After having a brilliant time down in W. Sussex with Heather and John, and happily getting to see a lot of Susie and Jason and the kids, Heather and John drove us up to Gatwick, just to make sure we left England, probably!!
Anyway, Fiona Beveridge was there to meet us, and we enjoyed a couple of days with her. Happily her sister Rosamund and brother-in-law Robert were also able to spend time with, and we thoroughly enjoyed their company too. Nice pubs in Edinburgh!! Freezing cold and raining unfortunately, which meant our proposed walk to the top of Arthur's Seat had to be abandoned. Thought we would go to the Museum, and we were pretty chuffed to find a park nearby... Paid for parking, to find it was closed, electricity outage apparently!! Damn....
Fiona drove us down to Linlithgow, where Louise ( Scots lass who visited Oz recently) lives, with her folk on a very impressive Dairy Farm. Great situation for their homestead, about a 5 minute walk to a great pub!! So, had a few hours in the company of Fiona, Louise, and her parents, before Louise then bravely embarked on driving us to Inverary, where Maggie Campbell met us... Poor Louise then had to drive home alone, and the weather was still awful.
So, then Maggie took us home to Lochgilphead, where we stayed for the next few days. Still freezing of course, but we still managed to catch up with her two sons, their partners, and her two gorgeous little grand-daughters. It is a beautiful part do the world, and the Lochs are really lovely, with many small villages dotted around their shores.
We managed to avoid cooking a meal whilst there, and took advantage of the never-ending supply of pubs nearby, all of which provide very adequate, if not brilliant, food.
Arthur came down with some sort of bug which laid him low for about 24 hours, and unfortunately Maggie followed suit today..... She was definitely NOT well this morning, but insisted on driving us to Glasgow go catch the plane to London.... Rang her later, and happily she survived the long drive home, but we felt really bad about ALLOWING her to drive us....
Cannot wait to get home now, have missed everybody, especially our wee girl Tessa, and so looking forward to a big hug, and a long chat with her!!
We've heard about the invisible man ( Ted) doing the disappearing act, and about Julia's brush with political death, but look forward to catching up on other important bits of gossip.
Be home soon......
A&A
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday 11th March - Albourne, West Sussex
Left our hotel in London on Monday morning, to find it snowing. Wow, we thought, that's exciting.
Missed our preferred train south (on the Gatwick/Brighton line), where Heather & John were to pick us up at Hassocks. Not to worry, next train same deal.... So, off we go..... About 30 minutes down the track, still snowing very heavily (!), the train slowed down and stopped. Announcement..... Somebody had apparently found life a bit too hard and had chosen to step in front of the train in front
of us, which was in fact the express train from London to Gatwick...... Very upset passengers....... We're on the phone to Heather & John, keeping them posted. Finally we are diverted to a place called Redhill, where the Jordans struggled to drive to - traffic already being chaotic.
Drove home to Albourne, all the while snowing heavily. Snow increased in intensity all afternoon, and we sat inside watching Heather & John's garden turn white and disappear under a white blanket. It was gorgeous. Went to bed expecting it all to be 'normal' in the morning.....
This morning - Tuesday - woke to find about 6-8" of snow blanketing everything. Beautiful, and took lots of photo's, but the news told us that the night had been disastrous for drivers and passengers on the motorways.....
John had just taken the "winter" tyres off the car, assuming there would be no more snow, so before we could leave today, Arthur and John had to replace them.... Too dangerous to be sliding around on the snow-covered road without proper tread on the tyres.
Went to the local village for some supplies, and to a nearby pub for a lovely lunch.. Very nice, and lovely snow covered scenery again - lots of photo's.
Took the dog for a nice long walk over hill and dale, through snow-covered fields, and, strangely, passed a couple of vineyards. Apparently a very bad Summer last year saw NO wine production - expensive hobby for someone...
Lovely dinner at home, nice fire, early(ish) night..... Has stopped snowing, should be a. It messy tomorrow, once the melting starts.
Missed our preferred train south (on the Gatwick/Brighton line), where Heather & John were to pick us up at Hassocks. Not to worry, next train same deal.... So, off we go..... About 30 minutes down the track, still snowing very heavily (!), the train slowed down and stopped. Announcement..... Somebody had apparently found life a bit too hard and had chosen to step in front of the train in front
of us, which was in fact the express train from London to Gatwick...... Very upset passengers....... We're on the phone to Heather & John, keeping them posted. Finally we are diverted to a place called Redhill, where the Jordans struggled to drive to - traffic already being chaotic.
Drove home to Albourne, all the while snowing heavily. Snow increased in intensity all afternoon, and we sat inside watching Heather & John's garden turn white and disappear under a white blanket. It was gorgeous. Went to bed expecting it all to be 'normal' in the morning.....
This morning - Tuesday - woke to find about 6-8" of snow blanketing everything. Beautiful, and took lots of photo's, but the news told us that the night had been disastrous for drivers and passengers on the motorways.....
John had just taken the "winter" tyres off the car, assuming there would be no more snow, so before we could leave today, Arthur and John had to replace them.... Too dangerous to be sliding around on the snow-covered road without proper tread on the tyres.
Went to the local village for some supplies, and to a nearby pub for a lovely lunch.. Very nice, and lovely snow covered scenery again - lots of photo's.
Took the dog for a nice long walk over hill and dale, through snow-covered fields, and, strangely, passed a couple of vineyards. Apparently a very bad Summer last year saw NO wine production - expensive hobby for someone...
Lovely dinner at home, nice fire, early(ish) night..... Has stopped snowing, should be a. It messy tomorrow, once the melting starts.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Sunday 10th March - London
Didn't lift our heads off the pillows until after 9am - absolutely worn out, and slept like logs.
Absolutely freezing again today, about 1 degree (not taking the wind chill into account), and very miserable.
However, we bravely ventured out again, stopping for another very nice late breakfast...
Walking again - thank god I spent a small fortune on brilliant (Ara) boots before I left Oz - have seen nothing as good anywhere we've been, and I have worn them EVERY day!
Anyway, as we've never made the effort on previous occasions in London, we made our way down to Buck House to pay Betty and Phil a visit; rudely, they didn't even come out to ask us in, or acknowledge that we were there. Betty might still be having tummy troubles!!!
Walked back into town, and over to our next adventure - a "flight" on the London Eye. Happily this time there was no bomb scare, and happily too, we'd paid a bit extra for "go to the front of the queue" tickets, so that meant we were spared queueing in the freezing cold... Really enjoyed the trip, the views were good, and it was WARM in there!
Walked up Northumberland Avenue where we'd stayed previously, and continued on into Trafalgar Square, and eventually home again. Athur has such a good sense of direction that he really doesn't need the map much any more; on more than one occasion (as usual) he has given directions to other tourists!!
Our small hotel is very quaint, very old-fashioned, and has the added bonus of rumbling a little as the trains in the tube go trundling along way below... The staff are numerous and very formal, and I'm sure they wonder silently at these ghastly Aussies, going in and out in the same coats, hats and boots every day!!! Not to mention, washing our 'smalls' in the bathroom, and hanging them on the heated towel rail!!!
Absolutely freezing again today, about 1 degree (not taking the wind chill into account), and very miserable.
However, we bravely ventured out again, stopping for another very nice late breakfast...
Walking again - thank god I spent a small fortune on brilliant (Ara) boots before I left Oz - have seen nothing as good anywhere we've been, and I have worn them EVERY day!
Anyway, as we've never made the effort on previous occasions in London, we made our way down to Buck House to pay Betty and Phil a visit; rudely, they didn't even come out to ask us in, or acknowledge that we were there. Betty might still be having tummy troubles!!!
Walked back into town, and over to our next adventure - a "flight" on the London Eye. Happily this time there was no bomb scare, and happily too, we'd paid a bit extra for "go to the front of the queue" tickets, so that meant we were spared queueing in the freezing cold... Really enjoyed the trip, the views were good, and it was WARM in there!
Walked up Northumberland Avenue where we'd stayed previously, and continued on into Trafalgar Square, and eventually home again. Athur has such a good sense of direction that he really doesn't need the map much any more; on more than one occasion (as usual) he has given directions to other tourists!!
Our small hotel is very quaint, very old-fashioned, and has the added bonus of rumbling a little as the trains in the tube go trundling along way below... The staff are numerous and very formal, and I'm sure they wonder silently at these ghastly Aussies, going in and out in the same coats, hats and boots every day!!! Not to mention, washing our 'smalls' in the bathroom, and hanging them on the heated towel rail!!!
Saturday 9th March - London
So, last evening (Friday), we headed off for our appointment to view the City of London from The Shard - the newest, tallest, most amazing building in town... With great anticipation we caught the tube over to the site, and joined the queue - we had an appointed time, which we'd chosen so we could see the lights of London coming on at dusk!!!.
We zipped up half way, changed lifts with great ceremony, and finally arrived at the viewing floor - floors 68 and 69 I think, - not sure how high, but the 72nd floor is 244M above the ground. The view???? Bugger all... Thick, low cloud enveloped the entire building, and we could see a small amount directly below the building, but otherwise, NOTHING....
Wow, talk about anticlimactic..... Very disappointing, but they DID give us a gift voucher, to come again......
So, we wandered off, and found a cozy pub which was positively buzzing. Freezing cold, but about 30 patrons lined up on the pavement drinking outside!! Hardy souls - we thought, until we'd spent about half an hour inside, and realised the temperature must have been about 35 degrees, inside...
