Day 5: (Sitka) Do Bears sit in the woods?

Sitka:
After way way not enough sleep, taking into consideration how many DOD’s I partook in last night, it was only due to the fact that I left the bathroom light on overnight (keeping in mind that I don’t have a window to leave the curtains open of) that I woke up on time at all. Knowing that I had to be awake and off the ship within the first few tenders ( lifeboats that are used to ferry the passengers from ship to shore where there is no dock- and not knowing how long the entire process might take I wasn‘t taking any chances), I slept with one eye open anyway, lest I sleep right through the entire port visit and miss out on the excursion that I had most looked forward to. So a very tired girl fronted up at the gangway after yet another way too overindulgent breakfast ( I am going to have to walk for about 23 hours a day in Anaheim to have a hope in hell of walking off the weight that I am likely to have acquired by voyage’s end) and ’bonged’ my room key through the bar code thingo and I climbed into the lifeboat ( not nearly as worrisome as that sounds) ready for my whales and puffins tour.
First I had to locate where the ‘Esther G’ would be docking so that I could wait there. Then I sat down and waited and waited and waited. Mostly my fault thanks to my overcaution about missing it, I ended up waiting an hour before Cap’n Davey arrived in the Esther G and he rounded up the other passengers.
All aboard we were given a brief safety talk and then we were off across the bay towards where whales had been seen that morning. The scenery was breathtaking. Literally because the wind was so cold it could have sliced right through any layer we may have had on. I had gloves on and that didn’t make any difference. My fingers were still numb within a matter of minutes and remained that way till well into that night. Suddenly the phrase ‘bone chilling’ now makes perfect sense to me.
The colours of the landscape, sky and water are hues I have only seen in pictures. And they defy description with their depth and scope. The colours all blend beautifully as natures palette mostly does but it was rich and deep and dark and rather imposing. Huge. In ever direction the rocky spruce lines shores extended as far as the eye could see and the expectation that a bear or deer might wander down to the shore was almost unquestionable. Not unlike a John West commercial. Unfortunately both those quarry were elusive and the whales, sea birds, eagles, sea otters and jellyfish would have to suffice. First port of call was back to the Captains house on a rocky outcrop only accessible by boat to collect his family’s famous Choc Chip cookies for the trip - they were superb.
I was the only one ( maybe stupidly) that sat outside on the bow for the entire 3 ½ hour trip… worth the frozen ears and fingers though because I could hear the whales break the water and the burst of air from their blowhole and the eagles cry when the engine was cut and didn’t get wet so it was all good.
The first wildlife we encountered were the sea otters, and while we were not all that close because of their skittishness, the use of binoculars was a highly efficient way of seeing them like they were a few feet away. The mother and baby were the cutest. It was swimming on its back with the baby perched on momma’s belly like a fury kayak and when she rolled over to escape us, she put a paw over the baby’s head to keep a grip on it and rolled over into the depths. Amazing stuff.
From there we went in search of a whale that had been called in via cell phone and it wasn’t long before we saw water being shot into the air and a tiny bit of tail as it submerged. As it was only in about 15 feet of water it had no way of doing a deep dive so we didn’t see the tail for some time.
Capt’n Davey cut the engines and we sat there and watched and listened for some time while the whale surfaced and dove at intermittent intervals to the delight of the six on the boat.
When the whale had appeared to have moved on, the decision was made to go look for some bears - unfortunately at the expense of the time to visit the puffin rookery (which I’d been looking forward to) and the boat was turned around.
But just as the captain started the engines up came the whale only perhaps 10 meters from the boat which was quite a surprise. And because we were now in deeper water, the first thing it did was dive and the tail shots that I got were everything I’d hoped for. So clear in fact, that Capt’n Davey asked for a look at the shots to see if he could identify the whale with his ‘whale tail book’. Nope, not there so he was eager to have that shot emailed to him and he will find out all he can about the whale and email us all with the info. I was stoked to say the least. Doing my bit for conservation.
All too soon the whale was gone and we went off again in search of furrier quarry.
We saw some fabulous scenery - unlike anything I’ve ever seen and made for some great photos. We’d been out in the boat so long now that the little girl who was aboard was hearing the call of nature in a very real way so the porta-potty was set up out on the back balcony and the curtain drawn so the rest of us couldn’t see the proceedings, but she was still out in the open at the other end of the boat, and she ( and then subsequently 3 others - yep - including myself) were able to say that the bears were not the only ones able to sit in the woods… despite the biting cold threatening to halt proceedings due to stage fright…. Lets face it - we were totally exposed and should a random helicopter or another charter boat happen along - we’d have made it on youtube considering the quantity of cameras sure to be in hand.
