| We stayed at a ranch near
Kenai. This is the office building. I suppose it appeals to some tourists. |  |
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We weren't quite sure what a Bristol Lodekka bus is doing here. Apparently
it came from Anchorage and is now used by the ranch owner's kids as a bakery
at weekends |
| They also keep llamas and
goats which we added to our list of wildlife even if they aren't indigenous. |  |
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Generally there has been little wind so we have found some exceptional
views. Pity we can't see the mountain tops. |
| There are lakes all over
the Kenai peninsula as we head back towards Seward. This is not far from
Portage. |  |
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We are probably just a week too early. The yellow flowers are not quite open
yet. This will be a mass of yellow shortly. Although this is prime moose
habitat we didn't see any. |
| Just the odd flower was
out. I think we have missed quite a lot of flowers being either too early or
too late. |  |
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Seward is a busy place. This is the small boat harbour. Many of these boats
will be used for private fishing. I suspect most will be taken out of the
water for the winter. |
| Seward is a major
terminal for the cruise ships, and the cruise companies have dozens of buses
to take their passengers on tours into Alaska. |  |
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This is one of the many murals painted on the sides of buildings. It is two
stories high. |
| The town is surrounded by
snow covered mountains which encircle the bay. |  |
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Another mural painted as a photo album, with pictures of William Seward who
bought Alaska from the Russians and after whom the town is named. |
| One of the many glaciers
which surround the bay. This reaches the sea just around the corner. |  |
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One of the tour boats heading back to the harbour. There are several small
companies offering tours of differing lengths. |
| A tour boat passing the
glacier. |  |
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Seward is also the end of the Alaska Railroad line to Fairbanks. This is a
train about to set out for Anchorage. It doesn't travel very fast so it is a
two day journey to Fairbanks. |
| We thought it was a
convention at the campsite. I don't know if they were all travelling
together. |  |
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We camped about six miles out of town and headed down this road to the town
each day. |
| There are several
churches including Catholic and Russian Orthodox. Interestingly the latter
allowed the natives to keep their traditions and language whereas the
western Christian churches did not. I wonder where the different
philosophies parted company. |  |
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The Iditarod Trail is a famous dogsled run from Seward to Nome
commemorating a rush to deliver some diptheria vaccine to Nome. It is almost
1000 miles and is one of the toughest challenges in the world. |
| One cruise ship in today,
two tomorrow. It will more than double the population. Just as well they
bring their own facilities. |  |
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