Found a restaurant, mostly empty, upstairs, and had a nice dinner..
We've been on and off so many trains already, we feel like locals, and are absolutely in awe of the number of people moved all day, every day, on the tube, and local trains. It is really incredible, so no wonder London grinds to a halt when there is some major happening and the trains don't run.
Saturday
Today was "Visit Wimbledon" day.
Caught a train out to Earl's Court, and had a massive cooked breakfast. Not too bad, until they gave me a jug of milk for my coffee which was SO off, it had set like blanc mange!!!!! Nice. They had the good grace to be equally appalled, and apologised a dozen times. Might have been a wake-up call to check the milk in little jugs more frequently....
We got another train to Wimbledon area, but got off the train one station early (Southfields) and walked.... As is our wont, we walked for miles, actually around the perimeter of an 18 hole golf course in Wimbledon, through an athletics field and around a lake!!! Passed some magnificent houses overlooking the golf course, and some of them must have been on half-acre blocks. Brilliant... Some new houses being built, all being kept pretty much in the same style, nothing hideously jarring, ruining the streetscape.
If I ever have the need to come to London to live, I'm definitely living in Wimbledon...
Had a look through the "Great Stadium" and looked in the Museum, were shown "Henman Hill" by the guide, with a sense of 'awe' at how brilliant it was, and how busy!!!! Very small, we thought, about half the size of the Village Square in Melbourne Park, but good manners prevented us from saying anything!!!
Got home pretty knackered, had an hour or so R&R, and headed out agin....
This time we went to see "We Will Rock You", the musical written around Queen's best songs.
Once again, we emerged from the tube, to find we had to walk about 20 metres to the front door of the Theatre. Great.... Great Show, good fun, and good music.
Home. Bed by about 11.30pm. Worn out!!!
We zipped up half way, changed lifts with great ceremony, and finally arrived at the viewing floor - floors 68 and 69 I think, - not sure how high, but the 72nd floor is 244M above the ground. The view???? Bugger all... Thick, low cloud enveloped the entire building, and we could see a small amount directly below the building, but otherwise, NOTHING....
Wow, talk about anticlimactic..... Very disappointing, but they DID give us a gift voucher, to come again......
So, we wandered off, and found a cozy pub which was positively buzzing. Freezing cold, but about 30 patrons lined up on the pavement drinking outside!! Hardy souls - we thought, until we'd spent about half an hour inside, and realised the temperature must have been about 35 degrees, inside...
Found a restaurant, mostly empty, upstairs, and had a nice dinner..
We've been on and off so many trains already, we feel like locals, and are absolutely in awe of the number of people moved all day, every day, on the tube, and local trains. It is really incredible, so no wonder London grinds to a halt when there is some major happening and the trains don't run.
Saturday
Today was "Visit Wimbledon" day.
Caught a train out to Earl's Court, and had a massive cooked breakfast. Not too bad, until they gave me a jug of milk for my coffee which was SO off, it had set like blanc mange!!!!! Nice. They had the good grace to be equally appalled, and apologised a dozen times. Might have been a wake-up call to check the milk in little jugs more frequently....
We got another train to Wimbledon area, but got off the train one station early (Southfields) and walked.... As is our wont, we walked for miles, actually around the perimeter of an 18 hole golf course in Wimbledon, through an athletics field and around a lake!!! Passed some magnificent houses overlooking the golf course, and some of them must have been on half-acre blocks. Brilliant... Some new houses being built, all being kept pretty much in the same style, nothing hideously jarring, ruining the streetscape.
If I ever have the need to come to London to live, I'm definitely living in Wimbledon...
Had a look through the "Great Stadium" and looked in the Museum, were shown "Henman Hill" by the guide, with a sense of 'awe' at how brilliant it was, and how busy!!!! Very small, we thought, about half the size of the Village Square in Melbourne Park, but good manners prevented us from saying anything!!!
Got home pretty knackered, had an hour or so R&R, and headed out agin....
This time we went to see "We Will Rock You", the musical written around Queen's best songs.
Once again, we emerged from the tube, to find we had to walk about 20 metres to the front door of the Theatre. Great.... Great Show, good fun, and good music.
Home. Bed by about 11.30pm. Worn out!!!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Friday 8th March, London
Far too much wine - or possibly, just enough! and a couple of sleeping pills ensured I didn't lie awake all night thinking about things in Sydney...
Awoke to rain....... Heavy, continuous rain.....
After doing some "admin" we headed off to find an underground station, and proceeded in the direction of the Natural History Museum.
What a stunning place - brilliant building, brilliant exhibits, and SO big.... so much to see.
Major downside was that the schools had obviously decided that this particular day was perfect to take their kids on an excursion!!! They were all good kids, and very enthusiastic, but added to the crowds big-time. Never mind, we had a great visit, and left weary and foot-sore.
Another tube ride to Harrods. So many tourists gawping at "stuff" - as were we. There was a definite frenzy of buying in the "foodie" areas, both to take away, and eat in, and the produce was of course spectacular. We were tempted to buy some Australian Wagu Beer for a mere 178 Quid a kilo, but thought better of it!!!!
Did not see anybody actually purchasing in the other parts of the store, just "looking". However, a handful of ugly middle eastern men had obviously been shopping, as they were lugging piles of Harrods bags up the High Street......
Got home about 3pm, dripping wet, and had a bit of a warm-up before heading out again........ Will report on that excursion later!!
Awoke to rain....... Heavy, continuous rain.....
After doing some "admin" we headed off to find an underground station, and proceeded in the direction of the Natural History Museum.
What a stunning place - brilliant building, brilliant exhibits, and SO big.... so much to see.
Major downside was that the schools had obviously decided that this particular day was perfect to take their kids on an excursion!!! They were all good kids, and very enthusiastic, but added to the crowds big-time. Never mind, we had a great visit, and left weary and foot-sore.
Another tube ride to Harrods. So many tourists gawping at "stuff" - as were we. There was a definite frenzy of buying in the "foodie" areas, both to take away, and eat in, and the produce was of course spectacular. We were tempted to buy some Australian Wagu Beer for a mere 178 Quid a kilo, but thought better of it!!!!
Did not see anybody actually purchasing in the other parts of the store, just "looking". However, a handful of ugly middle eastern men had obviously been shopping, as they were lugging piles of Harrods bags up the High Street......
Got home about 3pm, dripping wet, and had a bit of a warm-up before heading out again........ Will report on that excursion later!!
Thursday 7th March, Oslo - London
Found another little local gem in Oslo for dinner last night. Real locals' restaurant, not one word of English on the Menu, which was brilliant we reckoned, so definitely NOT catering for tourists.
Good food and good beer, and not expensive, although every meal and a couple of drinks for two ends up costing about A$100.
Went to check in on-line and were offered the chance of an upgrade to Business for about $120 - what was not to like about that. Jumped at the chance - more room on board, and a larger luggage allowance... Not to mention, champagne on the way over.
Left Oslo on another brilliant sunny day, and arrived in London to rain. Surprise...
Took the plunge and went all the way by train, which left us with about a 5 minute walk to our hotel, which is a very quaint, small, rather uppity hotel, in Mayfair. We're staying with the beautiful people; sadly, we only have our grotty, trekking kinda clothes, but I guess if we pay the bill, they'll get over it!
Whilst we were getting ourselves organised, I turned on my telephone to find a message from Andrew Parsons, telling us that sadly Libby had passed away on Thursday evening Sydney time. We knew she had been in dire straights for a few weeks, but the end seemed to come so quickly. We are so sad, and so far away from everyone....
There didn't seem to be anything else to do, so we went out for 2 or 3 hours, just to wander around, and ended up on Oxford Street in the rush hour.... OH-MY-GOD.......
I have never seen so many buses - hundreds of them, nose to tail, and coming out of side streets as well; there was literally a tsunami of people on the streets, all hurrying along, most with their heads down (it was still raining of course), mostly dressed in black (wielding umbrellas), and rushing down into subways like rats into a drainpipe. Honestly we just stood there in amazement, our mouths gaping in awe at this mass of humanity - on a mission!!! Melbourne suddenly seemed SO small, and so empty!!
We headed in the direction of home and ended up in a very ordinary little pub - sky high prices for wine and beer, grubby tables, and staff who spent all the time gossiping amongst themselves!! So, not being in any mood to put up with nonsense (or warm beer in Arch's case), we went back to our hotel and settled ourselves into the bar for several drinks. We drank a toast or two to Libby, and to her family at home, and proceeded to pass a couple of hours away very comfortably; except when Arthur had to sign the bill - THEN he nearly fainted!!! I mean, we ARE in Mayfair!!!
No dinner, not in the mood.....
Good food and good beer, and not expensive, although every meal and a couple of drinks for two ends up costing about A$100.
Went to check in on-line and were offered the chance of an upgrade to Business for about $120 - what was not to like about that. Jumped at the chance - more room on board, and a larger luggage allowance... Not to mention, champagne on the way over.
Left Oslo on another brilliant sunny day, and arrived in London to rain. Surprise...
Took the plunge and went all the way by train, which left us with about a 5 minute walk to our hotel, which is a very quaint, small, rather uppity hotel, in Mayfair. We're staying with the beautiful people; sadly, we only have our grotty, trekking kinda clothes, but I guess if we pay the bill, they'll get over it!
