August 25

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Saturday Aug 25

Disembarking at 6:30 went off like clockwork. Geoff and Ferdy walked about 800 meters to the Avis rental shack, the only car rental available. Good thing we made it a point to be the first one there. We’re now on Alaska speed and things are definitely moving more slowly.

No one had told us before that the 3-km tunnel built during WW2 is a one-way that closes at 8:15 am to outgoing traffic until 9:00 am. If we would not have gone through by that time, we might not have made it in time for our 11:30 cruise in Kenai. We watched the traffic light turn right red above us and we were the last vehicle out.

The only vehicle we were able to book was a Chevrolet Malibu, so you can imagine 4 people and all our luggage in that. But we made it.

The drive to Seward was beautiful, but it rained so we did not have a lot of photo opportunities. The catamaran boat held about 100 people and as we were leaving the harbour we got some views of a bald eagle and a threesome of sea otters right next to our boat. Once out in the open water, the wind got stronger and caused 5-foot swells. We all got some seasick pills and that was a good move, several people got quite seasick!

We saw lots and lots of wildlife, including humpback whales, murres, puffins, sea lions, seals, and cormorants. Not far from the harbour, we saw a typical example of a terminal moraine where glacier deposits caused the glacier to retreat and create a fresh water lake right next to the ocean. This is great for kayaking, except for a few weeks ago when an ice dam way up on the glacier broke and caused the fresh water lake behind it to cascade wildly to the bottom, actually breaking through the terminal moraine into the ocean!

The 2-hour drive to Anchorage was spectacular. Just before we got there, there was a huge line-up of cars along the highway at the mouth of the river flowing into the Alaska Sea. We were curious and pulled over. We saw dozens of beluga whales right below us, feeding of the plentiful salmon heading upriver to spawn. Quite the sight but not really a good photo opportunity.

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