Tyskland (Germany)

Wow, it's a tough life being a medical student in Norway.

I left off with my arrival back into Oslo last Tuesday. Since then, I've had one day of uni, 2 parties, one film evening, a trip to the Fram polar ship museum and a short break in Germany.

One of the parties saw my friends officially appoint me 'Miss Vodka Norway'. Let me state now, this has nothing (well... very little) to do with my vodka drinking skills, and more to do with the fact that whenever I go to visit them, we end up drinking more vodka than we should, and thus my visits have become associated with vodka consumption. Whilst perhaps not the best thing to do for our livers, this does have the added benefit of me trying more varieties of vodka than I ever imagined (including the honey and chilli one I recently sampled). My receipt of the award included the acceptance of a crown (plastic, made from the webbing of a duty free vodka bottle- the only way to buy vodka in Norway) and a sash (made from the curtain they handily had nearby).

The Fram museum was fascinating and included the opportunity to enter, climb, walk on and experience the actual Fram ship, built in the late 1800s as a polar explorer vessel and inhabited by well known explorers such as Roald Amundsen for extended (3-5 year) voyages to the North Pole and Greenland, and also for a record breaking trip to the South Pole, in Antarctica! The museum was built right near the shore, around the grounded polar ship, which visitors can go deep into and even see the bunks they slept in. I really like this way of presenting history: the ship is no longer going to be used, so why not let people experience it as opposed to just seeing it.

Wednesday afternoon saw me on an epic voyage of my own: a trip to Heidelberg and Frankfurt, Germany. I say epic, because I left home at 12:30 and arrived in Heidelberg around 10:30pm. Along the way, I travelled by foot (15min), train (20 min), bus (2 hrs), plane (2 hrs), bus (2hrs) and then foot (25 min) to reach my final destination.

The trip began 2 months ago with a Ryanair special, which offered return airfares, including taxes, to Frankfurt* for $0.004. We snapped these up, and then realised the asterix meant Frankfurt Hahn, which is only similar to Frankfurt by the fact they are both in Germany, being 2 hours away from each other. Then we realised that the flights leave from Oslo*, meaning Oslo Torp, another pleasant 2 hour journey from Oslo. Nevertheless, the flights were still a bargain and we decided to snap them up.

All set to go to Frankfurt, despite numerous people questioning why on earth we would choose Frankfurt of all places to go in Germany, we were offered the chance to stay at a fellow medical student's place near their home University in Heidelberg. Assured of how pretty Heidelberg is, we jumped at the chance and thus our trip was planned. Then, I was able to contact the only member of our Hurtigruten party who is not currently studying in Oslo (the sister of my friend who is studying in Oslo). I found out she is currently in her home town, doing a medical placement with her uncle, half an hour from Frankfurt, and that we were both very keen to meet up. With plans to meet up in Frankfurt, a whirlwind Heidelberg-Frankfurt 3 night trip was born.

We were very lucky to have somewhere to stay in Heidelberg. Not only was it very close to the cityu centre and easy to find, we were lent the keys for free! Unfortunately, however, the house mate of our fellow exchange student had not been informed that we were coming, and must have got a shock as she emerged from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, to find two english speakers standing in the open doorway. She remained surprisingly calm and was very friendly, as we apologised on behalf of our fellow exchange student who had said she would let her know we were coming. Oops.

We slept well that night after our long journey and set off early the next day to see the sights of Heidelberg. A brief stop in the Tourist Info centre pointed us in the direction of the Old Town, the Castle and the 600+ yr old University, the oldest in Germany. As we got to the bus stop and worked out how to buy tickets, an elderly man showed us how to use the machine, then started talking to us about Heidelberg and his life. He told us how he played in a band that once played for President Carter, and how the Americans all love to visit Heidelberg. He kept telling us which bus to catch and made jokes about how you could go to sleep at the stop and still catch it. He then chatted to us on the bus and showed us where to go off. We started to get a bit suspicious when he insisted we take the funicular railway instead of walk up to the castle. When we suggested that we might save money by walking he told us he would join us, but that he would get very puffed on the way up. Fearing our first aid knowledge may be required if we took the 350 steps up to the castle we quickly agreed to catch the funicular railway (now being replaced by a bus as it underwent repairs).

