Alaska - Sitka - The birthday

Last night we sat outside on deck having pre-dinner drinks (although with throws on our legs to keep warm) and for the first time we could see the the spectacular scenery surrounding us. It was incredibly beautiful with mountains rising out of the sea, glaciers glistening on the top of every peak, and perfect reflections in the calm seas. We watched the start of the sunset as the sky took on some rosy hues, but then suddenly there was a huge band of clouds approaching from the other side and within a short while the rain came in and the clouds came down and just like that the spectacular scenery we had been admiring was gone once again. Alaska has a lot of rain - we were told that this area experiences one inch per day and that is probably being conservative.

This morning we arrived in Sitka, which was home to the Tlingit people for centuries before the Russians took over and established it as a base for their fur trade. Today it still has evidence of its Russian settlers, but its main trades are now tourism and fishing. 

Today is my birthday. I started the day in the gym, running on the treadmill as I usually do. We then had a hurried breakfast to be ready for our excursion today. I had chosen a cruise on a zodiac to see the marine life, followed by a stop at Fin Island for a seafood BBQ lunch and camp fire on the beach. It sounded great - in reality it was chucking down with rain so much that I told myself I could not have chosen a worse way to spend my birthday. We were given rain gear to wear over our clothes for the ride on the zodiac, and as the zodiac sped across the water it soon became apparent why we needed this protective clothing. The rain was lashing in our faces and it was just awful. We went directly to Fin Island where we had an early lunch - no one was hungry as we had just had breakfast….but we got to try king crab which was rather delicious - although nothing to eat for the vegetarians which was rather poor. 

By the time we left the island, the rain had stopped and we explored the waters by speeding along in the zodiac and stopping when we saw something. We saw a few bald eagles, they are common in the area and we have seen them in all the towns along this coast. We also saw sea otters, harbour seals and sea lions, but from a distance so it was not easy to get photos from a zodiac moving about in the water. After we got back to the shore we walked to see the salmon spawning at the fishery and in the river, it is crazy to see how they jump up stream and are so active leaping out the water. We also visited the Raptor Centre where we saw many bald eagles and various owls.

Tonight we celebrated my birthday with a delicious dinner in one of the restaurants on the boat. I was given wonderful cards and generous presents, I feel totally spoilt. This photo was taken on the deck, using a tripod and self timer. In extras you can see a very different photo of us when we arrived at Fin Island this morning, totally drenched by the rain.