Last day of holiday

Tai Chi on deck again, in almost complete isolation. Balance is much easier, in spite of the vibration of the engines and the gusty wind. Excellent lecture from Peter Crimes, who has researched the mutiny on the Bounty, and has discovered that Captain Bligh was a fair and reputable captain and Fletcher Christian the disreputable one. He had found that the cause was drugs and women. From the pics and description of Pitcairn, the wonder is that anyone goes there or still lives there.

The English pub theme in the bar at lunch time involved a long queue, so TSH and Diva went to the usual buffet, where there were fish and chips but they had forgotten to provide chips!! This meant they missed the singalong – the only one they heard was ‘slow boat to China’, which is not the right era for two children of the sixties.

Time to pack for home!!

Harald the Fair Hair

The reception at this port was special, with a jazz band playing on the quayside and a local who wasn’t linked to them providing an impromptu dance display. The shore concierge told TSH and Diva that another local had requested access to the Silver Cloud because he was designing a cruise-ship themed space rocket. On being told that access was not possible because of security, he replied that it was OK as he was Jesus Christ.

This turned out to be one of the best excursions. A slow drive through the town was followed by a visit to a church which was built on the site of a Viking centre. A nearby museum, very new, was built into the rock so that it did not interfere too much with the landscape. Its introductory film related the story of Harald the Fair Hair, who united Norway when Guida said she would not marry him until he was king of a large country. The guides to these attractions, who spoke excellent English, were dressed as Vikings. The guide for the whole excursion, a German woman, was looking forward to that evening’s World Cup final. The final visit was to the Norwegian National monument.

Fact about Norway: There are rules about flag flying outside private houses. The full national flag can only be shown on a day of national importance or when a resident has a birthday, christening or marriage. The smaller triangular pennant can be flown at all times but must be taken down by specified times, which differ with the seasons. Hagesund only has one set of traffic lights and a bus station which was intended to be a railway station for a line that never happened.

Seen on excursion: Llamas, sheep (with bells round their necks), cows, Shetland pony

Dried cod and a tough old bird

Mist meant that the most scenic part of the tour was a little spoiled, although it was obvious that the Atlantic Road would provide excellent views. However, for the visit to the staved church (one of only 28 remaining) at Kvernes, the weather was much improved and the fjord below was visible in all directions. This tour included two under-sea tunnels – one of 3.5km and one of over 5Km, which went to a depth of 250 m. New tunnels and bridges are subject to tolls until they have been paid for, after which they are free.

Animals spotted included cows (no mattresses), horses, sheep (with and without horns) and two kinds of deer.

The excursion bus stopped suddenly in the middle of the road, on a steep narrow bend. This was because an elderly woman had fallen out of her motorised scooter and needed help to climb back in. She was OK and it turned out that she had not been knocked over, or failed to navigate the difficult road. She was there because she was weeding the outside of her garden and had leaned over so far that she had fallen out. This was reminiscent of TSH’s elderly mother, who doesn’t know when to rest and whose doctor says she’s a ‘tough old bird’.

The shore concierge, who is from West Kirby, presented TSH and Diva with a CD of light classical music, as a memento. Browsing the ship’s shop for jewellery has so far been unproductive.

Factoid: Main exports from Norway are gas, oil, fish and stone.

The chef’s special dish was bacalao, which is made with the dried cod which is to be seen on drying frames all over the fjords. TSH was brave enough to try it and said it tasted a bit like fish and chips and vinegar. Diva tried very hard to order a meal without cream or mashed potato but was still treated to a ‘butter sauce’ with added cream. She has spoken to the chef about the cream which is added to everything without mention on the menu but he was not very sympathetic. And mashed potato is baby food – good for Dinosaur but not for grown-ups like Diva.

The sea is still beautifully calm – no cushions have needed to be squashed into the glasses cupboard. In the port at Kristiansund, Midnatsol appeared. This is the Hurtigruten ship on which TSH and Diva made their maiden voyage in 2005.

Notes on Norway

The arrangements for buying wine in Norway would not suit TSH and DIVA. It is sold only in government-run Vinmonoplet shops, which are not only extremely expensive but which have such restrictive opening hours that people have to take a half-day holiday from work to buy a bottle of wine.

Surprisingly, none of the local guides have been Norwegian, and a Pole, Italian and Croatian have been encountered.

For those who doubt the cows and mattress story, here is a link: http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1u4bv0/til_by_norwegian_law_every_cow_has_its_own/  

The morning at sea included an interesting lecture on Copenhagen, followed by a cookery competition between the head chef and the maître d’ (it was a draw). This was enlivened by a general power cut, the ship lurching and the engines stopping. The captain came on the intercom to apologise and say that ‘it would be all OK’, which did not help Diva’s anxiety levels much. Fortunately the situation did not last long.

