And so, we commence our impressive Norwegian attack at none other than Longyearbyen, the world's northernmost permanently inhabited town,
on the far northern Archipelago island of Svalbard.
Again, no chance of witnessing the Northern Lights, as we truly are in the
Land of the Midnight Sun this time of year now;
and we are 78deg north...or in layman's terms, only about 800 miles south of the North Pole!
At this point, we are currently 6 weeks into our 10-week journey,
still enjoying our time onboard the beautiful Viking Star ocean liner,
with the anticipation of exploring a new country as thrilling as ever.
Well, technically, we have visited Norway once before back in 2018,
but only calling into Oslo for a couple of days,
so this time we were really excited about this extended itinerary.
This is most definitely the furthest north in the world we have been,
and ever will be I imagine!
I am humbled by the beauty and expanse of this incredible planet we live on,
and it's an absolute treat to be seeing as much of it as we are.
Look at what we witnessed as we sailed north out of Iceland,
towards our first stop at Svalbard -
This is the uninhabited island of Jan Mayen;
(well, there are 18 people there that man the weather and radio station!)
Just look at the show it put on for us!
I took this from our state room balcony. 😱
In the middle of absolutely nowhere!
😱
Words often fall short when trying to capture the sheer beauty of something truly stunning.
I am humbled, and dwarfed yet again by the grandeur of Mother Nature.
The captain had announced earlier that day, that we should be sailing past it at 7.15pm,
and that's exactly the time when I took this shot out of our cabin. Amazing. So glad Trev was awake for this one! 🤣😉
---
A new day dawned, well, to tell you the truth, it doesn't really set here at the moment...
and after over two days at sea we had reached the Archipelago of Svalbard.
Just look at the amount of glaciers that welcomed us as we entered the fjords,
sailing slowly towards the isolated northern town of Longyearbyen.
At one stage I counted eight, before I could see no further, and they were colossal!
"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..."
As we are overnighting here in Longyearbyen,
I had booked a private tour company to take us dogsledding - on wheels!
No, the dogs aren't on wheels, haha, the sleds are!
Being the northern summer time, and whilst there is still snow and ice around,
the roads are gravel, therefore we are on wheels. Probably a darn side easier for the dogs than snow anyway!
And not as cold. Well, according to them. And, the best part of overnighting in a port?
We have no time restrictions on getting back to the ship.
BRILLIANT!
At first, I thought of hiring a car and driving around ourselves to explore the island,
you know, the road less travelled...
HOWEVER.
There are more polar bears than humans here, and technically speaking,
if you leave the township, its law that you must carry a firearm.
True.
That said, it's mainly for a warning shot.
At first.
But polar bears do present as a problem,
and as my daughter first told me about the 'Bear Rule' before we drove through Yellowstone National Park a few weeks back: If its black fight back If its brown, lie down If its white - good night!
Whilst the likelihood is extremely low, I read this when googling about them:
Are polar bears more aggressive than grizzlies?
Polar bears can be very aggressive hunters because that's
how they get the bulk of their food.
If you're the only prey around for miles, a polar bear is going to eat you like a Klondike bar. Grizzly bears are known to be aggressive when defending cubs or cached food,
but the bulk of their diet comes from foraging.
And as we were seeing the tour options from the ship, this photo said it all...
Riding a bike, with a gun strapped to your back...ah, ok...
It's ok, just the guide needs one. Not like you all grab your gun with your bike! 🤣 🚲
Back to our dog sledding!
Without a doubt, this is one of the most enjoyable activities we have experienced
during our travels!
Honestly, it's right up there with our shark cage dive, ballooning over the Masai Mara Great Migration, and swimming in the Devil's Pool on top of Victoria Falls!!
I'm a firm believer, that if you immerse yourself physically in an activity,
whether its swimming, sailing, hiking or even dog sledding -
you have a much more enriched experience.
I still smile at what we did this day.
And Trev, bless, was an absolute weapon!
(Not that he needed one...😉)
He got to be the driver of our own team of eight huskies!
Best you watch this reel, it has all my favourite moments, in live action.
Click here: check out our dogsledding reel!
and turn up your sound, it was so much fun!
And here's just a pictorial display of our amazing day...
These two boys were my favourites.
They are Greenland Huskies, and larger than the other dogs. Very wolf-like to me.
All the dogs are so well cared for and loved.
They were all super friendly, loved a good cuddle and scratch, and were literally jumping out of their skins with excitement to do this.
