Oslo, on our own
One last breakfast and a wistful farewell to the crew and restaurant staff was the order of the morning. As we were finishing breakfast and the ship pulled alongside the quay in Oslo in the dim morning light (8am, sun comes up a bit after 9am) we were amazed to see ice in the water!!!! A quick check...
Kristiansand, our last day with Hurtigruten
As we woke this morning, still somewhat buzzing from the excitement of the aurora last night, the realisation that our home for the past 11 days was soon to come to an end as we are due to arrive in Oslo on the morning of the 3rd. As ever, when it you've had such an amazing time, there is always a s...
Haugesund Viking country
After a really fun New Years Eve celebration (see blog from yesterday), a slightly later breakfast at 8:30am was consumed and a plan for the day ahead emerged. We were not due to dock in Haugesund until 3pm but much of the morning was spent slowly travelling down a very famous fjord. We spent some m...
Alesund
After more bumpy oceans in the night (with the window shade down to minimise the disconcerting wave action on our porthole some 5-6m above water line) we arrived in the Art Nouveau town of Alesund. Lots of snow on the ground and a couple of options for a walking tour to take in the sights. As we've...
Bronnoysund
A rough night with big seas! I have discovered that I don't get seasick with puking, but I do get the stress sweats...oh well...such is life. Today we had a short time to explore the Bronnoysund area on a pre-booked bus and walk to Torghatten, the site of a famous story/legend told to all Norwegian...
Stokmarknes and Svolvaer
Well, what a final day in the Arctic it turned out to be, with our last full day where the sun will not peek above the horizon! Our first docking port was in the town of Stokmarknes where we promptly boarded a 16 seat bus and drove through the sleet and rain (and total darkness...not even any notabl...
Tromso
A bit of a bumpy night overnight with some open sea stretches but the morning was calm as we approached Tromso, the Artic Capital. At a latitude of 69 degrees north, we're still not expecting any direct sunlight today! On docking at the wharf a rainy, wintery mix and some wind of the forecast, we lo...
Hammerfest
We arrived at our rescheduled stop of Hammerfest (to avoid the dangers of the big weather system in the area) but were certainly not disappointed. After yet another sensational meal to start the day, we layered up (Tim added one extra layer under his jacket today but opted to not wear thermal pants....
Alta
We awoke to some big bumps in the ocean with the swell from an approaching large storm system during a stretch on the open seas (much of our trip has been in sheltered, less bumpy fjords) between about 5:30am and 8:00am. Undeterred, breakfast gleefully consumed on onto planning the day. In the hour...
Lodingen
Well, Merry Christmas or "Gud Yul" as it is here in Norway. A few bumps in the ocean and high winds greeted Christmas, but more significantly was that during the night, we crossed the Arctic circle...massive bucket list ticked off. After another delicious breakfast, we had some time to do some organ...
Live cruise Tracker
https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9233258
Track our route LIVE
https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9233258
Rorvik
A comfy night on board saw us wake to another yummy buffet breakfast! As we neared our next destination in Rorvik, the opportunity to go outside on level 6 of the ship was irresistable as the day-time light slowly appeared though the dim at about 9:30am. On docking in Rorvik, we put on our shoe grip...
Molde
After our first night at sea, we docked in Molde at around 8am after another spectacular breakfast. Yesterday's post neglected to add that dinner last night saw us tempted into trying some more of the local foods. Bronnie braved the picked herring...Timmy tried whale meat (salami style), roast reind...
All aboard
So, after a memorable buffet breakfast at the Admiral Hotel (and I mean life-changing good), including delights such as salmon gravalax, smoked salmon, remoulade (white fish), omlette (ham and cheese), Norwegian crepes (buckwheat firm textured...almost rubbery texture but delicious), liver tonic sho...
Sydney to Bergen
After a great trip into Sydney, we got on board the A380 bound for Dubai at 9:10pm. 14 hours later we touched down. Great service on Emirates. Shame about the toddler across the aisle who seemed not to appreciate the experience! A couple of hours and a coffee later we boarded a new jet for Oslo. Ama...