’t bore you with them here.

These dalls turn up, doing jumps and tricks along the side of the boat. Its like they were all timed and choreographed, and we got to see the best of them.

Back at the dock we are ready for round two, going on a bear hunt. It takes some puzzle solving to figure out where we are meant to meet. But with tickets in hand, I ask a nice bystander who points us in the right direction.

We are early, our tour is at 1130 and its only 1050, we sit and wait. Having a little snack out of my bag to keep us going. This part of the tour is meant to take around 2 hours, leaving us with less than an hour to see anything else before we must be on board.

Finally, it’s our time. The bus arrives and ever man and his ancient dog push in front of us. MY GOD I am tired of these old fucks and their lack of manners. Everyone carries on about young people and their sense of entitlement. But whoever said that has never been on a cruise with these wankers.

I wave them through, openly telling them how manners are clearly optional. Not one of them giving it a second thought. Covid, I have a visitors list for you.

We are all on the bus and it turns out there are not enough seats. The tour has been over booked. The driver, Ginger (red hair, not a lot of teeth) is trying to get hold of the head office, trying to figure out what has gone wrong, and getting nowhere. We sit and we wait.

Jason and I did a quick convo, we saw bears yesterday, the tour before this saw none, we could end up sitting here for another hour whilst they figure it out, lets just seed the seat and go do our own thing.

Ginger is super appreciative, takes us to the lead of her team, who is also appreciative but states “I can’t do anything for them”. We smile nicely, tell them we will speak to the people on the boat, and go our own way.

Instead, we do the lovely, short walk around to the centre of town, now that is a stretch, this place is TINY! The centre of town includes a couple of restaurants, a museum, a gift shop, and gondola that takes people from the dock to the town. 5 minutes by gondola or a 20-minute walk.

In winter, this all shuts down except for the few locals who have little cabins by the water. I bet they cannot wait for us to leave. As the boardwalk is right outside their doors.

We had a very enjoyable dinner at The Smokehouse on Duck Point. The food was really good, and we start talking to a couple of guys from our ship. They are delightful and really enjoyable to chat with. By the time we finish up we get back to the ship with 30 minutes to spare.

A quick change, removing about 4 layers, and head to the usual spot for a drink and watch the us leave. We speak to a couple who were on the Bear Search, apparently they did see a bear! By the sounds of it, the best part about the tour was the Bear Guide, who would walk them along the track, talking about what to look for and carrying a revolver for safety. Nevermind, we saw bears and we were very lucky.

I wonder if he also carried bear spray? You would think a revolver would do the trick.

Today’s tip. If you are looking at bear shit, it is easy to tell the males from the females. Males tend to walk and poo at the same time. Females will stop, poo, then move on. Meaning the males poo is all spread out, the females, however, have their shit together. Funny and true.

Tonight’s dinner is at a Brazilian BBQ. Where the meat is endless. Ironically, this is the only night that Jason decides to eat vegetables! The first few rounds of meat were amazing, but it feels like they lured us in with that, and then kept bringing the cheap cuts. It was quite disappointing, especially at over $100 each.

Retiring to bed, we are exhausted. The ship is rocking and rolling a lot. It’s the first time something has fallen off a shelf and the outdoor furniture is moving about. It’s the perfect way to be put to sleep!

Tomorrow we have our final Alaskan stop at Ketchikan. I am really looking forward to this.

5th October – Ketchikan? Ketchikant!

After a lovely rolling night of waves I feel like I had a great sleep.

Only one thing fell off the shelf and the outdoor furniture is still on the deck, even though it has moved about a bit.

We are meant to dock at 700am, however, at 630am we are still barrelling along and I feel like we are going in the wrong direction. Hmmmm.

At 800am the captain comes on the intercom. It is HIGHLY unusual for any announcements to be in your room. They will be made in public areas, so we knew this must be important.

Apparently, due to the weather it was not safe to dock in Ketchikan so that has been abandoned. We are heading straight to Victoria, BC, which was meant to be our last stop. Damn it!

To be fair we have been incredibly lucky with the weather. Other ships had missed out on so much more, we cannot really complain. Instead we plan our day at sea, we will not dock until we reach Victoria on the 6th at 830pm, I secretly hope we will be there early.