As we waited for the bus we got even more suspicious when he showed us his yearly castle admission card. We weren't sure if he was just a friendly man who liked to chat or someone who would later turn to ask and ask for money in return for his tour guide services. But we weren't really sure how to get rid of him at this stage. When we arrived at the castle, we got more suspicious as he pointed out sites in view, then offered to take our picture. Afterwards, he suggested that my friend Jessi and I begin with a walk through the extensive gardens, before paying the entry fees for the castle itself. We took up this offer and left him by the castle. 30-40 minutes later (maybe a little bit longer than he intended), we returned, having seen the gardens and taken some great pictures and he had disappeared. Perhaps he had gotten cold and lost interest in waiting for us, or perhaps he was a guide and realised that we wouldn't pay him. I hope that he was a guide and not just an innocent old man who felt like a chat, but we had no money to pay him and did not know how to get rid of him otherwise, especially when we had not hired him in the first place!

This was not the last of our strange encounters however. Whilst waiting for the bus to the Old Town and the castle, having just met our elderly friend, a tram pulled up. Jessi exclaimed and I looked up to see one of the German guys we had met in Gothenburg a few weeks earlier. The only person we knew (vaguely) in Heidelberg and we see him within an hour of setting off for the day!

Then, later that day we had an even weirder encounter. Jessi had taken a picture of a cobble-stone street with a steep slope and, without realising it, got some passers-by in the picture. She didn't think anything of it, as they were far away when the shot was taken. A few minutes later, however, we were approached by a guy who said "Did you take a Jesus picture?" Hmm. He repeated again, "Did you take a Jesus picture?". Jessi mumbled something and somehow we realised he was asking if we had just taken a picture of him. When we worked out what he meant, Jessi apologised and offered to delete the picture, pulling out her camera to show him that she was doing so. Things got weirder as he saw her camera and said "That's a nice camera" and "Is it a Sony?" (it was). Then, he said, "Ok, I'll look at the picture and see if I like it". We showed him (keeping a firm grip on the camera) and he added "what are you going to use it for?". At this point, I had my pockets concealed and my grip on my camera tightened and Jessi did the same as she offered again to delete the picture. With that, she deleted it and we walked off quickly, still confused as to what had just happened and why on earth he didn't just ask her to delete the picture if that's what his problem was (a reasonable request and one we would have done straight away).

In between all these strange encounters we got to see the magnificent castle and its view over the river and town of Heidelberg. The castle, whilst partly in ruins, is really beautiful. We also saw the German Pharmacy Museum inside the castle and an enormous beer or wine barrel that is 200 or 300 years old (no longer used as it is leaky!).

After our morning at the castle, we split a plate of schnitzel for lunch and headed down the hill (walking this time) to see the old town. The town squares, buildings, churches and cobbled streets lead to one of those moments when you have to pinch yourself, and remind yourself that you really are in Europe, this is not just a movie. After a split apfelstrudel and beer mixed with cherry juice, we continued on our way, checking out the old University and the shops along the main pedestrian street. As the rain started and got heavier, we set off for home, grabbing well earned takeaway (takeaway is too expensive in Norway, so it was the first we'd had in 2 months) on the way home.

We decided, due to our exhaustion and the knowledge we would be staying in a hostel the next night, to have a quiet night, reading and sleeping early. I think we both fell asleep really early, to the melodic strains of fire engines. Either there was something big happening in Heidelberg that night or we were staying near the fire engine depot, as we saw at least 6 within about 10 minutes and heard many more during the night.

I woke up the next day and stooped to a new low in my traveling history. Having packed in somewhat of a rush, in the midst of changing plans, I had forgotten to bring a towel. One day without a shower was bearable, but there was no way I was going to go 2 days. It was time for big decisions, and such decisions were made, resulting in my t-shirt being used as a towel. Works fine, as long as you don't wash your hair!

After a relaxing shower, we set off again to check out the old bridge in Heidelberg. We strolled along the river, taking in the gorgeous houses on the river bank and the beautiful, verdant, rolling hills by the river. We admired the bridge and strolled a little more around the old town before heading back to the train station to catch our train to Frankfurt.

