Sitka to Petersburg

A little sleep in this morning. Breakfast at eight, checkout at eleven, store the bags for the duration and off exploring the area with Steve and Ruth.
First stop the Raptor Centre, then the hatchery which has a small aquarium of rock shelf dwellers. Lunch was at Tokyo - no sushi for me! The meal was ok but definitely tasted better Japanese before.
The Raptor Centre was interesting.They rescue injured raptors, treat them and, if possible, after bird physio, relaxes a them back into the wild. Of course there are some that can never be and they live out the rest of their lives in relative bird luxury. Those who can't be released are those that have sustained injuries that that prevent them from being able to live back in the wild. Altercations with cars was one of the main causes for this. Highways offer clear spaces to swoop down on prey but a speeding car will always win over a bald eagle. Kily, the Hawke we met in our briefing was imprinted with humans so, although never injured, could never be released into the wild
Returned to our hotel with plenty of time up our sleeves - luckily as the sailing time of our ferry had been brought forward to suit the tide and we ended up just in time to get our shuttle out to the terminal.
Tonight is an overnighter so we have a stateroom again and we arrive in Petersburg before sparrow's fart in the wee hours of the morning. Our hostess at the BnB has said that it is the norm and she will be up to greet us and show us to our room. Dedication - we will be there at 4.30am.Read more