ON OUR WAY HOME

Waking up today and knowing that we need to pack our things so that we can disembark tomorrow always feels a bit sad.  It has been a beautiful trip and such great memories to have my family with me.  Special times with Sandra and Clay and lovely time spent with Brenda and her sisters and their husbands was a bonus.

The cruising season up here is just about at an end. I think there are only one more sailings north before everything shuts down in Alaska.  A lot of the stores were advertising 50% off.  However, it didn’t seem as though there were deals to be had.  The shops that advertise 50% off are the Alaskan souvenir shops – so jackets, hats, ornaments etc. all with Alaska emblazoned on everything!  The ship had some pretty good sales everyday by the Lido pool.  In another week, the Zuiderdam changes direction and head south and west to Hawaii and French Polynesia.  So, all the mitts, gloves, touques, scarves etc. were 75% off.

Today on board there was a polar bear swim.  Colton and his friends were ready to jump! It began by the bar staff throwing buckets of ice into the pool and then the brave stepped up to jump into the “icy” water.  There was only 1 adult and 3 children – Colton was the smallest.  There he was bravely standing ready for the countdown and into the water he went.  He came back to the edge and scrambled out – but it was too late.  He was so chilled the tears started to flow.  I quickly grabbed him and got him to the hot tub to warm up.  For his efforts he did get a certificate and the memory of how brave a little guy he was!  He got a mug of hot chocolate while in the hot tub and many congratulations from all who witnessed his success.

Today we are at sea and we are travelling down the inside of Vancouver Island.  I am not sure I have been down the east coast of Vancouver Island.  We passed by Pt McNeil family who were waving a Canadian Flag and shouting greeting from the shore.  I think Sandra and Clay spotted them, but I didn’t.  We waved from the balcony anyway and they said they saw us.  We passed Alert Bay and saw the First Nation Long House and the world largest totem pole.  It was so very large.  We couldn’t see all the detail with the naked eye, but this picture shows what could be seen if we were closer.

Packing our things, we slowly journeyed south.  Tonight, our suitcases would be outside the door and taken off in the morning as we did the last swipe of our cruise cards and stepped off to return home.

Bye for now, Alaska – I hope I get to see you again one day.