2019 Northern Lights - Viking Cruise

We sailed all night. The captain hooned the boat at night when everyone but the hardcore are in bed and slowed down in the morning when people are up to breakfast. Passed some of the same rugged coast and we were met by the tugboat which guided us to dock. For once, it was a decent terminal and the Norwegians are still building it and it will be great when it's finished.

These windmills are actually near Stavenger but I missed including them in that entry. In fact, most of Norway's electricity is from hydro, so they are pretty green. Moralistic bastards!

This is an offshore supply ship supplying the North Sea Oil rigs

We set off to explore the town after lunch. Deb and I had decided that the ship's excursion was not going to be worth it and we were going to do it all ourselves. Armed with the map, we found the Floibanen funicular (Floibanen probably means funicular which then mean that I have just said funicular funicular, silly) station and $16 AUD each for a return trip, we were off. The ride itself was so so but the view at the top was spectacular. It was even better when the sun came out for about 10 minutes, just long enough for great photos.

Our welcoming tug

They really mean water front around here

The Norwegians are also towing boats back

Original houses which are falling over

Original woodwork

I am pretty sure that France won the soccer world cup

One of the few original laneways

Dogs are allowed on buses. Very civilised but they need to be very well trained

Kids taking their toboggans in the funicular. Bet its a great ride down

Random Tourist

Random Tourist with a troll

Random Tourist with a snowman

Same Random Tourist. I've seen her somewhere before

We then visited the Fish market which was underwhelming. 2 fish stalls and a cheese stall. There was plenty of different fish and shellfish on display. None of ti was cheap. The Norwegians DO like to smoke their fish but I reckon they have a hell of a time trying to light them!

They do like to cater for visitors

Lovely wrought iron work

Only a mother can love that face

This is the skanky end of town. Drug deals just outside a church. At least salvation is only a door away

Mission accomplished, we walked back to the boat.

We have to pack tonight as we have to have our luggage out in the hallway by 0800 hrs and physically off the ship by 0945 hrs. Then we fly to Oslo and onto London. Deb will be visiting her parents for another 3 weeks and I'll have a 24 hour journey home.

This will be the last entry. All in all a great holiday. Although its sad the trip is coming to an end, I am looking forward to getting home. I’ll pack away all the cold weather gear as it will quite a while before I get to arctic temperatures again.

Below are some personal notes if I ever come back this way. You can stop reading if you are already dead with boredom.

A few thoughts about this cruise:

This is Viking’s inaugural Arctic cruise and they have a bit of ironing out to do.

The ship is fantastic. Small enough to be intimate but not too large to be crowded and stupid. The food is fantastic but caters to the predominant species (Americans). The crew is great and very accommodating. The shows have been great with just a 4 piece Filipino band.

The educational lectures can be missed.

The free included tours which are usually a ride in the bus around the towns with guide commentary are rubbish. I guess that’s why they are free.

The extra tours are expensive and some are definitely not worth paying the money. The problem is the arctic time cycle. Light is at 10 am and ends about 2 pm. So if the activity involves being outside, it will be dark if it is an afternoon tour. Instead of maximizing profits, they should only run on tour a day and provide quality. In fact, it might be a better experience to contract your own private tours.

Getting on the bus can be a problems if you are stuck behind the walking dead. They move slow and think even slower. You will try to sit in front so you can get on and off quick but the 2 front benches are always reserved for the disabled. Foiled there! The best option is to sit in the middle of the bus next to the other exit. Quick exit then.

Coping with arctic temperatures require some change in one’s thinking. Layering is the way to go. A windproof outer most layer is essential. The thermal jumpsuits look goofy but definitely help when it gets below minus 20 and below, especially with the wind chill factor. Good warm hats rather than the beanie from the 2 dollar shop are recommended. Get good quality and well fitting gloves with liners. A neck warmer is also very useful. Loose woolen socks and not lacing up the boots too tightly is also the way to go. This allows circulation to the feet or they will get really cold. Windproof waterproof trousers are also great. By the way, the pajamas socks the airline hand out work great as sock liners to add to the insulation. Finally, there are little warmer packets, which were great to warm your hands. Keep camera batteries warm. Walking sticks really help as the ice on the ground is treacherous. Walk on snow rather than ice!