I am getting sick again, I can feel it in my chest and I am starting to cough. ARGH!

Probably a good thing that we spend the day doing very little, a quick trip to the gym. Lunch at the Seven Seas with another lovely window seat. We are seated near an older couple from Coffs Harbour, too funny. They were delightful and we had a great chat.

We were talking about how wonderful the staff are and there is only one person on the ship that seems to struggle with smiling or being pleasant. Jason refers to him as Mr Cranky Pants, before we could even finish the sentence, William states “the barman”! His reputation precedes him!

Our entire day seems to revolve around food, drinking, and lazing about. It’s almost like we are on holiday!!

Tonight’s dinner we are heading back to Le Bistro, our favourite restaurant so far.

Digression: when we ate at one of the specialty restaurants I ordered a bottle of wine. I thought we were not allowed to take it back to our room (don’t get me started) and was accepting of that. At the end of the meal though, the server said “here, you paid for this you take it with you”. Oh cool. So we did.

Then when we were at lunch I ordered a lovely rose. Did not finish it and said, I would take it back to my room. The server smiled nicely, and dried off the bottle for me to take with us. No issue.

Tonight at Le Bistro there was a little bit of wine left, probably around 1/3 of a bottle. I said to the server we would like to take it back to the room. He said we could not, we could fill up our glasses and take those back to our room, but not the bottle.

Yeah, confused? Just wait.

I said, no problem, I actually said that I thought that was the case but I had been given bottles previously to take back to the room and it was a little confusing.

Not mad, or concerned, we had an alcohol package so it really did not matter either way whether we took the bottle or not.

The staff here are so concerned about customer satisfaction this sent them into a real flap. I kept trying to assure them it was not a problem at all. We are happy to take the glasses back to the room instead and thanked them for their diligence.

We would, of course, obey the rules.

As we went to leave the maitre d brings over a full bottle of unopened wine and said I could take that back to our room and apologises for any inconvenience.

Now I am really confused. But…

Ok. I thank them very much and appreciate the gesture.

The food was not as good as the first time we ate here. I wonder if the staff and ingredients are getting tired. Nothing has been refreshed since we left Seattle. It was still tasty, but not as well cooked. It is still our favourite restaurant on the boat.

Tomorrow we have nearly a full day at sea, we now get to Victoria at 430pm!! Which is much better, we can enjoy it and do a bit more sightseeing.

Too funny that we are visiting Canada three times in this one trip.

Not long until we disembark. Unlike leaving our first cruise, I am happy to move on. I am ready to get off the ship.

Spoilt shitbag, aren’t I.

Haines

Hubbard Glacier

Sitka

Icy Strait Point and At Sea

Skagway – Not a swear word

30th September – Skagway – Wind from the North (or variations of that)

We wake up to find we are already docked at Skagway. Another beautiful town surrounded by dominating mountains, some of which have a lovely smattering of snow on them.

To prepare for the day we hit the gym first, before heading to breakfast.

Breakfast at the trough is always a bit entertaining and today I was engaged in conversation by someone I like to call Big Red Neck.

BRN: Holding up a “biscuit” (imagine Jo putting on her best southern accent) “they call this is a biscuit, don’t look like no biscuit I eva seen”

BRN: Pauses for effect or maybe he just takes a while to get started “looks more like one of those scooooooooooooooone things”

JKW: Puts on best British accent possible “its certainly not a biscuit, if you ask for a biscuit where I am from, you’d get quite the surprise”

BRN: Looks confused, walks away. Clearly I am not as funny as I thought.

Well that was fun.

Today we have another tour booked. It is called “Best of Skagway and White Pass Railway”. Well, that sounds rather lovely.

A quick scout around the town, Jason finds there are at least two breweries. Essential information in order to map out our day. Quite of few of the stores have already closed for the season. There will not be many cruise ships after us and many of the summer residents have gone back to their hometowns, rather than brave an Alaskan winter. I completely get that.

A few years back there was a massive rockslide right by the dock, one of the areas is closed due to the risk. The following year rocks and debris were still falling and they wanted to put a warning system up there, technology, it seems, was too expensive. So they paid someone 52k to stay up on the top of the hill, not on the landslide – phew, and phone them if things started falling.