Whilst we were getting ourselves organised, I turned on my telephone to find a message from Andrew Parsons, telling us that sadly Libby had passed away on Thursday evening Sydney time. We knew she had been in dire straights for a few weeks, but the end seemed to come so quickly. We are so sad, and so far away from everyone....
There didn't seem to be anything else to do, so we went out for 2 or 3 hours, just to wander around, and ended up on Oxford Street in the rush hour.... OH-MY-GOD.......
I have never seen so many buses - hundreds of them, nose to tail, and coming out of side streets as well; there was literally a tsunami of people on the streets, all hurrying along, most with their heads down (it was still raining of course), mostly dressed in black (wielding umbrellas), and rushing down into subways like rats into a drainpipe. Honestly we just stood there in amazement, our mouths gaping in awe at this mass of humanity - on a mission!!! Melbourne suddenly seemed SO small, and so empty!!
We headed in the direction of home and ended up in a very ordinary little pub - sky high prices for wine and beer, grubby tables, and staff who spent all the time gossiping amongst themselves!! So, not being in any mood to put up with nonsense (or warm beer in Arch's case), we went back to our hotel and settled ourselves into the bar for several drinks. We drank a toast or two to Libby, and to her family at home, and proceeded to pass a couple of hours away very comfortably; except when Arthur had to sign the bill - THEN he nearly fainted!!! I mean, we ARE in Mayfair!!!
No dinner, not in the mood.....
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Wednesday 6th March, Oslo
Amazing breakfast spread, most impressive so far we think, so as usual, we ate enough for two meals(!), we never seem to stop for lunch, so that's not too bad we think...
Quite grim looking day early, very low cloud, and still about -5C. We ventured across the road to the brand new Opera House - stunning building, lots of blonde wood interior, and a lovely feeling, sitting right on a headland of reclaimed land, jutting into the bay, which still has a large proportion of the surface covered in ice.
We wandered off up-town again, this time getting as far as the Royal Palace, just in time to catch the very end of the changing of the guard.... The entire Palace is set in vast grounds, most of which are entirely accessible to the public, and are still covered in snow - very pretty. We wandered around to the front (which seems to be at the back??), and this is at least fenced off more securely, with guards on gates etc. Indeed, this is the part of town in which the poor people do NOT live.... The houses sharing the neighbourhood with the Palace are stunning, but not on large grounds, just very large houses..
We went on to the Waterfront which is a new development for Oslo, and it's gorgeous. By this time the sun was shining, and everything was very attractive. Most of the cafes are not yet open (after Winter), and many of the "party boats" moored there are still covered in several inches of snow, but you get the feeling that the proprietors are just bursting to get their businesses up and running again, after the Winter hiatus. There was much hosing down of boats, steps, and concrete pathways.
It does have the advantage of facing South, so every single ray of Winter sun is taken advantage of, whereas Melbourne's Docklands faces South (in the Southern Hemisphere), and is a shocker.... Cold, miserable, and...... empty!!!!! How did we get it SO badly wrong???
Found a brilliant little local cafe which serves great coffee and great almond croissants, they are few and far between unfortunately.... 2pm, lunch. Siesta........
Quite grim looking day early, very low cloud, and still about -5C. We ventured across the road to the brand new Opera House - stunning building, lots of blonde wood interior, and a lovely feeling, sitting right on a headland of reclaimed land, jutting into the bay, which still has a large proportion of the surface covered in ice.
We wandered off up-town again, this time getting as far as the Royal Palace, just in time to catch the very end of the changing of the guard.... The entire Palace is set in vast grounds, most of which are entirely accessible to the public, and are still covered in snow - very pretty. We wandered around to the front (which seems to be at the back??), and this is at least fenced off more securely, with guards on gates etc. Indeed, this is the part of town in which the poor people do NOT live.... The houses sharing the neighbourhood with the Palace are stunning, but not on large grounds, just very large houses..
We went on to the Waterfront which is a new development for Oslo, and it's gorgeous. By this time the sun was shining, and everything was very attractive. Most of the cafes are not yet open (after Winter), and many of the "party boats" moored there are still covered in several inches of snow, but you get the feeling that the proprietors are just bursting to get their businesses up and running again, after the Winter hiatus. There was much hosing down of boats, steps, and concrete pathways.
It does have the advantage of facing South, so every single ray of Winter sun is taken advantage of, whereas Melbourne's Docklands faces South (in the Southern Hemisphere), and is a shocker.... Cold, miserable, and...... empty!!!!! How did we get it SO badly wrong???
Found a brilliant little local cafe which serves great coffee and great almond croissants, they are few and far between unfortunately.... 2pm, lunch. Siesta........
Tuesday 5th March, Flam to Oslo
The hotel graciously opened the dining room an hour early so we could have breakfast before we jumped on our wee train! We did the Backpacker thing, and included a nice take-away sandwich of ham and cheese, wrapped in a serviette, in the package!! We were going to be on the road for several hours!
The first 40 minute leg of the journey was on the famous little Flam Railway which wandered along the most gorgeous scenery, more frozen and partially thawing, rivers, frozen waterfalls, and cottages snuggled into deep snow. There were only three others on the train, so we could wander about from side to side, depending on the best view.
We had to change trains at a town called Myrdal.
Heaps of twenty-somethings again boarded, all decked out in ski gear, and proceeded to eat and drink for the entire trip. Really; mountains of food continued to appear out of back-packs, and disappeared equally quickly! It must be very strenuous exercise - skiing, they were all built like greyhounds.....
Finally, at a ski resort, whose name escapes me, they mostly left the train, and all was rather quiet again.
There have been heavy snow blizzards criss-crossing Scandinavia over the last week it seems, but we appear to have escaped them. Today was mostly clear and the sun was trying to peek through light cloud, but we could see that literally hundreds of cottages were buried up to the tops of their roofs in deep snow. Obviously no residents in sight, and equally obviously, these were Summer cottages; all dotted along what would no doubt be stunning lakes, but which at the moment are frozen solid. Too many photo's..... How many is too many??
Arrived in Oslo mid-afternoon, and went out exploring on foot.
Very nice town, could be nowhere else but Europe - buildings remind us of some German cities. It's still very cold, about -5C, but clear. After a couple of hours' walking, we were dying to shed our hot outer clothes, at least I was - Arthur was not so over-dressed as I... As usual, EVERYWHERE is so hot inside, that it's a constant problem - dressing and undressing...
We've finished our wine, so had a small Bundy before we ventured out for dinner. Found a nearby restaurant, and had a bowl of pasta; small serve, about our entree size, one glass of beer each, and about $100 later we left..... God, everything is SO expensive here!!!!
Went back to our hotel and thought we'd have one more beer before retiring... So bravely, ordered a Norwegian Draft beer - too horrible to drink, but we took the glasses up to our room, planning to have a decent Bundy later!!! Early night...
The first 40 minute leg of the journey was on the famous little Flam Railway which wandered along the most gorgeous scenery, more frozen and partially thawing, rivers, frozen waterfalls, and cottages snuggled into deep snow. There were only three others on the train, so we could wander about from side to side, depending on the best view.
We had to change trains at a town called Myrdal.
Heaps of twenty-somethings again boarded, all decked out in ski gear, and proceeded to eat and drink for the entire trip. Really; mountains of food continued to appear out of back-packs, and disappeared equally quickly! It must be very strenuous exercise - skiing, they were all built like greyhounds.....
Finally, at a ski resort, whose name escapes me, they mostly left the train, and all was rather quiet again.
There have been heavy snow blizzards criss-crossing Scandinavia over the last week it seems, but we appear to have escaped them. Today was mostly clear and the sun was trying to peek through light cloud, but we could see that literally hundreds of cottages were buried up to the tops of their roofs in deep snow. Obviously no residents in sight, and equally obviously, these were Summer cottages; all dotted along what would no doubt be stunning lakes, but which at the moment are frozen solid. Too many photo's..... How many is too many??
Arrived in Oslo mid-afternoon, and went out exploring on foot.
Very nice town, could be nowhere else but Europe - buildings remind us of some German cities. It's still very cold, about -5C, but clear. After a couple of hours' walking, we were dying to shed our hot outer clothes, at least I was - Arthur was not so over-dressed as I... As usual, EVERYWHERE is so hot inside, that it's a constant problem - dressing and undressing...
We've finished our wine, so had a small Bundy before we ventured out for dinner. Found a nearby restaurant, and had a bowl of pasta; small serve, about our entree size, one glass of beer each, and about $100 later we left..... God, everything is SO expensive here!!!!
Went back to our hotel and thought we'd have one more beer before retiring... So bravely, ordered a Norwegian Draft beer - too horrible to drink, but we took the glasses up to our room, planning to have a decent Bundy later!!! Early night...
Monday, March 4, 2013
Monday 4th March, Flam.....
Sunday 4th March, Bergen to Flam.
Early start to the Railway Station in Bergen - train, tram and omnibus trip today!
Very nice morning, and the train was positively bulging with youngsters en route to the ski fields for a day's skiing. Great scenery some of the time, but there are very long tunnels en route to Voss, which was the point at which we disembarked the train, and pushed our way onto a bus for the next leg of the trip. Once again, great scenery, mountains, snow, ice, water.......
Finally, off the bus, and onto a ship for a two-hour trip down one of Norway's longest fjords. Truly lovely scenery, and mostly a very nice day. We were even able to stay outside for almost the entire trip, which was a nice change. Much of the fjord was frozen in patches in the early stages of the journey, and the boat just crashed through, sending large shards of ice in all directions.