Duty free booze is the way to go or you can buy the ship’s drink packages. Deb and I are not big drinkers and so this is often not a great deal for us. The house wines have been more than adequate.

It's a full day of sailing today. The coastline will be on our side of the boat (port side). So i'm hoping to get more pictures of the rugged Norwegian coast.

The stealthy Norwegian Navy, which is better than the New Zealand rowboats

Straight from my balcony

Beautiful sunrise at 0900 hrs

Deb went and complained about the non-wolves tour and hopefully we can get a refund. Apparently, they have had loads of disgruntled passengers over yesterday's excursions. We won't know about the refund situation as the whole matter has to be sent to the head viking.

We are steaming through the inner passage or was it the back passage fjord? Hard to say but the sea is pretty calm as we pass through some magnificent and rugged landscapes. All very spectacular and beautiful but I wouldn't want to live here. Salmon and reindeer stew everyday is not for me. Chilli plants don't seem to grow well here. If I lived here, I would need a green house growing chillies instead of marijuana.

We are heading off to a Beatles musical extravaganza tonight. Should be good. I am amazed at the talents some people possess. We dock into Bergen tomorrow and that would be our last day. Shame :-(

Sailed all night and docked into Narvik by 0730 hrs.

It is almost universal that every cruise dock we have been at has been the ugliest place in town. One would have thought that they would try an pretty things up a bit to welcome the rich bastards who are going to spend money in their town!

Deb had a panic and thought we were going to miss our visit to the wolves but she got it wrong as our excursion was scheduled for the afternoon. Well was that a MISTAKE! We hopped on the bus and as we were elite athletes compared to the others, we go onto the bus and got the seats next to the rear entrance. On the bus for an hour, we arrived at the Polar wildlife park. As I have mentioned before, by 1500 hrs, it is dark.

The guide on the bus was from Lancashire, UK and was quite odd. As we arrived at the park, he repeated said that he was just the guide on the bus and he was going to handover to the guides in the wildlife park. I didn't quite get the significance but it soon became clear. It was DARK!!! We started off on 500 m uphill hike in dark and in the snow. The sound of crunching snow and groans of the walking dead was the only thing I could hear. This is truly unsuitable for them, One of them had asked if there was wheelchair access. Tell him he's dreamin'

We passed the elk enclosure and could just make out the beasts which were half buried in the snow. Being dark, they were getting ready for sleep and weren't going to move. Photos were impossible but we all tried. Next, was more trekking to the lynx compound. It was better here as the cats were gathered around the fence waiting for the treats the guide had in a bucket. You get a quick look before you were pushed out. 30 people trying to see 2 cats was just too much. Photography with or without flash was an utter failure. There were grumbling aplenty.

Then we trekked across to the Marmosets which were basically Arctic Oxen. By now all you could see were dark humps in the distance. It was such a complete waste of time that I gave up and walked (with some of the others) back to the office. Deb, being the hardcore animal lover that she is, carried on. Well, I made the right choice. All she saw of the wolves were shadows through the fence. So much for the advertised interaction!

this chain is frozen in this shape

The Walking Dead

This my best wolf picture. He stood perfectly still for me

All in all, a disastrous excursion. Back at the office, we were supposed to have dinner. Deb and I passed on that as we have had enough of the reindeer stew. Deb usually try to model herself on a saint but even on this occasion, she was pretty pissed off!

On the way home, the bus guide stopped at a parking lot for us to look at some plaque commemorating the Norwegians and WW2 blah blah blah. Well it was totally dark and it was also snowing. You would think that the group would just say, home James but no, there is always someone who has to get out of the bus and see the goddamn plaque. I am sure that the guide, being from North England, was taking the piss.
We couldn't wait to get back to the boat. At least the food is consistently good.

