Second Port Day: Alaska's Capital - Juneau

Making the right choice of tour to join was certainly difficult. In the end we decided to pick the whale watching tour, which guarantees whale sighting. We had to wake up early and go upstairs for breakfast before we disembarked the ship to wait for our tour. At last it was time to board the bus. It smelled a little fishy but after a while we got used to it and we were soon on our way to Auke Bay. As we drove into the city of Juneau which is the capital of Alaska, the bus driver shared with us jokes about the happening in Juneau and interesting facts about Juneau. And of course a magnificent view of the Mendenhall Glacier:

After a ride of over 30 minutes, we arrived in Auke Bay. We hopped of the bus and onto the catamaran which had a lower and upper deck. We climbed up and settled ourselves down on the seats which had binoculars for our use. Soon our captain briefed us and introduced us to the naturalist and we were off.

Very soon we were greeted by the first Dall's porpoises. They look like little killer whales and they happily swam next to our boat. They love to ride on the waves of the boat and our naturalist even told us to look out for them when we get back to the cruise ship. It wasn't easy to get a clear shot of them, but here's the best that I could find:

Next we saw Steller sea lions. The captain parked as close to the little island as she could. But hey you couldn't miss them as there are so many of them. We both went to the outside of the boat to have a good look.




As we were driving off, daddy spotted this:

Can you see it? I had already zoomed in so that you can get a clearer view of it.. A bald eagle.

The captain told us that the law forbids them from driving the boat up close to a whale if we spot one. But of course, if the whale decides to take an interest in us (as we are of them..) then it is ok. Well we spotted a whale after driving for quite a while, so she stopped the engine and we watched the whale. It was so far away, daddy was complaining about this telephoto lens as it could not zoom as closely as he had wanted.
Rather far, isn't it? Can you see the fin on the back of the humpback whale?

Well we went off after that in search for more humpback whales. And guess what? We were in luck. There was first one whale then more and more whales swimming in the same area. You could see them on the left and the right. And one even decided to come really close to us:

But best of all we could see them making dives after dives. And they even made deep dives which we knew as the naturalist told us that when you see their tails as they made a dive it means it was a deep dive. Here are 2 getting ready for a dive:

See their tails?

We were treated to smoked salmon on crackers with hot chocolate and the naturalist continued to share with us facts about the whales and sea lions and even showed us the baleen which is the "teeth" of the whale which is a filter for the whales for the food they eat.

We soon arrived back at the dock and hopped on another bus which brought us back to the city. As it was still early, we stopped at the city and walked around to look at the city.
We stopped at a fudge shop and watched the man make fudge. Doesn't it look yummy? Of course we could not resist it and ended up buying a piece of fudge and some popcorn which you insisted on buying.
As we headed towards the dock, we stopped to take pictures of the stairs which we would not have noticed if the first bus driver had not brought it to our attention. They were stairs leading to people's houses. Can you imagine climbing up these stairs just to get home everyday? And what would happen if you realise you forgot something only after you've reached the bottom of the stair!!
Oh yes, we also stopped at a shop which sold everything from the Alaskan Brewing Company. Of course daddy had to take a picture to remind him of the yummy beer he's had throughout this trip. And this was the perfect place, as Juneau was the home to the Alaskan Brewing Company.

At last we headed back to the port to the ship for lunch. And of course the lunch menu was cheezy pizza for you and we had whatever was on the buffet table.

Cute Doggy

Forgot to put this picture in the Skagway post. It was standing outside one of the many jewellery shops in Skagway and looked so friendly. It wanted to sniff us, but when you tried to pet it, it got scared and ran just out of reach. Isn't it cute?

First Port Day: Skagway

After so many days of continental breakfast in the room, we decided to go to Horizon Court for the buffet breakfast. This was our first port day since we got on the ship in Whittier. After breakfast we headed back downstairs to our room to shower and get ready to disembark for the day. We had already pre-booked our tour for the day (or should I say "few hours" - it was only for about 2.5 hours).

We had to scan our cards as we disembarked the ship. That's how they tracked how many people had gotten off the ship and how many missed the ship I guess. Everyone including children had a card of their own. And of course, you scanned your own card. The ship had arrived early that morning but the gangway only opened at 10.30am. So at around that time, we headed to Deck 5 and got off the ship. While waiting for our tour bus we took some pictures:

Of course just as we were going to look for our excursion group, you decided that you needed to wee wee. Ok, daddy brought you to the toilet while Ah Kong and Ah Ma went to look for the correct bus. We almost missed them as Ah Kong and Ah Ma got onto the bus and forgot to wait somewhere where we would see them! We finally got onto the bus which was a small one (like the mini buses in Penang) and soon we were on our way to the Skagway town then to the Klondike Highway. We had been reminded to bring our passports as the bus would be bringing us across the border to Canada.

