Saturday July 24th, Ninilchik, AK

85 Miles

Finally this morning the wind has died right down……but it was raining, and it rained for much of the morning. The locals are getting frustrated with the weather as well, their summer is not very long and to have all the rain is rather disappointing. And we hear on the radio about heat waves on the east coast in the Lower 48 with temperatures reaching into the low 100’s, so think I would rather have this. At least we can add another layer!

Alaskan’s talk about the rest of the States as the Lower 48, which are separated from them by Canada, they really seem like a different country. Another expression that I was confused with is when Alaskan’s mention “going outside”…it doesn’t mean to go outdoors, but to travel out of Alaska!!

It was a good morning to catch up on the laundry, so a visit to the Laundromat. There was a Farmer’s Market just over the road, so while the washing was getting done we wandered around. Bought a really yummy ciabatta loaf for lunch. Enjoy seeing the local photographers selling their photos. So many amazing wildlife images, you realize how long they must spend getting these photos.

We took a drive out of Homer following the road around Ketchican Bay. Were surprised by the number of houses nestled into the hills, mind you the view across the bay and over to the snowcapped mountains and glaciers is stunning. 

We wandered around the town, checking out the many art galleries. Homer is quite a centre for artists and there really is some great work.

Right in the centre of town a pair of bald eagles have made a nest in the top of a tree, the parents were sitting in some near by trees and the youngster was in the nest, but it kept popping up and down so couldn’t really get a decent photo. For the first few years of their life they have a very mottled head and it is not until they are about 3 that their head turns white.

We have really enjoyed Homer and would have loved to spent longer here, and seen it when the sun was shining! We drove north to Ninilchik where we had booked into stay at the camp where the fishing charter leaves from in the morning. The site is on a cliff top overlooking the sea, although the drizzly weather obscured the view.

Two charter boats arrived back about 8pm with their catches…everyone had got their limit of 2 halibut as well as some cod. It was fun watching them hang all the fish up and then have photos taken. Ian is getting pretty excited about going out tomorrow.

For the first time in my life I bought some lemons yesterday….hopeful of a successful fish tomorrow.