Quick visit to Vancovuer

So having arrived back in Seattle we did some more bookings and caught up with the boring admin jobs like checking back our credit card statements, then we walked down to the waterfront to have a beer and watch our ship load its supplies lined up on the dock for the next bunch of passengers. It was good to see it sail but we would have liked to have been on it again !

Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle

Being in the centre of the downtown area we spent some time exploring on foot, seeing Pioneer Square where the city was founded in 1852, and walking a good length of the historic waterfront including the Olympic Sculpture park, past the many seafood outlets and the Seattle Aquarium. Close to the new landmark Seattle Wheel is the landing site of the steamship "Portland" which in 1897 arrived carrying a ton of gold from Alaska, kick starting the Klondike gold rush and the rush of Stampeders to Alaska

For such a young city there is a lot to take in, and no visit would be complete with riding the ducks, a whacky city tour on land and water in a rebuilt WW2 amphibious truck complete with a crazy captain and a party atmosphere. Its a great way to see the city and have fun.

Finally we took a bus ride uptown to see the Fremont neighborhood, originally a separate city but now annexed to Seattle. It is home to much counterculture and locally known as the centre of the universe, among other things sporting a statue of Lenin salvaged from Slovakia, and an 18 foot tall concrete sculpture of a troll under a road bridge, created in 1990 and crushing a full size VW Beetle.

The Fremont Troll, note the VW - its a real one !

 Back to reality and we collected our pre-booked rental car and drove up to the US/Canadian border, where after a slightly difficult time with an inexperienced and young Canadian immigration officer we were admitted, continuing up to Vancouver, B.C. for a whistlestop tour to meet our friend Nikki and her husband Taymour. Nikki used to live in Jersey and although they have only called this city home for a few months, we were treated to a great tour both of downtown Vancouver and some of the outlying areas like Deep Cove, plus some great food in this coastal sea port. Although it was a very brief visit its not hard to see why Vancouver is consistently voted in the top five cities worldwide for liveability and quality of life, and we are sure you have made a great choice. Hope to see you there again one day once you are properly settled in !

Sunset from Kitsilano Beach Park, Vancouver

Returning to the USA, the border crossing was slow but trouble free, and we quickly turned East through the State of Washington which has recently been battling enormous wildlfires. The devastation was very clear to see, with huge swathes of blackened and burnt land, bare tree trunks and charred fence posts testifying to the force and ferocity of fire that has swept through this region very recently. We passed a huge fire camp, a field full of tents and gazebos, livestock trailers and vehicles, where tired and hungry firefighters are fed and watered, and can shower and sleep. Local farmers who have lost their fences to fire have also corralled their livestock here in makeshift pens. Listening in to local radio news told us that the firefighters have been reduced to around 500 in number as many fires have now been extinguished, but the state has another problem with flash floods in the last 24 hours which have taken out roads and left many homes without electricity. We were diverted twice today due to road closures but were grateful that we weren't here a day earlier when several vehicles were wrecked on these very roads during mudslides. Sorry no pictures as were were driving most of the day, and for longer than we expected !

The next few days are mainly going to be on the road too as we have a lot of miles to cover to get to Chicago, though we have a few places to visit along the way. Fortunately we had a pleasant surprise with our rental car, having booked and paid for a compact but been upgraded free to a fullsize special - a Dodge Charger. Its bigger than what we are used to and a bit heavier on gas but lovely to drive and will make the 2000+ mile journey a little more comfortable.

Cruising Alaska's Inside Passage

With one more day in Seattle before setting sail for Alaska, we rode the Monorail to the Seattle Centre, a park built for the 1962 World's Fair and home to the famous Space Needle, one of Seattle's most recognizable landmarks. Having already seen the view of the city from the Columbia Tower which simply could not be beat we decided to skip this, instead paying a visit to the nearby EMP Museum with it's eclectic mix of music, Sci Fi and pop culture. The surrounding gardens of the park are great too, with a huge selection of eateries in the old armoury building, and the spectacular International Fountain with its crazy spouts of water, made all the more surreal by many people clad in headgear for Turban Day which was one of many events on that day. On the way back to our hotel that evening we met a Brit from Wolverhampton and ended up have a great chat over a beer or two.

International Fountain with the Space Needle in the background

The shuttle bus came to pick us up at 11 am the following morning and delivered us safely to the dock at Pier 66. Even though there were over three thousand people boarding, check in and loading were very efficient and we were on board and having lunch by just after midday.