The journey started with us driving through the town of Skagway where the bus driver told us a little about the town and the population and even where to go for lunch or a drink. And very soon we left the town and were on the highway. It was a pleasant drive going uphill with a magnificent scenery and we even caught glimpses of the White Pass & Yukon train. We took one stop and got this beautiful scenery shot:

Lonely and long highway

Then we continued on our journey. There were even people going on a cycling tour on the highway. How tiring! As you can see it was a hilly highway. Then the bus driver mentioned that he felt something was wrong with his bus! Oh no.. so he pulled over and tried to radio for help. Thank goodness the mechanic for the bus company was nearby and checked and confirmed that the bus was spoilt. So we stopped and waited while they tried to radio for another bus for us. Finally another passing bus helped to radio for help. In the meantime, we waited and enjoyed the scenery.

We had stopped nearby a beautiful waterfall and we all got down to take some pictures and some of the passengers even took a drink from the waterfall. We got tired and went back to the bus to sit for a while when the other passengers in the bus spotted a grizzly bear crossing the road. Everyone got excited but the bear which was not bothered about the audience it had gathered, just continued to cross the road and disappeared.

That was when "it" happened. You decided that you needed to poo poo! Yup, in the middle of the highway with NO toilets. I tired to convince you to wait a while but you insisted that you had to go... IMMEDIATELY. Oh-kay.. now what? I asked the bus driver where you could do a "big one" and he kindly brought us downstream from where the water from the waterfall was flowing to a clearing and told me you could do your business there and to please put the tissue paper under a stone.

I didn't think you could do your business there... but I guess you really had to go then and there, so you had no problem doing your business there. When you were done, you even asked me there you could wash your hands! So you washed in the little stream and then went back to the bus and a short while later another bus came to pick us and we went on our way.

We went on towards the border and then we spotted some buses stopped along the side. And guess what they were looking at? A baby grizzly bear having a snack:

The scenery on the way to the border/summit:
We drove past the border and did not stop at customs. We continued until we reached the summit which had an amazing scenery:
Before we left, we used the outhouses which were similar to the ones in Denali National Park only this was smaller and didn't even have the hand sanitizer and er.. I reckon stank even more! We took another stop before reaching the US Customs and had this picture taken:

It took a while as we waited for our turn to clear the US customs and we were soon on our way back to Skagway and the bus driver was telling us about the gold rush in Skagway a long time ago. The bus driver dropped us in town for us to have our lunch. We crossed the road from where we were dropped and went here for lunch.

The Skagway Brewing Co. was one of the places recommended by our bus driver. It must be good as it was so full of customers. We finally got a table big enough for the 5 of us and then we ordered our food and drinks. First came the drinks:
Obviously the left are Ah Kong and daddy's drinks and you also had your drink... milk, a must have for you this whole trip. Finally our lunch came and no pictures as we were too hungry!

We walked around the little town (it was only ONE main road) then did little shopping (a lot of the shops were giving BIG discounts as it was the end of the season). After that we stopped at the train station to look around and even take a picture on a train carriage before taking a short scenic walk back to the ship.

After dinner, we wanted to catch "Alexander the Illusionist" but as we were a little late after dinner, we could not get a seat. There were a lot of empty seats but they were reserved for friends (who never turned up!). Anyway, we gave up any hopes of getting a seat and ended up going back to our room to retire for the day.

Good Morning Glacier Bay National Park

By the time we opened our sleepy eyes, we were already at Glacier Bay National Park. As usual daddy was already up, had eaten breakfast at the dining room upstairs and had already taken lots of pictures by then.

Sunrise at Glacier Bay National Park

Groggily we got up, looked at the scenery and then turned on the TV while waiting for our breakfast. Breakfast arrived and we headed outside to look at the magnificent glaciers. Soon there was announcements that the Glacier Bay Park Rangers were on board the ship. By then I'd dropped you off at the Kids Zone as you had requested.

