here are some of my favourite snaps, with a little commentary as to why i like each of them.
this picture was taken on a ocean wildlife boat trip out of sitka. i loved the wildlife (we'll get to that later), but i also loved the scenery. forests as far as the eye can see. the weather in this picture is fairly typical of our trip, but is very typical of alaska. it rains something like 200 days a year which is a lot! we were fortunate as it hardly rained on us, and we had some sunny days. most, however, were like this picture.
as i said above, the towns in alaska are small. there was a mixture of american culture, russian orthodox and tglinket cultures all mixed in. these pictures (clockwise) were taken in ketchikan, juneau, kodiak and icy strait point and kind of show a mix of these. it was really good to see some of the culture and learn the history of the area. the main industries for each town were fishing and tourism, as quite a lot of ships make their way there in the summer.
the glaciers. oh my goodness, they were so amazing. this is at the end of the tracy arm fjord, and the colours in this picture are no lie. stunning! the colour comes from the ice being compressed for thousands of years. where the blue is strongest is where there has been a recent break and ice has fallen off. when we were near the glacier, we could hear the ice breaking. it sounded like thunder (it is known as white thunder) - amazing.
these next two are from the tracy arm fjord as well - aqua water from the glacier melting, moss covered rocks, forest and mountains as far as the eye can see. we did see some mountain goats on the hills as well, and some seals.
the most amazing forests! i love the tall trees, the moss and the rivers. so much sitka spruce and western hemlock - they are so beautiful and so different to sydney, australia! i could live somewhere with these forests and i think i would never tire of them.
such good wildlife!!!! seals and eagles and whales and sea otters and bears (and even some puffins!!!!!) all surrounded by amazing scenery!
and last but not least, the highlight of the trip. forgive the photos, they were taken at 2am on a moving boat, but this is nothing less than the northern lights. we weren't expecting to see them on this trip, but when we were onshore in anchorage, the ladies at the visitor centre mentioned that we might be able to see them that night. so, in eager anticipation, we went to the deck at the back of the ship and looked north while we sailed south. the thing with the northern lights is you never know what time they will be able to be seen. so we waited. at midnight there was a green glow in the sky, but we thought we might have been imagining it. turns out we weren't. it got better as time went on, and it was best between 2 and 3am. When they faded around 3, we went to bed and they may have come back after that but we will never know! the green glow came and went from the sky, and slowly danced across the sky in different formations. it was an amazing light show by nature and i am sure a once in a lifetime experience!