It did not take them long to figure out that was probably not the best approach and they shut it down. What a job though!

Our bus takes us on the scenic route to get to Liarsville. Yep, it is actually called Liarsville. The Liarsville Camp was originally named after journalists who came here during the Klondike Gold Rush and cooked up a whole lot of bullshit (Things have not changed since the 1890s). Apparently it was their job to go to the gold mining area and report back, but they deemed the track too dangerous and hard (they were right) so instead, they listened in on conversations of those who had been, embellished it, and published it. Starting the gold rush.

As we arrive one of the “Liarsville Players” jumps on the bus, starts talking in old timey lingo, and howling. Oh for fucks sake, what have we walked into. He does a big spiel and welcomes us all to Liarsville. There will be a show later, can we escape? Jason and I look at each other, but no, we got her by bus, and stealing it would not be a great look.

Ah well, we grab a beer and wine, I feel we are going to need it. Before the show we have, what the locals all, a salmon bake. That does not mean that the salmon is put in the oven and baked, it is actually cold smoked over an open fire. Its more of a BBQ and the offerings look pretty damn good.

BBQed chicken, coleslaw, cornbread, pickles, and, of course, salmon. It is really tasty. We take our time, surely if we wait long enough we will miss the show? Unfortunately, they know where we are and promptly herd us up and over. There is a lovely fire burning, did I mention its bloody cold here????, and that attracts us. Talk about moths, we head to the fire, only to find out the show is NOT being held here. We are ushered into the cold.

I am not sure what to say about the show, you really have to see it for yourselves. They are enthusiastic and clearly have their routine nailed. But, it could have been because it was the end of the season, or it could be because its just shit… but it was TERRIBLE. Cringeworthy. Awkward at times.

Luckily it only lasted 30 minutes or so, felt longer, and we were moved on to the next activity. Panning for gold. Of course gold had been placed in the dirt we were panning for, but it was still fun. I opted out, the water is fucking freezing, are you insane!!! And nominated Jason to do the hard work, and he did it very well. He will be investing his gold into a Mustang, matchbox car.

After Liarsville we head back into town, this time we are off to a brothel. Well its about time if you ask me! This brothel was established in 1898 and was called the Red Onion. Wow, I am not sure if that is the worst or the best name for a brothel.

In Skagway at that time there were 1,500 men and 300 sex workers. These girls were BUSY.

In order to select your “date” there were a bunch of dolls behind the bar that indicated hair colour, eye colour, shape, etc. The patron would indicate which doll he wanted, the lady was engaged and off they went. The doll was laid down to indicated, well, that she was laying down.

$5 for 15 minutes and that shit was timed down to the last second. The men would pay the women, before the deed (smart ladies), and they dropped the coins into a hole in the floor. That hole was connected to an array of copper pipes that all, ultimately, lead down to the area behind the bar.

$5 was an awful lot back then, but by the time the madam and the hired thugs got paid they really did not end up with overly much. Sadly enough, it was way more than they would have earned anywhere else.

The original brothel is still standing including the original wiring and some of the original wallpaper. Really interesting. They had electricity in 1897, seven years before move of Manhattan.

The gold rush only lasted 2 years because, well, shit had been made up and there really wasn’t that much gold in them there hills. The brothel itself only really boomed for the same amount of time.

The tour was great, our guide was funny and knowledgeable. If you had to choose between the Liarsville Players and this working girl, choose the working girl!

OMG AND AND AND, did you know what the original purpose of Lysol was???

Hold on to your panties ladies.

Use as a contraceptive

The Lysol disinfectant douche once was “the leading feminine hygiene product” in the United States. Advertisements for Lysol during the 1930s hinted at its use as a contraceptive but never explicitly promoted it to be used as such. Advertisements did note that Lysol was safe to use including on “delicate female tissues”. By 1911, 193 Lysol poisonings were recorded along with five deaths from “uterine irrigation”.

Good to see that some things never change. Test it out on women, it will be fine! My eyes watered just thinking about it.

Back on the bus, and we are off to British Columbia for our train ride. That’s right, we are heading back to Canada. Too funny, we only really left Canada a few days ago and we are heading back.