As we enjoyed the scenery, the park rangers provided a commentary over the PA system on the many interesting sights as we cruised Glacier Bay. At 11.30 we wanted to pick you up for lunch, but found that the Park Ranger was giving the kids a talk and you were sitting right in front listening to him. So we quickly sneaked away before you spotted us and came back at 12pm. By then you were done and the carers passed to me your Pee Wee Ranger Activity Book, Junior Ranger certificate and you even had something special: a Junior Ranger badge as well as a cute little whale.

We had lunch from the buffet line. It was chilly and chowder day. Er.. not something we liked but there were load of other things which we enjoyed from the Horizon Court buffet. Then it was time to take more pictures:

As we relaxed in the room they announced that the Park Rangers were closing their station, so I headed to the pool to have a look at what they may have which would be of interest to you. I found a book and bought it for you, as a reminder of you trip to Alaska on this cruise ship.

As with the days before I had a "great" time getting you up for our dinner at 5.45pm. But good thing by the time you were showered and dress you were in a good mood as we reached the Pacific Moon for dinner. Dinner as always was delicious and the service was great.

Our First Formal Night

Sunday night was the first of 2 formal nights for us. The boat was still rather rocky, but thank goodness we still enjoyed ourselves during dinner. After a lot of difficulty getting you out of bed with lots or promises (which didn't work, so have the threaten) and dressing you up, we headed to our table which was with the spectacular view. We were lucky to get the table by the window. We didn't get it the night before because we were late for dinner. But today we were on time and that was to be our table during the entire cruise.

We went down then realised that we'd forgotten the camera so daddy had to make a trip up to the room to pick up the camera. We took some pictures after putting our orders with Som Chai our waiter. By the time we arrived, he had already gotten the kids menu ready for you too! And just waiting to confirm if you wanted milk to go with your dinner. What service....

So while waiting for dinner, daddy snapped some pictures of us in our formal.

And some of you in your nice shirt too:

You were willing to pose for a few shots. But after a while, it became this:

After that dinner was served: appetizer, soup, main course, dessert and coffee/tea. No pictures because we were too busy eating..

Then Ah Kong and Ah Ma went for a show and we walked around. You wanted to go to the Kids Zone but when we arrived, you decided that you wanted to be there WITH me. Sigh.. So in my sea sick condition I accompanied you while daddy went off to enjoy the cold wind outside.

You played with the toys there. Then you decided that you needed to wee wee. You told me you'd go on your own, but I decided to go with you and just make sure everything was ok. The toilets were child sized. As you were used to lifting the toilet seat up, you did just that. The boat was swaying left and right and I wondered what would happen if the seat and seat cover dropped. Nothing happened.. that is until you were done with your business. Just was you walked back to put on your pants the cover and seat went "wham" and closed. Phew.. that was a near miss!!

We went back to the room to find daddy almost KO-ed from the motion (hehe.. it's his turn) and our beds all turned down and the bunk bed taken our by Jonathan our room steward and the usual 3 chocolates with the breakfast menu all put on our beds.

First Stop: Yakutat Bay

Actually it isn't really a stop. We didn't get down anywhere. The ship only arrived in the afternoon after lunch time. The day started with daddy (already up really early) waking us both up. Shortly after we got up our breakfast arrived. We'd ordered from the continental breakfast menu which was brought to our room. Bliss.. brekfast in bed. Too bad the galeforce wind and choppy sea (ie VERY cold winds) made it not possible for us to have breakfast in our room balcony.

After breakfast we went off to check out the activities in the "Kidz Zone". We had signed up the night before. This is what it looks like (daddy took the picture the day before):

We dropped you there with a promise to pick you up later and they gave me a pager in case you wanted to leave earlier or if you wanted me for any reason. Off daddy and I went. WE walked around but soon I told him that I needed to get back to the room. The motion was not very good for me and I was not feeling well that I'd brought a plastic bag along with me. So daddy went off to explore the ship further while I went back to the room to sleep off the motion sickness. The at 11am the pager beeped. Woke me up from my slumber and I rushed upstairs to deck 15 to get you. I thought that you were not happy, but you were fine. The carers just said that you wanted to go back already. As the sea was too choppy you could not play on the slides. And since it was not a US school holiday there were very few children in the area.

We went back and daddy came back to the room shortly then with Ah Kong we headed to deck 14 for lunch. It was drizzling and the sea was choppy still! And most interesting to you was the pool. The pool was closed as you can see, there is a net covering the pool.

Makes you wonder why, eh? Look at it now:

There was waves inside the ship! Yup, the water just splashed on both sides drenching anyone who came too close to the pool!!