Alta

The sail in and out of Alta is beautiful – classic fjord scenery with mountains, waterfalls and cliffs. On the way in, a Tai Chi session received applause from passing guests. On the way out, Diva saw black shapes emerging from the water, which could have been seals, dolphins or whales. Lunch on deck, including beer and burgers, was very rushed as TSH and Diva had misread the schedule and thought they were going out at 14:30 rather than the actual 12:30. Diva also managed to mislay her camera, missing the chance to photograph during the excursion, although it was found later on.

There were three destinations. The cathedral was modern inside and out – like an updated and smaller version of the RC cathedral in Liverpool. The theme is the Northern lights, whose general shape is represented both inside and out. The rock carvings (on the UNESCO list) were extensive and easy to pick out, if not always to interpret. They appear to represent a hunting community, depicting their homes, boats and prey, including whales, fish and reindeer.  The third visit was to a slate quarry, with a demonstration of splitting cutting and trimming a large slab of stone. The demonstrator said that the day was so hot that he would remember it throughout the long dark winter (about 9 months of the year at this latitude which is still above the Arctic Circle).

Oh, yes, the weather. The temperature was about 29 degrees C and the Norwegian buses did not have air conditioning which could cope. There was a lot of complaining, mostly from the US guests, and one group were given a new bus. TSH and Diva were in the group for which no other bus was available and the journey, although short, was uncomfortable. The rock carvings were on a hill-side with no shade and there was a requirement to walk what seemed like a considerable distance in the heat. The quarry was home to swarms of insects, including wasps, so vigilance was needed at all times. Some guests though the wasps were a threat to life, others that they were bees and the bringers of life. The shower on return to the ship was the most welcome yet, followed by champagne on deck.

Murmansk

The sea has been relatively smooth – much more so than for the exciting transatlantic voyage in Autumn 2013 – despite there being nothing between the Silver Cloud and the North Pole. The morning tour was ‘Highlights of Murmansk and the Oceanarium’. Murmansk does not really have highlights and all the buildings appeared to be in a poor state of repair and there were packs of apparently feral dogs everywhere. Some passengers touched them, which appalled Diva as they probably had fleas and rabies, and others were concerned about their welfare. There were visits to statues, monuments and a church. The Oceanarium was just performing seals but there were grey seals, bearded seals and arctic seals , including one that was almost 27 years old. The bus was in a poor state of repair – the folding table in front of Diva wouldn’t fold away properly and the bottom step was like a springboard, feeling very unsafe.

The afternoon departure was delayed first by one guest having failed to carry out the proper procedures – he had kept his passport instead of leaving it with Russian immigration officials. When that was resolved, the ship’s engineer discovered a faulty engine part, which caused another hour’s delay. But the eventual sail away was interesting, with several out-of-service nuclear powered ice breakers along the waterfront. This meant that Diva, who was inexplicably very hungry, missed afternoon tea. TSH wasn’t hungry or bothered.

The morning in Murmansk felt very cold – vest, fleece and windbreak needed but by the afternoon it felt much more pleasant.

Archangel

Sailing along the north coast of Russia, there was a slightly choppier sea and a temperature drop to 4 degrees C. Tai Chi on deck was not possible in these conditions, but there was a session the next morning, as the visa arrangements were that guests were only allowed to leave the ship on organised tours.

An afternoon tour produced the usual confusion of ‘counting the people on the tour’. The Silversea lecturer counted one number in English and the Russian guide achieved a different number in Russian. Despite many counts, reconciliation never occurred. TSH and Diva were sure that the discrepancy was because there were no clear guidelines about whether lecturers, guides and drivers were included or not.

The terrain in this region is much flatter than so far experienced on this voyage but it was relatively warm (18 degrees C), so much so that the local buses travelled with their front grilles open for ventilation. The tour went to Malye Korely – an outdoor museum of buildings brought from across the region. Women in traditional dress greet visitors with bread and salt and then point out interesting features.  The well-fed Silver Cloud guests turned down the offer of the remainder of the bread to have as a snack on the coach back to the pier. The bell-ringing seems very different from in the UK, where one person rings each bell and it looks like hard work. The bells must be much lighter, because one person rings them all – one rope is attached to each finger!! Liberal application of repellent meant that there were no bites from the many vicious-looking insects.

On return to Silver Cloud, there were compulsory tea and cakes provided by the butler. He may be less obliging from now on because of the damage wreaked by TSH when the table collapsed, knocking the orchid plant over whilst he was removing his contact lens. He held the lens in one hand, whilst trying to save the plant with the other. The lens is OK but the plant – and the carpet – may never be the same again.

Silver Cloud’s visit was featured on local TV and people, including a street saxophonist, came to look at what must be a rare cruise ship visit. The sail-away at 23:00 was attended by what looked like half the town.