The Sea Voyage that Was.

We enjoyed six days on the ship, eating far too much good food, making inland excursions, admiring the magnificent scenery and lazing about on deck enjoying Arctic sunshine when it was available.

D1, D2 and fellow travellers at the trough....

Seriously, these photos represent about 25% of the food options (who knew there were so many ways to prepare fish?) and I've just realised I didn't take even one photo of the desserts.

OK, I was just kidding about the trough thing (but you knew that didn't you?). Above are real photos of some of the buffet tables and of course D2 and I were very disciplined about our eating. *cough*

Norway has a rugged coastline and actually is made up of 50,000 islands (no, I'm not kidding) - some of them are only large enough for a couple of reindeer to stand side-by-side (if indeed there were reindeer on every island) while others are quite large. The population, though, is only 5 million, which makes Norway one of the most sparsely peopled countries in the world. The inland excursions opened our eyes to some of the prettiest little towns along this coastline, where we had the opportunity to explore centuries' old churches, walk paths barely trodden and to stand and marvel at the stark yet expansive landscape which supports so few people, but so many mooses and deer!

As we anticipated given the fact that we were on a working vessel, there was not a great deal of entertainment on board, if you don't count the German beer-drinking singalong each evening, the Travel Scrabble tables and the the groups of lovely Japanese tourist ladies teaching passers-by the art of origami. We made do with inventing stories about the other passengers, with calculating how quickly after the Germans vacated the deck chairs that we could pounce upon them and claim them as our own and with goggle-eyed observation of the amount of food American tourists can fit on their plates.

Anyway, the sun has set on our sea voyage and we're back on dry land now, having arrived in the south-western Norwegian town of Bergen, where we are spending a couple of days. More about Bergen follows in the next post.

D1

Excursions...and the absence of snow.

Needless to say, I was expecting several things on this trip to the far north of Norway, the first being sea-sickness as part of the cruise experience, and the second was snow...lots of snow, and ice, and blizzards and freezing conditions. None of these expectations has been fulfilled, although I am thankful for the absence of mal de mer.

The brochure describing the onshore excursions is mostly helpful, but full of the usual marketer's language, especially when it proclaims that "on today's excursion a hot drink and freshly baked cakes will be included". As it happened, we were on a four hour jaunt through the Vesteralen area of Norway from Harstad to Sorland and crossing a fjord on a car ferry when we were invited to have a luke warm, weak-as-water coffee from a thermos jug, and a cold waffle with a slice of delicious brown cheese. Not quite what I was expecting. Brown cheese, incidentally, is a local delicacy made with caramelised milk, The scenery was however as spectacular as promised, and made this excursion a very memorable one.

After another buffet lunch back on board where we were forced to eat much more food than we really needed, we went off on another excursion, this time in search of the legendary sea eagles that supposedly swoop down from the sky and snatch fish from the hands of the unsuspecting deck hand on a small boat fully loaded with tourists and cameras. The sea eagles at least lived up to their end of the bargain (as did several thousand sea gulls) and thousands of happy snaps were taken. Again, the scenery inside the fjords was amazing and made for a gratifying end to a long day of getting on and off buses, boats and ferries, as well as up and down from the lunch table, and dinner, and an afternoon cuppa with a biscuit or two.

Despite the absence of snow, it was bloody freezing outside and several warming drinks were needed after the sea eagle safari to get the blood moving in time for dinner.

D2

Not the Caribbean

I'm sitting in the 360 degree Panorama Room, the 8th (top) deck of the Norwegian vessel "Finnmarken" looking out to sea. The water is calm and in the near distance the sun is reflecting off gently sloping green hills covered in a light mist. The ship is smooth on the water and if it wasn't for the sound of the purring engine way below me, and the moving view from this window, I wouldn't have any sense of being on board a ship. This is surreal for me, the one who said I would never go on a "cruise" but to be fair, this is not the Oasis of the Seas (18 decks and 5,500 passengers) and I am not in the Caribbean. It's nice though, very nice indeed, and much more than I expected it to be in every regard.

