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We caught the train up to Seattle 3 days ago and let me tell you, it was the best decision of this trip so far! Seattle was amazing. The city itself is quiet large, there are 3 million people that live within the city.
we stayed at a motel outside of the city, opposite the airport because this suited our plans to see Orca whales in a town called anacortes. The way we got to Anacortes was by a bus that left at 6am in the morning from the airport so we figured it was smarter to stay close to the airport.
We got off the train in Seattle's international district which is basically the poorer area of Seattle and has a lot of homeless people walking around. We felt reasonably safe though as there are so many people around. We made our way to the motel then after a couple of hours, it was afternoon and we were wondering what we could do to fill the evening since it doesnt get dark until 9.30pm. So we decided to check out the 'famous' Seattle Space needle which is a massive pointy buidling where you go up a see through lift and to a viewing platform that overlooks the whole of seattle. its an amazing view. Seattle is surrounded by ocean, lakes and the Cascades mountain range so the view was awesome. however, my little panasonic camera decided to play up and isnt working at the moment...i dunno why!
We got indian for dinner which was nice then caught public transport buses back to our motel. we didnt know much of what there was to do in seattle so we grabbed a whole bunch of travel brochures and come across a day trip into Mount Reinier-the biggest mountain in Washington state. so we booked the tour which picked us up the next morning at 7.30.
The bus was full of oldies who were all Americans and awesome people. it wasn't an old person tour as such but just for some reason, they were all old this day!!haha
I didnt know what to expect from mt reinier, in fact i sort of just expected a mountain and a bit of snow like mt hood in oregon (which was awesome none the less) BUT...when we got there i was AMAZED! mt reinier is a MASSIVE national park, not just a mountain. it is all preserved with TONS and TONS of wildlife, lots of snow, lots of waterfalls, cliffs, gorges etc etc. so much to see! it took hours and hours to drive around and we saw only a tiny bit of the park really. The driver of our bus was a wealth of knowledge and really knew about the park. he loved it so much and when i left i wanted to turn around and stay, it was so beautiful and such an inspiring place. the mountain summit was clearly visible almost all day which made for great photos, we could just spot mountain climbers going up the edge, looked craaazy scarey as it was so large, covered in dense, thiiiick snow and so steep! we saw heaps of wildlife ranging from deer (little baby ones!) marmot (see photos!!) elk (which are really rare to see), and a grey fox-which arent like our foxes but beautiful. after a long day in the park, we stopped by a gift store where some beanies are made which are world famous in the ski community-i had to buy one-so i did and its so warm!! Woolimat Woolies! haha
The next day was what i had been waiting for. this day was the day i went to see the ORCA (killer) whales in the wild. this has been a dream of mine for as long as i can remember. so we had to get up at 4.30 to get on the bus to anacortes. 2 hrs later we arrived at the whale centre, checked in then walked a 1/4 mile to the docks.
we boarded, i took up position at the front of the boat, camera ready. not even out of the harbour, the fun began. the awesome naturalist Bart pointed out a Bald eagle sitting in a tree. we saw an abundant array of birdlife, all of wich we dont get in Oz. the boat ride was FREEZING. it was soooo foggy and cold but i didnt wanna go sit inside. howver, when my toes and fingers went numb i had to retreat for a few minutes. and not long after i went back outside we saw a california sea lion-awesome....still no whales yet tho and it had been an hour or so...then we were told we were just getting to where the whales were, and literally...all of a sudden in the distance, i saw a massive dorsal fin and everyone was amazed!! we wanted to get closer and our captain-Carl williams (you know-like underbelly!) moved us up to them.
they are amazing, just as awesome as you could imagine. it was like a dream watching them. a couple of them breached and ...oh its impossible to put in words what we saw. it took my breath away and i didnt wanna leave, i think its one of the most awesome moments of my life. i am so jealous of the people who work on the boat-they have the best job in the world!!
anyway i better go
take care!
Zoe
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