Jule's Hikoi: Cruising Part 3

I was reflecting on my trip and realized I missed a piece about connection. At the hotel in Vancouver there was a roof terrace and we decided to end a satisfying day with a few drinks and snacks from the 7Eleven there. Enjoying the late afternoon sun. There were other folks there, two people who turned out to be New Zealanders. Jokingly I asked if they knew Diana when they said they were from Wellington. And yes they did, very well as she was a relative. Such a small world. I ended up having a couple of messages with her on Messenger and we're hoping to connect for a proper chat. Diana was one of my Wellington crew, the crew I had the best time with. There are pics here from our 2014-15 adventures.

Juneau. We had planned a lighter day here and a wander around town. The first stop was the Mendenhall Glacier. Being from New Zealand it takes a lot of glacier to impress me and I found this one a little underwhelming. It would have been lovely to have gotten closer. The wander along the track was refreshing, chatting with Mesh and enjoying the waterfalls. On the way back to town we had the best treat, a salmon bake - lots of lovely salmon. The salmon was very red and a little overcooked for me so I asked for an under done one for seconds. The lady slaving over the hot fire was delighted someone else liked salmon cooked less and we had a chat as she prepared the best salmon for me. The area around the Gold Creek Salmon Bake was lovely too as we wandered along Gold Creek to the waterfall and toasted marshmallows over the fire.

Back on the bus feeling very full, we headed to the Red Dog Saloon, an iconic venue in Juneau where duck farts were the order of the day. Duck farts are quite delicious shots layered Kahlua, Baileys and whiskey. The waitress recommended we had a go at the reindeer farts too, similar but with a minty addition. The bar was really busy with lots of historical memorabilia on the walls, hanging from the rafters, on the floor and everywhere with a flat surface. The bear hanging behind us looked fierce, sad to see his pelt stretched out on a wall. Jane booked us a whale watching trip with a local tour operator. I was feeling sleepy so not too enthused, that and I'd seen heaps of whales from my Gold Coast balcony. I was so pleased she booked it as we got to see a very special event, whales bubble net fishing.

Bubble net fishing is unique to Alaska. It's amazing to watch a pod of humpback whales lay their bubble net then leap up, mouths open, to catch the fish they captured in their net. The seagulls and seals are there for their share, dodging the wide open mouths. I got some amazing pics and I'm in the process of editing these so here's a video with an explanation instead. Much better represents this amazing spectacle. The pod we followed had 18-20 whales as was larger than the whale boat crew had seen in a while. Lovely to see the crew so engaged and enjoying this as much as we were.

We headed back to the boat big smiles on our faces. I was looking forward to checking my photos on a big screen and regretted not having my iMac at home to process these. The evening promised more entertainment, food and cocktails. It's a tough life this cruising! Next stop Skagway.