The bus ride takes about an hour heading along the motorway and past some beautiful scenery, we get out to take photos and freeze our bits off. The wind is whipping through this pass like nothing else.

Jason is really looking forward to this train ride, funny boy. The train is beautiful and reasonably comfortable, except for the fact there is no beverage car!!! There are little platforms at the end of each railcar where we can take photos.

As the conductor said, we have lots of wild animals here, but a platform hog is not one of them, so please share the view. Some people did not get the message. Actually, only two people, and the rest of us have noticed. So we take turns ensuring others have access to the view. Why, oh why, are people assholes?

As we head down the pass a bald eagle starts to fly next to our carriage, tracking us for a good few minutes, how special is that! I am loving the wildlife here, it is so amenable. We did not see any bears though.

After 90 minutes we arrive at Skagway station and opt to walk to town. Jason has not forgotten about the breweries. After a bit of discussion we decide to head to Skagway Brewing first, and I am so glad that we did. This place is such fun, absolutely humming with activity, the beers are nice (according to sir), the cocktails are insane (according to me), and their spruce tip cookies are AMAZING.

Quick side note, spruce tips are the new growth at the end of branches on spruce trees, which are EVERYWHERE in Alaska. They use spruce tips in cooking, brewing, wine making, everything. According to the web spruce tips are exceptionally high in Vitamin C, potassium and magnesium. So, eating cookies and drinking beer with spruce tips in them, MUST be good for you.

If you find yourself in Skagway I would highly recommend Skagway Brewing Company | Restaurant | Brewery | Gift Shop for food, beers, company, and cookies. We went there for one drink and stayed for a few more.

Jason wanted to see the second brewery though, so we dragged ourselves away and walked along the wooden footpaths (yep wooden footpaths) to Klondike Brewing.

And this place just let me down. I understand that there are some places that only do beer, they can only sell what they brew on location. New to me, but I get it. However, this place made it seem like I was a complete waste of their time for even asking. Such disappointing service, I am not even going to put the link because, fuck them.

Also, super weird, I went to the toilet and there was a massive hole in the wall. The toilet paper was quality though, I mean, super soft, so… well, there is that.

Skagway is beautiful and the people are friendly and helpful, definitely visit.

We head back to the boat, tonight we are eating at the specialty steak restaurant, Cagney’s. It is amazing. The steak was perfect, we had wonderful waiting staff that picked the right wine and were so attentive. The perfect end to the perfect day.

Another sleep of the happy dead.

The Cruise – Alaska Here We Come

Alaskan Cruise – Departing Seattle

27th September – Boarding and Bon Voyage

Time to board the elderly express, I mean our cruise ship. You have to select a boarding time, to avoid everyone turning up an hour before they are due to set sail, probably.

I selected 1000-1030. I considered a later time but knew that Jason would want to be there early and waiting anyway, so why fight it.

The process was very easy, everything is well sign posted and they send out tags for your suitcases in advance. All you need to do is fill them out and they will take care of the rest. Within 15 minutes of being delivered to the terminal are bags are tagged and checked, we are checked in, and we are through security. So efficient.

Then we wait. The actual time you can board the ship is 11am and you will be called in order of your boarding group. We are group number 7.

As we sit in the waiting area and look around at the other passengers, Judgy Jo takes full effect, and I am filled with dread. The last and only other cruise we have been on was amazing, with Oceania cruises. So far as experiences go, I would highly, highly recommend (Oceania Cruises Official Site: Cruises Around The World) we did a mediterranean cruise with them and loved every, single minute.

I sound so snobby, but I don’t care, everyone was dressed nicely, respectful, mostly well mannered. And that was not what I was seeing here.

Singlets, jandals, baseball caps on the middle-aged passengers, and a lot of others who just looked like they were waiting to die or had already expired. As we sat in the reapers waiting room it dawned on me that maybe there was a good reason this was on sale…

When we boarded it did not get any better. The boat is older and has an air of mass-produced holidays. Yes, we are grateful, and we are very spoilt to be able to have the holidays we do. We were also terribly spoilt by travelling with Oceania.

