Sunday, August 23, 2009

Travel to Seward and board SS STATENDAM; Room 202


Okay, this has been the most confusing and hectic day so far. We were up at 6:00 to be in the lobby by 7:45 to board a bus. But what bus was the first confusion of the day. We knew we were going to the ship eventually, but we’d upgraded to include a 6-hr tour along the Kenai (pronounced “Kee-nigh”) Fjord. I thought we were taking the boat from Anchorage down to Seward, around the fjords and back to the boat. I was wrong.

We took the bus to Seward (2.5 hrs and I fell asleep for about 10 minutes and dozed for a dozen more) and THEN got on the six-hour tour. Steven got seasick within an hour, but a couple Dramamine and a short nap and he was fine. I got a little queasy shortly after (I think it was sympathetic as the woman in the booth beside us was using a barf bag and Steven looked green. Then a guy lost it over the side of the ship…). A single Dramamine and an hour out on the very cold deck, however, and I was fine.

I think in another life I was a sailor. I love being on the water. The waves splash up and the boat bucks and sways and I go right along with it. I stood at the rail for a long time, bundled in a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, a fleece and my windbreaker. I wore my driving gloves, which got soaked very early on as it was raining for nearly the entire journey. But that was a good thing. Seems the marine life doesn’t like it when its hot out and they stay too deep in the water to see. But when it rains, they come out to play.

We saw a sea otter floating on his back, just taking his ease. The captain brought the boat up close and he just looked up at us as if to say, “Hey, good to see ya!” Totally unafraid of us or this big boat.

We also saw puffins! All the pictures I’ve ever seen of them have been of them standing on rocks. They live in the nooks and crannies of these granite islands that rise up out of the water, The sides are sheer for often over a hundred feet, then trees and mosses grow up the sides from there. One definitely feels one’s in another world…another planet…

Anyway, the puffins were out in force and they flew all around the ship and dove off the cliffs…they’re cute and fun to watch. Later a few of them caught up to us. The ship was doing about 20 knots and they kept pace with us for several yards. But then they got bored…so they passed us!

The highlight of the trip was stopping in front of the Aialik Glacier. I don’t know how long it is, but it’s nearly a half a mile wide where it meets the sea. We stopped about a quarter of a mile out and the captain turned off the engines. He said we were here not to just experience the visual beauty of nature, but the sound of nature as well. He also said we should listen to see what the glacier had to tell us today.

I was very surprised at the groans and creaks the snow-turned-ice makes as it, quite literally, moves within the glacier. The snow pounds the rocks inside it into a fine dust that gets deposited as the first layer of new land. The pieces it can’t break up, it drops in its wake. There were two large rocks, one in the center and one off to the left that looked like the glacier had given up on them. They’re currently in the process of emerging from the glacier.

We saw several pieces “calve” off the glacier. You’d hear a loud crack, see a piece of ice start to lean, and then watch it slowly fall or slide into the water. Because we were so far away, it was hard to tell the size of the pieces, but the largest one we saw go was probably the size of a school bus. It landed in the water and a second later we heard the slap and thunder of it hitting the water. This one piece made a wave and we watched it move all the ice floes as it came toward us. Because we were a quarter mile away, by the time it reached us it was a ripple, but one large enough to give the boat a gentle rocking!

On our way back to Seward we spotted a super pod of Orca whales (killer whales). Two pods had come together for breeding purposes and they were flirting and playing with each other. Very cool to watch their dorsal fins rise up and then to see the sleek black bodies and the one white patch come into view as they peeked up to see if we were gone yet.

I forgot to mention the porpoises that met us early in the trip. A group of about seven got curious about the boat and came over to play hide and seek with it. They jumped in and out of the water in front of the prow for several minutes before going off to see something else. The captain said they have short attention spans and that was pretty obvious.

The trip got a little long, but they did feed us lunch (Caesar salad wraps) and made us chocolate chip cookies for a snack.

Unfortunately getting onto the Statendam proved to be the biggest hiccup we’ve had so far. We had to catch a bus at the end of the dock where our excursion had dropped us off; the bus would take us to the Statendam dock. By then it was raining steadily and we got pretty wet getting to the harbormaster station where we were to pick up that bus. No signs directed us to a bus, so we sent Steven out on a reconnaissance mission. He found out the bus currently loading was the one we wanted, but it was going to be too full. The next bus should be along shortly, however.

And true to his word, the next bus pulled up within three minutes. We headed over to it – along with everyone else. Darlene, Lori and I were with Steven’s mom; Dave and Steven were slightly ahead of us. Suddenly about 10 people cut between us and we got separated. More squeezed in and I knew we weren’t all going to fit on that bus. But Steven’s mom was dragging by that point and just couldn’t summon the energy to push her way forward, even with our help.

The upshot was that the bus filled up without us. Steven and Dave waited back and the bus driver assured us the next bus would be there within minutes. It was and we were set to be the first on it. But it pulled up short and once again people cut ahead and once again we were split up. Steven was with his mom this time and they made it onto the bus. Dave, Dar, Lori and I were cut off and we ended up on a separate bus. That part of the Holland experience needs a LOT more organization.

Going through customs and security really wasn’t much trouble, nor was getting onboard. Shortly after we arrived there was a lifeboat drill and we all had to put on our lifejackets and report to our respective lifeboats. Women and children were to be in the front, men in the back. Lori looked at me as we waited and said, “This feels weird.” I knew exactly what she meant. In this day and age of equality, why should women be put forward before men? Children makes sense. Neither one of us could quite figure out how we felt about it, but it felt very odd.

Once done with the drill, dinner was next on the agenda as we were all hungry. Steven’s mom was exhausted, so she stayed in her cabin to take a nap and the rest of us went to the Rotterdam, the fancy restaurant on board. I had Cocoanut Nutmeg soup (served cold) and it was delicious! Steven had a watermelon salad that came in a large martini glass. He got prime rib for dinner (big surprise) and I got Leek and Broccoli Flan (huge surprise). It actually came out much like a quiche and was quite good. It was served with wild rice and cooked spinach, which I normally don’t like. But there were two dollops of pesto on either side of the flan (presentation is everything!) and the spinach with the pesto was actually quite good!

For dessert? What else but Baked Alaska???? I had it with hot chocolate over the top and it was soooo good. I only had a few bites though as I didn’t want to push my stomach too far after the day it had been. Steven didn’t mind having to help me finish it off at all.

We did some minor exploring afterward, but since we’re all so exhausted, I headed to bed (okay to the cabin to write this journal) and Steven didn’t stay out much longer. He’s now in bed snoring and I’m finishing up!

A note about the ship: it’s easy to forget from the inside that you’re on a ship. It looks and feels much like a fancy hotel. But then the floor tilts a little and you remember…I’m not on land anymore. Even as I sit here typing, the ship will tilt and lurch and I think. “am I drunk?” We’re going to get our sea legs, I know. But I’ll bet we’ll all be walking funny when we walk into that Vancouver airport!