17 May 2006: Day 5 – Up Close And Personal With The Glacier At Skagway.

Our ship docked at the port of Skagway, the so-called “Gateway to Klondike Gold”, this morning at around 6.30am. I was up by then – we had to get ready and rush our breakfast in order to make our tour group time by 8.00am.

So after another hearty buffet breakfast, it was on to our “Glacier Point Wilderness Safari”, as this tour was to be called.

My parents and I, we made up 3 in a group of 14 tt would be led on this tour. We were to take this boat ride – a high speed catamaran, to be precise, out about 8 miles or more out of the bay and around the peninsula to this place called Glacier Point. From there we would take this bus inwards from the beach inland, where we would hike for a ¼ mile, and then canoe up to see the Davidson Glacier.

This is the first view you get from the catamaran.



Or the first views.



Left and right.



We’re traveling close to 46 nautical miles per hour, and the sea is incredibly choppy so it’s a really bumpy ride. Thank god for the conditioning of dragonboating and choppy waters. Wahaha.

We get through Seduction Point and into Glacier Bay beach, where this is what you see.



We then get on the bus…





And yes, tt is me on the bus.

After we are taken to the starting point of our excursion, we are made to change into waterproof boots like the ones Phua Chu Kang wears, waterproof rain pants and raincoats and lifejackets.



So we essentially all end up looking like the Michelin Man. (Plus my dad wanted me to carry his camera for him).



And yes, we walk like him too (that is my parents walking through the forest).

We walk down to the river bank, where the canoes are parked.



They’re more like dragonboats, actually. Just rounder in shape and no drum and head and tail.

That is the view of the Davidson Glacier tt we will be canoeing towards (okay, more like rowing, in my opinion).



This is the three of us before we step into the canoes…



And this is the first group getting ready to set off.



Yay! Me in the canoe, before we start paddling. Less glam than in Singapore, of course.



So basically we end up paddling up stream towards the lake where the glacier is at.

I have to admit, it’s been almost a year since I last touched a paddle, and it feels like I haven’t forgotten anything. It feels so GOOD to row again. Even though I am nowhere as fit as the girls who are training intensively for this year’s June Race. Maybe I was wrong, and maybe I DO love rowing after all. At least to some (possibly large) extent. Of course, this may also be refutable coz I’m not training. Haha.

And the scenery and the water is a million times better than Kallang.



We see mountains and glaciers and ice bergs. And this is the canoe relative in size to the glacier.



Ice bergs. If you think these ice bergs are small, remember tt only 20% of an ice berg is above the water surface. 80% of the ice berg is below the water surface.

The glacier as we approach…



Me! Excited!



Glacier!



Glacier!



Glacier!



And yes, these photos were taken as we got nearer and nearer to the glacier. Glaciers are formed by the immense pressure exerted by layers upon layers of snow compressed onto ice over a period of tens of thousands of years. A glacier then exerts pressure on the land formations around it, pushing mountains apart and causing massive erosion – the mounds of dirt next to the glacier are known as moraines, which are deposits of earth from the years and years of erosion. They rest on more of the glacier, if you can tell from the blue under the dirt.

And yes, coz it was raining and very fucking windy, it was also very fucking cold.

Nonetheless, final photo: me and my mom.



After the glacier excursion, it’s back to the beach to catch the boat back to dock.



And yes, the wind is still a bitch.

We come back to the same dock as our cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, so you can see it from the boat.



After our tour, it’s on to the Skagway Fish Company for lunch.



Welcome to the Skagway Fish Company!



Would you like some Alaskan beer to go with tt?



For our lunch, how could I resist the Alaskan Halibut Fish and Chips?



And me with my fish and chips.



Or, how could my parents resist the Alaskan King Crab?



And me with said crab, all ready to attack it!

In the afternoon, we then went to visit the town of Skagway, past the railway…



Which is known as the White Pass tt leads into Yukon Territory (Canada).



This is downtown Skagway…



And me in downtown.



We attempted to do some shopping here, but it wasn’t too good and my mom was really tired, so we returned to the ship by 4pm.

I then hit the gym for a while, while my parents took a rest.

We then had dinner at the Vivaldi Dining Room, and just to give you an idea of what constitutes luxury cruise decadence…



This is the Vivaldi Dining Room.

And for dinner, we ordered for appetizers: smoked Alaskan salmon and Alaskan rock fish chowder; for our entrees, veal shank, halibut, and Alaskan king crab respectively, and for our dessert, my parents ordered black forest gateau, while I had a warm dark chocolate pudding topped with thick creamy chocolate fudge sauce and served with whipped cream and chunky chocolate flakes.

The entertainment this evening was a comedian known as Jim McDonald.

And tt was all for today.