At Sea with EdNa

Fri 5 Aug 16

Eidefjord, Norway

Our first port of call on our cruise to the Arctic circle. Unfortunately we experienced low, grey clouds when sailing through the fjord so didn't see what is probably some spectacular scenery.

 Eidefjord is a very small town at the head of the fjord where tourism is the second major employer, after government services. It appeared that at the time we were there, there was a large number, maybe a couple of hundred, of people in town for an "extreme triathalon". We saw some people in swimming, apparently practising for the event. There were also a lot of other tourists in town who had driven there.

Sat 6 Aug 16

BERGEN 

Another morning of grey skies, some low cloud and intermittent light showers.

Lucky to dock early enough for us the get to the old part of the port before many other tourists arrived. 

We are the only cruise ship in port but nonetheless there are still a lot of tourists in the city.

Bergen is a major port city that probably doesn't depend on tourism but it must be a big contributor to the local economy. With the downturn in the oil industry there are a lot of ships that would otherwise be servicing the oil rigs, lying in idle in port. At least the Norwegians were smart enough to wisely invest their income from the oil industry during the good years for their budget to be in surplus during this downturn. Not like a certain other country and its iron ore industry!

Oddly enough, for a country with a lot of oil, electric cars are very popular, mainly because of the high price of petrol and diesel and the low cost of electricity.

Picture taken at Eidefjord.

Sun 7 Aug 16

Ålesund

Noticeably cooler today.

Ålesund is a very picturesque city, known for its Art Deco style buildings. The city was destroyed by fire in 1906 and rebuilt in that style.

We went to a museum exhibition on "what might have been" in Ålesund. Suggestions for urban development, railways, light rail, pedestrian tunnels under canals. None of which has happened. The citizens are now considering a proposal for a light rail system. So it might be interesting to come back in 5 or 10 years and see if anything has eventuated.

We climbed 413 steps up to the lookout early to avoid the crowds. It's the white building with the steps leading up to it at the top of the photo.

There was a large German cruise ship in port while we were there but the streets of the city weren't crowded. I suspect a lot of the passengers go on bus tours. Being a Sunday, the only shops that were open were a few convenience stores. Not that we needed to go into more shops, having seen inside a few in Bergen.

The weather closed in as we were leaving port and the captain announced that if we had been delayed 24 hours, we would have had to face the prospect of 7 metre swells which would have meant that we would not have been able to leave port in those conditions.

 Mon 8 Aug

At Sea

We are currently in the North Atlantic, having crossed the Arctic Circle, sailing between Ålesund on the mainland and Ny Ålesund on Svalbard.

The wind is blowing at about 50 knots but there isn't much swell, just wind waves of about 2 metres. The ship's stabilisers are doing a good job, with not much pitch or roll.

To add a bit of atmosphere I am reading HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean, which is set in these waters, but in the middle of winter with sub zero temperatures (and enemy submarines).

We are on the MS Prinsendam, the smallest of the Holland America Line ships. It can carry a maximum of 834 passengers but there seems to be a fair number of single passengers who presumably have sole occupancy, so maybe 800 pax on board. A crew of 470. Interestingly, the bar and drink staff are from the Philippines and the catering and wait staff are from Indonesia. The cruise and ship crew are mixed.

We have met passengers form Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, NZ, UK, and of course, USA. There are reportedly 105 Australians on board. There are also other passengers from other parts of the world but we haven't spoken to them yet. We have mostly opted to share dining tables so it's pot luck who you get to dine with. Most of the passengers are "of a certain age" but there are some young ones, including 2 children. 

The Captain, Tim, judging by his announcements, has a very droll sense of humour. 

The food is good, fresh and plenty of variety.

There is always some form of entertainment or activity on from morning until late at night. Even on days when in port, there is plenty on for those who don't want to go ashore.

There are 4 laps of the promenade deck to the mile, for those who want to walk when the weather is suitable. Also, our stateroom is on deck 5 and the crow's nest bar/lounge is on deck 12 so we get plenty of exercise going up and down stairs. Yes, there are lifts but it is a matter of principle as far as I am concerned, not to use them except when in a hurry.

The floor mats in the lift change every day to tell you what day it is.