Tiny villages clinging to life along the fjords - what on earth do they DO there???? Cannot imagine... They can't all be holiday shacks, surely.....
At the very end of the fjord we reached the tiny settlement of Flam. It appeared to be deserted, and indeed almost was!!! It's still the Winter season here, and there is really no reason to visit, so most of the shops are indeed closed, and the only restaurant, attached (but not physically) to the hotel thankfully, was serving dinner - to be FINISHED by 6pm..... Okay.
Very comfortable room, corner balcony, and great views to left and right. To the centre, the view is of thousands of logs, cut and ready to be shipped out - somewhere!!!
Anyway, late afternoon, I went down to get a jug of ice and some glasses - we had a small amount of white wine left in our Hardy's wine cask, which we had bought in Finland!!! So, having put the wine cask OUTSIDE to chill (there being no fridge in the room), and the jug of ice cubes outside also, we had a couple of glasses of wine pre-dinner, and very nice it was.. Having not been in the habit of imbibing wine from a cask for years, we have been very pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to drink - perhaps that's because there's not much choice, not sure!
Anyway, we were ushered into the dining room, on our arrival at the restaurant, to find a total of TWO other guests there!!! (There was a casual cafe type thingo, but we had the 'package' of dinner and breakfast, so ate in the proper dining room!)
They took one look at Arthur's "Quark Expeditions" jacket he had flung over the chair, and proceeded to talk about their adventure with Quark too. Small world eh? Anyway, they're two travellers from Oz, Melbourne even, and even more oddly, Hawthorn. 6 degrees of separation?
We had originally been sat at separate tables, but we soon changed that, and the four of us had a lovely dinner (brilliant food), and a good chat, and were 'home' in our rooms by about 6.30pm. Had a read for a couple of hours, and then fell into a coma. Slept for about 12 hours - fantastic!!!
Monday 5th March, Flam
Same couple for breakfast, and they are on their way in the opposite direction, to go on the Cruise Ship up north, to SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. We wish them luck in their endeavours.
Did I ever tell you that we never saw even a glimpse of the damned Northern Lights????? Bugger..
They are going on our list of "never gunna see 'em" with the Moose!
Went for a long walk in the middle of the day, very pleasant, warm even in our heavy jackets, and there was no wind. Came back to our room to do the necessary 'clerical' bits and pieces, and having finally downloaded the Age online, had a little read of the news. Have missed that.. We did buy a 3 or 4 day old English newspaper in Bergen one day, we were so desperate to read a paper!!! It takes about 24 hours to well and truly get over watching the endless repeats of snippets on the BBC.
And MY GOD, the Queen has a tummy bug!!!!!!
Forgot to mention also, that when in Bergen, at a restaurant, we were offered two dishes of Horse... One was as Lasagne, and the other was sirloin. One of our number braved the sirloin, and said it was very nice, I was unable to bring myself to eat it on that occasion, but if I'm offered on another occasion before we leave Norway, I might have a taste!
Okay, it's 4.15pm, not long now until Dinner, so just time for a drink and a freshen up. We leave here at 9am tomorrow (Tuesday) for Oslo, the first leg is a pretty cute train ride apparently.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Saturday 2nd March, Bergen
Really low cloud over the Fjord this morning, but after a short snow shower, pretty quickly the cloud lifted and the sun came out - just like Melbourne in Spring!!
We wandered off to the Natural History Museum.... What to say???? The displays are like something out of the mid twentieth century, and there are SO many moth-eaten animals and birds on display, often in no particular order, that it is pretty awful really. In one room, they were so short on space for housing their displays, they had plonked an enormous dugong above a display of various and sundry deer and elk.... There was a really ancient, sad little platypus, and the grottiest little Tasmanian Devil you have ever seen... The Government would be better off injecting some of the funds they currently direct to the under-used and unwanted Churches, into their Museums.
Finally found a really good coffee, with a real Espresso Machine, and good cake. The cafes often even have commercial sized coffee machines here which use the "pod" method of producing coffee; very average... We were even given a luke warm 'coffee' with a straw yesterday!!
We wandered off to the Natural History Museum.... What to say???? The displays are like something out of the mid twentieth century, and there are SO many moth-eaten animals and birds on display, often in no particular order, that it is pretty awful really. In one room, they were so short on space for housing their displays, they had plonked an enormous dugong above a display of various and sundry deer and elk.... There was a really ancient, sad little platypus, and the grottiest little Tasmanian Devil you have ever seen... The Government would be better off injecting some of the funds they currently direct to the under-used and unwanted Churches, into their Museums.
Finally found a really good coffee, with a real Espresso Machine, and good cake. The cafes often even have commercial sized coffee machines here which use the "pod" method of producing coffee; very average... We were even given a luke warm 'coffee' with a straw yesterday!!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Friday 1st March, Bergen
The entire week was pretty much spent gazing out the windows on the boat, trying to make out the coastline through the fog and sleet!! VERY disappointing.....
The ship did stop a couple of times along the way, briefly, and on one occasion Arthur and I hot-footed it up and down a few streets, in the freezing cold, for an hour - mainly just to get off the boat really!!!
A very festive mob from Sydney had managed to secure themselves very swish suites, so we had "drinkies" there most evenings, prior to dinner. We had all brought casks of Australian red on board, (purchased in Finland prior to embarkation), and we had our bottles of Rum, so all was well, and by the time we got to the dining room we were happy to drink water. Although one night, I did have a glass of "house white wine", and it was very drinkable, and only about $15 anyway!!
We knew wine was horribly expensive in Norway, but they told us yesterday that it is taxed at 80%!!! Lots of lovely taxes here - motor cars are taxed at 100%, and one of the things which perplexed us was that EVERYONE pays something like 0.5% tax to the state for the upkeep of Churches, and one of the major old churches in Bergen is being renovated at great expense, a project which will take about 4 years. And, only about 3% of the population actually goes to Church!!! What-the?????
By the time we left our last port of call Thursday morning, the sky had cleared and we had a lovely voyage into Bergen.... Even got up on the top deck in the sunshine for the last hour or so. What a difference the sunshine makes! Bergen's a lovely town, very large area-wise, as it clings along the banks of the Fjord, and spreads out for miles in a narrow strip, below the hills.
We had a nice tour around the city for a couple of hours when we arrived, and it was good to get a view from the bus.
Hotel's okay, and very handy to everything. We walked about 15 minutes around to the very old part of town for dinner, arranged by our "waste-of-time" tour guide.... Dinner was pleasant enough, but typical of a 'meal-for-a-price' which these tour groups seem to think they need to provide. However, it was a chance to say good-bye to those who were leaving very early this morning.
Friday 1st March
Awoke to a beautiful sunny day, so after breakfast, headed off before it rained. Bergen has about 245 days of rain every year, so the odds are stacked against having a totally dry day!
We tagged along in a group of six to have a look at a couple of Museums in the old part of town, and then Arthur and I decided to go up in the Funicular (sp?) to view Bergen from on high. Great view, and with the sun still shining, everything looked amazing. One cup of very bad coffee later, we exited the cafe to find the sun gone and heavy low cloud coming in across the fjord, very quickly!!! Surprise!
Down town again, we wandered around a few shops, but it's really annoying - you get all rugged up; hat, scarf and coat, perfect for negotiating the approximately 2 degree days, but then when you enter a shop of any sort, you have to strip because they're so heated, that you can barely breathe...
So cute to see all the little kids - 3 and 4 year olds, rugged up in their little ski suits and boots. Have not heard one child being a pain yet - must be something in the lovely clear air up here!!
One interesting thing is that EVERYONE in Norway (it seems) speaks fluent, perfect, English, but there are very few signs of any sort, in English, no menus, no descriptions of food in refrigerated cabinets, or on shop windows. There are some of course, but very few.
We're having an early dinner tonight, one of our couples is leaving the hotel at 4am tomorrow, so no late nights for anybody. There are about 10 of our whole group left in Bergen, but by Saturday night, there will only be four of us I think. We leave here on Sunday morning.
The ship did stop a couple of times along the way, briefly, and on one occasion Arthur and I hot-footed it up and down a few streets, in the freezing cold, for an hour - mainly just to get off the boat really!!!
A very festive mob from Sydney had managed to secure themselves very swish suites, so we had "drinkies" there most evenings, prior to dinner. We had all brought casks of Australian red on board, (purchased in Finland prior to embarkation), and we had our bottles of Rum, so all was well, and by the time we got to the dining room we were happy to drink water. Although one night, I did have a glass of "house white wine", and it was very drinkable, and only about $15 anyway!!
We knew wine was horribly expensive in Norway, but they told us yesterday that it is taxed at 80%!!! Lots of lovely taxes here - motor cars are taxed at 100%, and one of the things which perplexed us was that EVERYONE pays something like 0.5% tax to the state for the upkeep of Churches, and one of the major old churches in Bergen is being renovated at great expense, a project which will take about 4 years. And, only about 3% of the population actually goes to Church!!! What-the?????
By the time we left our last port of call Thursday morning, the sky had cleared and we had a lovely voyage into Bergen.... Even got up on the top deck in the sunshine for the last hour or so. What a difference the sunshine makes! Bergen's a lovely town, very large area-wise, as it clings along the banks of the Fjord, and spreads out for miles in a narrow strip, below the hills.
We had a nice tour around the city for a couple of hours when we arrived, and it was good to get a view from the bus.
