Day 27 – Anchorage to Homer via Seward and Kenai

Northern Sea Otter

It came as a surprise how much we enjoyed Anchorage and would really like to spend more time there. We seem to be saying that a lot about Alaska.

Today we headed down the Kenai Peninsular to Homer, the sailing port for Kodiak Island on Saturday. This would be a spectacular drive if the weather was fine. It drizzled or bucketed all day with low cloud over the mountains and mist to drive through. However we still enjoyed it.

I also realise that the weather takes a lot of mention. That’s because it rains an awful lot in Alaska and the rain drastically effects one of the main attractions, the scenery. But it is supposed to be fine tomorrow so all is well, until it rains again.

The rail line follows the coast for much of the way.

About 50 km south of Anchorage was another wildlife rescue park. Here we saw our first bison. They are a beautiful animal and I am glad they were the other side of the fence.

We decided on a 100 km detour to Seward, a town that was ravaged by an earthquake in the 1960’s and then badly affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.

Today it is primarily a fishing village but it also hosts the Alaska Sea Life Centre, the only Northern Pacific Ocean research facility. It is listed as one of the best attractions in Alaska and for once the hype was right. It was fantastic to get so close to so much sea life.

Stellar Sea Lion

Northern Sea Otter

Harbour Seal

Puffins

Assorted sea creatures

Seward, known for its seafood and wall murals

He caught a month’s worth this morning

Love to see the fish that breaks these scales

Then on to the town of Kenai, another pretty fishing village according to a video I recently watched. I wanted to have a look for myself in spite of the driving rain.

Kenai, the most miserable beach ever seen

My ungrateful passengers were laughing at my desire to see Kenai so I dumped them at a quilt shop while I sought out the beach on my own. Turns out the lady just does the quilting of quilts, not a quilt shop. She was very amused to have three Australians in her shop wanting to feel some fabric.

By this time it was 6pm and we still had two hours to Homer so we pushed on through the rain and ignored all the soggy photo points on the way. ‘Fat Olives’ was chosen for dinner which was fantastic with enough in the doggy bag for lunch tomorrow.