Had we not had the unscheduled stop in Juneau, we might have been desperate to get off the boat for a while by the time we got to Haines. It was still welcome, there is only so much spectacular passing scenery a human can take!
The boat docked early in the morning, having crawled up the 150km of the Lynn Channel (which is a fjord), overnight in yet more benign conditions, that again led to a very good night's sleep. Barely a gentle roll to soothe one's journey to the land of nod!
Haines is actually connected via the Haines Highway to the road network and thence on to Whitehorse and Dawson City in the Yukon, and Anchorage and Fairbanks in Alaska. I can only assume that connecting Juneau just down the fjord, is too technically challenging or too expensive - or both. Or perhaps Juneau just likes it this way - keep out the riff riff, unless they come by boat (or air).
Anyway, for reasons almost certainly not related to its connectivity, Haines is known as a bit of an artist's colony. Apparently more artists per capita than any other place in the USA. And so it was that just about every corner house of downtown ( I use the term "downtown" loosely), was the home, workshop & retail outlet of an artist. Spoilt for choice really. Nareesa and I do like to return home from each trip with a piece of original art if we possibly can and so today that was our mission. So as well as longish walks along the waterfront, lunch (that we actually had to pay for!) in a waterfront pub, we scoured the town for that perfect piece, that said, "original, local, and looks more expensive than it actually was!" Not sure if we succeeded but this will one day be framed and adorn a wall in our new home! The small one Nareesa is holding, not the big wooden one, the size of a house. Obviously. That would be silly!
The Tlingit people are, I understand, all members of one clan or the other - either Eagles or Ravens. When they marry an Eagle must marry a Raven, thus ensuring a mixed household and preserving peace. not sure what that makes teh children of a union of Eagle and Raven but it seems like nice idea. And art that depicts both is considered to be about union and love. So this is our love picture. Awwww!
After art was purchased and we worried yet again how we are going to get everything home (perhaps I will simply jettison most of my clothes - not much loss there), we headed for the self guided tour of Fort Seward, built sometime round about the turn of the century to protect American interests. I have to admit by this time we had been on our feet for most of the day and I had rather stopped paying attention to the detail. I rather just wandered round admiring the old grand houses and enjoying the view over the harbour.
From Haines we slid gently and slowly back down the Lynn Fjord (ok, you say channel, I say fjord) to William Henry Bay, where I guess we dropped anchor sometime in the night and sat there till the morning came. And it is with regards to today's activities that I write to our ferry (sorry, I mean cruise) company...
Dear Hurtigruten
An open letter regarding our visit to William Henry Bay
I think you may be guilty of over promising and under delivering with respect to William Henry Bay. At the information meeting last night your expedition team enthused firstly about the fact that we are the only boat that is allowed into the bay and, furthermore, we are the chosen few who can actually land. They further waxed lyrically about all the animals we might see (I perhaps should have taken more seriously the word “might”). You assured us that the area is replete with moose, bald eagles, sea otters, seal, sea lions, and bears - grizzly and black. As you can imagine all on board went to bed last night with mouths wide open in anticipation and drooling at the prospect.
So what happened today? We dutifully lined up in our waterproof boots (you kindly provided) and our fashionable life jackets (but they would save our lives, I agree) to board the zodiacs, six to a boat.
Accompanied by a driver and a scientist - no complaints there, ours was very knowledgeable and of course enthusiastic - we headed off around the bay in search of wildlife. Crashing through the waves created by the wind, which in turn is due to the falling cold air in the fjord, we were in for an exciting ride. The driver (pilot? captain?) waiting out to sea to pick us up again after our anticipated exciting bear encounter.
But that was just the hors d’oeuvres. Fun though it was crashing about in a zodiac (although I did see at least one terrified passenger), the main course was to come. Landing on this almost forbidden land we saw … bear foot prints! Yep, that was it! Now I know these are wild animals and are in no way likely to do our bidding but I couldn’t help feeling that the yelping and hollering whilst understandable to let the bears know we were there for our safety, was also likely to ensure with almost certainty that they would not put in an appearance. And they didn’t. Our leader was excited beyond reason at the sight of recent paw prints, possibly that morning’s, but she had seen many a bear before, and we hadn’t. So, justifiably in her defence, to ensure we all returned to the boat, she basically scared them off! This is a grizzly by the way, you can tell because its claws show up. I know my bears!
We did spot a bald eagle flying overhead, and it was magnificent, but to be honest they are two a penny round here. We all wanted bears. And we got prints. And this is a black bear track. You'll just have to take my word for it. Cool, but not in the same league as actually seeing the damn bear.
Ms or Mr Hurtigruten, I am of course writing somewhat tongue in cheek, but there was definitely an element of over hyping our expectations, only to dash them with reality.
Kind regards
A Pain in the A**e
So back to the blog...
We have been promised that, as we round Point Alphonse (think I’ve got the name wrong, but it begins with an A … I think), somewhere near Glacier Bay National Park, we will be in the best whale watching spot in North America. But call me a cynical old bast**d, I am not getting my hopes up too high. But watch this space. Tomorrow I might be eating my words (which to be fair would be a very large meal), and sharing with you award winning pictures of fins disappearing into the deep. Then again, I might not! Bye for now.
Of course I am wearing shorts! What did you expect?
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