Our port of call for today is Kodiak, Kodiak Island. The Zaandam arrived later in the morning around 11am to temperatures in the mid-40's, 87% humidity, 6.9 mph winds, and light rain. That forecast is always subject to change, which it did since there was no rain at all. During the sail into the St. Paul Harbor, we saw large amounts of sea birds, some seals, and dramatic scenery. Sometimes it is nice to arrive later in the morning and not be docked in the dark.
We were here in Kodiak just last April and found it was a nice and easy place to walk around the town to see the highlights. There were tours offered, of course. There was a drive to Ft. Abercrombie State Park on your own for $30, a city drive for $65, and a harbor walk for $95. A bar hop was $100, food tasting for $130, a rainforest hike for $150, native traditions for $155, and sightseeing and wildlife for $420.
The legendary Kodiak bears live here, but not near this area of the island, we understand. These bears can reach 1500 pounds for males and 1000 pounds for the females. Best seen from a flight overhead, which was not offered today.
This was a tender port with the ship at anchor fairly close to the dock. However, it was slow-going due to many factors such as high steps at the floating dock with an overabundance of caution by the security team. We left the ship around 11:30am, but should have waited a bit longer. They were jamming the boats with too many guests as well. It wasn't so bad going over, but coming back took almost an hour.
Once again, no maps were given of this town. We did know where to locate some info once we got ashore, but it is difficult to make a plan without a good map. We will have to ask about this when we get back to the ship. It is important to have the local port agent contact numbers when ashore just in case something happens. And stuff does happen when you least expect it. That info is always printed on the local map.
Once up at the landing at St. Paul Harbor, we searched for the bald eagles that sat on every light pole last April. There wasn't one to be seen. Disappointed, all we saw were pigeons, gulls, and scores of ravens or crows. We would find out why the eagles were not here later.
From here, we hiked up to the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church on the hillside. Taking photos of the outside only, we did not go up the flight of stairs to enter the small church, knowing it was already crowded with cruise ship people. There is a nice park there where a home used to be located. On this property is the Kodiak History Museum, small in size, but full of native artifacts and photos.
Down the steep steps from this museum is a very nice compact information center where maps and brochures are available for free. The young shop girl there was quite friendly and available to answer questions. We asked her about the eagles, and she said during the months of April and May, the birds are here to breed. During the spring, they lay their eggs and by summer the chicks are grown. By now in the early autumn, the birds are mostly gone. Mystery solved. Then she went on to tell us of an incident where she was having cocktails on a patio with friends when a flock of crows began taunting an eagle. The larger bird turned on one of them, killed it, and took off with it to devour. It did shock her, but everything needs to eat to survive. We just don't always see this happen. But we did share our story about a sea eagle taking down a large fruit bat while in Cairns, Australia. She understood completely. Another interesting story she shared was about the Stellar sea lions and the orcas that come into the area to hunt them. She said that everyone in town knows the killer whales are in the harbor, because the large seals will beach themselves on the sandy banks to escape being killed. Then they will "bark" all day and into the night until the orcas leave. The noise drives the locals nuts, she said. We thanked her for the info and the brochure and maps when more people walked inside the building.
From here, we went to the nearby Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. There is a shop with treasures, more printed info, and an excellent display of beautifully wood-carved full size Kodiak bears in their natural setting. There are mounted birds in another display to see as well as a skeleton of a whale hanging on the second floor. Many cruise ship folks were inside this place because there may have been free wifi and restrooms.
From here, we went back to St. Paul Plaza with gift shops, cafes, and the post office. During the summer season, many artists set up tables with their creations for the tourists to buy. Today there were none. Nearby, there were a few "homeless" guys that were harassing some of the cruise guests. One lady was strolling alone throughout downtown and admitted to us that she had been asked for cans of water from the ship from these guys. Then they followed her getting bolder, when she ducked into Henry's, one of the better restaurants in town. From there, she joined more cruise people to be on the safer side. We did notice that there were signs here warning people of cameras, so it was obvious there could be problems here. In our opinion, we feel the availability of legal marijuana has something to do with this problem.
We went back to the Aquamarine Cafe, located next door to Henry's, for lunch. They serve good pizza there and that's what we ordered with two IPA draft beers. Alaskan Ambers are better, we think, but they did not sell it here. After relaxing for a while, we went back to the pier and sat in the sun watching for possible eagle sightings. We did see one humongous Stellar sea lion near the fish packing plant but it dove too fast. One thing we did see was a minivan from Walmart offering a ride there. That's news to us since we never knew there was one here. We can guarantee that the crew knew about the super store.
As we mentioned before, the tendering was very slow going back. We were packed like salmon in a can, so to speak. It would have been nice if they kept more of the tenders in the water to accommodate the tour folks. But what do we know? All aboard time was 4:30pm,and we made it back well before that.
Not giving up on seeing some eagles, we watched the sail away from our veranda. That's when we finally spotted a few bald eagles flying by the ship as we left the island. Happy to report, many photos were captured of the numerous sea birds and beautiful scenery.
Dinner was chicken noodle soup, Caesar salad and mains of a pork chop and beef bourgeons. The chop was good, but the beef dish was undercooked and tough. Can't win them all. One scoop of mint chip ice cream made it better.
Feel the Beat was the show in the World Stage with tango, Charleston, rumba, and cha-cha. The Wajang movie was Togo.
Tomorrow's port will be Homer.
Bill & Mary Ann
