Day 22 May 11th Juneau

       

Juneau port area

When we arrived in

Mendenhall glacier

Juneau it was a change of weather again with it raining and mist hanging round the hills and mountains. We had booked a tour for the afternoon/early evening and so we had a relaxed start with breakfast etc and we decided to have a quick look round the town which

Nugget Falls

is the capital city of Alaska. The port area was pretty

Mendenhall glacier from aboard the boat

touristy with gift shops & souvenirs to the fore. There were two other cruise boats expected and so they were hoping for a busy day as their season is quite a lot shorter than Scilly. We didn’t buy much but it was interesting to see what was on offer.

a grainy bald eagle

We returned to the boat for lunch. Our coach for the

eagle flying away

“Best of Juneau” tour arrived by 1400 and we set off towards Mendenhall Glacier - the largest in Alaska. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side and it rained steadily all the time we were there. We got some pictures of dubious quality but the majestic splendour of the setting

mountains appearing through the clouds

shone through it all. There was also a dramatic waterfall called Nugget Falls which was in full flow as the snow/ice is melting. We had an hour there which would not be enough to do it justice in fine weather but because of the wet and cold we were ready to get back on the coach by this time.

We then rode to the quay

humpback whale

for a boat to take us whale watching. We boarded a twin jet boated catamaran larger than the Voyager with a passenger total of about 150. The captain was a young lady and Christine commented that she wondered what the reaction in the boatmans’ association at home would be to such a development. We were soon steaming away and after 20 minutes our first port of call was a very small island where there were bald eagles on posts near the jetty. A restaurant had been

whale diving

arranged and a salmon meal was waiting for us. This was welcomed and then we reboarded to look for whales and other sealife. It was not long before our captain had found a whale and she stopped for her passengers to observe and take photos. We carried

the pacific princess leaving Juneau

on between the islands and in total saw 4 whales but unfortunately could not find any sealions. A very good trip with good viewings but not ideal because of the intermittent rain. We were taken back to the quay and were bussed back to ship, arriving at about 2030 as it was getting dark. We went to get a hot drink and a bit of supper before retiring to our cabin.