The train to Frankfurt was uneventful, as we enjoyed the bag of apples, small jam jar and loaf of bread we'd bought to serve as breakfast and lunch for the day, in our fit to spend less than 5 euro on the day's meals (total cost of breakfast and lunch: 1.4 euros each). We'd even 'borrowed' a wooden disposable fork from a takeaway shop we passed on the way in order to spread the jam on our gourmet lunch.

Arriving in Frankfurt, a city of 600,000 people was a shock. Despite only being 100,000 more than Oslo, it was disorientating arriving at a station bigger than Southern Cross or Sydney's Central station. It felt like there were people everywhere!

As we stepped out of the train station, I instantly felt at home and was glad we'd decided to go to both Heidelberg and Frankfurt, the only city in Germany that's allowed to have skyscrapers. In fact, Frankfurt (on the river Main, pronounced like Mine) often gets nicknamed Main-hatten!

Our hostel was only a few minutes walk from the train station and as we got closer we could see why the hostel was advertised with a warning about it being in the red-light district:

"! IMPORTANT NOTE !
YES WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REDLIGHT DISTRICT.
But we can assure you that it is not dangerous, in fact most of our guests think it’s rather funny, check the ratings.
IF You feel you could possibly feel offended insecure: take the HI-HOSTEL in Sachsenhausen, buy the membership card and enjoy the beautiful view on the river (it really is) and the 25 min. train ride from the Main Station."

I read the reviews from customers extensively before booking, and it really did look safe and like the best hostel in Frankfurt. I was not disappointed: it was only a few minutes walk from the station, on the very edge of a super-tame red-light-district, with wide open streets full of people. The hostel itself had great security, included swipe card access and under-bed luggage lockers, very friendly staff and was new and very clean. When we rocked up, we were checked in by a very laid back Aussie girl who did not charge us anything for the two nights we had apologetically canceled last minute when our plans changed . We were given free linen (including a towel!), unlike other hostels I've stayed at, and given maps and heaps of advice about where to go. The Aussie girl then gave us some croissants left over from breakfast and offered us some of her vegemite if we wanted it. A very warm welcome!

Our rooms were not ready yet, so we locked our bags in the luggage room and set off to explore the city. I really like Frankfurt and can't see why people suggested I shouldn't bother going there. Yes, it is modern Germany, but as well as the banks and skyscrapers for which it is known, it also has some quaint streets in which the oldest building was built in something like the 1100s, a wide river with lots of bridges, and a really gorgeous, European town square, complete with 600 yr old town hall and a row of old houses. And don't get me started on all the museums (which we didn't really get time to go to: next time!).

We strolled around most of it, stopping for a glass of the local speciality, Apfelwein (like apple cider) and a trip to the supermarket to buy a drink for the evening. It's such a treat to be able to buy a bottle of wine for 1.99 euro (around $4AU) in the ordinary aisles of the supermarket, compared the the same bottle of wine costing 80-100 NOK (around $20-25) and only being available for purchase before 6pm on weekdays and even earlier on Saturdays in Norway.

After completing our shopping and having takeaway dinner again (3 euro, under the 5 euro limit we set!) we made our way back to the hostel for a shower and a drink before we decided what to do for the evening.

Thus refreshed and happy we decided to find out what to do for the night. One of our options was an organised pub crawl, run by a tour group in Frankfurt. For 10 euro, they took you to 4 pubs and covered your entry fee as well as a shot in each place, and one for the road. We were a bit reluctant to do this, but when we asked the girl in the hostel where to go, she advised us that most places have a 5-10 euro cover charge, not including drinks. Suddenly the pub crawl seemed like a good idea, and even better, it was leaving in 10 minutes.

We raced over to the station and found a group of Germans and tourists standing around. Unfortunately, they would only run the pub crawl if they had a minimum of 10 customers, and as there were only 8 of us they would not do it. Nevertheless, they gave us a free shot of Jagermeister and suggested that we as a group go to the nearby Irish pub for karaoke night with no entry fee. This idea was agreed on by the group and we duly set off.

