Kim's journey

Wednesday 20th – Thursday 21st
Bergen – Oslo – Johannesburg

Wednesday was hurry up and wait kind of day. We had to have our bags packed by 9, vacate our rooms at 12 and only got off the boat at 2:40. We had already seen most of the scenery, but this time it had less snow.

Off the boat, we picked up our bags, said our goodbyes and headed for the buses. It was about a half and hour drive to Bergen airport. Plenty of time to finish blog and relax before our flight at 6:30. That’s what I thought then…
We checked in, used the automatic machines to print luggage tags and headed off to the self service bag drop off. The first suitcase was a bit heavy, so no trouble to me, I quickly took out some books and placed them in the next suitcase to even the weight and sent both cases on their way down the conveyor belt.
As we were walking away I realised I no longer had my boarding pass and passport in my hand. Surely I had put my passport in its designated spot in my bag as I have done for the past 3 weeks! No, it was not there, or anywhere with me. Did I give it to David to hold? No, that would have been too easy. Was it in my suitcase?
I ran back and asked if I could get my case back to check. I was told if I was only going to Oslo I did not need my passport and the lady printed another boarding pass. All settled.
Then the doubt started to set it. What did I do with it? Where did I put it down? What if it was not in my case? What if I just put it down on the conveyor belt and it had slipped through the cracks? How long did it take to get a new passport in Oslo and was I going to make the wedding?
David was sure I had slipped it into the suitcase because we had looked everywhere else and tried to convince me that there was nothing to stress about. Finally he got me to go through security, where I set all the beeps off because now I had forgotten to remove my bracelets. Then I was called to identify both my bags and give the guards permission to search them. The first was easy, David had forgotten a large bottle of handcream in his wetbag in my suitcase. By the time I got to the other bag, I was in such a state, the guard said “I’m sure its fine” and let me go. I still have no idea what was in there to cause suspicion.
This was definitely not my best afternoon. I am not high maintenance. I am the one who looks after the passports!
When I got my case off the carosel in Oslo, you cannot imagine the relief when I found the missing passport between two books I had moved.
Much happier, we walked 100m to the airport hotel only to be told they could not find my booking! It took a lot of control to remain calm. They found it.
We decide to have supper in the restaurant downstairs and spent a small fortune on 2 hamburgers which we relished and a bottle of good South African wine.
I slept so well that I did not wake up until the alarm went off at 3:30. After that it was smooth sailing. We had a very pleasant trip on KLM to Amsterdam and a very easy flight to Joburg. I watched the new “A Star is born” which I really enjoyed, very good performances all round. Then I saw they had the original remake with Chris Kristofferson and Barbara Streisand, so I lost myself in that. Still my favorite…
What I learnt: Never try to be clever when you are exhausted

Sunday, 17 March  – Happy St Patrick’s Day
Steps: very few
Song: Lazy Sunday afternoon by the Small Faces (I had to look that up) and The Wonder of you by Elvis
Cruise day 9

Finnsnes – Harstad – Risøyhamn – Sørtland- Stokmarknes – Svolvaer – Stamsund

The southbound journey seems a lot faster and although it seems like a lot of stops, they were all only about 15-30 minutes in the morning, so no time to get off. This set the tone for a very lazy day.  I caught up on blogs and hardly left the cabin. I did manage to take a photo of a fountain as we left port. I think it was Harstad.
Points of interest today included Risøyrenna, a 3 mile long dredged channel open in 1922 and Raftsundet, a 20­km long strait between Lofoten and Vesterålen, flanked by tall mountains. Also, we were asked to stand on the deck and wave flags at cruise mates who had chosen a bus trip to the next port.  Luckily, the rest of our team were good sports and chose to oblige. Thanks to them for the photos.
Once again, we passed the mouth of Trollfjord, this time during the day. As we already had the mugs, I was hoping we could just get a refill, but no such luck.
At Stokmarknes, some of our groups went for a short walk, but the thought of putting on the layers of clothing and the snow boots was enough to prevent us from joining. David went to the gym instead and I watched a documentary on TV about Elvis, while sorting out photos. It brought back fond memories of Graceland.
Instead of an evening walk to yet another church, David and I chose sundowners on board. Again, thanks to Peter for the photos
We ended the day with a lovely buffet dinner.

What I learnt: very little

Saturday 16 March
Steps: 8654 with 9 flights
Song: Happy birthday

Cruise day 8

Mehamn – Kjollefjord – Honningsvag –  Havøysund – Hammerfest– Øksford – Skjervøy – Tromsø

I was woke up to birthday greetings from family back home, and birthday pressies from David, who also organized champagne at breakfast and more importantly, carried on the family tradition of flowers around my placemat. Not to mention a cute fluffy husky to remind me of this trip. I also got a gorgeous troll. I felt very special.

We had a 2 hour stop at Hammerfest, which is apparently the world’s most northernmost town at 70°39”48’. We walked to the Museum of Reconstruction which shows the evacuation and destruction of the town under Hitler’s sorched earth policy, intended to stall the progress of the Soviets. The museum also shows how the people returned to rebuild their city and it is one of the better museums we have been to in Norway.
We also stopped at the offices of the “world famous and exclusive society,” The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society, where you can only join in person and get a badge as proof that you visited the World’s Northernmost Town.  Although we did not become members, I did support the gift shop.