There is no whipping or anything like that to encourage them to go...
believe me - they are always 'ON',
and all Trev 'just ( 😬 )' had to do, was manage the brakes.
Oh... and to take the corners wide as the dogs naturally would cut the corners,
leaving us in the ditch if that happened.
Take note, Trev!
(He did great.)
Each time he gently touched the brakes, the dear sweet lead dog would turn his head slightly, like he was saying "Sup? Dude!, I'm good!"
These dogs could, and wanted to, run all day.
We had a couple of water stations already set out along our ride,
so we'd pull over, and all of us got involved to water our dogs.
As it was a hot day of about 8 deg Celsius (🤣), the dogs, who are used to freezing weather,
were really feeling the heat.
They were covered in saliva and panting like crazy, but once they were watered,
had like 3 minutes rest, they were all literally jumping up and down, rearing to go again.
They absolutely loved it.
We even drove them through a little creek, where they frolicked, drank and squatted down to cool themselves, before heading off again.
We were sad when it came to an end. I think we drove 12 kilometres.
Looks like fun, hey?
If you ever get a chance to do this, wherever, Norway, Iceland or Alaska, you should definitely give it a go.
The following day we took the decent, yet COLD and windy walk into town,
to check out what was there.
Yeah, not a great deal!
But do watch out for the local traffic!
And this is a typical sight here...Old Coal mine in the background -
snowmobiles all parked for the summer.
Most of them with the keys still in the ignition. They aren't going anywhere!
And the locals walking home, guns on their backs - making their way back after a long day of work...or pleasure - who knows?
The Wild West!
Oh wait...more like Northern Exposure!
They do have, however, a very interesting Polar Museum, with fantastic exhibits,
with terrific pictorial and video display outlining all about the birth and the
importance of this remote settlement,
even during WW2.
With Russia very close, Norway was strategically important,
as were the seas surrounding its coastline.
And it was here that I got about as close to a polar bear that I'm happy to.
Bidding farewell to this most northern town in the world
and sailing closer to those glaciers again,
we're now heading south to mainland Norway.
Here we are looking forward to enjoying the breathtaking fjords,
the rugged mountain peaks still capped with winter snow,
and the gorgeous coastlines dotted with quaint and traditional red wooden fishing villages.
The promise of seeing green again, is a reminder of the beauty that awaits beyond the confines of the extreme north of the Arctic Circle.
---
Welcome to Honningsvág, and Nordkapp (North cape)...the very tip of mainland Europe!
A delightfully quiet fishing village, that is until two cruise ships rock in.
Fortunately for us, we had a good hour or two wandering through the vacant streets,
before the hordes arrived on a much bigger ship.
Bet the stores loved that though!
We found some beautiful reflective opportunities around the harbour,
then meandered our way up to what looked like a local, but private lighthouse.
Yep, another tick for me.
God love him!
And God help Trev... see what he has to put up with? 😁
Our included shore excursion today was a trip up to the North Cape,
known locally as Nordkapp.
There you'll find several monuments dedicated to being the northern most point on mainland Europe. We were very lucky to get any photos, as within about 20 minutes of our arrival,
we were blanketed in a complete whiteout.
Now, and then, with the 1873 opening ceremony with the King of Norway.
Returning to the ship after our brief NordKapp exploration,
passing pristine alpine lakes still cloaked in the low misty cloud that shrouded us earlier,
and graceful herds of reindeer - each accompanied by their adorable leggy babies,
was an absolute treat.
Norway is very reminiscent of the lochs of Scotland.
Just check out these incredible blue skies back at sea level.
We were about to be totally spoilt over the next week, with the most outstanding,
and even very unexpected hot weather.
---
The more urban city of Tromsø, is our next port of call, located in an area that has had human habitation as early as the last ice age - 9,000 - 10,000 years ago!
Yet another gorgeous Norwegian town situated on an island surrounded by deep fjords and towering snowcapped mountains, Tromsø is well known for its display of Northern Lights during the months of September to April.
Yep, still too early for us!
😩
That said, we were to enjoy a day that peaked at 30 deg celsius,
which is utterly unheard of this far north of the Arctic Circle.
Global warming?
I'm not going to get into that hot debate,
but apparently it should have been more like 13 deg celsius.
Just sayin'.
Here they are also famous for their Fjellheisen Cable Car, which takes you to the very top of the opposite mountain, in just 4 minutes.
I had booked tickets for this before I left Australia, and what a day we had for it.