Party time on the sun deck

In the hot sunshine of Seattle it was very much a party atmosphere on the sun decks, a steel band playing tunes whilst people swam in the pool or soaked in the hot tub, and several huge charcoal barbeques serving an array of food. Being first time cruisers we spent the rest of the day exploring the ship before having a great dinner, followed by the first of many shows in the theatre.
Day two was a full day at sea, and we were overwhelmed with the things to do on board. In between talks about Glaciers and in-port shopping at Juneau, we booked our shore excursions for the week and started to develop Buffetopbia - the fear of not being able to fit into one's trousers at the end of the week - finally finishing off the evening with "Oh what a night", a tribute show to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
The following morning, as we sailed up the Fjords of the inside passage whilst enjoying breakfast on the rear sun deck, a gray whale breached and slapped its fins very close to our ship, along with many others showing their presence with tell-tale water spouts from their blow hole. If that wasn't spectacular enough, we also saw Sun Fish and on arrival in Juneau at 2pm were greeted by several bald eagles flying around too. After 48 hours at sea it seemed like the entire ship was disembarking so rather than queuing for the coaches we walked the one mile to the town centre of Juneau, the capital of Alaska. The population of 900 swell during summer to around 1800, pretty impressive for a town only accessible by ferry or plane as there are no roads to the outside world. Despite being briefed on board we were taken aback by the number of jewelry stores, most of which follow the cruise ships up from the Caribbean when it gets too hot there in summertime.

Boarding the Floatplane

Without doubt the highlight of the day was a float plane trip on a 1950's De Haviland Otter to view some of the many glaciers in this region from the air, which gave us great glimpse of the vast wilderness of this state that Russia sold to the USA in 1867 for a mere 7.2 million US Dollars. In today's money thats about 121 million dollars, and very much a bargain for what they got. Back on board we had dinner followed by a great show with comedian Bud Anderson.

On the White Pass and Yukon Railroad

The ship docked in Skagway the following morning at 7 am, and after breakfast and disembarkation we booked in for a walking tour with the National Parks Service to learn more about this historic town. Founded at the start of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1878 with just a few tents, only one year later it was a booming town built by serving the needs of Stampeders trying to reach the interior of Canada. The treacherous mountain pass crossing to the goldfields spurned the building of the White Pass and Yukon Railway, now restored and serving the many cruise tourists who visit this remote town. We rode the train up the mountain, briefly crossed into Canada near the 2865 foot summit. Back on the dock we saw seals and sea otters, before dining at one of the ten restaurants on board ship, and then taking in another comedy show by an act called Second City.
Day 5 found us cruising up to Glacier Bay, where at over 1 mile wide and 350 feet high the spectacular Margerie Glacier dominates. Moving up to 7 feet per day, the face regularly cracks and creates a sound know as white thunder - literally a thunder crack like that when lightning strikes, followed by a deep low rumble like ongoing thunder as huge pieces of ice fall up to 300 feet into the sea below.

Marjorie Glacier in Glacier Bay

In contrast, the nearby John Hopkins Glacier is one of only a few in the world that is advancing, thanks to the huge annual snowfall over the steep slopes on which this glacier has formed. After a great and informative talk by one of the park rangers who came aboard by pilot boat that morning, we spotted more whales in the fjord, before another great dinner followed by a show by El Gaucho.

Our time in port at Ketchikan on Day 6 was the shortest, arriving at 6 am and all aboard by 1 pm, so with bleary eyes and by choice without breakfast we stepped ashore at the Salmon Capital of the world, also the second wettest place in the USA, though fortunately dry for us that day. Wandering round historic Creek Street was interesting - famed for the salmon that we saw swimming in the creek, it was also a historic red light area and had a reputation for being the place where both men and salmon came upstream to spawn. We only sampled the wild Alaskan salmon though, followed by a slightly cheesy Lumberjack show, then back on board for 29 hours at sea.

Creek Street in Ketchikan, AK.

For the last full day on board we did our final excursion - a behind the scenes tour of the ship. The main galley area is just huge, with its own bakery, fish,meat and poultry prep rooms, and ship stores. Equally impressive was laundry, with enormous washing machines that take 125 kg loads, rotary ironing machines that iron bed-sheets whole in seconds, and automatic folding machines. Recycling is important too, everything from cardboard, paper and cans to broken plates, food waste and scrap metal, everything is sorted and washed, all the used glass bottles crushed to save space. Backstage in the theatre we saw the workings of the production team, followed by a visit to the bridge to meet our Captain and see the ships controls. This tour may not be everyone's idea of fun but we were fascinated to have the opportunity to see how what most guests never do and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Selfie on the bridge of the NCL Pearl.