At dinner, there was another treat. The dining room staff appeared with a delicious cake and sang a “Spur-like” chant (in Norwegian). What a lovely day and thanks to all who made it happen.

At 11:45, we stopped in Tromso and went to a concert in the Arctic Cathedral. There was a soprano, a saxophonist and a piano/organ player. They were all excellent and the acoustics as I have said before are amazing. The music absolutely fills the church. They sang a collection of Norwegian folk and religious music. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they had included one or two more familiar pieces or at least explained what they were singing about.

What I learnt: On our bus ride to the cathedral and back to our boat, we saw more people out and about that we saw in Oslo. They were walking around, waiting at bus stops and queuing outside what must have been a nightclub. Tromsø is the largest city in Northern Norway and has a “mild” climate because of the warming effect of the Gulf stream. In the early 1900s, it was the starting point for expeditions to the Arctic and was known as the “Gateway to the Arctic”.

Friday, 15 March
Steps: 9343
Song: Rudolph the red nose reindeer
Cruise Day 7

Båtsfjord- Vardø – Vadsø – Kirkenes– Vardø – Båtsfjord – Berlevåg

This morning we had a stopover in Kirkenes. It has a population of about 5000 and is about 10km from the Russian border. It is also the place where we turn around and head back south. It seems to be a growing community as we saw a new housing development being built. There is also a frightening looking ski jump.
We stopped here for our Husky Adventure which started off by feeding the reindeer. Luckily, in the Sami presentation I attended, I learnt that male reindeers lose their antlers in winter and females lose theirs in spring. (Thus Santa’s reindeers are all females, sorry Rudoph). Reindeers without antlers are not very impressive.

Then it was on to the dogs. The tour company own 180 Alaskan huskies, who love to run. They don’t need any incentive and happily do 3 trips of about 20km at a time. Once again you have to get kitted out with warm pants, mittens, balaclava and a blanket. The dogs already harnessed were so excited and impatient to get going. The noise levels with their barking and howling was something else. They are also very friendly and love to be patted. There are 7 or 8 dogs to a sled with 2 passengers and the dog musher. Our musher was from Yugoslavia. He knew all the dogs by name and personality. The ride takes you into a fjord around the frozen water and onto the mountain plateau. It was very beautiful.

On our return, we were given a hot berry juice and then it was on to the snow hotel.
This hotel is built in December each year in the form of igloos and has 20 rooms with furnishings made of ice. Each room has an incredible ice sculpture or snow art. The temperature inside is a constant – 4°

As if that was not enough excitement for the day, later that afternoon we stopped in Vardø, where 4 crazies from our group took a plunge into the Arctic sea.

After that, things quietened down to the mundane task of doing laundry and drinks in the Taylor’s cabin before heading off for supper.
What I learnt: Kirkenes is in Finnmark, the least populated region of Norway originally inhabited by the Sami. Vardø is further east than St Petersburg and Istanbul. And many more useless bits of information which I can’t remember right now.

 

Thursday, 14 March
Steps: 11457 with 22 flights of stairs
Cruise day 6

Øksford – Hammerfest – Havøysund – Honningsvag– Kjøllefjord – Mehamn – Berlevåg

We stopped in Honningsvag just after 11. The temperature was well below zero with a strong cold wind. Gaeleen, Cherise and I opted for a slow walk around the town, while the rest of the group chose to be more energetic. We found a small shop which stocked a large variety of handmade items for tourists. I love those kind of things, plus, it was lovely and warm, definitely worth a stop. We walked another block or two and found another shop to go into just to thaw out a little. This was a craft shop which stocked everything from wool to kitchen utensils. I enjoyed watching the locals do their shopping on little sleds.
Gaeleen the wanted to find the giant troll statue that the town is well known for (according to all info sources). It was on the other side of town, so we turned around and followed our blue dot on Google maps, which is tricky with gloves on and freezing with gloves off.  Several blocks later, we found we had passed it, so we found some stairs down to the waterside, but it was not there either. I found the tourist information centre where we learnt that it had burnt down. Google needs an update! We ended up walking further than the original energetic group.

At 16:40, we passed  Finnkjerka, a Sami holy place. It is a natural rock formation that looks just like a church, from both sides. The photos make it look small, but it is like a full size church. The sun was starting to set and the cloud formation was stunning.

At 17:00, the ship stopped briefly in Kjøllefjord. We were taken into a warehouse and given our outfits for the snowmobile adventure. We had to put on so many layers of clothing, I now fully understand the value of a lady’s maid to help you dress. We then went by bus to the middle of nowhere, where we were given a brief lesson on how to drive and snowmobile. Because I admitted to being nervous, I was made head girl and allocated front snowmobile right behind the guide. With the strict instructions to follow our guide’s tracks and keep a distance of 15m, off we set. I did a great job of keeping in the tracks, because the guide had said something about a river alongside the path and visibility was not great. Somewhere at the back of the queue though, David and the others were playing silly buggers and had to be reprimanded! Boys will be boys! We travelled about 15km across the snow to meet up with our ship at Mehamn. The wind was blowing the snow across the plains like sea sand blows across the beach. It was nerve racking, but exhilarating at the same time.

What I learnt: I do not like layer of clothing and boots that are so bulky you can hardly move in them, therefore, I would not ever choose to live in a place that has so much snow!