July 28, 2025
KODIAK, ALASKA, USA - our last ALASKA PORT
View of our tender coming into the port of Kodiak, Alaska. We have gotten to see so much of this wonderful state.
In our port talk about Kodiak they told us there was a mural walk around town, but we could only find these 2 and the information center was closed, so no luck. Again the closest I got to seeing a bear was these hugs from the statue outside of the Wildlife center.
Only interesting building I found strolling the downtown was the Russian Orthodox Church which was also closed, so I took the interior photo thru the window. I joined the bulk of our passengers at the local Walmart and stocked up on provisions I might need over the next year as we head to Japan and the far East.
We got up at 6:45am to get to National Park Forts Walk trail in the hope of seeing koalas . Prior walkers mark trails with tree branches pointing in the direction of their sighting and we were luck enough to see 3 markers in our first hour of hiking. It is so stinking hot and humid the success we had made it bearable. The koala population on the island started with 20 brought over in 1930, to escape fur hunters. Today, the island boast 800 to 1000, and they are so cute and drowsy. They need 20 hours of sleep a day! The early morning is when they are the most active.
Just off the coast of Townsville, Australia is a special little island (that used to be part of mainland, hundreds of thousands years ago). The island was formed by molten granite that was pushed to the earth's surface with volcanic force.Over time the volcanic overlay weathered away leaving an extraordinary landscape of rounded domes and boulders, many as big as a house and spectcularly perched. Over Seventy Percent of the center of the Island is a National Park. There is lots of wildlife here too - koalas, rock wallabies, snakes & birds.
This is my third time in CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA and I really enjoy how walkable, clean and charming it is. The waterfront esplanade and lagoon area is a nice walk day or night. We had 2 nights here in the waterfront Shangri La Marina Hotel while waiting for the Ship to arrive and then 2 additional days in Port.