Hotel's okay, and very handy to everything. We walked about 15 minutes around to the very old part of town for dinner, arranged by our "waste-of-time" tour guide.... Dinner was pleasant enough, but typical of a 'meal-for-a-price' which these tour groups seem to think they need to provide. However, it was a chance to say good-bye to those who were leaving very early this morning.
Friday 1st March
Awoke to a beautiful sunny day, so after breakfast, headed off before it rained. Bergen has about 245 days of rain every year, so the odds are stacked against having a totally dry day!
We tagged along in a group of six to have a look at a couple of Museums in the old part of town, and then Arthur and I decided to go up in the Funicular (sp?) to view Bergen from on high. Great view, and with the sun still shining, everything looked amazing. One cup of very bad coffee later, we exited the cafe to find the sun gone and heavy low cloud coming in across the fjord, very quickly!!! Surprise!
Down town again, we wandered around a few shops, but it's really annoying - you get all rugged up; hat, scarf and coat, perfect for negotiating the approximately 2 degree days, but then when you enter a shop of any sort, you have to strip because they're so heated, that you can barely breathe...
So cute to see all the little kids - 3 and 4 year olds, rugged up in their little ski suits and boots. Have not heard one child being a pain yet - must be something in the lovely clear air up here!!
One interesting thing is that EVERYONE in Norway (it seems) speaks fluent, perfect, English, but there are very few signs of any sort, in English, no menus, no descriptions of food in refrigerated cabinets, or on shop windows. There are some of course, but very few.
We're having an early dinner tonight, one of our couples is leaving the hotel at 4am tomorrow, so no late nights for anybody. There are about 10 of our whole group left in Bergen, but by Saturday night, there will only be four of us I think. We leave here on Sunday morning.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday 26th Feb. MS Trollfjord, Norway
Seriously big storm last evening.... The crew were very anxious to have dinner over and crockery packed away early..... had obviously been forewarned!
Having had a couple of sneaky drinks earlier in the evening, we were actually ready for bed by about 9.30pm; not a lot happening anywhere of course.
Tucked up, reading on my wee iPad, when all hell broke loose. Really difficult to actually stay on the bed, but did manage, and also managed to finally go to sleep, in spite of there being something clattering rather ominously against the outside wall of our cabin.
Calm this morning, but seriously rotten weather.... Very low cloud, rain, and almost zero visibility, and we're sailing down the magical Norwegian Coast. What a shame!
Everyone sitting in the lounge, almost the entire group involved in their computers or iPads, not even much conversation except to complain about the slow internet. Endless cups of bad coffee.......
We cross the Arctic Circle this morning, on the way down again, apparently there was some sort of "ceremony" on the top deck, in the freezing conditions, which involved drinking cod liver oil, and being presented with a spoon. We missed that!!!
Having had a couple of sneaky drinks earlier in the evening, we were actually ready for bed by about 9.30pm; not a lot happening anywhere of course.
Tucked up, reading on my wee iPad, when all hell broke loose. Really difficult to actually stay on the bed, but did manage, and also managed to finally go to sleep, in spite of there being something clattering rather ominously against the outside wall of our cabin.
Calm this morning, but seriously rotten weather.... Very low cloud, rain, and almost zero visibility, and we're sailing down the magical Norwegian Coast. What a shame!
Everyone sitting in the lounge, almost the entire group involved in their computers or iPads, not even much conversation except to complain about the slow internet. Endless cups of bad coffee.......
We cross the Arctic Circle this morning, on the way down again, apparently there was some sort of "ceremony" on the top deck, in the freezing conditions, which involved drinking cod liver oil, and being presented with a spoon. We missed that!!!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Drinks on board!
All the Aussies on board have had to invent devious ways to have a drink, without huddling in our wee cabins....
They sell very bad coffee in take-away paper cups, which can be washed out, and, with their lids on, can comfortably conceal that the contents is now red or white wine.. Pepsi and ice in a takeaway container also makes way for a generous splash of Bundy.... Feel like naughty school kids....
They sell very bad coffee in take-away paper cups, which can be washed out, and, with their lids on, can comfortably conceal that the contents is now red or white wine.. Pepsi and ice in a takeaway container also makes way for a generous splash of Bundy.... Feel like naughty school kids....
Monday 25th, February, Norway... Somewhere.....
Sunday 24th....
This morning at about 1.45am... Yes a.m..... We gathered outside our lovely warm ship, and we were taken down to put our SERIOUS outdoor gear on, prior to our "search for the Lights" tour. Finally dressed in our inter-stellar explorer clothing, we were ushered outside to our "steeds" (flash snow-mobiles).
All lined up in groups of 5 or 6 per line, engines quietly turning over, Leiths being in Line 2, expectantly awaiting the next instructions.....
Suddenly, one of the steeds flashed forward at full speed, obviously out of control; crashed square-on into the snow mobile which was stationary in front. Bodies and machines everywhere. Very ungraciously, we shrieked - it was like something out of a Monty Python sketch. Anyway, all was okay, nobody injured, but the driver was consigned to the pillion seat, never to be allowed to drive this beast again. (These were two 'girls' on our tour).
So, off we ventured into the darkness....
Absolutely bloody freezing, sleet, snow, wind, total darkness.... WTF are we doing out here?
Are we having fun yet???
With a stop or two along the way, god only knows what for, this continued for an hour or so.
Then, just in front of us there was Episode 2 of the night's entertainment...... Same 2 girls, only this time, with the different driver, they had overturned the sled into a ditch, and once again there were bodies and machines all over the place!!
Again nobody was hurt ( the snow was about half a meter deep), and it kept us amused for a while at the time, and since then, of course.
This time they were BOTH sacked! And had to spend the rest of the 'tour' time in the accompanying bus! Lucky them!!
This time they were BOTH sacked! And had to spend the rest of the 'tour' time in the accompanying bus! Lucky them!!
The weather continued to be appalling, the visibility nil, and the whole point of the exercise was lost. Our progress was so slow we were going to miss our reccy with the ship, so we turned around and went back to our departure point.
By this stage, the sleet was penetrating my helmet, and my hat; my feet had lost all feeling, and I was just huddled into Arthur's back, eyes tightly closed, determined to just SURVIVE until this ordeal ended. It did. They had cut it so short, they had brought buses to pick us up out in the boondocks, and we just abandoned our snow sleds and climbed on board....
This experience was SO bad, it eclipsed even the Snow Hotel.......
Got into bed about 4.30am..... Woke up with feet still frozen 5 hours later!
The tour people really should have called the whole thing off, but they would've had to refund thousands of dollars, and they weren't too keen on doing that I reckon!
Very s-l-o-w day.... Afternoon nap which turned into nearly 3 hours. I deserved it.......
Some folk waited up and went ashore to a service at midnight in a Church. Not this little black duck! Tucked up in my little doona.
Monday 25th, Norway..... Somewhere.
Little excursion this morning for a couple of hours, on and off some small islands along the coast, both by bus and ferry.
Weather continues to be appalling. Very disappointing for sightseeing, as the coast is stunning.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Saturday 23rd February. MS Trollfjord
Friday 22nd Feb. Saariselka, Finland.
Arrived at our hotel late afternoon, in time to visit the local Museum. Saw a 10 minute film on various displays by the evasive Northern Lights.... At least now we can say we've seen them!
The large frozen river behind the hotel has some amazingly treacherous spots appearing in it - enormous chunks of ice have been disloged and stick up at alarming angles, revealing large sections of the river ice have collapsed in on themselves, in turn revealing the fast-running stream beneath. Not good to be taking a short cut on the way home methinks!!
Speaking of short cuts, almost every one of us has at some point, decided to try taking a short cut, off the well worn path in the snow, and the result has invariably been finding ourselves thigh deep in powder snow, and having great difficulty extracting ourselves!!! Much hilarity, and floundering about before we regain our feet. SO funny....
Nice friendly little hotel, cosy little bar, which was fairly rocking by dinner time. Fish for a change(!) for dinner, and the conversation was all about how "tonight's the night".....
The evening sky was VERY cloudy, with not a star in sight, so Arch and Annie went to bed... Several others of the group left the hotel at various stages to seek the best viewing area..... Anyway, we were woken up at about midnight by some of the good folk returning home. So, Arch sat looking out our window for quite some time, convinced that HE would be the one to conjure up the lights. After a while, sure that he could see the glow in the distance, he roused me from bed, and I reluctantly got the whole lot of outdoor gear on, and followed him downstairs and outside, along with one other fellow traveller... Some little while after we left the hotel, we became aware that our room was locked, and we couldn't regain access. Happily the girl from reception was still there, and she gave Arthur a replacement key. After about 20 minutes staring into the abyss, we concluded there were not going to be any Northern Lights, and tried to return to the hotel.. Front door locked..... Damn, what now??? Three of us standing about wondering what we could possibly do to attract attention, without screaming for help, when said Receptionist drove around the corner on her way home.... Arch ran into the path of the car, and prevailed upon her to show us how to gain entry into the hotel, which she did.... Happy ending, but we were a bit shocked at being locked outside in the middle of the night, when the temperature was about -12 degrees!!!
Saturday Feb. 23rd
Early departure, heading off to Norway, and to catch our ship..
Very small sign on the side of the road announcing that we'd crossed into Norway, but amazingly, the scenery changed immediately - it was bizarre.
Going from quite thick low-lying woodlands in Finland/Lapland into totally different terrain in Norway. Almost no trees, and very undulating landscape. No explanation yet, but will enquire. Strange indeed.
