Light and shade

 After dinner, TSH and Diva watched a large group of more than 12 whales – presumed to be orcas – swimming around the ship’s bows. The sound of their ‘blowing’ could be heard clearly.

It has been light for 24 hours for days but TSH and Diva have not seen the Midnight Sun because of the cloud cover. Until last night, when the sun shone brightly for the hours around midnight. Until the sound of the Spirit of Adventure foghorn alerted them to what Captain Jason calls ‘the f-word’.

On arrival in Bodo, the weather was sunny for the morning walk but for the rest of the day, first one part of the view and then another was obscured. The views include snow-capped jagged mountains.

TSH is making more unescorted trips to the buffet. Even when he cannot immediately find his way back to the table he is able to remember its number. Unlike the lady overheard telling a waiter that she did not know her table number but she had left her blue bag with a decoration of pink butterflies there.

First SAGA excursion

 

TSH and Diva went on a short excursion to see the Northern Lights Cathedral in Alta. It is a spectacular building inside and out. It was surprising to hear the cathedral guide declare that she could not explain the plaques on the wall – no-one had been able to make any sense of them. The cathedral is only around 20 years old, so someone must still remember!

The excursion was marred by the guide’s inability to provide clear instructions about when to return to the bus. So the people who understood the earliest time waited 20 minutes for the ones who understood the latest one. The early departure from the cathedral was followed by a panoramic drive through the Alta industrial estates.

TSH and Diva also saw another large pod of orcas.

Per ardua ad astra

Diva is still making heavy weather of the logistics on the cruise. SAGA made the mistake of giving 24 hours advance notice of the change to Norwegian time, so she made the mistake of implementing it 24 hours early. So …..early breakfast. Many other people made the same mistake, so the cruise director made an official announcement notifying everybody of the correct time.

Another official announcement came into every cabin at midnight. This was related to a sick guest being winched off by helicopter. The ship grapevine said that this was to wake everybody in case of any accident and a requirement for muster stations!!

Despite the misty and drizzly weather, TSH and Diva walked a couple of laps round the outside deck. Outdoor clothes, but not too cold yet.

A pod of orcas was spotted at lunch-time – quite a number of them appearing partly out of the water.

Diva attended the astrophysics lecture (on the Solar System) given by a very skilled science communicator and NASA ambassador.

TSH and Diva had no idea that SAGA has its own archbishop – Barry Morgan – who holds regular sessions in one of the bars.