We are boarded but our rooms are not ready yet. There is lunch though. This is a good thing, maybe the low blood sugar is responsible for my lack of control over Judgy Jo (who is surrounded by bogans and is about to be trapped on a boat with them for 10 days). Spoiler alert, this is not the root cause.

We line up for food and again, I am disappointed. Jason refers to it as mess food. The kind that would be served up at the Police College, I have not eaten there, but I do agree that the food is ok, it will keep you alive, but its not good, or great. Again, we have been spoilt.

Turns out we had a right to be disappointed. We are heading into some of the best fishing waters in the world with salmon, tuna, halibut, and haddock (to name a few) but what they serve on the boat is frozen fish from Asia (tilapia and baja) not what we had hoped for.

There are announcements being made over the loudspeakers, but as the DJ is so loud no one knows what is being said. Eventually we figure out our room is ready. Thank fuck, I need to get out of here for some quiet time (old Jo).

Our room has plenty of space, like an average hotel room, and a balcony. But none of the decadence and beauty we were expecting. Instead, it looks worn, and a bit tired. Trying to focus on the positive, we are on holiday, we are about to depart the dock. I suggest to Jason we should go upstairs.

On our previous cruise, leaving each dock was celebrated with music and fanfare, and often a cocktail of the day. Very refined – well as much as a cocktail of the day is refined. None of that, instead of Vivaldi we had the DJ playing Gangnam Style and Barbie Girl… enough said.

Back to getting Jason on the move. I mentioned that we should go outside as we leave port and look at the city. It is a beautiful sunny day. He starts to unpack his suitcase. Maybe we can do that after? Ok, so starts to organise the suitcase strap and do other things.

JKW (on the edge of reason): Are you winding me up?

JW (grumpy AF): WHAT!

JKW (reason has now left the building): Nothing, see you later. Leaves the room.  

We are off to a great start. The boat departs. I pull my head in, Jason apologises. We watch the view. Tell each other we are very lucky to be here, unpack our suitcases, get more settled, and go find a drink.

The gym is reasonably well set up and you can watch the ocean go by as you do a workout. Best view from a gym ever!

Tonight, we opt to try the sushi restaurant. They would not let you book in advance, so we had assumed it was flat out busy, but we were the only ones there. WARNING, WARNING! But no, the food was incredible. Everything we tried was delicious and the staff were very attentive. Our new mate, the head chef, sent over an extra dish. Considering we had over ordered; this was met with groans. We ate it anyway.

After dinner we were WAY too full to go to bed, so opted for a night cap at one of the many bars. Jason selected The Spinnaker; it has a great views. Tonight, it also had terrible karaoke, some of the worst I have had heard in a very long time.

A couple of security guards run through the bar, but despite my best hopes, it was not to shut down the karaoke. Bummer.

We listened to a couple more renditions of songs that will never be the same again, and we leave.

Off to our room and sleep. It’s the big guy’s birthday tomorrow.

28th September – At Sea and the Man’s Birthday

Our first stop is quite some way from Seattle, which means we are at sea for a full day and two nights before we set foot in Alaska. I had to find something to do for Jason’s birthday.

We are still full from last night’s dinner, the man opts for coffee, and we head off on a “Behind the Scenes” tour. As naff as it sounds, it really was very cool.

Starting with a TERRIBLE video on equipment that should have been retired many years ago, my hopes were not high. But, to my surprise, it was all up, up, up from there. Actually, it was down, down, then up, up, but that’s just semantics.

First stop was to the theatre, the entertainment manager talked us through how they arrange and choreograph shows. The Norwegian Sun, the boat we are on, is quite small so any stage shows that come onto the boat have to adjust to fit the environment. No hanging upside down from the ceiling apparently. The entertainment manager is a hoot, very, well… entertaining.

The boat has some good rock and rolling going on, I can’t help but be impressed with how anyone can dance on this stage in these conditions. Apparently, there have been injuries in the past – not me, and not today.

Next, to the galley! This is one of the largest kitchens and services two large restaurants. You are blinded by the sheer amount of sparkling stainless steel. It is very impressive. At any time, there are 150 cooks working in this kitchen, and they work hard! We ate at one of these restaurant’s several times and the food was good. Not great, but good.

Everything in this kitchen is big, including the giant-sized whisk. Might use that later for a birthday treat eww err.