Snowed a lot of the time on the drive North, and the sky is not indicative of the 'special sighting', yet again.
Boarded our ship, the MS Trollfjord, in Kirkenes, (very close to the border with Russia) at about lunch time. Huge buffet lunch on offer, followed by - not much...... Not a lot of strolling on deck in this weather, so sat about, had a snooze, and passed the hours until our late sitting of dinner - 8.30pm. Not much activity at the bars on this ship, wine is about $25 per GLASS, so we're not going to pay that! Most of our group has brought on board plenty of alcohol, but you cannot bring it into the lounges at all. However, we bought a large Pepsi and Ice, and quietly poured some Bundy I had decanted into a little bottle, into it.... That was very easy and very nice. But, not quite the same as gathering around a bar and having a drink. There will be no drunkenness on this voyage!!!
Right now it's about 11pm, and I'm trying to stay awake..... We're heading off into the wilds of Norway at about 1.30am tomorrow, riding snow-mobiles again; it seemed like a really good idea at the time of booking, but not too sure now!!! Sky still very cloudy and chances of seeing the Aurora are pretty much nil. However, off we'll go.
Will tell more later.....
Arrived at our hotel late afternoon, in time to visit the local Museum. Saw a 10 minute film on various displays by the evasive Northern Lights.... At least now we can say we've seen them!
The large frozen river behind the hotel has some amazingly treacherous spots appearing in it - enormous chunks of ice have been disloged and stick up at alarming angles, revealing large sections of the river ice have collapsed in on themselves, in turn revealing the fast-running stream beneath. Not good to be taking a short cut on the way home methinks!!
Speaking of short cuts, almost every one of us has at some point, decided to try taking a short cut, off the well worn path in the snow, and the result has invariably been finding ourselves thigh deep in powder snow, and having great difficulty extracting ourselves!!! Much hilarity, and floundering about before we regain our feet. SO funny....
Nice friendly little hotel, cosy little bar, which was fairly rocking by dinner time. Fish for a change(!) for dinner, and the conversation was all about how "tonight's the night".....
The evening sky was VERY cloudy, with not a star in sight, so Arch and Annie went to bed... Several others of the group left the hotel at various stages to seek the best viewing area..... Anyway, we were woken up at about midnight by some of the good folk returning home. So, Arch sat looking out our window for quite some time, convinced that HE would be the one to conjure up the lights. After a while, sure that he could see the glow in the distance, he roused me from bed, and I reluctantly got the whole lot of outdoor gear on, and followed him downstairs and outside, along with one other fellow traveller... Some little while after we left the hotel, we became aware that our room was locked, and we couldn't regain access. Happily the girl from reception was still there, and she gave Arthur a replacement key. After about 20 minutes staring into the abyss, we concluded there were not going to be any Northern Lights, and tried to return to the hotel.. Front door locked..... Damn, what now??? Three of us standing about wondering what we could possibly do to attract attention, without screaming for help, when said Receptionist drove around the corner on her way home.... Arch ran into the path of the car, and prevailed upon her to show us how to gain entry into the hotel, which she did.... Happy ending, but we were a bit shocked at being locked outside in the middle of the night, when the temperature was about -12 degrees!!!
Saturday Feb. 23rd
Early departure, heading off to Norway, and to catch our ship..
Very small sign on the side of the road announcing that we'd crossed into Norway, but amazingly, the scenery changed immediately - it was bizarre.
Going from quite thick low-lying woodlands in Finland/Lapland into totally different terrain in Norway. Almost no trees, and very undulating landscape. No explanation yet, but will enquire. Strange indeed.
Snowed a lot of the time on the drive North, and the sky is not indicative of the 'special sighting', yet again.
Boarded our ship, the MS Trollfjord, in Kirkenes, (very close to the border with Russia) at about lunch time. Huge buffet lunch on offer, followed by - not much...... Not a lot of strolling on deck in this weather, so sat about, had a snooze, and passed the hours until our late sitting of dinner - 8.30pm. Not much activity at the bars on this ship, wine is about $25 per GLASS, so we're not going to pay that! Most of our group has brought on board plenty of alcohol, but you cannot bring it into the lounges at all. However, we bought a large Pepsi and Ice, and quietly poured some Bundy I had decanted into a little bottle, into it.... That was very easy and very nice. But, not quite the same as gathering around a bar and having a drink. There will be no drunkenness on this voyage!!!
Right now it's about 11pm, and I'm trying to stay awake..... We're heading off into the wilds of Norway at about 1.30am tomorrow, riding snow-mobiles again; it seemed like a really good idea at the time of booking, but not too sure now!!! Sky still very cloudy and chances of seeing the Aurora are pretty much nil. However, off we'll go.
Will tell more later.....
Friday, February 22, 2013
Thursday Feb. 21st. to Saariselka, Lapland
This morning we spent about three hours hurtling around the forest on a dog sled.... Amazing... Again......
Six gorgeous huskies, jumping out of their skins, SO anxious to rush off, and ours were so well behaved we couldn't believe it. Some others had dogs who took it in turn fighting with each other along the way, or attempting on-the-run sex!!!! Arthur and I took turns to drive the sled, and drove off in the usual convoy, in single file. Each dog must have had at least 2 craps along the way, always on the run of course, and the stink of dog poo was ever-present - considering how many dog sleds there were! They could also pee on the run, and they would grab mouths-full of snow from the banks along the way, for a drink..
Hand signals from the leader were passed along the way, i.e. "slow down" and "stop". The dogs will simply keep going they're so keen to run, so you have to put on the brakes - hard..... We did have one hilarious moment.... The wife of the couple was to take turns to be the driver, with her husband sitting in the sled, she wasn't concentrating too well, lost her balance, the dogs and sled took off at 100 miles per hour, with hubby on board. He thought his wife was being a little erratic, and wasn't aware that he was "alone" until one of the guides hurtled past him in a snow mobile, and pulled in front of the dogs to stop the sled. What a scream... I haven't been able to stop smiling about it since, particularly since nobody was hurt, and the participants also thought it hilarious!! God knows how far the sled and dogs would have gone if they hadn't been stopped!
It was so serene driving through the snow, so quiet, with only the noise of the doggies and the swish of the sled skis to break the silence. Truly unforgettable... We stopped at a snow-covered tee-pee for a lovely lunch of salmon (always salmon up here - or reindeer) soup and bread, sitting around an open fire. Hot juice to drink and hot tea. Such nice people looking after us, and we all had a lovely day. To top the day off, for about the last 10 minutes of the dog sled ride, it began snowing, and we finished the day, actually standing in the gently falling snow for 15 minutes or so - for this Southerner, it was pure magic. Our Parkas, gloves, hats and boots are so brilliant, it was not at all cold, and we just sucked it up!!!!
Shortish drive from there to our next stop, which was Saariselka. Checked into another in the chain of "Santa's Hotel". They're VERY comfortable, and our room had it's own sauna and drying cabinet, so did all the washing....
This is one of the major Ski Resorts in this neck-o-the-woods, and is truly a very pretty town. Beautiful hotels and Apartments, all looking like a scene from a movie.. Piles of snow everywhere, and it snowed again this afternoon.
We had a few drinks with some of the mob, and then enjoyed an 'average' meal across the road.
Another drink or two saw us head off to bed at about 10pm.
Friday 22nd, Saariselka.
We had checked the sky on our way home and there was thick cloud, couldn't see any stars...
We were horrified to note that this morning some of the more diligent girls had ventured outside at about 11pm and saw THE Lights.....
Maybe tonight.... We have vowed not to sleep before midnight.......
Heading to Inari, Finland's Sami (Indiginous people) capital.
Six gorgeous huskies, jumping out of their skins, SO anxious to rush off, and ours were so well behaved we couldn't believe it. Some others had dogs who took it in turn fighting with each other along the way, or attempting on-the-run sex!!!! Arthur and I took turns to drive the sled, and drove off in the usual convoy, in single file. Each dog must have had at least 2 craps along the way, always on the run of course, and the stink of dog poo was ever-present - considering how many dog sleds there were! They could also pee on the run, and they would grab mouths-full of snow from the banks along the way, for a drink..
Hand signals from the leader were passed along the way, i.e. "slow down" and "stop". The dogs will simply keep going they're so keen to run, so you have to put on the brakes - hard..... We did have one hilarious moment.... The wife of the couple was to take turns to be the driver, with her husband sitting in the sled, she wasn't concentrating too well, lost her balance, the dogs and sled took off at 100 miles per hour, with hubby on board. He thought his wife was being a little erratic, and wasn't aware that he was "alone" until one of the guides hurtled past him in a snow mobile, and pulled in front of the dogs to stop the sled. What a scream... I haven't been able to stop smiling about it since, particularly since nobody was hurt, and the participants also thought it hilarious!! God knows how far the sled and dogs would have gone if they hadn't been stopped!
It was so serene driving through the snow, so quiet, with only the noise of the doggies and the swish of the sled skis to break the silence. Truly unforgettable... We stopped at a snow-covered tee-pee for a lovely lunch of salmon (always salmon up here - or reindeer) soup and bread, sitting around an open fire. Hot juice to drink and hot tea. Such nice people looking after us, and we all had a lovely day. To top the day off, for about the last 10 minutes of the dog sled ride, it began snowing, and we finished the day, actually standing in the gently falling snow for 15 minutes or so - for this Southerner, it was pure magic. Our Parkas, gloves, hats and boots are so brilliant, it was not at all cold, and we just sucked it up!!!!
