As promised the alarm sounded again at 5.45 am for another day of promise in Skagway. This was the home of the "long excursions".... Last time we tripped into the Yukon for the train ride - this time we were heading onto the water in a 20 man canoe!

The trick on the early mornings is to co-ordinate a breakfast slot . There are lots of people converging on the "early" dining rooms at the same time. But we have it down pat now because on days when we do want to have breakfast, Mac heads to the fruit (always avoiding the fat lip apple) and juice and I zero in on some cereal. We avoid the tea and coffee (because toilet stops are unpredictable on shore) and are in and out of the dining room in under 15 minutes.

The 6 hour wilderness safari was one we had penciled in before the trip and we were keen to participate because it would be our first "canoe" adventure.

The bus delivered all the safari goers to the small boat harbour and we were divided into two groups and were loaded onto two vessels for the 1 hour 15 minute high speed boat ride to the glacier. There were a number of stops along the way for closeup photos of waterfalls and wildlife.

About 30 minutes into the journey, the sister vessel experienced engine troubles which could not be fixed on the water, so their tour was abandoned and their boat headed to the nearby harbour of Haines.

Our little troop headed on to the beach landing of Davidson a Glacier Point. The fjord here is so deep and the cliffs are sheer drops. The Captain could run the boat ashore and still be confident that the motor was in 100 feet of water. In the centre of the chanel, the water was 2 000 feet!

Sam and Jacob were our guides for the day and a short bus ride took us to the basecamp where everyone was issued with rubber boots, fleece overcoats and life jackets . We also received our "how to deal with a bear" briefing. After using the "facil-i-trees" it was a half mile stomp through the forest to the canoes.

The first glimpse of Davidson was beautiful. We had watched it getting closer and closer from the harbour and now we were edging even closer. The paddling was really just a token gesture because each canoe was fitted with an outboard motor. Jake shared great stories about the changing nature of Davidson, the microclimate of the glacier, the isolated life in the basecamp and shared his passion for the beautiful white terns and their migratory habits.

The last part of the quest was to trek through the streams and glacier silt and climb and clamber up and over the moraine to get as close as possible to the beautiful blue crevasses of Davidson Glacier.

We loved the newness of this experience for us. It was another one of those moments when we could hardly believe we were here .

The walk, canoe and bus ride back to lunch was filled with stories from Sam and Jake about the seismic activity in the area and both the tension and the excitement this creates.

And lunch was beautiful in its simplicity. A turkey and cheese sandwich washed down with a bottle of water and a couple of fresh strawberries picked by Sam. The view was amazing.

All too soon, it was time for the return trip home.

The first detour was a viewing alongside a rookery of sea lions. They were hilarious to listen to - they bellowed and grunted and groaned in a never ending cacophony of sound. They were shimmying up the rock face and then sliding head first into the water and had everyone's attention.

That was until, unannounced, a large humpback whale surfaced just off the bow of the boat. It seemed so close and so big . The sea lions were soon forgotten as this humpback was joined by a second smaller whale. Two whales, releasing spray from their blowholes, sliding and gliding into the water, just for us. It was the magical full stop at the end of a perfect Wilderness Safari.

There was no hurry to get back on the ship so we detoured via downtown Skagway and of course found an ice cream shop! And, when we did make it back to the ship, we had a lovely chocolate surprise waiting for us in the stateroom.

Of course, no day is complete without dinner and a show. We discovered that Teppanyaki is better the second time round..,,especially scheduled late, preceded by very moderate eating during the day.

We have also discovered that I am a coward when it comes to game shows. We have been watching Deal or No Deal after the show each night it has been on. @Anthony loved this show on TV and I am sure his board game version is at home somewhere . Anyway, just saying as the game progresses I get more and more anxious for the contestant and have to leave the game before it's finished. I can't bear that they get to the last few picks and I know they are going to end up with 5 cents or a dollar. I definitely will be sticking to Jalpeno man for my last $10 of this week.


Friday
Temperature: 12C
Pedometer: 12 440
Bear Sightings = 0

Total Bear Sightings = 12


Things @AuntyGail and @Paul forgot to tell us about cruising:


1. The hairdryer is fixed to the wall.

2. The hairdryer is fixed to the wall above the toilet.

3. You need to sit on the toilet to dry your hair - new definition of multitasking.