The cooks spend 60% of their time doing kitchen stuff, and like the rest of the crew, 40% of their time is spent on safety drills and training. I like that, as we hurtle towards Alaska and its abundance of ice, it’s nice to know if we hit any, people will know what to do…

We also had a look at where all the food is stored, that is when Jason realises the shit fish that will be served on the boat.

Down to the laundry. Even though the boat has been pitching and rolling, the laundry is under sea level, therefore it is very calm – pays not to think about the fact that you ARE underwater at this stage. The amount of washing they do every day is insane. It would be like having a ship full of teenage girls. They have my pity. At least 6000 napkins – a day!

Into the engine room, not with the actual engines, but where they manage and control the engines (move away from the buttons people). The chief engineer explains everything, which was very interesting, but I have forgotten most of it now. Do this to go faster, do this to go slower, these things stabilise, these things do other stuff. You are not allowed to use your phone in this room, so no notes to help me sound impressive.

Last, but not least, we have a tour of the bridge, that is back up on level 10. The higher you go the more you feel the boat moving about under your feet. The bridge is extremely quiet, no interrupting the captain – I can appreciate that, I don’t really want to die today.

With the tour all wrapped up we head to one of the feeding troughs for a late breakfast.

I have booked us in for wine and cheese pairing, just because it’s his birthday doesn’t mean I can’t have fun too. Jason joins in and has the cheek to drink all his wine! He does wash it down with a beer though. The turn out was quite small so they gave us plenty of top ups.

We are seated with 2 kiwis and an Aussie; this will be the theme for the cruise.

I have done a few of these tasting in my lifetime, if you haven’t noticed, and this one was pretty good.  

We need a wee rest and recovery before the next item on the agenda for the birthday boy, whisky tasting.

This is more the man’s idea of fun. There are three whiskeys, and they try them all neat and then add water. The rye was Jason’s least favourite, the look on his face was priceless. Common sense was prevalent today and I opted to sit out the whiskey tasting and was there for moral support and peer pressure.

When we get back to the room it has been decorated by our room angel, Soe. Including a very large picture of a cake on the door, so everyone knows its his birthday. This is followed up by a ginormous cake, that we cannot possibly eat.

We have a slice each and donate the rest to Soe and the team.

Needless to say, another visit to the gym was an absolute necessity. So much food.

The birthday dinner is at one of their specialty restaurants, Le Bistro, French cuisine. We have a lovely birthday dinner, the food is excellent, the wine was very good too, they sing him happy birthday and bring… another cake.

The day is wrapped up by a night cap at a much quieter pub with no karaoke. Tomorrow, we visit our first Alaskan town, Juneau.

A successful birthday I believe.

29th September – Juneau (Ju No)

A great night’s sleep, the boat rocking us to sleep. There is a lot more movement than in the mediterranean, but we really enjoy it. Plus, when you are leaving the bar no one knows if it is the boat or the booze that makes you swerve.

As we dock in Juneau we are seeing spouts of water from whales in the waters around us. How cool is that.

I am not sure if any of you have been on a cruise before, so I wanted to give you a little run down on how the excursions work. Each day the cruise line gives you a list of activities you can sign up for. And they will charge you like wounded bulls. The excursions are run by local tour companies, but if you do the excursion through the cruise, they set the prices.

Downside is, they are normally more expensive, and you can end up on a tour or activity with a bunch of whining wankers who do not have the physical capacity or social skills to be doing such an activity.

Upside is, if the excursion is late, the boat has to wait. If something happens to you (unless you have signed a waiver) the cruise will take care of you. There was a recent case in Bali where a bunch of Aussies had booked their own tour, got caught up in traffic, and the cruise line left without them. As it outlined in the information you receive. Also, when we were on Mt Etna and I fell, dislocated my finger etc, the cruise line had to give me some treatment (it was pretty shit, but more than if it has not been organised with them).

On this cruise it seems like any excursions requiring a level of fitness is being cancelled, we had a 5-hour hike booked for Sitka, canned. What about the canoeing, nope, ok, kayaking, cancelled. Sigh.

