Tracey Arm Fjord

Early start again as we were cruising up a fjord today to see the glacier at the head of the inlet. Out on deck was really, really cold. The kind that seeps in to you and freezes from the inside out. Luckily we had timed it right and only had to wait about half an hour until we rounded the last curve and there was the glacier. The sun was almost over the top of the steep sides of the fjord but the waiters were still doing a good trade in hot chocolate! At the head of the fjord the ship slowly turned round and began to head back out to sea. There were large chunks of ice all along the surface of the water and as the sun got higher and higher they looked like they were illuminated from within and glowed blue inside. We saw several seals too. It took about 2 hours to get back out to the sea all the time surrounded by "icebergs" and steep cliffs.
Once out in the open sea, we were in the Inside Passage which runs parallel to the coast of Alaska but is protected by a chain of islands which makes for more interesting views rather than just sea.

We arrived in Juneau in the early afternoon and went for a wander round the town. Again, around the dock was very touristy with lots of shops so we walked up to see St Nicholas Church which is a wooden Russian Orthodox church and one of the oldest buildings in the town. We contributed to the local economy by buying 2 postcards and stamps and mailing them from the friendly Post Office - hope they make it home!

Back down at the harbour we watched the float planes coming and going before going back on board. We ate early, skipped the show and headed for bed.