And whilst we were up here, just chillin' on this cute pink bench,
a young hiker came up and said;
"Excuse me, but I just took your photo because you looked so relaxed and happy,
with this amazing view!"
"Can I send this image to you?"
How absolutely lovely! What a sweetheart. 🥰
How good is WhatsApp?
We spent an age up there, not really wanting to leave!
Imagine how gorgeous this would be in winter, or at sunset?
Or this?
I can only imagine...😱💚💜
A quick time lapse video to take you down the mountain with us!
Once back downtown, we thought we'd grab what looked like an amazingly delicious toasted ham and cheese sandwich.
But looks can be deceiving!
First, look at what enticed us in...
And look what we were dished up!
You have to laugh.
Steeped in history, the Tromsø Waterfront boasts a collection of age-old traditional wooden buildings that stand as a testament to the area's rich heritage.
And these three colours are synonymous for the buildings in Norway.
I'll get to that later.
This evening's sail away, promises to be something extra special...
After navigating through very narrow fjords -
Top deck on sail away - definitely Trev's happy place!
... we get to sail under a bridge that is so low,
that we have to drop a mast, and even then it is said, we'll only have a 2 metre clearance.
You can be guaranteed that a lot of people will be topside for that event, us included!
Only a couple more days of the Midnight Sun!
☀️
---
Narvik!
Only 250 km's south of Tromsø, lies almost a carbon copy city, with its mountains, fjords,
and yes, another cable car with our name on it!
With another picture perfect day, we hopped on our included sightseeing tour of the town and surrounds, which was actually so boring 🥱, (just the guide, not the town so much)
that once we realised how close we got to the Cable Car entrance,
we decided to ditch the bus,
much to the curiosity of the rest of the passengers as they drove off without us.
Love being rebels!
It was brilliant!
All we had to figure out was how to get back to the ship...🤔
Once at the top, we actually ran into a couple of our main entertainers from the ship,
so we really enjoyed chatting with them, and finding out a lot more about their lives as roaming entertainers on the seas.
Eventually, we wandered off to capture some of my favourite photos of our trip.
Then, all we had to do was figure out how to get back!
There were no taxis, we had no wifi, however, we've become quite resourceful on this trip, so we managed to find a bus stop and we caught the local bus back into town,
for next to nothing $$ wise.
Score!
Starving hungry by now, 🤣, the poor well fed cruise ship passengers that we are...
we found a tiny local store at the end of town that sold pizza
that looked and smelt so good, we just had to give it a go. I don't think we've had pizza since New York City!
And how good does this look?
Following this delicious 'Michelan star worthy' pizza, we found the
so Trev was in his element.
There's not much about WW2 that Trev doesn't know about, and Narvik was a crucial target in Norway, at first holding off the attack, but eventually it conceded to German occupation.
Narvik is also a world class ski location:
Free skiing mecca Narvikfjellet Ski Resort has one of Scandinavia’s largest drop heights for both lift-based and off piste skiing, and offers 16 ski trails of varying difficulty levels, from family-friendly alpine slopes to fast-paced championship trails and beautiful off-piste terrain. In addition, the alpine resort has 6 ski lifts, including one modern 10-seater cable car, so you can easily reach the Mountain Restaurant 656 m and enjoy everything the ski resort has to offer.
For those of you who love to hit the slopes, and would like to try somewhere new,
with the chance of Northern Lights!
Wow!
---
Our next stop of Lofoten, promises oh so much.
'Lofoten', meaning 'Lowlands beneath the Mountains'.
that will make you put this outstanding location on your Scandinavian bucket list!
I just had to grab these next four images from the net.
My photos won't come close, but I want to show you just how outstanding this place is.
That rock climber doing a cartwheel, is the real thing. It was in many publications.
Crazy Norwegians, they are up for anything!
Known for its thousands of islands, villages, quality beaches and world sort after free style rock climbing, we were pretty excited about our 3 hour panoramic tour,
including a local boat cruise.
It promised so much, and delivered even more.
I actually just grabbed this shot from our moving bus.
This is Henningsvær, and they refer to this picturesque harbour
as their 'Venetian Grand Canal'.
And from here we picked up our boat to take us on a scenic cruise back to the ship.
I wish we had more time to explore this gorgeous harbour side village.
It's here that rock climbers from around the world descend, to climb the fabulous rock formations that overshadow this quaint fishing inlet.
Back on the water again...
Oh, let me tell you about these colours of the buildings, which are so classically Norwegian.