It could be because it’s the end of the season and tour companies are packing up, it could be because of the weather, or it could be because most of the people on this floating retirement village are not up to anything that requires you to “walk 800m unassisted” (this was a prerequisite for one excursion).

The frustrating issue I have here is they hand you a pamphlet that has all the excursions listed. I find some that I think we will really enjoy. Line up at the excursion desk.

JKW: I would like to sign up for this excursion.

UCM: That excursion is not running.

JKW: Oh, ok, how about this one?

UCM: None of those are being operated now.

JKW: Ummmm, why are they listed here?

UCM: You have to check this list over here, indicates different piece of paper, to see if any of those are listed.

JKW: Oh, so I have to cross reference everything? Because that’s super helpful.

SIGH (first world problems, deep breath, don’t be a self-entitled prat).

Couple of items I found curious/wrong about this cruise line.

Self-licking ice cream:

  1. All your bookings and excursions are listed on their app once you have booked them.
  2. In order to access the app, you have to have internet access.
  3. In order to get internet access, you have to pay them. So you can see the information you need.

Sustainability:

  1. Absolutely everything is printed out and left in your room, on tables, available everywhere.
  2. All advertised specials are printed daily and left on your bed.
  3. If they want you to use the app, make you use it, then why print everything out.
  4. There are no recycling bins in your room. So even if you don’t want the paper you cannot dispose of it in a recycling bin.

Enough of that, today’s excursion has not been cancelled and we are very excited about it. We will be going to a mushers camp to see sled dogs and puppies. There is no snow, so our expectation is that we will see where they live and hear how they are trained.

As we dock in Juneau you cannot see how pretty this place is initially, as with most ports it is very industrial and stacked high with shipping containers. There is a super cute grey seal just wallowing about and having a lovely time.

Another cruise ship got in before us and it is massive, 5000 people. Between us and this ship that means 7000 people inundating a town of 32,000 with an extra 25%. I don’t know how they manage it, but it seems to work out well. I mean the biggest queue we saw or experienced was terribly managed exit of our ship, you would think they’d have this figured out.

Dylan, our driver, is a riot with a well-practiced array of jokes and one liners that keeps us all amused as we head into the forest.

Some little-known facts:

  • The Mosquito is the national bird of Alaska
  • There are only three ways into Juneau
    • By air
    • By sea
    • By birth canal
  • There is a state law against pushing a live Moose out of a moving airplane (there is so much to go into here)
  • In Juneau the average temperature is just below zero (fuck no)
  • Otters may look cute, but they are like a snake cat, a tube of muscle, they will mess you up
  • Bears, now this is important so pay attention:
    • If it is black, fight back
    • If it is brown, lie down
    • If it is white, goodnight

The mushers camp is well away from any neighbours, according to Dylan its so they cannot hear us scream… this is my kind of guy. Realistically it is so they cannot hear the 180 dogs barking. Which they do, a lot.

Turns out we will be having a dog sled ride, of sorts. We are on a metal sled with wheels. This is their summer training camp, by the time it is winter, and they are doing competitions or just living life, they are in great form and ready to hit the snow running.

We have 16 dogs in our dog sled team, and they are not huskies. They are not white; they are not what you see in the movies. Huskies have been overbred so much that they are not up to the task anymore. These dogs are part huskie, but they have a lot of mix in there to ensure they are the strongest they can be.

What really surprised me is that the peak age bracket for a sled dog is 8-11 years old. One of the dogs pulling us today is 14! I had assumed they would all be retired by then, instead that is their prime and they love it. The noise and excitement when they realise that they are about to go for a run is incredible.

The ultimate speed they want to aim for, that is sustainable for a longer period of time, is between 8 and 11 mph. They can go up to 18mph but not for long. I am unsure how fast we were going but it felt fast, and we were swinging around corners.

We learnt about the ultimate dog sledding race called the Iditarod, I call it fucking madness, it is 938 mi (1,510 km) long and is usually completed in 8-15 days. During that time the mushers do not sleep. They have to carry everything they need, including little booties for the dogs, because the ice and snow is so hard on their paws. Think about this, you have 16 dogs, each with 4 paws, they need to change the booties every 5 hours (because they get worn out) so they need to carry 3200 with them.