After lunch we headed down to the bar for some drinks while trying to decided on which tour to take at the 3 port of calls.

The bubble lift

Just as we were arriving in Yakutat Bay, we decided to brave the cold and go out for a family shot. It was VERY cold so we all bundled up in our warmest and headed out. Oh yes, did I mention the rain too? It was drizzling and yet we went out for a shot. Daddy set up his tripod and we quickly got ready to have our pictures taken:

Soon we arrived in Yakutat Bay. The scenery was beautiful and daddy had a wonderful time with his newly acquired lens which he bought just for this trip. It got too cold and so we headed back to the room. It's a good thing our room came with a balcony. Ah Ma and Ah Kong's room was right next door and we had a connecting door. So we continued to enjoy the view from our room and you started to get drowsy. Nap time. But before that, daddy wanted a shot of us with the magnificent view.. So you can see the nice view behind us and a little grumpy boy in the picture.

We all a napped and soon had to crawl out of bed as it was time to get ready for dinner. Our dinner reservations were at 5.45 daily in the Pacific Moon room. We had to be there by 6.15 otherwise we'd lose our table. So time to get out of bed whether we wanted to or not and you certainly DID NOT want to..

We Leave for Whittier

The day began early as usual. We had to be up early and there were lots of people on the tour and we had to eat our breakfast and check out by 8.30am to hop on the bus. While waiting for the bus to arrive, we walked around the hotel area to take some pictures. Then we were off on the bus to the first stop for the day: The Alaska Native Heritage Center. It was a very short ride and we arrived at the center even before it opened at 9am!

We waited a while and were finally given our tickets and went in. First stop was the theatre for a short film about the natives. It was interesting although we had to go off halfway for a toilet break (you seem to pick the best times!). When they show was finished we had a walk around the compound of the building where there were model traditional village sites of Alaska's indigenous people. They had model buildings as well as displays of the things used by the natives. There is someone in each place to show you or answer any questions we may have.

We took a picture with the gray whale bone (bottom left)

Ah Kong could not squat to take the picture, so it's a little "unique"

Daddy even tried his hand on their hunting equipment. Something which was like a spear which came with a handle. Not too bad for his first time. He didn't hit the target but he hit the haystack and not the ground.

The guy who was in charge of the spear thingy demo also showed us the kayak which was used by the natives and explained how it is very much similar in design to the modern day kayak. Before long it was time to head back to the main building as it was time for their dance and song performance. It had already started. They were introducing their costumes of the various tribes.

It was soon time to head to the bus at 10.45 as Paul had requested. We stopped by the gift shop to pick up a few things and went to wait for everyone else to board the bus. We waited for quite a while as there was a couple missing and Paul could not locate them. In the end we left without them after Paul had left a message for them to hop on the center's shuttle to the Saturday Market in Anchorage.

Nope, we did not have time to head to the Saturday Market (although I'd love to..). That was the end of our bus ride with this tour company. They dropped us off at our next stop, the Egan Convention Center. We tagged our luggage, got our bus pass and then headed to have lunch. Ah Kong went off with Ah Ma to buy something and we decided to have the yummy pizza for lunch. It was drizzling so we made a mad dash to the shop which thankfully was just nearby. How good was the pizza? Have a look:

.. and you finished the whole slice! We finished lunch and still had some time so we headed to the 5th Avenue Mall (which we hadn't gone to during the few days we had in Anchorage). Wandered around, had no time to shop *sob* and headed back to the convention center to prepare to board the next bus.

Met up with Ah Kong and Ah Ma and soon it was time to hop on the bus which would bring us to Whittier. IT wasn't a long ride, less than 2 hours but you napped all the way. It was rainy weather as we drove to Whittier but the scenery was still lovely.

Before we had left the city, the bus driver had mentioned that we would drive through a tunnel. By the time I woke you up, we'd already driven past the tunnel.. or so I thought. You woke up asking where the tunnel was and I had to tell you that it was nothing interesting, even shorter than the one on the highway to Ipoh!

Then we came to a halt. What was it? We had come to the REAL tunnel. It was not time for us to go through the tunnel yet and many vehicles (train, cars and buses) were queuing up for their turn to go through the tunnel. We were going to drive through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel . It was a 4 km long tunnel and we could not see the end of the tunnel for a long time. Shortly after we exited the tunnel, we saw this:

What was it? Our "home for the next 7 days. The Diamond Princess"