The traditional red, reflects a lower income,
and was mainly used for fishing shacks and barns. The colour (in days of old) was actually created using by-products of copper mining,
earth pigments, fish oil, and blood!
The yellow or ochre colour, was derived directly from copper, and was more expensive,
so using this indicated that you had some wealth.
And finally white paint, which was made from imported zinc oxide,
and was only used by the very rich.
Some people would save up and paint the front of their houses white,
whilst leaving the back of them red.
Personally, I LOVE the red!
Upon arriving back at the ship, we could hear music playing, and a huge amount of staff were out on the dock, all under the red Viking umbrellas,
forming a giant guard of honour to welcome us all home!
It was adorable!
Even the officers were out with trays of fresh punch.
So good.
This is our fabulous Cruise Director Cornelia, and you can bet your life this was her idea.
She was loving it too!
So, after a sensational day of touring the Lofoten Islands,
we celebrated with a seafood feast on the back deck,
then looked forward to a very late sail away at 11pm.
Why?
Because we are celebrating the last of the Midnight Suns of the year.
Tomorrow night will see the first sunset in a four months, WOW,
as the far north edges its way towards winter, and the long dark Polar Nights.
The glow had to be seen to be believed. Talk about the 'Golden Hour(s)' !
What a day. 🥰
---
We now had a free day of cruising more idyllic Norwegian Fjords, as we make tracks further south towards our final couple of stops of this month's long Nordic Adventure.
Here we get to pass, for the second time on this journey,
the invisible meridian of The Arctic Circle.
This time got to witness the 'Meridian Marker' which is pretty cool.
There are a few of these around the Earth, marking these important navigational lines.
And of course, there is a Ceremony that must be performed on board to mark the occasion.
We had one of these last year when we crossed the Equator on a cruise to Hawaii.
This one is called a 'Blue Nose ceremony', and it involved A LOT of ice!!!
Back in 2019, when Trev and I cruised to Antarctica,
we had the chance to do a true 'Polar Plunge'.
I was too chicken or embarrassed, so I declined, and I have regretted it ever since.
Trev couldn't think of much worse to do, so it was never an issue for him! 🥶🤣
I have this tattoo on my arm to remind me to 'Just say yes' more often.
(And of course, on my other arm is my favourite, "Adventure Before Dementia.')
So I did.
But first, I'll explain why I went into this poolside polar plunge fully clothed...
I had just finished a Zoom interview with one of our mainstream
Australian TV programs, #TheProject,
as they had tracked me down via this website.
You see, there has been quite a viral movement lately about this whole
'Spending Kids Inheritance' thing - (not that it's new)
and I have been quite busy to say the least because of it, during this holiday.
I was first tracked down for an interview whilst we were travelling across the USA,
a few weeks ago,
and that story came out in the #UKDailyMail ...oddly enough in the same edition that featured Trump's attempted assassination on the front cover,
so it probably turned out to be a huge seller!
It was a friend of mine over in the UK, that sent it to me, saying
"OMG, I was ready the Sunday Paper, and there you were!"
So funny!
Then I had an interview with a UK journalist that writes for two glossy magazines aimed at the over 50's...fine by me, so they'll be out October this year.
Furthermore, I woke one morning to a message from the TV Producer of Channel 10's
'The Project', asking if I'd be interested in 'having a chat'.
So after a little bit of juggling around the
Microsoft crash that day in Australia,
I managed to record an interview with them, just via WhatsApp on my phone.
Unfortunately, due to my poor reception, and Microsoft, we had to schedule a re-record.
Which we did just after this cruise, whilst we were in Venice. It was awesome, I'll add it to my Venice blog for a bit of fun.
Then in Greece there was another request...😱
SOOO, now, fresh from my interview, fully clothed, and pumped up -
it's time for me to cool off.
Just. Say. Yes.
First...how about adding MORE ice, hey boys?
🥶🥶🥶
OMG, it was crazy cold!!!!!
And they dot your nose with a bluish cream, hence the Blue Nose ceremony.
T I C K.
✔️
---
Click on the above link if you'd like to visit the Geirrangerfjord website.
This morning had been promised to us as being a spectacular sail into the gorgeous town of Geiranger, right at the end of a fjord, at a location known as Eagle's Bend.
I had this circled in my travel journal as possibly the prettiest spot of the entire trip.
We were all up super early, and of course, true Viking style, they put out
Champagne & orange juice and delicious pastries...just because we were up.