After dinner we went to the rock and roll show presented by the cruise director, Drew. He did all the singing backed by the awesome Filipino band. So a disastrous day ended on a good note.

We are sailing all night and will dock at Bergen by 1300 hrs tomorrow. Deb and I cancelled the bus tour of Bergen as we are fed up with a guide droning on about when the Germans invaded them in WW2. We are probably going to go into Bergen ourselves.

Here are some pics from Deb's snow skiing

Here's some more photos of the Northern Lights

I bet she is in her undies under that coat

We left Tromso at midnight and the planned trip was an overnight journey along the coast. Being closer to the coast, it was very calm and the voyage was very pleasant and a much needed rest from the 2 excursions a day itinerary

Didn't think that we were going to make it. I thought the bridge may cut our balls off.

.
Our Balls!

Snow Mobile and Igloo hotel

Things have settled into a routine. Breakfast by 8 am. Then we had to get ready for the bus shuffle. We are in Alta, which is the furthest north on this trip. Temperatures are plummeting so its lucky for us that there was very little wind. Occasional snow showers which didn’t last long.

All rugged up. Deb and I are so glad for out Kathmandu coats. On the bus ahead of the walking dead. 30 min ride to the snow mobile camp. There was a huge issue about having driver’s licences available but when we got there, they didn’t want to see them. Go figure! Suited up with gloves and helmets, brief induction on the snow mobiles and we were off. These things are basically motorcycles on skis. Throttle and brake (which were meant to be used sparingly). Deb drove for the first 2 km. Unfortunately we were at the back of the conga line so we had the petrol fumes to contend with.

After the stop, I decided to drive and only made 300 m before going off piste and bogging the damn thing. No one told me about the bad understeering and the skis got off the ruts and before I knew it, I was making a new track towards a tree. We had to wait for the guide to drive the snow mobile back onto the track. Deb wouldn’t let me drive again. That’s OK as I was able to take some photos and a video.

The Michelin Woman

Drivers Start your engines

Bogged, where is the snatch strap

Snow angels with Deb's Pommie friend, Trish

It was exhilarating and fun.

After that, it was a visit to the ice igloo hotel. This structure is built new every year and melts away in summer. They cut ice blocks with chainsaws and pack the joints with snow. The lights are all LED which doesn’t emit heat which would melt the snow. Inside were rooms and suites and a bar. There were numerous ice sculptures again carved with chainsaws and chisels.

The Ice Bar, at least drinks will be cold

These pictures are encase in ice, nice touch

The free Blue Igloo drink provided at the end of the tour.

Great work to make these swords without breaking them. I wonder how many attempts were there

Tourists can book to stay overnight but both Deb and I thought that it was a bit silly as it would be like sleeping in the freezer in a morgue. On top of that, it was very expensive. Didn't think that it was value for money. Nonetheless, it was vey interesting.

Back on the bus, lunch and crashed for the afternoon snooze.

We tried to get on to the “Hunting the Northern Lights” tour but it was all booked up. Deb came up with the brilliant idea of organizing our own private town. Thank god for Mr Google. She found a mob called Paeskatun who also contract to the Viking cruise.

A very nice German named Tommy picked us up at 7 pm in a minivan. It was just us and him. He took us to the basecamp which was a old slate quarry campsite. Norway mines slate and exports slate all over the world. Looks like hard work. Out with the cameras but no activity. Tommy was very scientific and he had a website which predicted the appearance of the lights using astrophysics and the weather.

After an hour, he said we should move to a spot where there will be gap in the cloud cover. This is out in the countryside. Very bizarre really. In the middle of nowhere, standing outside in the freezing arctic cold (probably minus 30 degrees C) waiting for lights to appear in the sky. Tommy was great. He made a little camp fire and provided us with biscuits and coffee. Deb and I had raided the minibar and we had a nip of whiskey in our coffee. Just the duck’s nuts.

