Bloggin on a ferry

So, I’m on a ferry to Juneau right now. Just chillin. And adding to the ‘places I’ve blogged’ list. Plane, train, bus, airport and now ferry. Wicked. Also, I’ve been saying ‘wicked’ a lot in the last few days. I have no idea why...

We almost didn’t make it here to be honest. Well, when I say ‘we’ I mean my sister. I made it to the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare, not to mention a few extra friends. My sister on the other hand, arrived at the terminal with 5 minutes or so to spare before the ferry was meant to set sail. It’s a long story and one that I’d rather not get into but it involves aeroplanes, passports, hitchhiking and a lot of luck. I wasn’t really nervous though, mostly because technology kept me up to date with what was going on. Thank you technology. Once again you save the day. Also, thank you Sheri. You’re my hero.

Not much to report from the ferry thus far. We boarded at 6pm when it was already dark. The lights are pretty though. I'm pretty sure we’ve passed Vancouver already which is awesome. There’s also this outside covered bit on the top of the boat where we’re planning to sleep for the rest of this trip. It’s an amazing little place – and before you ask, no, it doesn’t get that cold up there. The shelter – sort of like a half dome- is facing the stern of the boat (aka back of the boat) (sorry, I thought I’d throw some nautical terms in here. It seems appropriate) so all the wind coming from the bow (aka front of the boat) is going over the shelter if you get what I mean. Also, you’re pretty much sleeping under the stars (which you can see amazingly well). There are also heat lamps.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow though. Hopefully we get to see some whales or some shit like that. Apparently it’s not uncommon to see such animals including sea lions, whales, otters and birds. Rumour has it though that we’re gonna be running into a storm tomorrow which to be honest, is pretty shit. Also, word is spreading that one of the mountains in Juneau is gonna blow any day now. We’re gonna be in Juneau any day now. ...Wicked? Possibly.

So yeah, like I said, not much to report. Not much to report on Seattle either. It didn’t really leave a big impression on me. Usually a city has a distinct charm about it. Not this one. Though maybe being charmless is what is so charming about Seattle? To me though, it just seems a bit...disjointed. From what I can see, there isn’t a single vision to the city – there’s building built wherever there’s space; it’s pretty much all under construction right now and some things seems kinda run down as if Seattle was still kinda holding onto the glory of when it held the World’s Fair all those decades ago (sorry, I haven’t done any research for this piece ...not that I do any research on any other piece. No internet on the ferry, see. Apparently there was prior to January 1st this year but they’re a changing internet provider which apparently takes a few months... but that is neither here, nor there). Also, there are a lot of homeless people around. The only thing that I liked in Seattle was my hostel and the Pike Place Market. Both were pretty, well, wicked.

That’s pretty much all I have to say right now. It’s kind of a weird place to leave things, but that’s just how it goes sometimes ok? Besides, this won’t be posted on the interweb (oh, how I miss you internet) until we get to Juneau, if Juneau hasn’t been destroyed by that volcano. In which case, I’m not sure when you will get to read this. Anyways, consider this post officially shelved. Until such further time as I see fit to continue with my right to blog.

BLOGGING!


Bloggin on a ferry cont....

Captains log:
We’ve made it to our first stop –Ketchikan after about 38 hours on this godforsaken ferry. No, I’m kidding, the ferry is alright; the food is a bit pricey though but we kinda have no choice. That’s the problem with not having any foresight. We probably should have brought some food with us. Knowing me though our ‘rations’ wouldn’t have lasted the whole trip anyways.

Right, so, when booking this ferry there was one very important thing that I forgot. Seasickness. We went through about 2 and a half hours of open water yesterday. Which, if you know anything about the sea/ boating/ maritime related things, generally means you’re gonna run into some pretty rough waters. To make a long story short, spending $10 on breakfast was a complete waste of money. I’m hoping we don’t run into any more of that today.

Approximately 17 hours to go.

Also, a lot of young American teens have boarded the vessel. No trouble from them so far.


UPDATE!

We've arrived in Juneau! It's a quaint little town. Not many people around which seems to be the recurring theme during my Winter travels. Snow also seems to be a recurring sight.

The rest of the trip from Ketchikan was pretty uneventful, besides all those dang kids making trouble for everyone.

Luckily also, there wasn't any more open water to sail through. We met a few cool people on the way over too. A few native Alaskan's and a few moving to Alaska for work (which, in the last week or so seems to be a really popular thing to be doing).

Anyways, today was mainly spent wandering around Juneau (our hostel kicks us out from 9 - 5 every day. We also have to do chores apparently, but we're only paying $10 a night so I guess that's reasonable) and planning the rest of the week. We also visited an historic trail - a mining area I think. There were a few creepy, decrepit and dilapidated buildings which were cool yet, well, creepy. Also, as we wandered through the sometimes foot-deep snow we came across a beach. That's right, a beach. It was pretty odd. The snow just stopped and at that point, the beach began. That's a combo of terrain that I would never put together in my wildest dreams. It works pretty well though. Also, I can tick 'Bald Eagle' off my 'Alaskan wildlife to see' list. Also hopefully to be ticked off in the next day or two are whales - Humpbacks and Orca's and possibly some other form of sea mammal - sea lions? Otters? Who knows!?