So there we were: Aussies (Jessi and I), Germans, and an Irishman working in Germany, drinking Guinness and Bulmers in an Irish pub, singing English, Irish, German, US and Aussie songs in the financial heart of Germany. Jessi and I stole the show (not quite) with 'Land Down Under' and even the most reluctant of our group got up to do one number or another (My Way, 99 Red Balloons, Wonderwall etc). Half the group were staying in the hostel so we walked home together at 2:15, and the others I believe continued on until 4.

Bleary eyed, I awoke the next morning at 7:30 to pack up and check out before meeting my friend at 8:30. I met Jana (through her sister who I'm good friends with in Oslo) the day before we went on the Hurtigruten and was very keen to see her again, as we got along really well on the boat. Jana was born 3 days after Elissa, and her younger sister, Lena, was born 1 day after me!

We went for breakfast at 8:30 and had a very enjoyable morning, feasting, chatting and laughing. Jana's mum had sent her off with money and instructions to take me out to breakfast (despite having never met me, she'd heard about our trip, seen the photos and had loved the email I wrote in sketchy German to Jana encouraging her to join facebook so we could keep in touch) and an invitation to stay with them in the summer and Jana had woken up at 6:30am despite a big night the night before to come into Frankfurt to meet with me. After breakfast, we bought some treats for me to take back to Lena and headed to the bus, parting with a big hug at 10 to 12 and vague plans for the two of them to come to Aus next year for medical placements.

Another mammoth journey by bus (2hr), plane (2 hr), bus (2 hr), train (15 min) and bus up the hill laden with German chocolates and duty-free alcohol and Jessi and I were home in time for Earth hour, a quick dinner and bed!

Pictures of Germany and Sweden (just for Steve) shall come up in the next few days...

Anneke

Hurtigruten day 7 (17/3) - last day :(

Today dawned bright and sunny as if to taunt us by reminding us how good life on the ship was. Somberly we headed up for our last breakfast, last time in our cabins, last relaxation in the panorama lounge, last approach to port....

On the way up to the panorama lounge after breakfast we met the restaurant manager in the lift. Seeing bags, he asked us if we were leaving. We told him we were but that we were very sad to go and would do anything to stay. He advised us that he was looking for some new restaurant staff. It's probably a good thing my Norwegian is not yet good enough, otherwise it may have been some time before you saw me again.

At dinner on the second night of the trip, we'd met a lovely elderly German lady called Barbel. She was a veteran of more than 60 trips over 30 years on the Hurtigruten and had many stories to tell us of her time on the ships. She has also travelled around Norway on land, and has learnt Norwegian (as well as speaking German and English) to communicate on her travels. She joined us for our last breakfast and we were joking with her about how sad she would be to leave us, with white handkerchiefs, a brass band and streamers on our departure.

As we got off the ship, we saw her and next thing we knew, she'd whipped out her tissues and started waving and pretending to cry. She was completing the voyage down the coast as well (which sails the same route, but the stops in the day on the way up become night time stops on the way down and vice versa) and was not going into Kirkenes or on any excursion, so she had gotten off the ship just to do that for us. Definitely an appropriate farewell!

We put our bag on the airport bus and went to get on, but it was quite full. All these people kept overtaking us to get on, yelling out in German that their bags were onboard and therefore they should get 1st priority on the bus. So we had to get on the second bus, but they wouldn't let us move our bags over. We didn't think this was a problem, until halfway to the airport we suddenly turned around. Watching out the back window as our bags sped away from us, we were totally confused until we realised the driver had forgotten to stop at all the hotels in town to pick up passengers for the airport. We were a bit tense as we did the cook's tour of the hotels in Kirkenes, wondering if we'd be traveling home a lot lighter than we should!

Luckily, we arrive at the airport just before the first bus left, and our unloaded bags were just two more bags in the chaos.

Kirkenes is a small town 10km from the Russian border, with lots of snow! All street signs are in both Russian and Norwegian. We wanted to visit the Russian border, but it was 10km in the wrong direction, and there was only 1 flight a day to Oslo! We did notice lots of army men around, which is never a bad thing...