A requirement for internationally registered cruise ships is that they must stop at least once in an international port during every cruise, so the final port of call was Victoria in Canada. Docking at 6pm we only had a few hours there but walked to the Downtown district of this lovely city, and had a reminder of home with the Jersey flag on a plaque commemorating the 1994 Commonwealth Games. We also met two huge and friendly Black Russian Terriers, a dog breed that we had not seen or heard of before.

Panorama of Downtown Victoria at sunset

We thoroughly enjoyed our glimpse of Alaska, as well as our first time cruising, and know that we chose well with Norwegian Cruise Lines. Docking in Seattle today (Sunday 17th August) we are back on dry land and looking forward to another few days in this lovely city whilst the sun shines. Having written about what we've seen and done this last week but not too much about the ship, food, entertainment etc we may well write another post soon about those experiences, its all been very positive.

Meanwhile we also enjoyed a tiny taste of Canada and are now looking forward to going back there later next week to meet up with a friend from Jersey and her husband in Vancouver. Its only for a few days then we'll be heading of towards Yellowstone National Park.

Update: - click this link to see more of our photos from Alaska

Astoria to Seattle

Leaving Portland we headed down to the coast and followed it all the way up to Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The town reminded us of Kirkenes in Norway, perhaps not so cold but with plenty of history, such as the shipwreck of the "Peter Iredale", a steel barque that ran aground in 1906. The remains are still on the beach but are now eroding rapidly.

Shipwreck at Fort Stevens State Park

Astoria Column

We also took in the Astoria Column, a 125 foot tall concrete and steel tower overlooking the town, decorated with an ornate and detailed frieze depicting significant events in early Oregon history. Originally built in 1926 but only recently re-opened to the public after having been refurbished, the view from the observation platform on top was well worth climbing the 164 step spiral staircase for.

Leaving Astoria we crossed into Washington state over the Astoria-Megler bridge. Spanning just over 4 miles across the Columbia River, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. 

Astoria-Megler Bridge

Mount St Helens

Heading inland we visited Mount St Helens, probably most famous for its destructive eruption in May 1980. To see and learn about volcanic history that has happened in our lifetimes was quite amazing and gave us a real concept of the power and force that the eruption had. Volcanic ash lies up to 600 feet thick around the base, covering former forests and leaving a barren moon-like landscape. Life is returning to the area as we could see from old photos, and we were lucky to see a herd of wild Elk on the flanks, but the blanket of dead trees still lying as they fell are testament to the power that was released here.

Whilst in this area we also drove through Mount Rainier national park, to see the Mount Rainier, and active volcano and considered one of the most dangerous in the world.  With an elevation of over 14,000 feet it towers above the remains of Mt St Helens and is an impressive sight that a photo really cant do justice to from the ground.

Finally onto Seattle where we returned our rental car on time to Sea-Tac Airport. Taking the light rail train straight into downtown is very easy, and our first stop was the Skyview Observatory at the Columbia Centre. Twice the height of the famous Space Needle, it is the tallest skyscraper on the Seattle skyline by far, and gives tremendous near 360 degree views over the city and surrounding areas. 

Panorama over Downtown Seattle and Harbour Area

Fish Market in Seattle

A short walk led us to Pike Place Market, a bustling centre of activity in one of the oldest continuously operating markets in the USA. Built on the edge of a steep hill and on several levels, one of the big attractions is the Pike Place Fish Market where employees throw fish to each other rather than passing them by hand. Its quite a sight to see, and entertaining too.

Where Starbucks first started

Another attraction is the original Starbucks cafe where people can queue for up to two and a half hours to order a coffee. Its good to see where it all started but you'd have to be very keen to wait that long, and many locals say there is much better coffee elsewhere.


Finally, and our most bizarre place that we've visited so far has to be the gum wall. Its the outside brick wall of a theatre in a lane behind the market,  50 feet long and covered in used chewing gum up to 15 foot high and several inches thick. Authorities tried removing the gum twice but have now deemed it a tourist attraction. Pretty gross we reckon, though the wasps love it.

The Gum Wall

We're here for another day of exploring and then head of to Alaska via the inside passage, on a round trip cruise for 7 days that we got for a great deal at the last minute. It will be nice to not have a car for a bit and let someone else do the transport for a change. We won't have internet connection on board so this will be our last post for a week or so, but we are going to stop for another few nights in Seattle when we return, before heading of to .... well you'll just have to wait and see.