Eidfjord Sailaway

As we've still got a bit of internet time left I thought I'd post this team photo of our sailaway party at Eidfjord. You're allowed to take your own wine aboard P&O although we did rather follow the letter instead of the spirit of this rule. Unless we can manage to drink a litre each before dinner tonight it looks like we'll be bringing some wine boxes home.

It's been an excellent cruise and we've seen a lot of things we've not seen before. Our only regret is that despite spending hours looking at the sea none of us saw a whale.

Dave C,

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The Norwegian Language – Part 2

British Banks pretend to look after your money and then invent ever more ingenious ways to steal it. Here in Norway the banks don't try to conceal their intentions. I think it's rather refreshing.

Dave C.

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Eidfjord - 2nd August 2011

We've just left Eidfjord, our last port of call, and have all had a wonderful time here. Sandra, Dave and I went on a fjord cruise this morning on the 'Lady Anne', a small tourist boat which can get into the narrower fjords. Julie, Dave and Harold did the same trip this afternoon, and we all very much enjoyed the experience. The weather of course was hugely important for this excursion, and for once, we were in luck! Sunny intervals, with puffy white clouds, just the sort of weather we'd hoped for as we started our adventure nearly two weeks ago.

Yesterday was a glorious day too. We were in Bergen, which I think is probably my favourite port of this trip (not including the iceberg/glacier day, which was stunning). Bergen is a big city, with lots to see and do. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus so that we could get an overview of the place, then spent some time looking at the Fish Market and the Hanseatic Museum, and finally we took the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen from where we had panoramic views of the city and surrounding areas. Then, just to burn off a few calories, we walked the whole way down the mountain – it took us over an hour, and boy oh boy the feet were aching at the end of the walk!

Julie, Dave, Dave and I did the quiz last night and managed a highly creditable second place. Since the prize was a bottle of wine and we've still not managed to drink all the boxes/bottles that we brought onboard, we were actually very glad that we didn't win! The entertainment in the evening has been a bit lacklustre, but that's fairly normal for cruising. And even within our group of seven, we can't agree on whether each show has been good or bad, so I appreciate how difficult it must be to organise a programme to suit the majority.

Right, it's the last formal night tonight and Dave is stewing in the bath. I don't know if anyone else will get round to blogging again, especially as Julie's last one cost her over £12.00 !!!!!

So cheerio for now. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine for our last day as we cross the North Sea tomorrow.

xx Janet xx

The Frozen North

After laying out breakfast our butler drew the curtains so that we could start the day without any manual labour. Sitting up in bed the view through the patio windows was like Lanzarote in winter. The town of NY Alesund consisted mainly of wooden huts scattered across a rocky outcrop and what we saw didn't really seem worth the journey. Since leaving Trondheim we had steamed (or dieseled?) about 1000 miles, most of them due north, to reach the island of Svalbard or Spitzbergen as it is generally known in the UK. NY Alesund is an international centre for research into subjects like global warming and is about as far north as you can get in comfort and without huskies. In summer it's well past the point where the sun never sets although it's not averse to hiding behind thick banks of cloud. The temperature was just above freezing which did make me wonder what all the scientists in the huts were complaining about.

Venturing on to our balcony we realised that the town had been built, for obvious reasons like roads and foundations, on a flat plateau of exposed rock next to the water. All around were snow capped mountains separated by glaciers melting into the sea. It was unlike anything we'd seen before. It actually felt like we were at the top of the world. It was surreal and it was magnificent.

Arcadia was too big for the landing stage and we had to get ashore on tenders. Our butler had given us tickets that allowed us to jump the queue but, rather than risk being torn to pieces by irate inside cabin people, we played it cool and waited until after lunch. There wasn't much to do anyway – ropes and strategically placed scientists made sure that we didn't wander off the paths. I got the distinct feeling that the resident scientists and the owners of the most northerly post office in the world and the most northerly gift shop in the world had different views on the desirability of using the town as a cruise ship destination. We did have our picture taken by a young ship's photographer. He had been there for several hours and had discovered that there really was something worse than taking hundreds of pictures of old people at formal dinners.

Just before we sailed at about 5.00 pm the captain announced that he would take the ship up an adjoining fjord before starting on the return journey. Suitably attired we gathered on the balcony to admire the view and to have a few drinks. It was spectacular. Patches of blue appeared between the streaks of dark cloud and the sunlight illuminated the snow fields at the tops of the glaciers. Bits of the previously black mountains shone dark red and purple and the edges of the glaciers glowed bright blue where they hit the water. The fjord ended with a huge glacier and small chunks of ice were breaking off and floating past the ship. There was one much larger than the rest that made us appreciate the fact that the Captain had been prepared to make this unscheduled detour. I'm not talking here about the sort of iceberg that the ill fated Titanic encountered. This one was very small as icebergs go but it would have been big enough to make a nasty dent in the side of the ship and god knows how much the no claims bonus is worth on one of these things.

Dave C

Overcast with fog banks !

Bringing you up to date with our life on board. We settled into a relaxed routine quite quickly with plenty of reading and a little deck walking from time to time. The weather is not fantastic and the sun cream remains unused, but brave souls that we are we do manage to get out on the balcony - sometimes with a duvet wrapped around us ! Ports of call so far have been interesting and very different from any other parts of the world that we have visited, although the clapperboard houses do remind us of Cape Cod.
Dave and I paid for a pass for the 14 days on board which allows unlimited entry to a spa with a hydropool, steam room etc. Not everyone's cup of tea, but we enjoy the peace and dipping in and out of the pools. Dave loves lying on the heated thermal beds overlooking the sea.
Meeting up in the evening for dinner we exchange stories of what we all got up to - it often includes a little snooze in the day !
What is extraordinary is the light. The sun rose on the morning of the the 27th and won't set again until 11.22 tonight - the 30th July. We have walked out on deck at midnight in the light - very strange.
The shows are reasonable to good. We recognised one of the dancers as a girl who lives 2 doors away from us.
Dave and I were brave enough to go swimming in the outside pool as we were anchored at Ny Alesund - only so we could say that we had swum in the Artic circle ! We had an amazing sailaway there where there were 'bergybits' ( small icebergs) floating by - then sailing past us was the most enormous iceberg. The ship's photographers were lowered into a small rescue boat to take photos of the ship and the iceberg. Photographic licence means that the iceberg in some pictures looks bigger than the ship !
Clothes are beginning to shrink - the vegetarian choice at dinner is really good and I am enjoying trying different dishes each evening.
Today we are in Tromso, so we are off to have a wander around the city now
Julie and Dave

Thursday 28th July - Ny Alesund Spitzbergen

After two days at sea, we arrived at Ny Alesund, where the ship anchored offshore amongst barren mountains, with huge glaciers and the occasional 'bergy bit' (large chunks of ice not quite big enough to be called icebergs). We all donned our warmest clothes and ventured ashore for a short walk around the settlement, which consists of wooden shacks occupied by scientists working on climate related research.

The captain made a slight detour as we sailed away in the evening, and took us up a nearby fjord, the end of which was a ¾ mile wide glacier. We had to dodge real icebergs, so it was very exciting. An amazing day.

Dave took this photo of one of the icebergs as it floated past...

XX Janet XX

The Norwegian Language

As you will know a lot of Vikings used to spend their holidays in England and many of their words found their way into our language. Obviously, the usage and meaning of these words changed subtly over time. For example it is hard to see how this sign could be translated literally even in a country that keeps its doors and windows closed for most of the year.

Dave C