Kayaking in Hell (and other adventures)

July 27, 2016:  We moored in Juneau this morning in the pouring rain and fog. Unfortunately for us, this is to be our longest day in port, and our first activity of the day is a sea kayaking excursion by which we are supposed to be able to see Mendenhall Glacier. Gritting our teeth, Jim and I bundle up, and set off. Our first (of many) pieces of bad news was that the kayaking firm’s equipment tent had collapsed in the rain, leaving our waterproof gear sitting in puddles and gravel, so putting them on actually guaranteed that we were wetter and dirtier than if we had just braved the rain!  Then we put our kayaks in the water, and I remembered why it is that I have a one-man kayak at home: Jim and I are incapable of paddling a kayak together!!!!!  After trading insults at each other for about 15 minutes, Jim’s back started spasming, so I had to take on ALL the paddling.  All this time, the waves in the bay we were crossing kept getting higher and higher, and we started taking on water.  Fortunately for all, this signaled the end of the excursion, and we all returned to shore without having caught a glimpse of Mendenhall Glacier. I think we can all agree that this was an epic FAILURE.

Wet and fairly discouraged, we returned to the ship, and showered to warm up. Feeling slightly more human, Jim and I located a seafood restaurant, and celebrated the survival of our marriage by having a yummy crab lunch!

However, there was still a hope to save the day.  All of us signed up for a sunset (read: late afternoon) whale watching cruise.  As the afternoon wore  on, the rain finally began to lighten up, so it was only a small sprinkle by our 5:00 p.m. boarding time.  We boarded the ship, set up our camera gear and motored off to find some whales.

Shortly thereafter, our captain saw a large collection of other boats collected just offshore and we joined the collection.  Our hopes were immediately rewarded as we saw a collection of humpback whales all together!  We followed them at a respective distance, and watched them feeding right off shore.  Along the way, we also finally got a good view of Mendenhall glacier, and some sea lions on a buoy posed to get their picture taken.

Then we saw the whales do the most amazing thing — they formed into a circle and dove beneath the surface to get under a school of fish and drive it to the surface. As the whales are circling under the school of fish, one whale will emit noise/bursts of air, and then the circle of whales drive the fish up to the surface where they rise in unison a scoop up the fish. This behavior is called “bubble net feeding”, and apparently, it is very uncommon to get to see the whales actually doing it.  As the fish school was boiling out of the water to avoid the whales, we could watch the sea birds diving in for their kill, and the whales emerging from the water with their mouths open wide. Wow!  It was really cool!

Well satisfied with our adventure, we returned to the ship.

Float Planes, & Salmon, & Bears, Oh, My!

July 26, 2016:  After a day of cruising up the Inward Passage from Vancouver, we finally docked in Ketchikan, Alaska this morning.  Jim and Chris and Kay and I signed up for  a great adventure — we are scheduled to take a float plane to a remote part of the the Tongass National Park to see black bears catching salmon from the river where they go to spawn.  The floatplanes are all de Havilland Beavers, built between 1937-1967. About 1700 of them were built and about 1100 of them are still in service, largely throughout Alaska.  Approximately 1 person in 70 in Alaska has a pilot’s license, because the distances are so great between towns.  The Beavers only hold 8 persons in very cramped conditions, so Chris and I had to do some pleading to get our camera gear aboard.  For those who knew my Dad, the packed cabin was very reminiscent of some of our family flights to Baja, except we actually had seats in the Beaver!

The flight was super cool, and we were amazed by how little runway/sea space the planes take to take off and land.  We landed after a short flight of about 20 minutes in a small inlet adjacent to the Tongass Wilderness Area.  While we were waiting to dock, we watched the spawning salmon jumping like crazy and smacking their bodies on the water’s surface. Our pilot told us that they do this to help loosen their egg sacks so all the eggs don’t clump together as they are being laid upstream.  It was raining lightly, and all you could hear was the smack of the salmon and the wind gently blowing in the trees.

We hiked in a short ways to the observation area for the bears, after being thoroughly briefed about “bear dos and don’ts”.  Since this is all a wilderness area, although there is a viewing area, the bears roam freely through the area, including the path we are on, so we’re all a little anxious that the bears are going to be observing us instead of vice versa.  We spy proof of bears recently passing by the trail, and answer the age old question about bears’ bathroom habits.

We luck out right away, as there is a bear feeding in the stream right below the observation platform just as we arrive.  There are dead salmon parts tossed all over the banks, left by the bears as they went in search of other salmon.  It seems pretty wasteful to me, but apparently, bald eagles frequently follow after the bears, and occupy the same habitat so they can take advantage of the salmon buffet left by the bears.  Sadly, we saw no eagles this day, but the bears’ antics were interesting enough.

Our original bear walked out of our viewing range, but then a lady bear came down from the other side of the stream to feed. You could easily see why the bears choose this place to fish; fro where we were standing, we could see great schools of salmon in the shallow stream water/ Every so often, one would make the attempt to go up the rapids rapids, fighting just as hard as they could.  Finally, our original bear returned, and we got to watch him actually catching some salmon. What a highlight!

We returned to the ship, and had some time in town to do some souvenir shopping. Yes, you guessed it — Jim stayed onboard, and we had a fairly early sail away as we left for Juneau.

