Glacier Bay
In the morning we wake up to blue skies, this nice weather would stay with us for the rest of the trip. As we enter the Glacier Bay National Park, we pickup a park ranger who will add commentary to those of us on the decks enjoying the amazing views of this area. I refer to her as Ranger Flower Power... her endless over-the-top droning is a bit much. "Imagine you are a pebble..."
As we move up through the bay towards the Grand Pacific Glacier, you start to sense the reality of being in Alaska. The water is a brilliant blue, and we transition from small icebergs floating by, to large icebergs, icebergs full of passengers, to a water that looks like a giant blueberry Slurpee.
Holland America is one of the only Cruise lines that is allowed into this area, with their smaller ships (smaller than the Carnival and Princess monsters), they are able to move in very close to the glaciers. This postcard image gives you a sense of the size of the Margerie Glacier.
As we do a very slow turn around and spend an hour floating in front of this massive glacier, we are able to hear the rolling sounds of thunder coming from the 'calving' of huge chunks of ice breaking off and falling into the bay. Now we know where all the icebergs we passed came from.
Once we left the Margerie Glacier, we worked our way to another slightly smaller glacier named after the famous American John Hopkins. As we work our way back to Alaska's Inside Passage, Ranger Flower Power reminds us that the hippy trend had its place in Alaska too, listening to her talk has me tripping at the amazing blue colour of the ice.
Traveling through the waters we see splashing of porpoises, we also spot a few whale spouts, but they are gone before we get any closer. On the distant shore a moose grazes. An amazing day in Glacier Bay is only made better when a small boat comes to take Ranger Flower Power away.
Tonight would be another formal night, Surf and Turf, Steak and Lobster, followed by Baked Alaska... Ice Cream just seemed appropriate for this day, Cinco de Mayo. When my Dad and Jan head to the Piano bar, Norine and I head up to the Crows Nest club for a bit of dancing.
When 'Twist and Shout' is played we are selected by the DJ as finalists in a twist competition, and proceed to be dubbed the best 'twisters' on the MS Veendam. Our prize is a Mexican hat, blanket, shot glasses, a HAL towel and a HAL sweatshirt... earned because according to the DJ "I have a lot of swing in my backyard". That wasn't embarrassing at all, we snuck out the back door.
Ketchikan
The morning we docked in Ketchikan our day would start with a jetboat catamaran tour. The Misty Fjords is a 2 million acre area of the Tongass National Forest, the native home of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian indians. This area was mapped by Captain George Vancouver in 1793.
As we head into the Misty Fjords park, our cameras are going like crazy, there is incredible scenery and wildlife. New Eddystone Rock is a volcanic plug named after a lighthouse in Britain. Captain Vancouver named it after he mistook it for another ship. The wildlife includes porpoises, harbour seals, and Bald Eagles, lots of Eagles. Eagles are flying, nesting in trees and sitting on rocks.
The seals are unique not because of their numbers, but because of one unique seal amongst the group. Our Indian guide tells us that the white seal with chocolate dots is very rare.
From glaciers to waterfalls the Misty Fjords are stunning, but don't appear very misty until we see some clouds rolling over the tops of the cliffs, there's some mist. Our beautiful morning visit to Rudyerd Bay and Punchbowl Cove wraps up with a stop at some ancient indian pictographs.
After our boat tour we find ourselves back in Ketchikan, it's name coming from the Tlingit word for "Thundering Wings of an Eagle". Ketchikan is known as Alaska's first city, not because of when it was founded in 1886, but because it is the first city you reach on the inside passage.
The history of Ketchikan is summed up in their historic center known as Creek Street. Their town structures are built on pilings over the creek, this area was a salmon stream, and a red light district. Dolly's is a brothel that ran until the mid 1900's when it was made illegal. At the far end of the boardwalk is a path marked as Married Man's trail. It was hidden from the main town, and allowed the Married men of the town to sneak into the Red Light district unseen by the townsfolk.
Like many small towns there is always something unique to find, whether it is the tiny wildflowers growing on the side of the road, or the personalized signs of its residents.
Ketchikan is also known to have the world's largest collection of standing totem poles, they are located at three major locations: Saxman Village to the east, Totem Bight to the north, and the Totem Heritage Center. The center is preserving totems and artifacts from the three native tribes of the area; Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian. Impressive totems are also scattered through the town.
After our day in Ketchikan we were invited to a special dinner celebration, every course was presented with a parade of waiters and cooks. We were all given chef hats and the dinner was a fun filled evening of visually and edibley great food and great company. Our friend from Australia had more fun than others after a day of drinking in Ketchikan while his wife went shopping.
Our last day would be spent at sea, we travel the coast past the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Later that afternoon we are back in Johnstone Strait, passing lighthouses, the towns of Port Hardy, Alert Bay with their massive totem pole and their graveyard tribute poles, and the famous Orca home of Robson Bight. Unfortunately we would not see any of these majestic creatures. As we pass a local BC Ferry we do not yearn for a Sunshine Breakfast, the cruise ship breakfasts are a little better, and our boat is just a little more comfortable than that rust-bucket.
Our last dinner would be one of the best, I am trying to decide between Prime Rib and the Scallops. It's our last night, what the heck, I'm getting both. I don't know whether it is some other force that tries to keep us on the boat longer, but the last morning as we are heading into Vancouver I set the alarm for 7:00pm instead of am... oops. A knock at the door wakes us up in time for one more gourmet breakfast before we dock at Canada Place and disembark.
A lot of travelers believe the Cruise Ship scene is for the retirement community, but for an opportunity to check out a variety of exotic locales, be spoiled rotten with great service and great meals, and not have to lug your suitcases from town to town, it's pretty hard to beat. We got a great taste of Alaska, it was always so close we ignored it. We gave my Dad a vacation he won't soon forget, we won't either, and we'll go back to Alaska and explore Denali National Park one day.