27 Oct - Watercolors on Western Norwegian Waters

Ahoy! The days pass by surprisingly quickly. I’ve had barely anytime to read my book and have not done any knitting! During the daylight hours we’re dining, doing laps on Deck 5 while searching for sea-life (seals, fish, and sea eagles thus far), observing the docking procedures, or painting. Yes, there are two artists on board who are putting together a cruise DVD of pictures and video. They also brought art supplies and have done three art “sessions” since we’ve come onboard. I’ve done four water color postcard paintings and have really enjoyed it. I think I’ll get a small kit for my future trips. It’s an activity that is relaxing and travels well. I wait for the dark hours to write the blog and check emails.

This cruise doubles as a ferry, so it takes 4-6 stops per day and a few in the middle of the night. We generally stay on the boat for the 15 minute stops and disembark for the 30-90 minute stops. This might beg the question, “is that enough time to see the land sights?” Yes, it most certainly is. These towns are quite small. They are increasing in size the further South we go, however 30 minutes is still enough time to get a feeling for the fjord side village’s personality. The number of excursions that passengers can sign-up for are drastically reduced this time of the year both for the weather (it’s too cold and un predictable for zodiacs, and not enough snow for dog sledding) as well as reduced number of passengers. There has already been a cancellation of one of the outings due to not enough participation. The remaining excursions are basically bus tours of the town or land that either meet the boat at the next port or if it’s a long enough stop, return to the same dock.

A spectacular performance occurred on the ship today. Some see such an act of bravery on their “cruises from hell” and most never have the opportunity to be this type of spectator. There was a helicopter rescue drill this evening. The loudspeaker provided a 15 minute warning, mentioning that passengers should not go outside on the boat’s stern. Everyone casually ended their activities (in our case reading & painting) and headed to the back of the boat. My station was on Deck 7 at the rear of the boat in the doorway. I shut off the automatic door such that it was permanently open. Jaime headed to the outside balcony of Deck 5 along with the rest of the interested passengers and crew. It was quite a show! A helicopter hovered 30 ft above the back corner of Deck 7. First, down came a rope, next zip-lined a florescent rescue dude, followed by a metal box. After some scrambling, up went the box, then dude, and I retreated from my station to Deck 6. The back of Deck 6 had a close-up view and deafening hum of the helicopter. It then whizzed away. I imagine this training is a very rare event because the boat crew was standing on the back decks with the passengers. What luck.

This evening we docked at another nameless town. It really does have a name, it’s just at this point they all start melting together in my memory, so they are now referred to as the time of day, for example, “this evening’s stop” or “this morning’s stop”. At this evening’s stop, a Northbound Hurtigruten ship (Midnight Sun, except in Norwegian) roped up behind us. We scuttled around the upper floors of it and were impressed by the openness and airy-ness of the decks (aka stories of the ship), however we marked it down due to the color scheme (neutral colors) and its covered lap deck which minimizes the view. This ship was finished in 2003, ten years after Polarlys (our ship) was commissioned. Ours resembles more of a teal 80s casino, however we’ve adjusted to it and now appreciate the bright nautical colors.

We are tuckered out tonight and plan to get to bed early. The sleeping on the ship is wonderful. Our room has two trundle beds, which keeps the room efficient and spacious. The sleeping is wonderful and very quiet. Our dinner dining partners (the next youngest couple, from London) invited us to share their champagne. Perhaps we’ll toast to the wonderful luck we’ve had on this cruise. They learned today, straight from the captain, that it’s extremely rare to see the Northern Lights this early in the season, let alone as good as we saw them. That was the best show he’s ever seen in October. We’ve also had great weather. It has sprinkled once and rained for 20 minutes… which is a walk in the park compared to the typical stormy autumns. We have one more full day left on the ship. The big stop tomorrow morning is Trondheim. It’s a 3.5 hour stop and we plan to walk for most of it.

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. We celebrated by opening a bottle of California Red Zinfandel (from Oslo airport’s Duty Free store) and Jamie had brought some gifts. I poured a glass of the Zin for Harry, a lively old London chap. We had a solid conversation about a variety of topics (from family/career to health care, Obama, and the war). It was quite fun to get another perspective, for him as well. At dinner they served me a special little fondant cake that I shared with our dinner dining couple. Upon rolling out of the dining room, Harry caught me by the sleeve and convinced the fellow diners to sing Happy Birthday. He then continued with two other passengers claiming it had been their birthdays within the past week, so the room sung the song two additional times. As I said, Harry is an active one! It was quite a lovely day to turn 29.