She Wants To Be A Ship When She Grows Up – Day 17

After having to miss Skagway on the way north, we were going to make this port on the way back south. However, we had to tender. This did not fill me with joy as we had an independent excursion booked with a meeting time at 09:30 and tendering can be an unpredictable science. They were giving out tender tickets in the dining room at 06:15. I got up just before 06:00, got dressed and snuck out without waking up Graham. I wanted to make sure that we would be on one of the first tenders. Tender operation was expected to start at 08:00. I figured that as long we would get a tender ticket of 10 or below, we would be OK. The line in front of the dining room was much shorter than I had anticipated, and they had started distributing tender tickets early. The line also moved very quickly and soon I had two tender tickets for the second tender. I call that a result. I was back in the cabin before the distribution was even supposed to start. I reset the alarm for 07:00 and then I had a nap.

When the alarm went off, we got up and dressed. We were close to the dock, but not tied up yet. We figured we would have enough time for some breakfast. We took everything we needed with us and headed to the Windjammer. Graham just had some oatmeal, and I had my usual congee. We both had some apple juice and water. Once we had finished our breakfast, we headed down to deck 6 and waited in the champagne bar for an announcement. We did not have long to wait until the announcement came and we headed downstairs. We quickly stopped for our port photo, and then we got on our tender. We had a short wait until the tender was full and then we were on our way.

Once we got to the other end, I understand why we had to tender. Skagway had a rough time over the last couple of years. They were replacing one of the older docks that was only equipped to handle relatively small ships with a floating dock that will be able to handle bigger ships. This was due to be ready for the beginning of the season. This came by sea from somewhere in Washington State and got as far as Ketchikan when it broke into three pieces. The new dock finally opened at the end of June. That is not the only disaster that has befallen the port in Skagway. Shortly after we were there in 2022, they had a massive landslide by the dock that can handle two large ships. Since then, there have been further landslides as well. We were actually docked in this area in front of Ovation. From the aft end of this dock, they operate shuttles to the port entrance, and they have spotters whenever there are ships in port. The forward area of this dock is where the main trouble is and whatever ship uses this has to tender. That was the reason why we could not dock in Skagway on the way up. What was persistent and irritating rain in Haines was a full-blown storm in Skagway and it would not have been safe for us to tender. Fortunately, the weather was placid that day. It does not take long to tender to the marina that also acts as the ferry port and once you get there, you are about halfway to the town and right opposite to where tours meet. I considered this a win.

Graham was pretty happy about the fact that we had ended up on quite an early tender. In 2022, we discovered a lovely little park that is located between the port and the town and Graham wanted to go back there as it is packed full of birds. However, our first interesting bird sighting happened pretty much as soon as soon as we got off the tender. There were two beautiful harlequin docks swimming in the marina. This was a real find. Once they moved on, so did we. We headed over the park and sat down. Initially, there was nothing to see. However, once we had been there for a while, all kinds of birds came to join us. A lot of birds were quite family to us, but the golden-crowned sparrow and the dark-eyed junco were new to us and very cute.

After a while we decided to move on. In 2022, we had discovered some really nice public bathrooms, and we figured it would make sense to use them before our excursion. We found out later that those bathrooms feature the only public Wi-Fi in town. This really amused me, but I most certainly would not think of looking for Wi-Fi in a bathroom.

We still had more time that we had anticipated and just across the road was a promising looking shop. I was still hoping that I may find a Spirit Jersey somewhere. I was out of luck again, but I found a really nice tie-dye sweatshirt and some magnets that I liked. With the shopping done, we headed back to the meeting area for the excursions. We checked in with somebody from the tour company. We were told to come back in about 15 minutes. We decided to use the bathroom once more and when we came back, they were ready for us. As we were getting on the minibus, they checked our passports. It was very clear when we booked this tour that passports would be required, and this was also very clearly stated on the booking confirmation and voucher. However, some people turned up without their passports and were refused. I was very impressed with how the tour company handled this. Even though it was not their fault, and they were under no obligation to do anything, they rebooked the customer on a shorter tour later that day, which gave the customers plenty of time to return to the ship to pick up their passports. Once everybody’s passports had been checked, we were on our way our driver guide Mike introduced himself. He has lived in Skagway for most of his life and throughout the day he shared information with us about life in a small Alaskan town is like. I found this very interesting.

We did not get very far when the head office of the tour company called Mike to check where we were. Some people had arrived late. We had only got as far as he shop where I had done my shopping earlier and he agreed that if the missing people could get to us within 15 minutes, he would wait. Most of us where absolutely fine with this. There were just two ladies that were complaining. Ironically, it was them that were back late at our main stop. I do believe in the time-honoured saying “What goes round, comes round” and we had two pieces of good luck that we would not have had if we had left in time.

