This morning we woke up in Juneau, Alaska, the state capital and only accessible by air or boat! The weather was clear, sunny and quite warm for here, over 60F and perfect for getting up close and personal with a glacier.

Our morning was spent relaxing and taking advantage of the onboard spa, each of us having some reflexology and a massage before embarking on our planned adventure of exploring the Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier aboard a high-speed catamaran. After an early lunch, while most of our fellow passengers were boarding the Norwegian Sun after a morning onshore, Rick, myself and 129 others boarded the cat. The ship was setting sail at 1:00 PM and it would be picking us up in the Tracy Fjord after our spectacular expedition. We traveled through pristine turquoise waters, dotted with dozens of icebergs of all sizes deep into the Tracy Fjord and got within a few hundred feet of the North and South Sawyer Glacier. All the while, our onboard naturalist and guide provided an excellent commentary explaining what we were seeing and where to look for some of the wildlife.

During our jaunt we saw tiny black birds related to the puffins, a humpback whale, an eagle guarding her nest and some small seals. Most importantly though we were able to really see what a glacier looks like and it was breathtaking. I expected an ice field; (figuring ice is ice) however, I certainly didn't expect the beautiful blue crystal-like mass slowly making it's way from Canada into the ocean in Alaska. The whole experience was incredible and one of the reasons we wanted to come to Alaska in the first place. After our five plus hour trek, the cat pulled up alongside the Norwegian Sun (which manoeuvred her way well into the Fjord as well) and we disembarked onto the larger ship via a gangway. It was a truly amazing day!