DAY 4
After a great night’s sleep, we awoke to another blue sky
day. Neil was so keen that he was up at 5.30 to take photos and he was rewarded
with a whale blowing, breeching and flicking its tail right in front of the
boat. We were heading through the early
stages of the Inside Passage and, while we thought the whales would frequent
the areas where there is an outlet to the ocean, they are usually seen in the
narrow waterways between the islands. Luckily we saw some more whales later in
the day.
Even the view from our cabin window was fantastic. Only a narrow stretch of blue water separated
us from Vancouver island with its massive groves of fir trees which grow right
down to the water’s edge. We had breakfast in the restaurant beside a window
overlooking the water. What a view!! The waiter (Neal) asked if we would like
tea or coffee but I think he really meant coffee or coffee. When I said tea, he
turned a pale shade of white and disappeared. When he returned, he brought a
cup and saucer, a glass jar of boiling water and a huge basket with every kind
of tea bag he could find. He was very happy when I said that was good and that
I was happy to make it myself. Even better was that we could have as many cups
of tea and coffee as we liked for the princely sum of $1.75.
We managed to score a front row seat in the main viewing
lounge on the 7th floor and as soon as we sat down we saw a pod of
dolphins jumping across the front of the boat (from starboard to port…are you
impressed with the terminology?). One of the crew said they were Pacific
Miniature dolphins but we were surprised with the colours (black and white)
The boat we are on was built in 1972 and the crew were
awarded a medal for rescuing passengers from a cruise ship which ran aground.
It must have been early in the journey because the big ocean liners head out to
travel along the outside of all the islands rather than go through the
remainder of the Inside Passage. I think they miss out on seeing some
spectacular scenery but the big ships probably are too big for the passage
especially after Queen Charlotte Sound. The Sound and the Queen Charlotte
Islands were named by Captain Cook after the wife of the king at the time (acc
to the crew). It took about 2 hours to cross the Sound with good weather and
seas.
We saw Scuffy the Tug Boat towing a barge carrying rock
boulders up to construction sites in Ketchikan. It apparently returns with whit
rocks for Bellingham. There were some unusual cloud formations in this area and
they gave some spectacular colourings to the mountains as we passed . With
their shadows green islands became purple and dark blue. They looked like
drawings.
For those of you who need an update on Cochise, he sat
behind us early today but later moved to the next block of seats and actually
spoke to some locals. He showed one man his very sharp, curved hunting knife
and held it out for everyone to see. Obviously there was no metal detector
check when we boarded the boat. I think he must be going to do some hunting in
the wilderness but he also talked a bit about fishing. In a way he was less
scary today that a woman from Wyoming was as she talked non-stop in a very loud
voice and her favourite word was “I”. She believes she is the world’s greatest
expert on earth science, geology, conservation, global warming and the gradual
degradation of Cascadia(area surrounding the Cascade Mtns). She was the
original “legend in her own mind”.
Luckily the people who sat next to us were very nice. We met
2 teachers(retired) from Colorado. The lady had taught golf at a Community College
and the husband had been a high school teacher. Apparently being a high school
teacher is more stressful here so he retired 10 years before his wife did.
Another lady, Sheree, was from a small town of only 2000 people in NW Colorado
and she was going to visit her son’s family in Ketchikan. She was telling us
about the animals. The first day her son and Daughter in law moved to Ketchikan
she phoned them and heard a loud scream….there was a brown bear on their
veranda. She sometimes sees brown bears at her place but the biggest problem
she has is when walking. She says they always go walking in groups of 3 or 4
because mountain lions stalk people walking alone or in pairs. They have been known to
attack and once they killed a 12 year old boy..The good news is that they only
have one poisonous snake, the rattlesnake. But she said you just have to listen
when you are walking because you hear the rattle before you see the snake. A
friend of hers was bitten once. Her leg swelled up like a balloon but she did
survive. Sheree also said that the halibut (fish) we had yesterday was cooked
for too long if it was leathery so we’ll have to have another go at the local
fish.
We also saw some whales. They were regularly spouting and
raising their heads above the surface of the water but they didn’t jump or
flick their tails. They did roll to show us their fins and it seems there are
lots of them in this area. The even appear in the waters near Ketchikan which
we don’t reach until 7am tomorrow so we could have even more sightings!!!
Tonight we had dinner with a couple who met on the internet.
He is from Anchorage (far north) and she is from Mississippi (deep south). They
started talking on the internet in April, met face to face on May 10th
and were married on May 12th. They were on their way to Anchorage to
live. She is loud and he is quiet but an expert on everything: he can do
medicine, boat building, house building, quilting and cooking. She has been
married before and has left her kids with her mother down south until xmas.
Surely an Oprah show of the future.
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