Glaciers and icebergs

Got up at 6.30 this morning as it is a very exciting day. We are going to cruise around Tracy Arm Fjord.
It is about 25 miles long with a massive glacier at the end. Right from the start of the fjord the ships naturalist was surprised at the size of the icebergs floating towards us. He said they were the biggest he had ever seen in 20 years of visiting the area.
The bad news is that there is loads of ice in the fjord so we can't get near to the glacier, but we can see it glowing blue in the distance.
The whole fjord is filled with icebergs, bergy bits and growlers (all scientific terms for different size chunks of ice - allegedly).
It is freezing then for about ten minutes the sun comes out and the whole place is like fairyland.

Mendenhall Glacier

Arrived at Juneau, the capital of Alaska this afternoon and caught a bus up to the glacier.
It is about 20 minutes out of the town and the driver told us that there are no roads out of Juneau and a total of 44 miles of tarmac. Surprising for a US state capital.
Excellent trip, we even saw a bear and Darren got a photo of it's bottom, but I wasn't quick enough on the drawer. I also saw it first and told Darren and an American lady overheard. She hollered out 'theres a bear' at about 100 decibels, which I don't think helped it stay around.
Huge generalisation, but many Americans have a volume control issue.

Ketchikan - lovely drinking street

Finished our walking tour with map and back to Creek Street. Found O'Brien's bar which is an outdoor offshoot from the bar round the corner.
Had a few wines which come in their own glass with a tear off lid and sat in the sunshine while the tide came in.
The Bartender, uncle Ted told us that a bear cub comes every day to eat salmon next to the bar and we were going to stay until he turned up. Unfortunately, we thought we might miss the boat so missed him, but a lovely time was had by both.

Ketchikan Alaska

Ketchikan is one of the rainiest places in the world, and a crew member said it is only the second time this season that they have arrived here when it hasn't been raining, and this is the last cruise of the year!
They get over 13 feet of rain each year, but none yet today.
The cruise ship is the biggest thing in the city, and with 13,000 inhabitants, it is the sixth largest city in Alaska.
Walked along the old red light district, seen some massive salmon spawning and saw a bald eagle sitting on a post.
Been on a bus trip where one of the highlights was the driver pointing out where he lived with his mum and dad. But then again, there aren't that many things, apart from the scenery and wildlife to point out when you have to talk for a whole hour.

Sky tower and giant spiders

Queued for ages to get to the top of the Sky Tower.
Excellent view and I can see our hotel. We are just behind the black triangular shaped building in the middle of the picture. We can see the Tower from our hotel room although it is partly obscured by a half built building across the road. Darren has solved this problem by opening our patio doors and walking along what could possibly be called a balcony, but is actually only about a foot wide and with a very flimsy looking railing to take a photo from a different angle. I took about two steps but was too frightened to go further.
Paul sent us a newspaper article that said that two giant 3D daddy long legs had been painted on the roof of a factory in Seattle and we saw them from the top of the tower. It looked pretty realistic, particularly when you weren't expecting to see them.

Way, way up north

On a cruise that left Seattle on Sunday afternoon and are heading directly north to Alaska.
Lovely bright sunshine today and we keep looking out for whales, eagles and other wildlife. We have seen what we think are a few porpoises leaping in the waves along the side of the ship.
The ship is massive and we have a cabin on the 14th floor, which also happens to be the same floor as the pizza bar and the swimming pools.
There is a nightclub on the 18th floor on a raised platform. It has a moving walkway to get to it as it is slightly uphill and we have spent a while messing around on it trying to recreate a video I saw on you tube where the band have a load of running machines and they dance backwards and forwards on it in time to the music. (You need to see it to understand what I mean.)
It's a sea day today so you can either go to the onboard entertainment, or make your own.