Shortish drive from there to our next stop, which was Saariselka. Checked into another in the chain of "Santa's Hotel". They're VERY comfortable, and our room had it's own sauna and drying cabinet, so did all the washing....
This is one of the major Ski Resorts in this neck-o-the-woods, and is truly a very pretty town. Beautiful hotels and Apartments, all looking like a scene from a movie.. Piles of snow everywhere, and it snowed again this afternoon.
We had a few drinks with some of the mob, and then enjoyed an 'average' meal across the road.
Another drink or two saw us head off to bed at about 10pm.
Friday 22nd, Saariselka.
We had checked the sky on our way home and there was thick cloud, couldn't see any stars...
We were horrified to note that this morning some of the more diligent girls had ventured outside at about 11pm and saw THE Lights.....
Maybe tonight.... We have vowed not to sleep before midnight.......
Heading to Inari, Finland's Sami (Indiginous people) capital.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Spectacular scenery - Finland 2013
Endless Road - amazing scenery
Houses and "stuff" almost drowning in powder snow,
Animal enclosure
The Glass Igloo Village
Our front door!
View from our bed....
En route to breakfast...
Sunset....
Wednesday 20th Feb. Rovaniemi to Kakslauttanen Lapland
Early bus ride from Rovaniemi - heading north, deeper into Lapland.
It was again an absolutely stunning drive - about three hours, and Arthur and I sat up in the front seats behind the driver - prime viewing. Wow. Again, mind blowing scenery. Continuous forest, dropping with their snowy finery frozen lakes, tiny cottages and big houses, all struggling to keep their heads above the powder snow which is VERY deep. Absolutely unforgettable.
The gang on the tour are a pretty convivial lot - seem mostly to be from Sydney and a few less from Melbourne (Victoria). Nobody from anywhere else in Oz, so a nice little lot. Very interesting catching up with their life stories over a couple of glasses of something. Some have many (5) marriages, some are married before (new) couples, and then there are old farts like Arch and myself.
Had a couple of hours of quiet time this afternoon - Arch snoozing, and me reading a book. Good to just chill for a while.
We stayed in gorgeous little glass Igloos, set in the middle of a snow field. Very pretty, and so warm and cosy. The idea was that we could lie in our beds (which could be elevated) and watch the Northern Lights without having to go out into the cold night. Sadly however, it was a cloudy night, so no lights to be seen, but it was still lovely being able to look up into the sky from our bed.
We had to walk about 10-15 minutes to a central building for dinner, all the path was lit by cute little lights, and there was a well-marked path through the very deep snow. Seems to weird putting ALL our outside gear on to go out to dinner, but you wouldn't dare leave home without it - even for 5 minutes.
Dinner was okay, and just when we were winding down, there appeared a tranny, doing her mime act, very hilarious, and such a bad mime.. Next was a similar "lady" - this time Asian, and again doing a really bad mime act. She went off, and was instantly back in a gorgeous slinky glittery bikini - Omigod.... Very overweight, and with a round fat belly. Played sexy with Arthur, and he almost fainted.....
No internet, and no television, so no contact with the outside world. BUT, there in the far-flung outpost, mobile phone signal was crystal clear, and perfect. Amazing to think that when we're in down-town Tocumwal, we have to find a particular tree, and stand on our heads for 5 minutes, and then, if we're in luck, we can get a weak Telstra signal. WTF?????
Slept brilliantly - seem to have our body clocks in tune......
It was again an absolutely stunning drive - about three hours, and Arthur and I sat up in the front seats behind the driver - prime viewing. Wow. Again, mind blowing scenery. Continuous forest, dropping with their snowy finery frozen lakes, tiny cottages and big houses, all struggling to keep their heads above the powder snow which is VERY deep. Absolutely unforgettable.
The gang on the tour are a pretty convivial lot - seem mostly to be from Sydney and a few less from Melbourne (Victoria). Nobody from anywhere else in Oz, so a nice little lot. Very interesting catching up with their life stories over a couple of glasses of something. Some have many (5) marriages, some are married before (new) couples, and then there are old farts like Arch and myself.
Had a couple of hours of quiet time this afternoon - Arch snoozing, and me reading a book. Good to just chill for a while.
We stayed in gorgeous little glass Igloos, set in the middle of a snow field. Very pretty, and so warm and cosy. The idea was that we could lie in our beds (which could be elevated) and watch the Northern Lights without having to go out into the cold night. Sadly however, it was a cloudy night, so no lights to be seen, but it was still lovely being able to look up into the sky from our bed.
We had to walk about 10-15 minutes to a central building for dinner, all the path was lit by cute little lights, and there was a well-marked path through the very deep snow. Seems to weird putting ALL our outside gear on to go out to dinner, but you wouldn't dare leave home without it - even for 5 minutes.
Dinner was okay, and just when we were winding down, there appeared a tranny, doing her mime act, very hilarious, and such a bad mime.. Next was a similar "lady" - this time Asian, and again doing a really bad mime act. She went off, and was instantly back in a gorgeous slinky glittery bikini - Omigod.... Very overweight, and with a round fat belly. Played sexy with Arthur, and he almost fainted.....
No internet, and no television, so no contact with the outside world. BUT, there in the far-flung outpost, mobile phone signal was crystal clear, and perfect. Amazing to think that when we're in down-town Tocumwal, we have to find a particular tree, and stand on our heads for 5 minutes, and then, if we're in luck, we can get a weak Telstra signal. WTF?????
Slept brilliantly - seem to have our body clocks in tune......
Tuesday 19th February, Rovaniemi.
We were taken out to "Santa's Village", which is right on the Arctic Circle, where Lapland begins - although no different from Finland really...
Lots of gorgeous deeply snow-covered buildings clustered about, and of course a Post Office. So, we left all the important addresses with Santa, and several happy little munchkins should get a surprise letter from the REAL Santa, in Lapland, at christmas time this year. Yee haa..
Went back to our hotel, skipped lunch, and took a walk along the amazing frozen river in town - lots of folk going around town on their cross-country skis, and even saw one amazing device, a thing which looked like a zimmer frame, incorporating a shopping bag, on skis..... Brilliant..
Returned to the appointed place to get kitted out in serious Arctic gear, in preparation for our Snowmobile expedition.
This was an amazing experience... About 20 of us (2 per snowmobile) headed off in convoy, firstly driving along the frozen river for a few kms. then we headed off into the forest. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Truly stunning. Virgin snow surrounding pine trees positively groaning under the weight of the accumulated snow, and deciduous trees often appeared to be dripping in diamonds on their small twigs. When we began it was about -10 degrees, but sunny and very comfortable. Quite magical.
By the time we'd finished at about 4.30pm we were frozen to the bone, but had had a spectacular day.
Went upstairs to our room and had a couple of Bundies before we left our lovely warm accommodation to have dinner at The Ice Hotel...... OMIGOD... The entire place was made of ice, walls, floors, ceilings, dinner table, benches on which we sat ('warmed' by a deer skin!), everything in fact was ice. There were slabs of wood on the ice, onto which our hot food was placed. The cutlery on the table was freezing, the food was soon freezing, there was no alcohol to ease the pain, and in short, it was such a miserable occasion, for everyone, that I don't think it's going to be included in the tour ever again!!!
We sat at dinner with our entire wardrobe of outdoor clothing on, including hats - Could not wait for it to end. Bonus.... Desert was Ice Cream!!!! Don't think so!!!!!
Two of the seemingly sane members of the group actually decided to sleep at the "hotel" for the night... They survived, but I couldn't stop thinking of them and how they were going..
We fell into bed by about 9.30, stone cold sober, and too shattered to even be bothered to go out to look for the Lights. Apparently there was a faint glimmer, but we didn't miss much....
Will add some photo's to the next post, but for now, have to go out........
Lots of gorgeous deeply snow-covered buildings clustered about, and of course a Post Office. So, we left all the important addresses with Santa, and several happy little munchkins should get a surprise letter from the REAL Santa, in Lapland, at christmas time this year. Yee haa..
Went back to our hotel, skipped lunch, and took a walk along the amazing frozen river in town - lots of folk going around town on their cross-country skis, and even saw one amazing device, a thing which looked like a zimmer frame, incorporating a shopping bag, on skis..... Brilliant..
Returned to the appointed place to get kitted out in serious Arctic gear, in preparation for our Snowmobile expedition.
This was an amazing experience... About 20 of us (2 per snowmobile) headed off in convoy, firstly driving along the frozen river for a few kms. then we headed off into the forest. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Truly stunning. Virgin snow surrounding pine trees positively groaning under the weight of the accumulated snow, and deciduous trees often appeared to be dripping in diamonds on their small twigs. When we began it was about -10 degrees, but sunny and very comfortable. Quite magical.
By the time we'd finished at about 4.30pm we were frozen to the bone, but had had a spectacular day.
Went upstairs to our room and had a couple of Bundies before we left our lovely warm accommodation to have dinner at The Ice Hotel...... OMIGOD... The entire place was made of ice, walls, floors, ceilings, dinner table, benches on which we sat ('warmed' by a deer skin!), everything in fact was ice. There were slabs of wood on the ice, onto which our hot food was placed. The cutlery on the table was freezing, the food was soon freezing, there was no alcohol to ease the pain, and in short, it was such a miserable occasion, for everyone, that I don't think it's going to be included in the tour ever again!!!