Unfortunately the bears didn’t get the invitation and we were bearless and puffinless on the way back to the dock. I loved sitting out on the bow and feeling the freezing wind in my hair. I must have looked like a total wreck by the time I got off the boat but for a change I didn’t care and totally loved the whole experience. Alaska at its best.
Sitka is a smallish town that has resisted the mighty dollars of the Cruise industry to the extent that they won’t allow a massive dock to be built to accommodate them. Thereby keeping their shores pristine and their shop fronts with local flavour rather than the conglomerates that then move in chasing the thousands of dollars that pour off those ships like they just cant seem to get rid of them quick enough.
They don’t get quite the volume of ships there as a result but what they do get they cater for well.
Many many people live on the hundreds of rocky islands dotted in the inlet. Multi storied dolls houses that build up and up and up and all have docks because they can’t be reached any other way. What a fascinating lifestyle. Its Summer here but still freezing cold so I can barely imagine the extent of the cold in the Winter. I doubt I’d enjoy that much.
Back ashore, I wandered off towards the Totem park about 15 minutes easy walk away. So serene and quiet and all you could hear was the crunch on the gravel underfoot and the haunting cry of the bald eagles that are plentiful here. Oh ok… and the occasional nasally drawled
‘no honey, I told you to get the shot from this angle’…. or perhaps ‘are we done yet, I want to hit the shops’ or something to that effect.
I loved this park. One of the things I most looked forward to on this trip was seeing these cronicles of Tinglit history ( I hope I spelt that right). The stories behind each and every totem were fascinating and I relished the time to not only see, but have the opportunity to reach out and touch these messages from the past. And considering how many people that were ashore from our one ship alone, it was simply astonishing that I didn't have those moments of serenity disturbed by another soul. The quiet and the astounding beauty of the place really touched me. Expectations when you visit such a place can be disappointing, but for me, this was everything I hoped for and more. I felt like the spirits of the past were there in that place and they welcomed all who wished to learn.

After I’d walked a while I headed back towards town, where I visited the Russian Cathedral which was very interesting. No photos were allowed so I bought some postcards in the ‘cathedral shop’ and that will have to suffice to tell the story. It was a very interesting building with the onion dome like you would see in Russia and inside housed antiquities from the cathedrals past. metals so that when the icons were kissed ( as was the custom for the parisheners) they would withstand the onlsaugh of that many lips over the decades. Most of which were 3D made with various metals so as to withstand the decades of being kissed by the parisheners - as was the practice I understand. As a result, they have been preserved brilliantly and are absolutely beautiful. And while it was not actually my denomination, I bought a candle and lit it with a prayer for my mum who is to have open heart surgery on Tuesday 10th June. I figured any discussion with God at this point is a good one.
I might add that the ‘historical Lutheran Church’ was across the road and I did get a photo of it, but didn’t go in as it looked just like the ones at home.
I had about an hour for shopping by this time and wandered the shops in search of tidbits that were intrinsically Alaskan and not stamped with made in China on the bottom, I managed to find some real treasures along with scrap booking stuff that I just couldn’t leave behind.
Back onboard - careful not be one of the much maligned ‘runners’ ( those that are left on the shore running along the dock screaming the word ‘waaaiiitt‘ at the top of their lungs) I downloaded the photos and changed for dinner. During which the phone rang and a ‘security officer’ was calling about a disturbance coming from my cabin and would I desist from making such a ruckus…. Silly me… I fell for it hook line and sinker because I didn’t recognise Steve’s voice ( Sherri’s husband) who was leading me on a merry dance. Thankfully he’s a self confessed Southern Gentleman who didn’t keep me strung along for too long. I twigged pretty quickly and told him I would get him back - mostly it was Sherri laughing in the background that tipped me off.
It was their 3rd Wedding anniversary and they were ringing to remind me that they would be late at the exclusive restaurant and that we’d all meet up later for drinks.
It was also the night for the Chocolate extravaganza and what a sight that was. More chocolate than I’ve ever seen in my life. There were ice sculptures and watermelons carved into turtles and all manner of gateaux and profiterole and crepe suzette and rolled up meringue things and chocolate dipped strawberries and many more sinful things that the hoards were all going to be let loose on with devastating results. It took only a short time for the whole display to look more like a world war 2 bomb site and the little plates were piled dangerously high in many cases because eyes are quite often larger than peoples stomachs. And its beyond me where people were putting it because it was only about 2 hours after dinner and not even that for those that had had the late sitting.
As it turned out, we all flaked it before we could meet up and considering what time we were docking the next day, that was probably a godsend. I still only got another 4 hours sleep (my average onboard) and the alarm went off way way too early again.