We docked at Auke Bay, then drove the Green Tortoise bus into the centre of Juneau, about 12 miles away to the south. All around here, the mountains on the mainland fall down right into the sea, with the exception of this little strip of land which stretches for about 40 miles along the coast, and is no more than a few miles wide at some places. Interestingly, the end of the road, at Echo Cove in the northwest, is actually called: End of Road. Juneau itself is flat only for a couple of hundred metres at the very edge of the water, rising steeply up towards the forests which cover the lower parts of the mountains. On the other side of the Gastineau Channel is Douglas Island, connected to the mainland by a bridge.
The little town/city? which is the capital of Alaska (pop. 31,000) was completely dwarfed by four massive cruise ships, moored right in the town centre. One of them turned out to be Diamond Princess, as we discovered that evening when it did a two-point turn in the bay and set off southwards. By that time, we were sitting in a blue-painted building on stilts, at The Hangar, a great restaurant overlooking the water, the boats, the float planes and Douglas Island on the other side of the water. Lovely. I ordered a Propellor Lasagne which was all seafood: crab, scallops, prawns, salmon. Delicious. Alaska is definitely the place to come if you like fish and seafood. After this, nothing will ever taste as good again…
Our hostel, the Juneau International Hostel, was the only one in town. And it had rules. Which met with revolt from some of our group. The upshot was the rules got broken, or people moved out. We were expected to do chores, which I didn’t object to, being accustomed to this in youth hostels in the past. We were also given a curfew of 11pm, which again I didn’t mind, as I was usually shattered by that time. Then we were kicked out at 9am and not allowed back till 5pm. This wasn’t too bad, but would have been a serious problem if we’d had bad weather instead of the glorious sun we’ve had since Anchorage. Personally, I loved the hostel, with its great layout, comfy sofas and veranda. It was up a steep hill, right on the edge of the forest, but taxis were abundant. A lovely place to stay, really. Talking of forest, bears were sighted going through the rubbish bins at the hostel in the early hours. So not a good place to go for a walk at night.
So what did I do to while away the time? Well, a few of us went to Mendenhall Glacier which was so interesting and beautiful. It’s a receding glacier, which means it doesn’t flow into the sea, but a lake has developed at the foot of it, and water is flowing out from under the ice of the glacier. This causes the jagged front edges of the glacier to split off, calving, and fall into the lake where they either run aground and eventually melt or float away as icebergs. There’s also a raging waterfall from another mountain emptying itself into the lake. Pat collected some interesting sparkly stones for me from the water’s edge and also met a man who told her that he and his son collected garnets from the shore. She gave me one so I’ll set it in silver perhaps.
We caught a bus back to Juneau after a while and spent the rest of the day in the Alaska Museum which was fascinating. A well put-together history of the region with lots of artifacts and displays and even a workspace for people to make their own animal masks. I particularly loved the Native Alaskan section, with totems, displays and films. After this bit of culture we discovered a good place to eat: the Paradise Bakery is the place to go – great home cooked food, delicious. We actually went there twice the following day. 
Another high spot for me was getting my laptop sorted by the whizzkid manager of the hostel. He did something to the settings and now I can get wifi! For the first time since Tallinn in Estonia. I’m hoping it’ll still work elsewhere and not just in his hostel.
Juneau is a very attractive place, with access from the sea only from the south along the Gastineau Channel which narrows dramatically after Juneau, so you don’t get through traffic. The cruise ships tend to dwarf the bay, but provide necessary economic support to keep the place going. There are lots and lots of shops near the water selling the usual tacky tourist souvenirs, but in amongst them, you can find some real treasures. 
The post office on Franklin Street (yes! I sent another parcel home!) sells lots of work done by local artists, beautiful watercolours and crafted items. And out on the street, just opposite the library, Linda and I bought beautiful flowing tie-dye hippy dresses from a man from Tonga.
So here we are now, 10.30pm on Thursday 2nd June. We’ve said goodbye to Juneau and are on the ferry to Petersburg, originally a Norwegian settlement, somewhere farther down the Inside Passage. I’m in a recliner chair with my inner fleece sleeping bag and my pillow at the ready, and hope to get a couple of hours’ sleep before we arrive in Petersburg at 4am. Then we sleep a bit on the bus while Sully drives us to our wilderness campsite. No showers, no facilities apart from drop toilets. Just woods and bears. Certainly no wifi, so don’t know when I’ll manage to post this!
It’s now getting dark outside, but we have witnessed a brilliant sunset over the mountains – just when our sister ferry passed us going in the opposite direction (look closely!) – and when I get home I’ll add photos to this blog. Some of the Ozbus group are already asleep – some of them on the floor where they can stretch out. So I’m signing off now and crawling into my sleeping bag. And letting the hum and throb of the ship’s engines lull me into dreamland. Night night.
Patamateria 