We realised how far our journey had been when we saw a signpost on the way to the airport. It read: Roma 5102km, Bergen 2626km, Oslo 2502km. Oslo is halfway between Rome and Kirkenes!

Our flight home was over Northern Norway, Finland and Sweden and was so pretty from the air, frozen fjords, lakes and rivers. It was beautiful, but tampered a bit by our sadness that such an amazing trip had ended.

Arriving back in Oslo, which already felt a bit like coming back home, our mood improved a bit at the first signs of Spring. The snow had melted a lot (I actually saw some grass!), the air felt fresher and the sun was out.

Over our week away, we saw some wonderful sights and had unique and awesome experiences. The week long trip will definitely be a highlight of my time in Oslo. Beyond that, I also think that I have become very close to 2 of my travel companions and am already helping them to arrange trips to Australia. Sadness at the trip's conclusion mixed with joy at the fun we'd had as we said farewells to each other and went back to our rooms to unpack, sort photos (and sleep).

And we've decided to do it again, in 2019. You're welcome to join us!

Hurtigruten day 6 (16/3)

I have sailed past the northernmost town in the world. I have also driven through the northernmost town in the world. But they're two different places.

How does this work? It's simple: both Hammerfest and Honningsvåg claim to be the northernmost towns in the world. It's a tag that seems to be prevalent up north, as we passed the northernmost windfarm in the world, the northernmost brewery in the world, the northernmost point on the voyage and visited the northernmost point in Europe.

We spent the morning relaxing in the panorama lounge and then watched a film about the indigenous population of Norway, the Samis. The Samis went through a period in which the Norwegian Government tried to force integration upon them, but now encourage respect for their culture. There are now Sami TV shows, a Sami parliament and other positive signs of two diverse communities living together.

After our film, we docked in Honningsvåg, where we set off for our trip to the North Cape. We were on a bus that had both Norwegian and English speakers and the guide spoke both languages to us. On the other hand, there were at least three buses of German speakers! Pic below shows racks for drying cod. second pic shows Honningsvåg. The lines on the hillside are snow racks, used for holding snow back from the houses!

Honningsvåg, possibly the northernmost town in the world, has the only Vinmonopolet (alcohol shop) for 200km. Despite (possibly) being the northernmost town in the world, it also has a beach, which according to our guide is nicknamed Copa Cobana (see pic below)!

It was a 45 minute bus ride to the North Cape, and our guide gave us an entertaining insight into life on the island of Magerøy (on which both Honningsvåg and the North Cape are located). As we passed the petrol station, we were in the 71st latitude. Magerøy is too far north for any trees to go naturally, so if you want them in your garden you must protect them over the winter. But, despite this, it is actually far warmer than other places of its latitude, due to the gulf stream that goes up along the Norwegian coastline.

There are too many reindeer in Norway and not enough food for them all, so there is now a ban on new people entering the reindeer herding profession (and only one child of a herder can take on the family job). In addition, in April every year, the Norwegian army boats bring 3,800 reindeer onto the island of Magerøy to graze over the summer. The animals have to swim back themselves in the autumn as they cannot survive on the island over winter.

About halfway through our journey to the North Cape, the bus stopped and the guide explained that the road to the North Cape itself is closed over winter. A convoy of buses has special permission to travel along it at a certain time of the day, provided they privately fund a snow plough to travel with them. So we had to wait for a while until the snow plough arrived and could escort us up the mountain.

On the way up, there was a gorgeous view of a fjord, snowy cliffs and a sparkling blue sea. We also drove past a Sami house (not inhabited until the summer time) and a camping facility (also obviously not inhabited until the summer!). But apart from this, there were few signs of life on this lonely road, adding to the feeling of going to the world's end.

We made it up the mountain and were given about an hour and a half to look around. The North Cape seems to have attracted a strange collection of sculptures, from the 'Children of the World' sculpture which was made by a group of children who were flown from all over the world to spend a week at the North Cape; the globe sculpture near the site of the North Cape and a rock in which the King of Siam inscribed his name when he visited in the early 1900s. Until the 1950s, when they opened a road, visitors to Nordkapp (the Norwegian name) were forced to climb the cliff 308 metres from the sea.