While we were waiting, Mike was chatting with us. He explained that we were the first guests using this minibus as it had only come off the ferry from Seattle the previous day. He advised that he had given it a test drive up to Carcross in the Yukon, but there were still a few teething problems throughout the day. Still, most of his could be addressed quite quickly and none of this affected the enjoyment of the tour.

One of the people on the tour asked how the people in Skagway felt about cruise passengers. Mike shared that Skagway loves its cruise ship passengers. He shared that the relationship with the cruise lines is good, and they contribute to the local community. For instance, Holland America hosts he senior prom for young people in Skagway and Haines every year including dinner and a show before prom and transport. Skagway is a very small community of about 1000 residents. He shared that during the pandemic when there were no cruise ship passengers and no seasonal staff, things had been quite depressing. Some seasonal staff have been coming to Skagway for the summer for years and have a lot of friends within the local population. During the pandemic, I had understood the financial impact to the communities that rely heavily on cruise tourism, but I never even considered the social aspect. He also mentioned that Haines historically has been very anti cruise tourism. However, their new head of the tourist board came from Skagway. Once she shared all the benefits that cruise tourism had brought to Skagway, the locals soon changed their mind. There is now a campaign trying to attract more cruise tourism and one of the key elements is that Haines does not charge port fees and even provide incentives for cruise ships to dock there. This would explain why we go a port fee refund once our port changed from Skagway to Haines the previous week.

Once our latecomers were on board, we headed off. Mike pointed out various landmarks on our way through Skagway. He told us that the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, that has more than 8,883 driftwood sticks nailed to it, is thought to be the most photographed building in Alaska. I will believe this. It is definitely a captivating sight, and I have taken photos of this on every visit. Today this is home to the offices of the tourist board, a tourist information centre and a large meeting room that is hired out.

After our quick guided tour of Skagway, we headed up a mountain. The scenery became very pretty and some of the mountains were still covered in snow. The road went parallel to the tracks of the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway, and it did not take long until we saw a train. Not long after that, we had the first of the two lucky experiences that we only had because we were running slightly behind. There is a railway bridge across a waterfall and shortly after we got there, a train went across. This was a fantastic photo opportunity.

Not long after this, we reached the famous Welcome to Alaska sign. Mike told us that he normally stops there on the way down as it is too busy in the morning. However, when we got here, there was nobody there. We stopped and Mike took photos of each party. He also added a selfie as a little souvenir. By the time the next groups arrived we were done and got back on the minibus.

The border post for the USA is near the Welcome to Alaska sign, but after this it was still a few miles until we reached the Canadian border post. As we were approaching the border post in Fraser, British Columbia, Mike advised us to take our passports out and hold them up showing the photo page. Once we reach the border post, two immigration officers came on board to check the passports. Then we were on our way again. We passed some really pretty scenery and stopped at a couple of scenic spots to allow us to take photos.

We then headed to the town of Carcross in the Yukon. This is where we would have our lunch stop. Our destination was Wild Adventure Yukon. Graham branded this as a vile tourist trap, but I did not actually mind it and there were some elements I did enjoy. I doubt there is much else out there where one can get lunch as the town of Carcross only has a population of about 300 and there is nothing else out there. Wild Adventure Yukon is styled after a wild west trading post and features a number of different activities, some of which are included in the ticket, and some are at an upcharge. When we arrived at Wild Adventure Yukon, we were directed straight to the food kiosk to collect our lunch. On the way up, Mike had checked who wanted meat and who wanted the vegetarian option so that they would be ready for us. Our lunch consisted of BBQ chicken, roasted potatoes, homemade coleslaw, and all you can eat donuts, with rolls, butter, coffee and tea. The vegetarian option was a lentil curry. I am not normally keen on meat on the bone and what was served there was a chicken quarter, but I really enjoyed this.

After lunch we had plenty of time to explore. First up was a quick bathroom stop. The bathrooms were definitely of the rustic type, but they were clean and functional. On the way to the bathroom, I spotted mountain goats. I got very excited and Mike who walked past us nearly threw himself away laughing making a comment that they had been in the same spot every day for at least 5 years. On the photo it was very clear that they were finest fibreglass, but they looked real enough at a distance.

