My Alaskan Adventure! - Part 4 - Skagway

DESTINATION ALASKA - SKAGWAY

I have to say that Skagway was probably my favourite port of call on the trip. The picture below was my first glimpse at breakfast time on the ship and it just had me from there!



View of Skagway from the ship

The town itself is quite small and only has around 1000 habitants but back in the gold rush days it was a bustling town with great promise for the gold prospectors to make their fortune in the surrounding area!

The 'Red Onion Saloon' is one of the oldest buildings standing with a great museum to explain the history of the Saloon and the brothel that was once above it! Apparently it was the finest around at the time! The tour was great fun with the ladies running the tour dressed in what would have been the clothing worn at the time. A definite must see when in town.



Red Onion Saloon!



 

I did a horse riding tour from the ship for something a little bit different. I have only ever been on a horse once so something like this is suitable for novices like myself through to avid riders as they match you to a horse for your level of experience. We had a short drive through some beautiful mountains to a small ranch outside of town where we saddled up and off we went through the countryside. We trekked through some of the old mining areas and were given lots of information about what would have happened in the gold rush era in the area. We also saw the husky dog sledding camp which was lovely, although pretty loud with all the dogs barking getting ready to go out for the day! If you are looking for something out of the ordinary to do in Skagway this is a great option.

Other things to do and see around Skagway;

• White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad
• Outdoor Adventures
• Klondike Summit
• Gold Rush History
• Dog Sledding

The town itself is so quaint and picturesque with plenty of souvenir shops and local stores selling all kinds of handmade goodies. There is even the obligatory Starbucks Coffee shop which I don't think you can go anywhere in the world now without having one on a corner somewhere!



Downtown Skagway

Downtown Skagway

 

Stay tuned for my last port of call....Vancouver! COMING SOON!

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My Alaskan Adventure! - Part 3 - Juneau

DESTINATION ALASKA - JUNEAU

Juneau is the Capital of Alaska. The city sits at sea level at the bottom of some steep mountains, at the top is the Juneau Ice Field.

A little history for you.... the city was named after a gold prospector called Joe Juneau and prior to this the city has been known as Rockwell and Harrisburg ( after Mr Juneau's co gold prospector Richard Harris )
When we went up to breakfast the first thing that caught my eye was all the ship logos painted on the sides of the mountain. There was every ship you could think of there and apparently whenever a ship first visits Juneau it is right of passage to have the date and logo etched on the mountain. What a great moment to capture and fascinating to read!




Ship logo's painted on the wall



More ship logo's

Juneau is normally always featured on the Alaska cruise itineraries and is the best place to do a whale watching tour.
My tour came with a guarantee that if no whales were seen, I would get a full refund so it was a win win really.
Due to the amount of boats in the area the skippers all communicate with one another and if they spot a pod they will quickly give their location so other boats can come to the area. With this in mind it is pretty much a guarantee to see some whales and it is very exciting when the call comes through and the boat suddenly changes direction and off you speed!
I saw humpback whales and a pod of Orca's, very close up in some instances, on my tour. I didn't manage to catch a photo of the humpbacks but there are a few of my Orca pictures below.



Orca Whales in the Distance

Orca Whales

Orca Whales again

More Orca's

Juneau is also great for picking up some local souvenirs and again their very own locally smoked salmon and other fish. Yummy!

Some other popular choices of things to do in Juneau are as follows;

• Mendenhall Glacier
• Outdoor Adventures
• Glacier Flightseeing
• Macaulay Salmon Hatchery
• Glacier Gardens
• Dog Sledding
• Mount Roberts Tramway

I can remember seeing this island full of sunbathing Seals on sailing near to Juneau! They just look liked slugs all over the rocks but on closer inspection with binoculars obviously I could then see they were Seals not huge slugs! The picture is below as is did make me laugh seeing this spectacle.


Seal Island!



Stay tuned for my adventures to Skagway and Vancouver! COMING SOON! 

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