Before any of this great adventure could begin, all vehicles had to check in so they could measure the cars and make sure we would fit on board! we had to go through customs too as we were heading back to the US. we had to eat all our fresh fruit and veg before we were allowed to cross the border but the crossing went a lot smoother than our previous crossings! When it was time to board we lined up for about four hours and did not actually getonto the vessel until 10 minutes before the departure time! The ferry service was the sole vehicular access to some of the small island communities in the passage and this attracted a bunch of interesting characters aboard (including the little family of 14 from the campsite in Prince Rupert which we had nicknamed "The Wild Thornberries" as they had one child which looked totally different to the rest of the gang) which added to the many tourists doing similar trips to our own (quite a few oldies in their RV's and old blokes on motorbikes).
The first leg of the trip was a 27 hour voyage from Prince Rupert to Juneau; there were a few stops along the way so we had to figure out what we needed to take upstairs as we were not allowed in the vehicle deck while sailing! With an assortment of clothes, sleeping gear and food we searched the vessel for the best hangout area of which there were lots! There was the indoor front viewing deck, bar, cafeteria, reclining lounge, outdoor viewing deck and solarium; we set up camp in the back viewing deck which seemed to be the best location, pulled up a couple of deck chairs and had a nice little relax before eventually spending the night on the top deck to enjoy the night sky =)
Motoring through some of the most amazing scenery we saw some great landscapes, glassy waters, fishing boats, sunsets, sunrises, glaciers, tiny little light-houses on tiny little islands, dolphins, grey whales, hump back whales, bald eagles, black bears and unfortunately no orcas (killer whales).
Juneau itself was a rather small city for the capital of a state with about 30,000 permanent residents which seemed to be fuelled by both the tourism and fishing industries. We only had 1 night to spend in town so we made the most of our time by first visiting one of the glaciers which was visible from the cruise into port. The glacier was massive, however due to the warming climate has been receding and the wear marks against the rock faces shows just the extent. Since the prevailing wind in the valley below comes from above the glacier, the temperature in the area is generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the town; it was amazing to be able to experience the sheer size. After watching a few bears, killing a lot of mozzies and checking out the ice bergs in the area We drove back to the main part of town and treated ourselves to some freshly cooked salmon in one of the ocean frontage restaurants, a real treat compared to the meals we had been preparing almost entirely from canned goods.
Amongst all the sight seeing, we had plenty of other time to fill on board which we managed to do with some of our newly found activities. There is of course many card games (which I am currently on top of the leader board with Emma a close second!), puzzles, drawing, playing with photos from the trip and of course catching up with our blogging!
The final morning of our Inside Passage leg of the trip provided us with a brief display of the massive bald eagles congregating near the fishing jetties as they searched for food scraps before the morning bustle began. These are some absolutely massive birds and probably our favourite animal from the trip. From Juneau it was a short ride up to our destination, the city of Haines where we would begin the final portion of our massive road trip.
There are definitely plans to come back to this amazing place and do a real cruise into the famous Glacier Bay one day in the future!
Juneau itself was a rather small city for the capital of a state with about 30,000 permanent residents which seemed to be fuelled by both the tourism and fishing industries. We only had 1 night to spend in town so we made the most of our time by first visiting one of the glaciers which was visible from the cruise into port. The glacier was massive, however due to the warming climate has been receding and the wear marks against the rock faces shows just the extent. Since the prevailing wind in the valley below comes from above the glacier, the temperature in the area is generally 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the town; it was amazing to be able to experience the sheer size. After watching a few bears, killing a lot of mozzies and checking out the ice bergs in the area We drove back to the main part of town and treated ourselves to some freshly cooked salmon in one of the ocean frontage restaurants, a real treat compared to the meals we had been preparing almost entirely from canned goods.
Amongst all the sight seeing, we had plenty of other time to fill on board which we managed to do with some of our newly found activities. There is of course many card games (which I am currently on top of the leader board with Emma a close second!), puzzles, drawing, playing with photos from the trip and of course catching up with our blogging!
The final morning of our Inside Passage leg of the trip provided us with a brief display of the massive bald eagles congregating near the fishing jetties as they searched for food scraps before the morning bustle began. These are some absolutely massive birds and probably our favourite animal from the trip. From Juneau it was a short ride up to our destination, the city of Haines where we would begin the final portion of our massive road trip.
There are definitely plans to come back to this amazing place and do a real cruise into the famous Glacier Bay one day in the future!
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