Day 11 (4th march)
slept well again with no call to the decks for a light show. sad but we've been very lucky compared to some travellers who make this journey and never see a glimpse of action!
we were at trondheim when we woke up. having spent time exploring it on our way north we gazed at the docks and lazily got ready for breakfast. afterwards we pottered about in the cabin packing the cases and checking it would all go back in!
the magnet collection has been stuffed into each of my trainers! coffees and the blog update to while away the morning until our 'disembarkation' meeting with johan, on form as ever, to explain the procedures to us. happily there is a bus laid on that will take us and our cases to the train and bus station. as we don't leave until just after 11pm on the overnight sleeper to olso we had hoped to leave our cases in left luggage so we can finish discovering bergen during the afternoon. there are still the art galleries, i reminded lou!
buffet lunch in a near empty restaurant. a lot of people had clearly left at trondheim. the crazy pink french woman has gone but fellow brits, mr haha and the pink whinger and the oz lady, pammee, are still with us. pammee and her husband had monopolised us when we first arrived together at the bergen terminal. i tried not to let my back get too far up as her husband demanded 'are you poms?' they have been cheerful and friendly company but a bit too much 'in yer face' for lou and me! we have been very grateful that our designated table sharers, sheila and john, have been such enjoyable dinner companions . addresses have been swapped as they often come down past us on their way to visit john's sister south of toulouse.
we were joined at lunch by a large, softly spoken american from california who spoke about his life in the states, his family links to the county of kent, (his name is buss), his rv and his sick wife. i assumed she was seasick but then he said, no, sick! there was a bug going round the boat! lovely, lou commented later, he came to share her germs with us when there were empty tables all around us!
at kristiansund i decided i wanted to get off and take a short walk along the quay to get some fresh air. reluctantly lou came too and we took a few photos in the rain and headed back.
we were stopped from going on board as some faffing about was taking place with cables just above the gangplank.
finally allowed back on the ship we discovered that the small lifeboats were being let down and swapped to the other side. why? anyway, it created a diversion in what had been a slack day so far. we clustered about taking photos and bit of video and being shooed away by the proper sailors doing their stuff!
the winching up of each boat seemed to take ages and i found myself hoping that an emergency launching would be an altogether quicker affair!
after that excitement the onboard shop opened and i bought myself a black gilet emblazoned with the name of 'our' ship. this captive retail offering is hard to resist! then it was more internet surfing and chatting until dinner time. the ship had been rocking and rolling most of the afternoon and poor john left the table early on. the waiter we now know to be called robin, a tall and fey lad who is so laid back as to be horizontal, kindly brought a groaning plate of crackers and cheese when sheila requested a couple of cheese biscuits. the staff really are so friendly and helpful on this ship. lou and i indulged in glasses of wine again. I doubt we will drink such expensive plonk ever again! :)
a post dinner snooze for lou (we eat early on here) while i settled down with thomas hardy in the cafe. no lights all night but some rough seas and noisy stops kept us awake on and off until our alarm call at six o'clock on our final morning.
the magnet collection has been stuffed into each of my trainers! coffees and the blog update to while away the morning until our 'disembarkation' meeting with johan, on form as ever, to explain the procedures to us. happily there is a bus laid on that will take us and our cases to the train and bus station. as we don't leave until just after 11pm on the overnight sleeper to olso we had hoped to leave our cases in left luggage so we can finish discovering bergen during the afternoon. there are still the art galleries, i reminded lou!
buffet lunch in a near empty restaurant. a lot of people had clearly left at trondheim. the crazy pink french woman has gone but fellow brits, mr haha and the pink whinger and the oz lady, pammee, are still with us. pammee and her husband had monopolised us when we first arrived together at the bergen terminal. i tried not to let my back get too far up as her husband demanded 'are you poms?' they have been cheerful and friendly company but a bit too much 'in yer face' for lou and me! we have been very grateful that our designated table sharers, sheila and john, have been such enjoyable dinner companions . addresses have been swapped as they often come down past us on their way to visit john's sister south of toulouse.
we were joined at lunch by a large, softly spoken american from california who spoke about his life in the states, his family links to the county of kent, (his name is buss), his rv and his sick wife. i assumed she was seasick but then he said, no, sick! there was a bug going round the boat! lovely, lou commented later, he came to share her germs with us when there were empty tables all around us!
at kristiansund i decided i wanted to get off and take a short walk along the quay to get some fresh air. reluctantly lou came too and we took a few photos in the rain and headed back.
we were stopped from going on board as some faffing about was taking place with cables just above the gangplank.
finally allowed back on the ship we discovered that the small lifeboats were being let down and swapped to the other side. why? anyway, it created a diversion in what had been a slack day so far. we clustered about taking photos and bit of video and being shooed away by the proper sailors doing their stuff!
the winching up of each boat seemed to take ages and i found myself hoping that an emergency launching would be an altogether quicker affair!
after that excitement the onboard shop opened and i bought myself a black gilet emblazoned with the name of 'our' ship. this captive retail offering is hard to resist! then it was more internet surfing and chatting until dinner time. the ship had been rocking and rolling most of the afternoon and poor john left the table early on. the waiter we now know to be called robin, a tall and fey lad who is so laid back as to be horizontal, kindly brought a groaning plate of crackers and cheese when sheila requested a couple of cheese biscuits. the staff really are so friendly and helpful on this ship. lou and i indulged in glasses of wine again. I doubt we will drink such expensive plonk ever again! :)
a post dinner snooze for lou (we eat early on here) while i settled down with thomas hardy in the cafe. no lights all night but some rough seas and noisy stops kept us awake on and off until our alarm call at six o'clock on our final morning.
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