After a time, we witnessed a couple of short periods of Aurora activity. Just a couple of faint streaks over the horizon. By midnight, Tommy was quite disappointed and suggested that we pack up and head home. No more than 5 minutes driving, Deb suddenly saw Aurora activity. Tommy screeched to a halt and we had our cameras out. The display was awesome. Equally good as the display in Tromso but without the light pollution from city lights. We could see curtains and movement. The intensity was high enough that we could actually distinguish the green colour. Tommy informed us that the intensity of the Aurora is graded by a KP index. To see green, it has to be at least KP 3.

Taken under moonlight with shutter speed of 4 sec

Thank god for the campfire, it was at least -30 and falling

Absolutely amazing. We could see green, curtains and movement, just like National Geographic

Mission accomplished and very happy.

The next day in Alta was a quiet day for me. Deb had a cross country snow skiing excursion in the morning and I opted to go to the Alta Museum. The free museum tour was rubbish. Thankfully a very short drive in the bus. There were a few rock carvings on display. The main display was a boardwalk to the various rock carvings and painting outside but with the snow, there was nothing to see. The bonus was the view from the museum. Beautiful.

I met up with Deb for lunch and she informed me that she had a great time cross country skiing. I couldn’t think of anything worse. Ugh!

Afternoon nap (get the routine?) and we met up with our American Friends (Gary, Rosanne, Paul and Jo) for predinner drinks and dinner.

We all attended the evening show with the resident jazz artist, Tom Seals. Apparently he competed in Britain’s version of the Voice but didn’t win. Although he was a voice reject, he was very good and entertaining. Couple of more whiskeys after that and it was bed.

We are in Tromso for 2 days. After the reindeer ride, Deb and I decided to visit Tromso the next morning. Tromso is an Arctic university town and like all the Norwegian towns is neat, tidy and covered in snow. You've got to be so careful walking the streets. Ice, which is often undetectable, is everywhere. I had my jousting stick and I am not proud to be using it.

Tromso at night

My arty farty shot of interesting reflections

Deb saw some fur hats and was busy trying this hat. When she heard that it was seal fur with arctic fox fur trim, she didn't want it. Thank god as it was priced at $800 AUD! In the end, she ended up with a rabbit fur hat from the local BCF (Boating, Camping and Fishing) shop for $80 AUD. Dodged a bullet there!

Here are some shots of our visit to Tromso.

Random Tourist

Don't be under these things when the temperature starts to warm up!

Great mutton chops

Where are the skanky asians?

Where are the lines! The cars automatically stop for pedestrians even when they are jaywalking like me

Crazy annual race over 300 metres, pulled along by reindeers capable of running at ?60 km/hr

Crazy people are not unique to Australia

Tromso Waterfront

Impressive Tromso Bridge

Tromso Ice Cathedral

Beautiful colour at sunset

Mountains around Tromso

Back to the boat for a much needed snooze before the Hug a husky tour.

Hug a husky started with a short drive to the camp. Imagine 300 or more dogs all in one place. All really friendly. They are not the huskys we have come to expect, you know, the big white fluffy fur balls. These are smaller, probably 25 kg dogs, mostly black and brown. After a lot of hugging (by Debbie), we got into the dog sleds. 2 people to a sled with a driver. All together, I reckon it weighed anywhere from 200 to 300 kg. 10 dogs to a sled and they are strong. The ride was probably a decent 2 km and was great fun.

The last treat when we got back to the compound was a visit to the puppies. Very very cutes. They had to check everyone's pockets to make sure no one is trying to take a puppy home. Could not get a decent photo of the puppies as all I could see was people's backs.

We were given some very bad coffee and back on the bus.

Deb and I met up with our new American fans and we treated them to the bottle of Monkey's Shoulder whiskey we found in Tromso. It went down a treat. Deb and I hid the whiskey in a water bottle but we didn't have to do that as the crew couldn't care less. A great dinner in good company and to bed.