However, the fun was not over; we had a wine tasting to enjoy with our newfound Gainey Vineyard crew. Todays’ tasting focused on the vineyard’s Bordeaux style varietals, which ended up being just a prelude to a thoroughly enjoyable dinner, also featuring the Gainey wines.  Well fed and lubricated, we made our way to bed to prepare for tomorrow’s adventures.

 

 

 

Bye Bye to British Columbia

Sunday, July 24th: Today dawned bright and beautiful, and we went over to Trafalgars’ Bistro to have an alfresco brunch with our friends, Kay and Chris, who are joining us for our cruise.  Sadly, Kay and Chris had experienced the flight from hell, so they didn’t land until 5 this morning. Nonetheless, we all had a super brunch, and then had a cab driver give us a mini tour of Vancouver for Kay and Chris’ benefit.

First up on the agenda was a visit to the totems in Stanley Park.  It was a wonderful day to introduce Kay and Chris to the wonderful views across the bay at downtown Vancouver.  I’m really glad we came back to visit the totems as they are a lovely expression of the First People’s art!

Then we took a drive around the peninsula on which Stanley Park is located. From several points, we had killer views of the bay and Lion’s Gate Bridge.  We even got a rare shot across the bridge from a vantage point high above its approach.  But then, it was time to embark on our ship, the Holland American ship, the Noordam.

 

Our cruise will take us up the Inward Passage through British Columbia, with our first port call in Ketchikan early Tuesday morning. Welcome aboard!

Tripping the Light Transit

Saturday, July 23 was a really full day!  In order to orient ourselves better to Vancouver, we bought a day pass for the public transport system which includes a subway, “Sky Train” and ferry service to North Vancouver.  Jim totally had his transportation geek on!  So we started by riding the subway up to Gastown, the old historical center of Vancouver.  We paid the obligatory visit to the steam-powered clock, and wandered about, but you’ve pretty much seen it all by the time you’ve walked three blocks. However, Vancouver is an insanely gorgeous city!  There are flowers hanging in baskets everywhere, and the streets are really clean.

Then we walked over to the ferry to North Vancouver (called the Seabus) and it seemed like everyone else had had the same idea on this bright beautiful Saturday.  The ferry ride only takes about 15 minutes, and we have been told that trying to drive over either of the two bridges serving this area can easily take an hour, so we can see why the ferry is so popular.

The views back and forth across the harbor are lovely, and from the ferry, we can see the cruise ship terminal we will leave from tomorrow.  Upon arrival, there were a bunch of tents set up along the waterfront, and we can hear a reggae band playing. Lo and behold, we have stumbled onto the Trinidad and Tobago Festival!  We wandered around for awhile, and then took the ferry back to town.

Next on the agenda: Ride on one of the Sky Trains.  I had visions of people movers or monorails, but in reality, this just turned out to be an elevated subway system. Chalk that one up to experience! We rode out a few stops and turned around and came back.  However, we hadn’t “experienced” enough of Vancouver’s trust system yet, so Jim figured out how to get us to Stanley Park on the bus.  Stanley Park is the third largest urban park in North America, and it is an amazing place!  It occupies a headland on the northwest end of Vancouver with views out on the waterways surrounding it on three sides.  The interior of the park is like an urban forest populated with redwoods and giant spruce trees.

Jim and I walked around a bit, and by then were starving so we ate a a darling bar and grill in the middle of the park. By this time, we had to rush to get back to hotel, because SURPRISE: our friends Mark and Shelly Kaplan happened to be in town the at the same time. We haven’t seen Mark and Shelly since our Patagonia trip last year, but it was great to share a glass of wine with them!

By this time it was 6:30 and Jim and I had to walk over to English Bay to have dinner and view the fireworks competition known as the Celebration of Light.  This is a huge deal every year in Vancouver, and runs on three different nights.

Jim and I had found out about this before our trip (thanks, TripAdvisor!), and had bought reserved seats to a private viewing area on the top of the Bathhouse.  The private viewing area was sponsored by a restaurant called the Keg, but their actual restaurant is located in another part of town. They provided drinks and heavy appetizers along with three different bands, and you had a elevated space from which to view the fireworks show. This night, the competitor team was from the Netherlands, and they put on quite the show!

A View on Vancouver

Stardate:  July 22, 2016:  Today we landed in Vancouver in preparation for our cruise to Alaska. But first, we had some sightseeing to do, and checking out some real estate in case Donald Trump wins the election (just kidding!)

Upon arrival, Jim and I walked down to the False Creek area of Vancouver, and saw these cute little ferry boats working between our shore and Granville Island, and back to the Yaletown area, as well as some other tourist spots.

So we took the ferry to Granville Island and walked around some. The island is really small, but chock full of restaurants, shops, theaters, and bars, as well as a really cool Public Market that definitely gives Seattle’s Pike Place a run for its money!

After a glass of wine and a snack at one of the waterside restaurants, we took the ferry over to the Yaletown area, where we walked along the really cool seawall bike/pedestrian path.  Vancouver has tons of these pathways throughout the city and they make for a very pleasant walkable town!

We took the ferry back over to Granville Island to eat dinner and had a really good seafood dinner looking out over the water.  By this time it was close to 9:30, and we were pooped so we headed back across False Creek to walk back to the hotel.  Along the way, we enjoyed a really great sunset, and stopped in at the wine bar in our lobby to sample some Okanagan (British Columbia) wines.