Update - 3 August 2009
So I rode outta town on the only road south and headed for the small town of Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. I was hoping to get a flight out of Homer to the island of Kodiak which is famous for its Kodiak bears. I stopped off along the Cook Inlet to take some photos but the weather was very overcast so I made up for it by stopping at the famous ice cream stop at a tiny place called Girdwood. I had a wonderful ice cream and they gave me a sticker for my bike!!
Heading out the road quickly began to climb into mountains and it started to feel a lot colder. Stopping just over half-way at a cafe I was approached by a man whose opening line was, “English eh?!?”, turns out he was from Scotland! He was over to fish for salmon and halibut for a month with his family and we both agreed that the scenery here was very reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, in particular the Drumochter Pass heading towards Dalwhinnie.
It was getting late so I headed on and found I was running very low on fuel. I had stopped seeing cars about and it was just beginning to rain and get really cold so I was holding my breath to see if I was going to make it into Homer! I did and found a lovely place to stay at The Driftwood Inn – I was planning on camping but just couldn’t face being in a cold, wet tent when I was already cold and wet. The girl at the desk said there was a group of bikers in the next day and so I would have company... I just love how non-bikers assume that anyone who rides is automatically going to get on with each other!! The next morning I went off for breakfast to a local cafe and met a really great biker dude called Rob. He was down in Homer fishing with his mum for the weekend and invited me to join him on the beach later to fish... hmmm.... not sure about all this fishing lark! He gave me his number and off he went.
I trundled into the main part of Homer and onto the spit which is a large area of land joined to the mainland by a long bridge. The weather was great, lovely and sunny and more importantly dry! I stopped off to see if I could get a flight out to Kodiak Island but the girl said they were full that day and the weather was closing in that night so she didn’t think I would get on a flight tomorrow either. I really didn’t want to hang about just to see if I would get on so we agreed I would call in the morning to get an update.
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The Homer Spit is really lovely with quaint wooden buildings all a bit higgledy-piggledy and nothing quite matching – so pretty. I wandered about and found a pair of amazing campervans – really old and scruffy but one was totally clad in wood! I also found someone has built cabins to rent out to tourists but they were positioned on top of shipping containers with a wooden ladder running up the side to them! |
I went down to the beach and met up with Rob. He taught me about fishing but didn’t manage to catch anything. It was nice just to sit and watch the world around us including a huge flock of sea birds all diving on the schools of fish. We were joined my Donna, Rob’s mum, and we went off for lunch. They were leaving for home so we waved goodbye and I promised that I would call if I was passing their door.
Back at the hotel the Harley guys and girls (Harley Owners, Anchorage Chapter) had arrived and there were about 10 bikes parked up keeping the Red Baron company. I went into the reception and immediately one of them came up to me and said, “You must be the English chick riding the BMW... we’ve been told to look out for you!”... this was a bit of a shock and on further questioning I discovered that Mike (the Californian I met in Anchorage) had told them all about me!! I was asked to join them for supper and off we went to a local pizza restaurant. More people arrived and we made quite a crowd by the end of it – about 20 of us! They were really great people, very friendly and welcoming. We ended up having a beer at The Salty Dawg Saloon on the spit which is a local landmark and filled with dollar bills (along with other rather more unsavoury items!) pinned all over the walls and ceiling. We rode back to the hotel in convoy and I realised just how much I was starting to like this place! |
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The next morning I rang the flight office but there was no good news so I decided to cut my losses and head for Seward on the other side of the peninsular. Now... I thought I had been cold and wet on the run down to Homer but it was nothing like the run to Seward! I stopped halfway for lunch and went to the bathroom to wring out my socks! I was really quite miserable by the time I rode into Seward but a hot bath, dry clothes and a couple of Moosehead beers later and my misery was forgotten!! I booked onto a boat trip leaving in the morning and fell into a deep and moose dream-filled sleep – must have been the beer!!
The boat trip was 6 hours of Harbour porpoise seal and Steller sea lion spotting, horned and tufted puffin photographing and glacier gazing but the highlight had to be watching the humpback whales with their calves surfacing and diving just metres from the boat.
The weather turned really bad that night and I decided to sit out the next day and get some chores done. After chatting to the receptionist in the afternoon she said the forecast was for torrential rain for at least a week so I marched over to the fishing outfitters and purchased a pair of waterproof fishing trousers, waterproof socks and a can of boot waterproofing! After gassing myself with the spray and managing not only to waterproof my boots but also my hands and the hotel window-sill and chair, I thought at least I would be ok for the mornings ride... after all, I gotta give these Harley boys a run for their money eh?!!
Join me on the next update to see who I end up drinking beer with the following night!!