Anchorage

The ship docked in Seward about 5am, and we were organised to disembark in groups. As we had no flight or tour to catch, we were put into group 7 out of 8, and had a lateish disembark time. Unfortunately we realised by looking at the other luggage tags in the corridor that we were the only ones in group 7, and that the rest of them belonged to a tour group that was in group 1. Rats. Of course, that meant that they all had to be up about 4am in order to be ready for the 5:30am free buffet, but I'm still not sure why they thought that yelling up and down the corridor was thoughtful and considerate to others. Sheesh!

Eventually it quieted down but we were well and truly awake by then. By 8am, it was almost surreal on board. Quiet and deserted as though somebody had turned off the magic switch. We finally bid farewell to the ship about 8:30, and boarded the bus that would take us up to Anchorage. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day for a narrated tour of the valley and surrounding mountains. Heard all about the 1964 earthquake which ended up being assessed as 9.2 - the second most powerful quake ever. The quake lasted for 5 minutes, and between it and the subsequent tsunami, not much was left in southern Alaska.

Reached the downtown hospitality centre late morning, and went for a walk around the city centre. They had a lovely 'Saturday Market' this being a Sunday and all, and we noticed again how similar craft markets are all over the world. This one, of course, specialised in gorgeous famed photos of bears, eagles and glaciers - sometimes all three in the same photo.

The market gave rise to the scene of the day where a grandmother was arguing with her three year old grandson, and told him that he couldn't have an ice cream until he'd had his proper lunch. "Sit down", she said. "Here comes Grandpa with your plate of fries".

Mid afternoon I went out to the airport in one of the courtesy coaches, and picked up our rental car - a large Chevy SUV which hopefully will fit all the luggage for the four of us. Drove back to downtown, picked up Mandy and our luggage, and headed off in search of our motel. We received a very friendly welcome as Australia was the receptionist's favourite country, though later it transpired that Australia was the country where her favourite kid's show is set, and she'd never actually been there.

After settling in, it was a walk around the bay to the Earthquake Park memorial. Seems that the district was built over a clay sub layer, and when the earthquake shook and pounded the ground for 5 minutes, it turned the clay into a jelly like substance, and a whole suburb slipped down the hill and into the bay. Of course, it's never been rebuilt as it can't support any weight. From the park, because of the sunny afternoon, you could see all the way to Mt McKinley glinting in the distance. It's our objective for tomorrow.

Tea at one of the few McDonalds in Alaska, so that we can report that the BigMac index is AU$6.99 which is as close as it can be to back home.

Brendan and Rachel flew in to Anchorage on time just before midnight, and I went and picked them up. Still can't get used to the fact that the street lights weren't on even at that time of night. Was lovely to see them, and catch up with a little of what they've been doing before sleep overcame them.