Our stateroom (cabin) is very spacious, not like in the old days when you didn't have room to swing a cat, and comfortable. Plenty of room in the bathroom and even a walk in wardrobe.

We haven't seen much of the entertainment yet so can't comment on the quality. The band in one of the bars is quite good though.

By booking our tickets early, we received a free "drinks package". This entitles us to up to 15 drinks each a day, but that includes coffees like cappuccino and bottled water. Even so, we haven't gone close to our limit in a day yet. The only catch is, the drinks must be priced $US8 or less. Fortunately it leaves plenty to choose from, except wine by the glass where there is a limited choice. Nonetheless, the available ones are quite palatable and the cocktails excellent.

Tues 8 Aug

We are now into the zone of 24 hours of daylight. Still at sea.

Wed 10 Aug

Longyearbyen

A bit grey and cloudy as we approached Longyearbyen but for a change we had good luck with the weather.

The low cloud cleared to a bit of high cloud, lots of sunshine, no wind and even though the temperature was about zero degrees it was quite comfortable walking around. The captain said this was his third time here and this was the best weather he had encountered. Apparently it had snowed the day before we arrived but had diappeared by the time we docked.

I wasn't expecting much of Longyearbyen so I wasn't disappointed. The place is barren with only a little bit of low vegetation, and dry and dusty during our visit. I would not want to here on a wet and windy day!

It used to be be a coal mining community but that stopped years ago. There is still a lot of the old infrastructure around. I don't know what keeps the town going now. There are various research activities, a part of a University and a lot of businesses catering to tourists.

Thu 11 Aug 16

Furthest North

Cruised into Liedefjord (on the west coast of Svalbard) this morning. Some low cloud again around the hill tops but when we reached the head of the fjord there was plenty of breaks in the cloud to give us a spectacular view of the hills and glaciers. 

Very cold on deck when the ship was moving but we stopped and without the wind blowing across the deck it was cold but bearable. There were a couple of small ships there also.

Cruised further North till we reached the edge of the polar ice pack at about 80 deg 21 min 33 sec N, our furthest  North (11deg 51 min 47sec East). 

On the way up we passed a low lying island a bit like a coral cay, which has a lake in the middle of it.

Fortunately for us there was a pod of walruses on the edge of the island.

There were two of seals on the ice as a bonus.

 Then we headed South to Magdalenafjord. The fjords up here are spectacular, there seems to be a glacier in every valley even though some of them are retreating and don't reach all the way down to the sea. 

Friday 12 Aug 16

Ny Ålesund

We were due to arrive in Lillehookfjord at 8am so we were up at 7 just to be sure of seeing everything. We were half dressed when the Captain announced over the PA that there was a polar bear on the shore. It didn't take us long to finish dressing and get outside!

We were a fair way off the shore so the bear was a bit hard to see and then another bear and cub appeared, still a long way off, but at least we can say we have seen a polar bear (or three) in the wild!

Look closely, those two white spots are polar bears! (The white spot in the bottom left is a bird flying past.)

Lillehookfjord, grey skies but wonderful scenery again. 

We then sailed on to NyÅlesund.

Ny Ålesund is another ex-coal mining site which is now entirely a research centre where various countries have set up different projects. The population varies between about 180 in the summer to about 30 who winter here. 

Having spent a bit of time in remote locations I felt that I could relate to life here, not that I think I would like to spend a winter here.

One of the research stations.

There is a stark beauty to this whole area even though there is not a lot of colour.

Sat 13 Aug 16

At sea sailing towards Iceland.

We have been incredibly lucky, judging by what the Captain has had to say about his voyage here last year, in regard to the weather and the state of the seas. So far, fingers crossed, we haven't had any rough seas, only a little bit of a swell between IJmuiden (Amsterdam) and Eidefjord.

Even though we haven't had much sunshine, we have only had a little intermittent light rain which was more of a nuisance than anything else - not enough to cause any problems or lessen our enjoyment, and hardly any wind when we have been in port.

I think the real test will be the passage between Iceland and Scotland.

Sun 14 Aug 16

At sea with our next landfall tomorrow at Akureyri, Iceland.

The sun will set for us again tonight as we leave the zone of 24 hour sunshine.