June 5, Juneau, Alaska.

Yesterday we left the MV Columbia to spend a couple of days in Juneau, Alaska's capital. Juneau has a real frontier feeling to it. The RVs and trucks easily outnumber sedans, gun racks are common and most of the men folk look as though they are just heading off on a hunting trip. As with Ketchikan, the life of the city revolves around the daily arrival of the cruise ships. Not much moves until after lunch when the tourist hordes flow down the gang planks. Fleets of buses are parked ready to run the travelling punters out to the local sites. What a nightmare! Even out at the incredible Mendenhall Glacier, 15 kms out of the city, the buses were disgorging tourists as we drove in.

Despite the crowds, we gasped in awe as we stood before the solid wall of ice. 'Pups', ice blocks that had broken off the face of the glacier, floated serenely in the freezing glassy water and a powerful waterfall thundered down beside the ice flow.

Earlier in the day we caught the Mt Roberts 'Tram', a cable car that climbs 800 ft above the city for views up the passage. The story goes that there are 365 days in a year and in Juneau, it rains or snows on 300 of them. Our two days have happily fallen into the 60 fine days. It is difficult to imagine, but it was hot in the early afternoon yesterday, A fantastic day. Another early start tomorrow. Our last leg into Skagway departs at 7:00am with loading at 5:00am. Oh joy!

June 6, Skagway, Alaska.

Some serious beers at the 'World Famous' Red Dog Saloon in Juneau, and a dinner of Alaskan King Crab topped off Paul's 60^th birthday celebrations. Well almost. Yet again, a couple of Americans we met in the bar picked up our bill. Yep, unbeknown to us, a couple from Colorado that we had chatted to for 30 minutes or so, left to catch their cruise ship, paying our drinks bill when they left. Again, you gotta love Americans!

Our early start this morning was just as painful as we had imagined it would be, but the pain faded as we were treated to yet another perfect day, warm, sunny and clear. On the 7 hour trip from Juneau to Skagway, we were kept entertained by porpoises, seals and humpback whales. Yet again, the Alaska State Ferry system has treated us to great staff, great service, great ship, great environment. As an example, on returning with our cups for the usual 'free refill' we asked to check if it was ok. “Not usually,' the cashier said, “but just go ahead”. That was four big coffees for $ 3.00 total. Just some serious attention to their slow vehicle loading procedures and we could easily give them Five Stars for value. No, this is not a paid advertisement.

As we turned the last bend of the Inner Passage into Skagway this afternoon, our hearts sank. There, lined up on the small waterfront were four enormous cruise ships. Our nemesis, the package tourist. Like hungry rats, they scurry off their ships, flood into towns in Alaska where they sometimes outnumber the locals by more than ten to one. This afternoon, the little town of Skagway, population 900, was engulfed by more than 5000 tourists, easily recognised by their T-Shirt Shop red carrier bags. Most of our travelling companions from the good ship MV Malaspina had the good sense to drive straight through town and head for the Canadian border and the Yukon Territory. Zig-zagging through the masses of people on the streets, we enjoyed the frontier feel of the 6 blocks of town that are part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, with their wooden sidewalks and restored facades. We were also, luckily, on the spot when the daily, narrow gauge railway arrived back from its trip up to the summit of White Pass.

During our short visit in Skagway, we were able to join a very small audience at a great local stage show featuring the life and times of the local outlaw, Jefferson Randolph (Soapy) Smith, featuring dancing girls, gun fights and some 'history'. Many others also must have enjoyed the show. It has been running since 1923. Soapy was a conman, and at one stage the 'boss' of the lawless boom town of Skagway, then the gateway to the Klondike gold fields. Eventually, the locals tired of his scams, which included charging for cables on his telegraph which ran out of town only to end in the water just beyond sight. In a gunfight on the waterfront, Soapy was shot in the heart and died, a great character and very well promoted and well dramatised in this unpretentious show.

Tomorrow we'll follow our companions from the car ferry into the Yukon and far away from the threat of the cruise ship hordes.