much delayed - San Juan Islands

Having meant to go my first Summer in Seattle finally at the end of June I organised myself to go to the San Juan Islands. This is a collection of islands, or archipelago, between Seattle and Vancouver.I only went for a day, a bit of fleeting visit. I left from Pier 69 at 7:45am on a Clipper ferry so it was an early morning. The Clipper to Victoria was leaving at 7:30 so it was a long cue for Breakfast before the ferry set off! 

Setting off to Victoria

As is my usual MO for water craft I stayed on the top deck in the wind, luckily it was a beautiful day and I was wrapped up against the 'breeze'. 

The journey was gorgeous with boats, islands and wildlife to see but it did take 3.5 hours to get to Friday Harbour, my destination, on San Juan Island. Here is a selection of shots...

Once at Friday harbour I had five and a quarter hours to look around whilst they conducted a whale watching tour (which I wasn't paying for) before the ferry home again. 

Whilst at Friday harbour I had a little walk around the town and popped in some shops. I had a look at the whale museum which had some really nice murals,information about different types of whales, and a few skeletons. It also told you about the pods in the area which was interesting. After that I ate some battered seafood and chips and then walked around to the local beach. This was great except that I had to root march back in order to catch the ferry in time!

The journey back was equally charming. With the sun shining brightly. I was particularly enamoured with the sparkling sunlight on the water. 

Sun sparkling. 

Of course the cherry on the cake was seeing whales. This did make the top deck a bit crowded and there were a few excited screamy girls which was a bit of a shame. There was a pod of 5-7 between us and Whitby Island so we had a really good show. 

Whales, whales where are you? 

I arrived back in Seattle at 7:30pm. A long day but worth it. I took over 900 photographs so be glad I edited them for you!