Don't mind if I do!
Let my pictures paint a 1000 words.
Sailing past their famous 'Seven Sisters Waterfall' although they haven't had much rain lately, so it wasn't as full as normal.
That was a fair trade off, as apparently the last time this ship came in here a
couple of weeks ago, it was shocking weather. We had perfect conditions, yet again!
🙏
Finally arriving at our destination, and with no other cruise ships to contend with,
the Captain spun the ship around and 'parked' us in a cracking spot.
Trev and I utilised our free morning to explore the town, and a quick stop into the local stores - check out how they display their clothes - in sleighs!
🛷❤️🛷
Then it's off to hike to the top of yet another waterfall.
I can't even begin to imagine how many waterfalls we have seen on this fabulous journey. Remember, we drove across the USA before this cruise...
Niagara being the stand out back then!
Happy days.
Hard to take a bad photo around here!
After lunch back onboard, we had a 3 hour panoramic excursion, which took us way up further, and beyond to the snow and glacier!
So many wow moments, it's crazy.
So check out this next shot. We watched, and videoed these two idiots...what people do for that insta shot,
can sometimes be their last shot.
This shows the height they were at...and then the video below. Honestly, it could've ended badly for either of them.
Twits.
Then driving way up into the mountains...this road was covered in snow just two weeks ago!
And back down to the most famous vantage point of the area, and we understand why.
The Eagle's Bend.
We were utterly spoilt with the weather at this breathtaking location.
And as this is our second last night onboard, Viking are going to stuff us all with as many lobsters that we can devour, in our last on deck celebratory dinner.
Oh, and how could we not mention our favourite bartender/barista, Van,
and our evening waiter, Alan.
Such characters.
They helped make this holiday even more memorable.
They treated us so well.
All the staff did.
We also truly enjoyed our onboard entertainers, and I'm adding these photos, and the above ones, for our memory banks, if nothing else.
These guys honestly sang everything you could imagine,
with their Beatles and Abba ensembles being world class, they were everyone's favourites. Izzy, Harriet, Jake and Callum, you were outstanding, and I hope you get to read this!
We also had a great thank you to the staff, and from the staff, with Cornelia leading the way, with her onboard Viking family.
Sailing out of here, was as gorgeous as our sail in...and what was funny, was that when we were in bed that evening, we heard the ship's horn sound three times, very randomly,
in the middle of a fjord!
Running into the Captain the next morning, I asked him curiously,
"Why the horns last night?"
To which he replied
"I just passed my house, so I blasted them, but I don't think anyone was home."
So cute.
---
Our final port:
BEAUTIFUL BERGEN.
Our final Port of Call on this cruise, is the very historical, and very pretty, Bergen.
Known as the busiest Port in Norway, with over 300 cruise ships a year calling in with over half a million passengers, it is very well set up for tourism.
Just make sure you have some money left, as 'it ain't cheap'!
This photo I think, is a first for me. A pic of the name of the ship, with its home port, AT IT'S HOME PORT!
Amazing, this infinity pool on the back of a ship. I never get tired of it.
Also known as the wettest city in mainland Europe, Bergen sometimes suffering two solid months of rain without a break, 😱,
yet we were still hopeful for some sun during our two night stay here.
🤞
We are actually overnighting onboard for our last night, before heading to a hotel for a further stay before flying out to Venice, to continue this holiday.
We utilised our time here, and literally walked our feet off!
There is so much to see, with the very famous, Unesco protected and highly photographed wooden buildings on the Waterfront, known as Bryggen,
being the centrepiece, and deservedly so.
And their fish markets are legendary.
Wandering around from shopfront to shopfront, we noticed racks of rain ponchos,
with Bruce Springsteen printed on them!
Yep, The Boss was in town for one concert, right here by the docks, tonight,
but as the ponchos show...it is outdoors, and yes of course, rain is expected.
So we did the next best thing and bought his tour shirt...
... after actually investigating in buying tickets, but we didn't fancy standing amongst
45,000 people, in the rain.
Sorry Bruce, we're too old for that these days.
(Even though he, clearly, is not!)
We did see him in Brisbane a few years ago, which was awesome, AND we had a seat.
I saw this headline on the newspaper stand the next day.
Gotta love The BOSS!
---
Would you believe the next day was back to the perfect blue skies that Norway has turned on for us this past fortnight?
Wow, so we headed straight for the vernacular, to take us up to the mountain lookout.
Where else would we go, hey?