A note on cruising from the Foodivore Crew (aka Hello Sailor, Pt 2)

We weren’t sure how cruising would suit us, and in some ways we’re still not sure. Beyond question, however, is the pleasure of not having to pack/unpack/repack every few days. More pros & cons later.

Uncontested first prize goes to our onshore expedition out of Juneau, billed as “whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier photographic safari”. For starters, our group was only eight in total – far more pleasant than some of the much larger (think dozens) we’d experienced – and it was yet another grimly oppressive Alaskan Fall day, with blue skies all round and slick sea conditions. Five days in a row of this, whatever happened to the Frozen North? Mendenhall Glacier, with foreground of fireweed in full cotton bloom, looked great (albeit imperilled by the balmy conditions).

Our boat was perfect: newly built, with wide opening windows all round permitting sheltered viewing (and pictures) from sea level. Captain Bruck did a great job, not only finding a wide range of critters but also lining us and them up with splendid backdrops. Humpback whales, sea lions, harbour seals, bald eagles…..we lapped it up.

Back on shore we headed off to check out Today’s Glacier (ABG is Alaska’s version of Europe’s ABC), by now we’d seen so many that we were a bit blasé. There was a short stroll (billed as “quarter mile hike”, really how can it be a hike if it’s less than 5 miles long or 1000 feet up? We’re now used to our guides carrying bear spray (our own has been checked in, to be retrieved at end of voyage, apparently accidental bear/pepper spray episodes aren’t thought to improve onboard ambience), but it never comes to anything so the safety discussion was routine.

On our way up we spotted a number of exhausted salmon, who’d made it up from the sea into a creek perhaps 10cm deep and were still trying to get to their spawning grounds. It was a good way to round off the earlier views from Brooks Lodge, where the numbers and water level were far higher. Gives a sense of how much the large rivers splinter off into tributaries. On we went, pausing here and there to check out the pleasant woodlands, till we spotted some rustling leaves.

First one, then a second, baby black bear (!!!!!) ambled through a gap in the leaves, instantly reducing the whole party to a helpless state of “awwww”. It took a moment for most of us to realise that we hadn’t yet spotted their mother….and they always tell you to never get between a mother and her cubs. Our guide, Brett, did some gentle scoping out our vicinity and we eventually moved along the path uphill, the direction in which the cubs seemed to be moving– he seemed pretty sure of where the mama must be, however not all were as sure. Tracey didn’t need to be forcibly restrained from pursuing the cubs, but her enthusiasm was palpable.

As we paused on a bridge the treat became more awesome, as the little guys then took turns wandering across the path 😊 Eventually we crossed the bridge and hung around a bit, and were rewarded as mama and cubs both emerged and advanced down a path towards us. Towards us. Bears. Magical as this was, the reality of bears suddenly felt more dangerous, it became apparent that we had been between mama and cubs. Things developed to the point where Brett had his spray out, and was sternly telling mama bear “NO” at a distance of maybe two metres. She was eventually convinced to move off the trail, leave us alone and we were soon on our way with (melted) hearts racing.

And the glacier? Sure, fine – but baby bears 😊

Other unbearable times

• Watching sea otters and orcas from our balcony (happily, at different times) 
• Checking out black bears fishing, near Traitor’s Cove (via seaplane out of Ketchikan)
• Basking in the sunshine of Glacier Bay, marvelling at glaciers, jagged snowy peaks and the relentlessness of Alaskan beauty (check out some time lapse footage for samples)
• Canoeing up to Davidson Glacier, standing at its base and boggling at the true scale of a glacier
• Witnessing the shift from genuinely wild, snowy Alaska to the Pacific rainforest as we voyaged south
• Our quiet little breakfast nook, where they always remembered our coffee (and mimosa) preferences. We were very happy to have a suite that allowed us our breakfast mimosas, rather than the buffet.

Seriously Alaska, stop showing off: the tiniest, least remarkable peak

Hubbard Glacier

ABG

This ~200kg black bear will survive winter - good hunter

Sub-adult black bear (Tracey should've been tipped by the guide for spotting this one)

But what about the food, I hear you ask? Well there was nothing bad, but also nothing to earn the Foodivore Very Good Indeed stamp of approval. Seafood was plentiful (salmon, snapper, prawns, mussels, scallops, crab and so on), but typically served with buttery accompaniments. Crab Shack at sea was fun (bibs required), but the crab was a little dry, as we had also found in Seward. Certainly a lot less red meat than we’d been seeing prior to the cruise, however many of our fellow passengers clearly dug in at one of the available buffets. Sadly, the rather good gravlax that we saw on the first day didn’t make a reappearance, and the sushi on the final day hadn’t been spotted earlier. As we’d expected, spicy southeast and southern Asian food was in short supply – glad we’ve got plenty of green, rendang, Kohlpuri and other curries stockpiled for our return to Oz.