Juneau is the capital of Alaska, and the first American town in Alaska, established on the back of a gold rush in 1880.
The population is 32000, so not huge but a lot bigger than Hoona. The city is perched at the base of steep mountains, stretching up and down the coastline.
We spent the morning exploring town, wandering through the shops – Bel was in heaven. It had a very Wild West feel to it; one of the original gold rush saloons was there.
It also had a very touristy feel, as this is a major industry for the town. When we arrived there were at least 3 other cruise ships that I could see. The streets were lined with souvenir shops – mostly with stuff we couldn’t take back to Australia, and lots of Jewelry shops. There were a least 20 jewelry shops, all side by side, competing for business. Bel felt compelled to help them out so she bought a small golden bear pendant.
Shopping done and it was time for lunch. The local options were reindeer sausage and popcorn – neither inspired us so we headed to the ship buffet.
After lunch we headed out on an excursion to Mendenhall Glacier. We were bussed out, so the bus driver gave us a bit of a tour on the way, along with some bad jokes. About 15min out of town we arrived. The glacier was just stunning.
It was like a huge waterfall that had been snap frozen. The vivid blues and black glistening in the sun. We arrived just in time, as the weather closed in 10 minutes later and it was covered in mist.
We then did a 3km walk out to a waterfall that was feeding the lake below the glacier. Along the way there were a sign warning of bears, but we still had no luck seeing any.
The waterfall was thundering down the mountain and you were able to walk all the way up to the base. It took ages to get a photo in front as the wind and mist coming off the waterfall was so strong and fogging up the lense.
By the time we walked back we were all very wet from the constant drizzle. We did a quick tour of the visitors centre to dry out and then hopped back on the bus.
Next stop was the Salmon hatchery. Along the way we spotted a big group of bald eagles but weren’t able to get a photo. We weren’t expecting much at the hatchery but it turned out that we had arrived at the right time, as the Salmon had started to run. It was an amazing site.
The hatchery incubates Salmon each year and then raises them until they are ready to move out to sea. During this time they have imprinted their location so after roughly 5 years at sea they return to the same location to spawn. The hatchery has a man made ladder that simulates a river and the Salmon swim up it and into the holding tank where the eggs, sperm and fully grown Salmon are all harvested and the cycle is started again. In nature Salmon normally die after spawning so it is a win/win for everyone. Very clever.
Back on the ship and it was Lobster night for dinner. American lobster, that look like big yabbies, so a little different to ours. Very nice still. You could order as many as you wanted – Eddy had 4! But said it wasn’t a record as he was feeling a little bit sick.
And then washed it down with Baked Alaska.
We were all tired and needed to recover from our late night the previous day so after dinner we headed off for an early(ish) night.