We sleep in a bit this morning, surprising as the hotel really doesn’t have any kind of heavy curtain and the room remained light – must be getting used to perpetual daylight. Anyway, at just before ten, we take a lap around town and head towards the small boat harbour. Parking is beside the Chevron servo, a place where we will later get ice and avert a bathroom emergency, and pay the $20 to cover two days parking. Breakfast is next, with the voucher place serving up surprisingly good fare, the hash browns are actually chopped and roasted small potatoes, yum. Whilst in the cafe, I hear a familiar accent telling his friend to ‘chuck it in the bin’, he sees me chuckling and we strike up a conversation. They are a group of entertainers – dancers mainly – from the big cruise ship that’s in port. Two Aussies and an American, they are travelling the world this way. After Alaska they are off to Asia for a couple of months. At 10:20 I dash over to the check in desk of Major Marine tours and agree to all the conditions. It’s a bit rough out there today,says the girl in a rehearsed but very friendly way. We’re good, sailors, I say in a much more convincing tone than I’m feeling.

The Glacier Express is a large boat, one of many heading out to the Kenai fjords today. We queue obediently and immediately start chatting to the people behind us, from Michigan they say…Detroit. Seems a lot of people from Detroit, Buffalo and Florida are on a trip to Alaska. We are at table 21, assigned for the meal but no obligation to stay there; wander the decks, level two is good for people feeling sick. The Detroit couple are at next door at table 22 (I next see them looking slightly greener outside on level two). Our table mates are a Pastor and his wife from Detroit too…of course.

The sea is flat at first, then as we leave Resurrection Bay, the swell picks up. We stop many times for photo ops and the animals oblige – first humpbacks, not breaching but surfacing enough for a thrill, then a bird rookery. We get in close and see puffins (much tinier than expected), seagulls, sea lions and even an otter. The. The orcas arrive, followed by more humpbacks…it’s a feast and we all click away, phones out in most cases, videos (that I wonder who will ever watch) and even the odd iPad. The swell picks up a bit more and the joy of the animals is forgotten as person after person takes their place on level two. I haven’t been seasick in years but took the defensive stance of positioning myself in the fresh air, just in case but boy, after the person beside me heaves all over herself, I decide it’s time to move. The young crew run about with new sick bags, paper towels and wash cloths and do a remarkable job of looking after everyone. I tell one of them that she could do anything after this. We round a corner into one of the fjords and like magic, the sea is flat again. Time for lunch. A salmon and prime rib buffet that is pretty good for its kind. Many passengers tuck in and I silently hope the seas remain flat for the ride back.

Though it has rained for much of the sightseeing trip, it abates as we arrive back in Seward. We have just under an hour to collect our things, pick up ice and find K wharf. All boxes are more swiftly ticked than we anticipate and we sit on the Seascape, a small tin vessel, waiting for Jonah ( from Orca Island cabins) to take us out. He arrives almost dead on time and we virtually retrace our path up Resurrection Bay towards Humpy Cove. Once in the cove, we can make out a collection of white roofed yurts dotting the shoreline and nestled in the trees. There is a little rocky outcrop with more yurts, wooden decks stretched out over the water and adorned with Adirondack chairs and a graceful, arched wooden bridge connecting the island to the mainland. The sun has come out and we are greeted by guests stoking a fire on the rocks under the bridge, welcome to heaven they say, and I suspect, they’re right.