Folbot Cooper set for the search
Glacial ice is super-old, compressed, and gives off a brilliant blue hue. My kayak trek to Alaska involved hunting for the bluest ice I could find, and on this particular day the clouds were thick, the rain settled in and according to Ron my guide, these were perfect conditions for really blue ice to be found.
Ron the guide, from http://www.backcountrysafaris.com
Of course, I had to get over the fact that outside our camp, and importantly, outside the electric fence around our camp, were fresh bear tracks and bear poop. And there was a good 200m walk through bush to get from the camp to our kayaks – a path that also showed signs of bear usage. I could not get in my kayak quickly enough!
Camp: Look closely for the electric fence
Heading out into the Alaskan weather
An ever-watchful seal - top left corner!
Paddling on this day was wet, and cold, and I was pretty happy that I’d put on an extra layer of thermals underneath my drysuit. We decided to paddle down the right-hand arm of the lake and into the salmon creek at it’s end, and hopefully find blue ice on the way. It wasn’t long before we found it.
First set of ice, but is it blue enough?
Now THAT is blue ice
Seriously blue, and seriously old, glacial ice
Fat Paddler up close to the Big Blue
It’s hard to put into words what it was like being around 10,000 year old blue ice, surrounded by low-level cloud, cold winds blowing off the glacier, and the gentle fall of rain in your face. It’s beautiful and yet stark, mysterious. And not something I’m likely to see again any time soon.
For the rest of the day I paddled amongst the blue icy giants in the rain before setting off in the afternoon for the pick-up point at the original glacial morraine. My time in the Alaskan wilderness at Bear Glacier was coming to an end, and I had succeeded in my quest. 
The original morraine on the Pacific Ocean
Tags: Alaska, Bear Glacier, Blue Ice, icebergs, Kenai Fjords National Park, seals
Beautiful sunny Middle Harbour
Nothing can contrast paddling Alaska more than a paddle on Sydney Harbour in balmy conditions under an almost Spring sun. To go from icebergs to harbour rocks and aqua waters in a week is crazy!
In today’s paddle I also came across Jonathan & Coco who, through the apparent negligence of a kayak-hirer in Balmoral who left a hull plug off their hire SOT, sank off Chinaman’s Beach and had to recover perched on rocks. If you read this guys, hope you didn’t freeze too much and that the incident didn’t put you off paddling in the future! Drop me a line if you want a decent paddle and I’ll make sure you get looked after.
And lastly, it was good to see my old friend the seal eating fish amongst the moored yachts at Balmoral Beach. Happy fishing friend!
Tags: Balmoral, Balmoral Beach, Chinamans Beach, sealions, seals
Fat Paddler, minutes after the incident (courtesy of Sydney Harbour Kayaks)
It started out like any other paddle; arrived at The Spit before 7.00am, pushed out into glassy conditions at dawn and started to warm up my shoulders with some big paddle strokes. In front of me were two other paddlers in nice composite kayaks that I was trying to get a closer look at by powering up behind them. And then something caught my attention.
A dark shadow loomed up underneath the water between the two kayakers 15 metres in front. Then as I leaned forward trying to get a closer look, the water next to my boat at knee level burst forth and a SEAL (or sea-lion, couldn’t quite see) popped up and looked me square in the face.
Now as a paddler on Sydney harbour, I have a healthy fear of sharks. I can think of at least three serious shark attacks in Sydney last summer, one of which happened in the harbour itself. Anything, and I mean ANYTHING bigger than a shoe that comes up from beneath the water is likely to scare me senseless. So at this point, with the sound of JAWS playing in my mind, I very nearly soiled myself with fear.
But it seemed I wasn’t the only one. As the seal realised it was looking into the face of one of the planet’s meanest predators (not to mention one with a big appetite!) its eyes widened, it jumped almost completely out of the water away from the boat and dived back down under the water. And then it was gone.
I stopped and peered behind me waiting for him to surface (and for my heart to calm down) but I didn’t see him again. He simply disappeared. All I can say is I hope the sharks didn’t get him. 