We sat at dinner with our entire wardrobe of outdoor clothing on, including hats - Could not wait for it to end. Bonus.... Desert was Ice Cream!!!! Don't think so!!!!!
Two of the seemingly sane members of the group actually decided to sleep at the "hotel" for the night... They survived, but I couldn't stop thinking of them and how they were going..
We fell into bed by about 9.30, stone cold sober, and too shattered to even be bothered to go out to look for the Lights. Apparently there was a faint glimmer, but we didn't miss much....
Will add some photo's to the next post, but for now, have to go out........
Monday 18th February, Helsinki to Rovaniemi
Boarded the train early in the morning for our trip north. This was truly amazing. Kilometre after kilometre of snow-covered landscape, and trees groaning and bending under the accumulated weight.
Lots of very small villages dotted along the way, and some quite large towns. Wondering what these folk do??? All villages look well kept, neat, and, well, Finnish!!! Very few animals to be seen, either there are none, or they are housed in barns.... Some poor horses however seemed to be standing around, rather bored, in their small pens, ankle deep in snow... Not a lot of grazing to be had, but at least they did have coats on. Still, it didn't look like fun.
Long train ride - TEN HOURS in all, so lots of wandering around being done by small groups and individuals, keen to become acquainted. Arch and I couldn't be bothered, so just sat down, entertaining ourselves. We had a few books to read, and Arthur played his games on my iPad, until he found the Sudoku too hard!
Sad little "dining" car on the train, bought a dry old muffin and a Pepsi, and that was lunch.......
As we approached the 'six hours on the train' time, the sky, having been very thick cloud, cleared, and a gorgeous blue sky ensured the low sun made everything golden. Really beautiful.
Finally the sun set of course, and we finished the trip in darkness.
This was a brilliant trip, but we think we can now cross a "ten hours on a train" item off our Bucket List....
Arrived at about 8.30pm. And checked into "Santa's Hotel". Very nice... However, our body clocks are still a bit haywire, so sleeping was not brilliant......
Lots of very small villages dotted along the way, and some quite large towns. Wondering what these folk do??? All villages look well kept, neat, and, well, Finnish!!! Very few animals to be seen, either there are none, or they are housed in barns.... Some poor horses however seemed to be standing around, rather bored, in their small pens, ankle deep in snow... Not a lot of grazing to be had, but at least they did have coats on. Still, it didn't look like fun.
Long train ride - TEN HOURS in all, so lots of wandering around being done by small groups and individuals, keen to become acquainted. Arch and I couldn't be bothered, so just sat down, entertaining ourselves. We had a few books to read, and Arthur played his games on my iPad, until he found the Sudoku too hard!
Sad little "dining" car on the train, bought a dry old muffin and a Pepsi, and that was lunch.......
As we approached the 'six hours on the train' time, the sky, having been very thick cloud, cleared, and a gorgeous blue sky ensured the low sun made everything golden. Really beautiful.
Finally the sun set of course, and we finished the trip in darkness.
This was a brilliant trip, but we think we can now cross a "ten hours on a train" item off our Bucket List....
Arrived at about 8.30pm. And checked into "Santa's Hotel". Very nice... However, our body clocks are still a bit haywire, so sleeping was not brilliant......
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sunday 17th February, Helsinki
Good, uneventful flight on Singapore Airlines - stopped over in Singapore, had a very welcome hot shower and not much else. Had too much food on the way over and no sleep!
Almost catatonic by the time we re-boarded, bound for London - by this time it was about 2am Melbourne time. Yay - no sooner had we levelled off, than more food was offered.
One cocktail, one glass of champagne and two sleeping pills were the "food" of choice for me.
Woke some hours later to enjoy the special atmosphere - the "dawn chorus" I called it, which can only be had when sharing a "bedroom" with about 40 total strangers, clearing the accumulated mucous from their wee passages!!! Gross.....
More food, and an uneventful flight into London.
I removed an unopened botttle of water from the plane, on the assumption that as it had been procured from a very secure environment (an aeroplane), and was only being taken to a transit lounge at Heathrow, that all would be well!!! How wrong you can be!!! A very serious pain-in-the-arse Brit sheila(!) decided that as I had some 'contraband' in my luggage (said water), that she would empty everything I had in my hand-luggage, and inspect it closely!!!! WTF????? Honestly, I wanted to punch her, but Arthur restrained me.... I have to say that Britain is now even more paranoid than the Americans, and that's saying something!!!! I was obliged to have a full body scan because there was some metal on my bra straps...... Jesus H. Christ.......
Oh, and when my Vanity Case arrived on the luggage carousel, it had been literally ripped open - zippers ruined - and contents everywhere - padlocks still hanging from the dead zippers!!! More paranoid Brits is our guess!!!
Finally arrived in Helsinki at lunch time on Saturday. It was gorgeous to see the entire countryside covered with snow, and the pine trees dripping with snow as well. As someone who has spent a total of three week-ends in the snow in my entire life, this was pretty spectacular.
Hotel okay, but really in need of a couple of million dollars (or more) to upgrade it a bit. Great position though, and close to everything.
Struggled out this morning to do a sightseeing tour for a couple of hours with a motley crew from all over the place, but very few English speakers it seemed.
There is snow everywhere, several feet deep in most places, and it was brilliant. There are parks all over Helsinki and not a blade of grass to be seen, which is amazing. Many small harbours too, and most frozen over. We even saw two people sitting out there fishing in holes in the ice - have really only seen that on the television before, and not sure whether to believe it or not!! But, it was for real!
Very overcast day, but no wind. About -2 degrees or colder all day, and very cold walking about. Glad I bought my gorgeous boots in Melbourne, nothing like them here, although the shops are dripping with winter clothes - mostly on special as the Winter is coming to an end soon!
We came across some very enterprising (insane?) folk in several different groups in parks around the city, cooking food - in the open - no shelter at all - over small gas flames!! Things like curries etc, which the locals queued up enthusiastically to purchase. Two girls were cutting up whole fresh pineapples, with the machines which peel and core them, then cutting them up into small pieces, putting them in a container with some sort of cream, and selling to happy consumers. They both only had thin rubber gloves on their hands, and must have been absolutely freezing, but seemed to be very happy chappies. They MUST be mad!!!
Had a very early dinner - Italian - lovely..... Back in our room, doing a couple of emails, and ready for bed by 7.45pm!!!! We have an early start tomorrow (Monday), heading North, so hopefully will get a bit more sleep tonight, still on Melbourne time.
Almost catatonic by the time we re-boarded, bound for London - by this time it was about 2am Melbourne time. Yay - no sooner had we levelled off, than more food was offered.
One cocktail, one glass of champagne and two sleeping pills were the "food" of choice for me.
Woke some hours later to enjoy the special atmosphere - the "dawn chorus" I called it, which can only be had when sharing a "bedroom" with about 40 total strangers, clearing the accumulated mucous from their wee passages!!! Gross.....
More food, and an uneventful flight into London.
I removed an unopened botttle of water from the plane, on the assumption that as it had been procured from a very secure environment (an aeroplane), and was only being taken to a transit lounge at Heathrow, that all would be well!!! How wrong you can be!!! A very serious pain-in-the-arse Brit sheila(!) decided that as I had some 'contraband' in my luggage (said water), that she would empty everything I had in my hand-luggage, and inspect it closely!!!! WTF????? Honestly, I wanted to punch her, but Arthur restrained me.... I have to say that Britain is now even more paranoid than the Americans, and that's saying something!!!! I was obliged to have a full body scan because there was some metal on my bra straps...... Jesus H. Christ.......
Oh, and when my Vanity Case arrived on the luggage carousel, it had been literally ripped open - zippers ruined - and contents everywhere - padlocks still hanging from the dead zippers!!! More paranoid Brits is our guess!!!
Finally arrived in Helsinki at lunch time on Saturday. It was gorgeous to see the entire countryside covered with snow, and the pine trees dripping with snow as well. As someone who has spent a total of three week-ends in the snow in my entire life, this was pretty spectacular.
Hotel okay, but really in need of a couple of million dollars (or more) to upgrade it a bit. Great position though, and close to everything.
Struggled out this morning to do a sightseeing tour for a couple of hours with a motley crew from all over the place, but very few English speakers it seemed.
There is snow everywhere, several feet deep in most places, and it was brilliant. There are parks all over Helsinki and not a blade of grass to be seen, which is amazing. Many small harbours too, and most frozen over. We even saw two people sitting out there fishing in holes in the ice - have really only seen that on the television before, and not sure whether to believe it or not!! But, it was for real!
Very overcast day, but no wind. About -2 degrees or colder all day, and very cold walking about. Glad I bought my gorgeous boots in Melbourne, nothing like them here, although the shops are dripping with winter clothes - mostly on special as the Winter is coming to an end soon!
We came across some very enterprising (insane?) folk in several different groups in parks around the city, cooking food - in the open - no shelter at all - over small gas flames!! Things like curries etc, which the locals queued up enthusiastically to purchase. Two girls were cutting up whole fresh pineapples, with the machines which peel and core them, then cutting them up into small pieces, putting them in a container with some sort of cream, and selling to happy consumers. They both only had thin rubber gloves on their hands, and must have been absolutely freezing, but seemed to be very happy chappies. They MUST be mad!!!
Had a very early dinner - Italian - lovely..... Back in our room, doing a couple of emails, and ready for bed by 7.45pm!!!! We have an early start tomorrow (Monday), heading North, so hopefully will get a bit more sleep tonight, still on Melbourne time.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
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