Update 28.08.07

29/08/2007 by Peter Miller.

We have been on the ship now for 3 days and of course we have got off a coupl or three times.

First stop was Ketchikan, here we visited a first nations village called Saxman, there are approx 400 natives living here some work at the village which is not technically a reserve.   The natives were moved to here from their place of origin, the name of which escapes me at the moment.

We then walked up Creek Street which was originally the red light district of Ketchikan, the original houses still exist and are built on stilts into the creek.  Here you are able to smell the stench of the rotting salmon which have died after spawning and breeding, pleasant!  Besides that it was possible to view thousands of potential breeding salmon tryinjg to swim upstream.

Of course, one has to sample the local brew and this occured at a place called Mike’s Elbow Room, here one could sample the flavour of the beer as well as the flavour of the Alaskan atmosphere.  The brew that was sampled was Alaskan Amber Ale and Alaskan Summer Ale. Both of these are 5% in volume and blow the socks off some of the UK slop.  Mike S don’t tell Mick Broadway!

Obviously we did a few more things at Ketchikan, next stop was Juneau (today).  The first stop was Macauley salmon Hatchery (sounds boring but was in fact quite interesting). Next was the Mendenhall Glacier, a superb example of one of Alaska’s finest tourist attractions and natural beauty spot. Got some great photos and even managed to snap a couple of brown bears, albeit from a fair distance but with the old zoom lens I managed to capture something that looks like a bear.

Next we went to Green Angel Gardens in the Tongass National Forest for a spot of native plant spotting and lunch which consisted of a cinnamon muffin and herbal tea.  Then we went to the Alaskan State Museum for an hour of cultural activity. Of course one, once again,  had to sample another couple of beers in the infamous Original Red Dog Saloon (now in its original 3rd location). Prior to the beer stop we visited the Taku, Juneau Harley Davidson store to top up on some biker clothing (ok ok I know I don’t have a Harley but the clothes are better than the bikes).

Within the next hour we are off to do some whale spotting (primarily humpback and killer whales).  One hopes, one will manage to get some decent photographs.

Next stop tomorrow is Skagway, I will update on this within the next couple of days. Before I say adieu I would just like to mention the weather (as we are British). It has been superb with blue skies and abnormal temperatures for this time of year.

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