Cruising the Inside Passage - Juneau the capital of the state of Alaska
Highlights
Well here we are, in #Juneau, capital of the state of Alaska. Population 31 685. And the only access is by air or sea or as shuttle bus driver @Mary advised later in the day, by your mother’s birth canal!
Guess that limited access by sea explains why there other three other cruise ships anchored with us in the harbour. That’s an extra 20 000 people here today - hope they all don’t think they are going to strike it rich panning for gold.
#Juneau is definitely unique- it has only 100 miles of paved roads in the area and is cut off from the rest of the north American continent by a 1 500 square mile ice field, rugged mountains and the ocean. If you are a local and want out ... it’s a ferry or a plane. The morning was filled with planes - sea planes taking off and landing every few minutes.
#Juneau did put on a bright start for us. The "lightest" it has been in a while. The tree covered cliffs plummeted right into the ocean, the #Juneau cable car rose almost outside our balcony and despite low clouds and mist, it "felt" like sunshine. The @Captain had been on early in the morning, announcing our arrival and warning of rainy and soggy conditions underfoot and we were certainly mentally prepared for any changes.
A confusing morning because, if we were "home" in #Australia we’d be singing the birthday song for @Mac ... still the 15th here .... but he was receiving messages from home, so we decided to celebrate over the two days for him (after all, he was quick to point out, we had celebrated my birthday for 8 weeks!) Have swapped out the 70s birthday sign and made a token attempt at a sign for him by folding and hiding the 70 - a bit dodgy but it was an effort. It is OK though because the ship knows and #Princess has made him a personal message that pops up on the large screens around the ship. You swipe your #Medallion to access your information anywhere on the ship .... and wow, he gets his birthday panel.
Love that @Allan was optimistic and had reset the furniture on the balcony thinking we might get out and enjoy the "improved" weather conditions. Because by the time we were on shore for our 11 am excursion, the sunshine had vanished. It had done its usual #Alaska thing and as we waited for our tour bus to arrive we formed a jiggling jumping hiddle to try and stay warm.
We were a little surprised but guess it is "normal" practice in small towns with a large influx of cruise ship passengers. @Jimmy picked us up, and we loaded in and then proceeded to go to three other terminals to pick up passengers from other ships to make up our numbers! We had #Royal Caribean and another #Princess ship passengers on biard. Hope they are all as "whisy washi" conscious as our passengers are!
@Jimmy gave a running commentary on the history, settlement and gold rushes that explain the why and where of #Juneau. Apparently the gold reserves here were kept a huge secret by the native people from the #Russians. It was only after American interest was shown that @Richard Harris, @Joe Juneau and Auk Tlingit Chief @Kowee conspired to release the news of the discovery of that precious metal in #Gold Creek. That began the gold rush of the 1880s and over the next 60 years the equivalent of $7 billion was mined in the area.
Think the big nuggets must be gone because it was slim pickings for us today. @Jummy did his best to set us up with small pans, plenty of gravely soil and running water and set us to work. Lots of fun - heaps of anticipation - very little reward. But, after all the swishing and swirling, over multiple pans full of gravely, think @Mac ended with 6 glittering specks and I had four. We carefully pipettes them into tiny vials and rebiarded the bus, content with our efforts. Definitwly no change to our retirement plans as a result of those efforts.
Next stop was for #The Salmon Bake. Much more luck here and we definitely struck gold. What an amazing setting - yes, very tourist oriented but loads to see and do and plenty to eat. As if we needed plenty to eat .... but, you know, you do what you have to do.
The grounds were amazing. An open air setting. Wooden tables and benches, some with heaters (that’s what we chose), set under that clear roofing material on the side of a stream. Lots of carvings and trick touristy bits and bobs.
The salmon and the ribs were cooked on open fire pits. You present with your plate and your freshly cooked salmon portion was served - with a delicious honey glaze! @Mac only had the salmon and the ribs - I tried all the accompaniments, including baked beans with reindeer sausage (sorry #Rudolf.) Discovered the best beer - "Amber Alaska" and with the help of the gas heater, really enjoyed eating outside with the background of that running stream.
A short walk to the head of the stream brought you to a waterfall and the associated abandoned mining equipment. The trees were easels to hold fabulous wooden carvings of long dead prospectors. You could pan for well here as well, but I couldn’t distract @Mac from playing with the whale.
After a little walk and a scout in the gift shop, think some of our food had moved down into our legs and we had just enough room for one more round of salmon!
Jumped back on the shuttle bus for the return journey woth @Mary and she was a "font." Had all the tourist stats backed up and ready to share. There was something to see and learn at every twist in the road.
The funny thing is, we haven't met a native (and I mean someone who was born and raised in #Alaska) since we've been here. Actually, there was one - the friendly border official who invited us to enjoy our stay. Everyone else has been an "itinerant." Many have the same story - escaping from states in the south such as Texas or Utah that are "too hot" in the summer - so they go "North to Alaska" to chill!
Back on board and @Mac was lapping up his birthday wishes. Especially now that the sign has been activated - he takes a minute at every life and hallway exit just to "check" his birthday message. Surely I haven’t been like this for 8 weeks. Surely!
We did get back on board for a little fragment of sunshine and thought we might zip outside and enjoy the outside deck setup. Apparently, a little break in the weather means that the maintenance crew can do their thing. Opened the curtains to find three workmen again, chipping away at the paint. No big inconvenience, really, because that sliver of sunshine probably lasted a full 5 minutes before it was replaced with a shower of rain. The workman probably saved us.
Took in the second show by Jassen Allen entitled "My Life Story" and fronted up for dinner. That extra serving or two of salmon, hadn’t dented our enthusiasm for tonight’s offerings.
Not sure where the hours disappear to but we always seem to hitting the home straight late. Have the luxury of sleeping in if course so time doesn’t really matter. Of course, @Mac had to do a final check of his birthday message and again elicited happy birthday greetings from fellow lift travellers and complete strangers who were a few steps behind us. He’s had a great day, christened his new bear print socks and munched on his caramel chocolate. Not quite diamond earrings …. I definitely had not prepared a little earlier!
PS We were 90 minutes south of #Juneau and all of a sudden this appeared. Long may it continue.
Weather: 8 degrees
Steps: 7 102
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