When we boarded yesterday in Kirkenes, we were pleasantly surprised by the quite spacious cabin (larger than some hotel rooms we've stayed in) and the surprise gift of a fruit and chocolate basket, as well as bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us. Thought that was a very nice touch.

As I've mentioned before, when you book travel on the internet, you don't always know what you're going to find when you arrive, but we've been lucky so far and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues this way. The common areas of the ship, furnishings, the bars and restaurant, are all beyond expectation - and don't get me started on the food ... OMG! The food! It's EXCELLENT!

Pool Area - if you dare! Remember, we're pretty close to the Arctic Ocean

Panorama Room

The ship docks two or three times each day, sometimes just briefly while they deliver supplies and mail, sometimes for longer, allowing passengers to disembark to explore the little towns dotted along the coast. This part of Norway is quite remote and most people who live here have never been to The Big Smoke, which would be Oslo, 2,500 kilometres away. They are born here, live and work here, then die here.

Today we made an excursion inland, visiting the North Cape, the most northerly community in Norway. The area is barren and today it was quite cold and raining, but there is a beauty in this icy wilderness where the Sami (the indigenous people of this area) live semi-nomadically in tents not unlike wigwams, or small huts, herding reindeer and smiling indulgently for tourist photos.

D1

The End of the Earth?

Flying into Kirkenes, a tiny town in the north of Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle and near the Russian border, you would be forgiven for thinking you have reached the end of the Earth. The landscape is rocky and all around are rugged cliffs soaring up from a windswept coast. It is said that more reindeer live in these parts than humans - of whom there are just 3,500. It's one of those places you hear about in primary school geography class but never imagine you will actually see and I can't quite believe I'm here. I wonder what it is like in the winter months when there are only two or three hours of daylight in the middle of the day and snow blankets everything. Locals in these parts are either involved in the shipbuilding industry, tourism (husky safaris, dog sledding, snowmobile trips, king crab fishing, the famed ice hotel and of course the hunt for the elusive Northern Lights) or deer farming.

Looking at the photos below, you should keep in mind that today it is drizzling with rain, about 6 degrees and very windy.

Autumn colours enhance the rather desolate landscape

Downtown Kirkenkes

We've flown here from Copenhagen, via Oslo (about 3 hours flying time) in order to catch a "boat" travelling down the remote wilderness of the western coast of Norway to the fishing town of Bergen, over a period of six days. The Hurtigruten shipping line is not a conventional cruise line and this trip will be completely different from any fancy cruise you see advertised - the ship we've chosen (The Finnmarken) is a working vessel carrying around 600 passengers down the coast to collect and deliver supplies and post to the dozens of tiny towns dotted along the coast, in and out of the fjords. Locals use it to commute, for whatever reason, and tourist passengers are able to make various excursions along the way into the towns. We're hoping to have the right conditions to see Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, but you never know how that will turn out, as things have to really line up perfectly just at the right time, for that to eventuate. I've read about people who've made this trip several times, travelling from great distances, but still haven't seen the lights.

Kirkenes is prettier by night and the photos below evidence a rather lovely vision of a town which, when all's said and done, doesn't have an enormous amount to recommend it.

A fishing trawler docked at Kirkenes

Kirkenes church with churchyard gravestones in the foreground

Anyway, we have strong doubts about having internet access to blog over the next six days, but will certainly try. Either way, we will take photos and make notes and will post about the cruise when we can get back online.

D1

A Couple of Days in Århus (Aarhus)

Aarhus is a pretty seaside town on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark and it's the second-largest city after Copenhagen. Primarily it's considered a university town, with the main tertiary institution here having around 50,000 students - young people are everywhere we look and there is a certain vibrancy which comes as a natural result of that. This has been a very worthwhile side-trip in our visit to Denmark.

