Salmon-berries in Ketchikan

Monday 8th July
Here we are in Ketchikan in South East Alaska! Last night when we were in the bar after dinner we were watching the Alaskan coast slipping past us, with little volcanic islands; it looked very beautiful. We sailed in to Ketchikan this morning at about 6 a.m. James had already organised Davie and me to get up early because we were going sea kayaking at 7 a.m! It's a pretty little fishing port with pastel coloured wooden houses lining the tree-covered hillside. We were whisked off by bus to Knudson Cove where we had a fantastic couple of hours sea-kayaking. We paddled out to Eagle Island where bald-headed eagles were perching on the branches of the trees and swooping about low over the water. I was amazed at how warm the water was when I trailed my hand in it, and one of the guides explained to us that warm water sweeps up to South East Alaska from California. As we kayaked along we saw the "blow" followed by the tails of hump-backed whales about 300 yards away; it was amazing! As we got back to the pier we could see big red starfish on the rocks and in the shallow water purple sun-stars with many legs.
Back in Ketchikan we walked around the oldest part of town which is the Creek area. It is nowadays very touristy but we escaped the crowds by climbing up the hill. The path was lined by bushes covered with salmon-berries. These are delicious; they taste like a cross between raspberries and brambles, and are salmon coloured, hence the name.