Packing up and collecting our belongings for the last time.
There'll be no chance to collect it tomorrow, as the boat will
be on its way to Whittier.
After five wonderful days, our journey is nearing its end. The many friends we've made on the boat will go their own ways, but first we need to pack up and get to our hotel.
Packing up and collecting our belongings for the last time.
There'll be no chance to collect it tomorrow, as the boat will
be on its way to Whittier.
Part of downtown Juneau. We stayed at the Goldbelt Hotel,
which is just off to the left of the picture, and across the
street from the dock! Juneau's downtown has expanded about
as far as possible towards the mountains (and that's only a few blocks),
but has grown north (left in picture) from here, where there is flat ground.
A "tram" (or cable car) for tourists. There's a restaurant and trails at the
top. Alas, it was not operating when we were there, although one
day we did see the cars moving, presumably in preparation for
tourist season, which starts in May. The derelict building
on the far right is the old ore processing facility for the gold
mines which were the founding reason for Juneau. The rock left
at the end of the end of crushing was dropped into the channel,
I believe.
After we tied up, those who wanted were taken into the engine
room - the one on the port side. This is a 3,000 HP diesel,
enabling the boat to travel at 38 knots (50 MPH, 80 km/h) max.
Or 14 knots in reverse! Fuel consumption is 150 (US) gallons
per hour per engine.
Ah, safely in port, with some passengers still disembarking.
A sad moment to realise that our very pleasant journey of the
last five days was over, but new adventures awaited.
The
Klondike Express
at the wharf, as seen from my hotel room. We came up the channel,
(left to right direction in picture) and when the boat left,
it exited to the right.
To Juneau
Around Juneau I