Think of it as the Super Bowl of dog sledding, but colder and furrier Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race – Wikipedia.

We get to meet our team of sled dogs after the ride, and I am really surprised at how snuggly they are and how much they love a good pat. A lot of working dogs are not interested in cuddles, but these dogs are so friendly. There are a couple I would like to bring home.

One in particular would give me big snugs, probably just to get the mud off her face, but I didn’t mind.

Next, we get to meet the latest litter of puppies. You had me at puppy! And, like all puppies, they are adorable, loud, smellie and NAUGHTY. We are allowed to hold them and one of them tries to add some additional ventilation to the jacket I am wearing. Sorry Krys! I think I removed the rascal in time.

We spent a few hours here and it was a great trip, we would love to do this when there is actual snow, seeing how fast they go, it would also be terrifying.

Back in town we still have several hours before we need to be back on the boat, we opt to head up the Goldbelt Tram. It is right by the pier and a very easy walk, since most people had queued for hours this morning there was no wait to head up the top. There was, of course, a hefty fee. $55 per person, plus tax. Well, we are not going to be back anytime soon, so up we went. The views were very impressive, we did not stay long at the top, just enough to try a local beer and wine before joining the queue to descend (Goldbelt Tram – The only tram in Southeast Alaska).

We don’t have to be back onboard until 930pm, loads of time to find a nice place for dinner, and wander back to the ship.

After some research we opted for The Hanger, the menu looks great, the ratings are good, the only issue is we cannot get hold of them to make a booking so we will just have to wing it.

Digression alert: when you are aboard the ship, they hand out VIP shopping deals. There is the usual % off full price, or 2nd one free, but there is also get things free, with no other purchase required. For example, you would go into EFFY and get a free pendent, all to lure you into the shop and try and sell you more.

I decided to see if they actually hand these things out, and they do. Boy oh boy do they put the hard sell on you though. To which I politely declined and left with my freebies.

Turns out that all these “local” shops are actually owned by the cruise line. Cheeky bastards. Well, they didn’t get my money, but I thought that was a bit rich, trying to squeeze out the local stores.

We made it to The Hanger, and it was thriving, in order to have dinner we would have to sit at the bar. Fine with me, saves the server having to go back and forth for my wine!

The bartender was next level efficient, not only servicing the drinks for everyone in the restaurant, but the bar was also his section, so he had to take our food orders and sort that out too. The man did not stop, he was a whirlybird of efficiency, no one was left hanging, orders were accurate and timely, and he could handle a bit of chit chat in-between. It was a wonder to behold.

The food was just as awesome as we had hoped. Jason’s halibut and chips were tasty and crispy, but not dry. I had a salmon dip, which was so plentiful and delicious we put it in a takeaway container and enjoyed it for the next few days, and a halibut wrap. The fish was fresh and juicy. Very pleased with ourselves. If you are in Juneau eat here and make sure you tip the bartender big, he deserves it (Hangar On The Wharf | Juneau, AK).

With time to spare its off to another brewery, recommended by the amazing bartender, so Jason can try another of the local offerings. Barnaby Brewing (BARNABY BREWING CO.) this place is deathly quiet, and its no wonder as they are closing in 10 minutes. Well, we timed that perfectly. Just enough time for Jason to have a couple of tasters and a pint.

There is also a resident cat, who deemed us worthy of patting him. Jason rates the beers as very drinkable, and I like the hat, so I purchase one of those.

We leave so the lovely young woman behind the bar can get back to closing up.

As we wander back to the boat we have to stop and find a hat for Jason, because, he has lost his new one. I am unsure what he has been doing with his hats. Hat in hand, mission accomplished, its time to board.

Crossing the street to the dock a man from one of the shops calls out.

YMFS: miss, miss, miss, excuse me.

JKW: Hi.

YMFS: There is a bear in the parking lot, you should be careful.

JKW: Oh exciting, where, where.

I promptly turn to walk towards the area of the bear sighting, when the bear pops out of the dark, runs across the street in front of us, and up the hill.

WE SAW A BEAR. IN THE WILD (KIND OF).

An absolutely perfect way to end the day. No photos as the bear was moving way to fast and I did not have time, but it was a bear, and it was a black bear. Happy, happy days.