Near the dining hall where two small museums that were included in the price. One was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum and the other was a Wildlife Museum. The first I am sure would have been of interest if we had more time, but the second was more taxidermy and we would have given this a wide berth however much time we had. What was pulling me however was the Husky Village. Mike had managed our expectations on the way up and advised that we are not to expect the huskies portrayed in Hollywood movies. Indeed, he mentioned that we would be hard pushed to see two dogs that looked the same. The Alaskan huskies that they have at Wild Adventure Yukon are genuine sled dogs. Alaskan huskies are hybrid dogs that were crossbred for traits such as an aptitude for pulling, endurance, speed, intelligence, appetite, and tolerance of extreme weather. The Alaskan husky is not an officially recognized breed by any kennel club, nor does it have a formal breed standard. However, after years of breeding, all Alaskan huskies actually have a common genetic signature. They share genes with Siberian huskies, Alaskan malamutes as well as hounds and gundogs. The Husky Village was made up of four parts. The nursery where they had three husky puppies that were not very old. The kindergarten is run in conjunction with the local humane society and features older puppies for rehoming. Those can be any breed, but on our visit, they were four Alaskan huskies. They were too cute for words, and I hope by now they all have found their forever homes. The high school featured dogs that were older than the others, but not fully mature yet. This area featured a giant running wheel and it was obvious how much those dogs love running. The final area was the husky gym. The dogs in that area were adults and full-fledged athletes. There were trainers on hand to educate visitors on the breed and the sport. Some of those dogs were very close to what people imagine when they hear husky, but others looked very different. What was common was their excitement to run. The husky gym also provided one of the paid for activities, a ride in a dog training cart. It was fascinating to watch how the trainers selected the huskies and arranged the team. It was also quite a sight to behold to see them go. I would have loved to have a ride, but I was not sure I would have enough time. Instead, we spent some more time watching the dogs in the area and make friends with the mother of the puppies in the nursery who came to join us for a while.

On our way out, we checked out the petting farm, which featured donkeys, horses, goats and Alpacas. Then we headed back to the minibus via the inevitable gift shop. I had a look around, but there was nothing to tempt me. I took some more photos and then we got back on the minibus. Once everybody was back, we headed off to our next destination, Emerald Lake.

Emerald Lake was the reason we had chosen this excursion. I had seen photos of this, and it looked stunning. Emerald Lake is known for its intense green colour. The colour derives from light reflecting off white deposits of marl, a mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, at the bottom of the shallow lake. The high concentration of calcium carbonate in the water here comes from limestone gravel eroded from the nearby mountains and deposited here 14,000 years ago by the glaciers of the last ice age. Emerald Lake really is beautiful, especially against the background of some majestic mountains. We had plenty of time to appreciate the beauty and take photos. Emerald Lake definitely did not disappoint.

Once we were all thoroughly frozen as it was pretty cold up there, we headed back to the minibus and started on our way back to Skagway. On the way back, we stopped at various scenic overlooks to give us the chance to take some photos. We had one slightly longer stop at Summit Lake, which was still completely frozen. We all declined a stop at the decommissioned Yukon Suspension Bridge, but I managed to get some photos from the minibus.

What amused me was the crossing back into the USA. The people at the border post there did not show the slightest bit of interest in us. Mike drove up to a barrier and this was lifted without us ever seeing anybody. I suppose they know that a tour bus with Alaska plates would only have been in Canada for a matter of hours.

As we were approaching Skagway, I had a signal on my phone again. I decided to check my work emails. I have the Outlook app on my phone and if I am away for any length of time, I check in every few days to delete any emails that are time sensitive like updates about flight delays or status updates from our company social media. This accounts for about 90% of the emails I get. This only takes a couple minutes, and it makes it a lot more manageable to have to deal with less than one hundred emails on my return rather than multiple hundreds. This time round there was however an update that I definitely wanted to read, our annual results. The previous year, there was a record profit share. However, I had missed the cutoff to be eligible by 7 days. This time I most certainly was eligible. I did not expect much and figured that if we got enough to pay for our cruise in November, I would be as pleased as punch. When I initially read this, I skipped straight over the part that announced the profit share. For a short moment, I wondered if we would not get any, but that did not make any sense as we had done really well. I read through again and found that were due to get 20 weeks profit share. I nearly spontaneously combusted with excitement.

Coming down the mountain and into Skagway, we had an amazing view of the port. When we got into town, Mike asked if anybody wanted to stay in town and about half of the people in our group opted to do just this and make their own way back to the port. Once he had dropped them off, he took the rest of us back to the port. We had definitely seen the best of the weather for that day, and we were glad that we were heading back to the ship. Once we had said goodbye to Mike, we headed straight down to the marina. We did not have long to wait for a tender and soon we were back on the ship.

We stopped at the champagne bar for a couple of drinks. I had a lemon drop martini and a Passion Spritz and Graham had a couple of Irish coffees. Once we had finished our drinks, we headed back to our cabin where a new roommate was waiting for us. We dropped off our stuff and then got showered and changed. Then we headed down to the dining room for dinner.

Dinner that night was the A Taste of Asia menu. Graham had the chilled shrimp cocktail for his starter, and I had the pan-seared dumplings with bok choi and sesame soy sauce. For his main, Graham chose the sweet and sour pork with jasmine rice. He seemed to enjoy this a lot more than I had done the previous week. I figured that Indian is also Asian and had the chicken biryani with a side of dal, roti and poppadom. I really enjoyed this. We had a couple of glasses of our usual wine with dinner. For his dessert, Graham had vegan raspberry and lychee tart with vanilla drizzle, and I had the tapioca pearl pudding with coconut and five spice mango compote. I was not sure if this would be my thing, but I absolutely loved it and can’t wait to have it again in November.