Mollestien is a quaint cobblestoned street in the centre of Aarhus, made up of tiny little houses, mostly well-maintained and waiting to be photographed! We are staying in a hotel, which is OK, but we met a lady yesterday who owns a small house for rent in Mollestien for about the same cost as the hotel room - it's 40 square metres, which is not a huge amount of space, but she has it fitted out with a kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom, as well as a little garden with furniture and a barbeque area! Maybe next time...

In the evening we strolled down the main street then along the waterside, stopping at a cafe for beer and a light meal to finish the day. Aarhus is a quiet town and there were many people out doing the same thing as we were, just enjoying the fresh air - couples, singles, groups and families.

Yesterday we visited Den Gamle By (The Old Town) which is a heritage museum laid out as a fully-functioning self-contained 1700-1800s village. I was worried that it was going to be a tacky Sovereign Hill sort of experience (can you tell I'm not a big fan?) but it was AWESOME! I highly recommend a visit if you're ever passing through Aarhus and have several hours to spare - in fact, don't put anything else on your agenda, just come to Aarhus to visit the old town. We spent almost four hours there and it was only just adequate. It's a hands-on experience of life in a small Danish village, with demonstrations you are invited to participate in or to watch - chopping of timber by hand, not machine, to form even-shaped logs for buidling houses, woodworking and leatherworking using tools from the time, bricklaying, making wood joints, a blacksmith, a hatmaker, bookbinder, cabinet-maker, baker, clockmaker, goldsmith, a dyeworks, paint-maker, tailor, tobacco worker making cigars amongst the trades on show.

Children who visit are invited to help build a huge sailboat using old carpentry tools and guided in the necessary skills by craftsmen who have studied the art. Herbs are grown by the apoteker (today's equivalent would be a pharmacist) for medicinal purposes; vegetables are grown and chickens are kept by the vicar's wife who is happy to chat about her life.

There's even an amusement park where kids of all ages can partake of games which would have been enjoyed by children in those past centuries - horseshoe tossing, walking on wooden stilts, skittles, an organ-grinder, merry-go-round and interesting looking swings.

At lunchtime we sat outdoors and drank beer and cider but politely declined the grilled pølse (thick, spicy Danish sausages) with mustard in favour of a picnic lunch we'd brought with us - fresh crisp rolls with cheese, smoked salmon, tomatoes and boiled eggs.

We found time late in the afternoon to visit ARoS, the centre for visual art - the architecture of the building alone is worth seeing and is a spectacular structure visible from most of Aarhus city, mostly because of the "Rainbow Panorama" - this is a massive circular three-metre wide rainbow glass gallery which sits on narrow columns above the roof of the museum. You can walk around inside it in a 360 degree arc, viewing Aarhus through every colour of the rainbow.

ARoS showcases an exhibition of the works of New York artist Tony Matelli, whose statues are so highly realistic that you really have to get up close and almost touch some of them to convince yourself they are not flesh and blood. Amongst the many life-sized human representations, there's a sleepwalking girl in pyjamas, a guy sitting on a rock at the seaside playing guitar and a young man apparently levitating. There is also a fleeing mutilated couple who have various far-too-realistic injuries and a number of primates who clearly are meant to represent human failings.

The most noteworthy and impressive exhibit, though, for my money, is Australian artist Ron Mueck's, "Boy" - he is five metres tall and weighs 500 kilograms. What do you think?

Tomorrow we travel back to Copenhagen for one more day, before flying out to Kirkenes, a tiny village in the north of Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle and near the border of Russia. Adventures await!

D1

Frederiksborg Slot (Castle)

There is no shortage of castles and palaces in Denmark, not all of them in Copenhagen, but not too far away on the train.

Yesterday I took myself off to Frederiksborg Castle in the small town of Hillerod, about an hour north of Copenhagen. The castle itself looks like something out of a Disney adventure...lakeside setting, towers, a fountain, countless rooms and chambers spread over four floors, a huge and beautiful garden, a chapel and a great hall. The attached photos provide a little glimpse of the splendour of this place.

Our time in Copenhagen is now at an end, our next port of call being Aarhus in the Jutland region of Denmark, where no doubt we will post some more blogs.

D2