North Cape is considered to be the northernmost point of Europe, however the real northernmost point of Europe is actually just around the bay a little bit. This was apparently only discovered when modern technology allowed for a better analysis of the position of the land, and there is very little difference between the two spots. Pic below shows us at Nordkapp, with the real northernmost point in the background.

The only building at the North Cape is the North Cape Hall, which as well as the inevitable souvenir shop and cafe, contains a chapel for weddings, a Thai museum to commemorate the King of Siam's visit, photo and art exhibitions about the North Cape and a post office. Interestingly, part of the building is underground, tunneling under the globe statue located just near the cliff.

Not far from the North Cape is another island which is the summer residence of large quantities of Puffins. The Puffins arrive there every year on the 14th of April between 3pm and 8pm and will stay there until the autumn.

We had plenty of time at the North Cape and headed off back to Honningsvåg and the ship, which waited for us as we were a bit late coming back. We got back on the ship with some sadness though, as we knew it was the last night of our magical experience.

The experiences continued though, as we sailed through some more majestic fjords and some local fisherman came on board to show us their catch of King Crab. They were brought onto the freezing deck and placed on tables for people to look at and hold whilst hearing about them and the methods used to catch them. They are huge!

After the crab visit was another highlight of the day, a buffet dinner, featuring Norway's famous seafood (including King Crab), lamb, beef and lots of amazing desserts. Knowing it was our last decent food for some time, we definitely appreciated the spread!

About 8:30 pm we were in our cabins finishing off the wine we'd brought with us (we weren't allowed to drink in public places on the ship due to liquor laws, but drinking their wine cost nearly $100). We heard an announcement on the PA and raced up on deck as there were Northern Lights to be seen. We saw some more Northern Lights, but again it was a little bit cloudy.

Retiring to our cabin again, we continued our bottle and at around 10:30 headed up on deck again, this time armed with towels, bed sheets and doona covers. We had been advised that we would be passing another Hurtigruten ship at around 11 that night, and that there was to be a competition between the two ships to see who could get the most passengers on deck waving their white towels. We took that instruction a little bit further and covered ourselves completely in white to wave at the ship passing. Again, the staff were in a fun mood as they set up banners and played music whilst we waited to pass the ship. As we passed, we all cheered and waved madly, whilst I believe the other ship contained a few passengers sedately waving their hand towels. (note: I'm the one completely covered in white)Warmed by the festivities and our extra layers we stayed on deck for a long time, watching the stars, listening to the waves underneath and watching Northern Lights in the (now clearer) sky. Later that evening we pulled into a tiny dock in which one passenger got off. Those of us still on deck in our white gear gave her a fond farewell, and applauded the work of the fork lift driver who loaded and unloaded the ship.

Hurtigruten day 5 (15/3)

We started early this morning as we had been told that we would pass a historic church, where the first baptisms in Norway took place in 999, soon after 8am. We rushed upstairs to see this historic site and very nearly blinked and missed it (see photo below). The surrounding scenery was also quite pretty, so we were still glad we'd gotten up to see it.

We spent the morning on deck, reading, viewing a film about the polar exploration history of Tromsø, our next destination, and enjoying the scenery. There are heaps of islands along the coastline, linked by ferries, undersea or underfjord tunnels and amazing bridges (an engineer's paradise). We enjoyed our homemade lunch (from the buffet breakfast!) again, supplemented with fruit from the previous day's excursion.

Approaching Tromsø we raced downstairs to get changed into warm clothes, then back up again to see the ship's arrival into the 'Paris of the North'. Tromsø is a very pretty city, with a bridge spanning the two banks on which people live, a snowy mountain in the background and an pointy arctic cathedral near the bridge (see pic- click on it for larger shot). It has the world's northernmost brewery and many monuments to Norwegian heroes such as Roald Amundsen, an arctic explorer. Tromsø is quite big, with 63,500 residents and it has its own university.

We did not get much time to look around Tromsø, as we'd signed up for an exciting adventure outside of the city: husky sledding. We were taken there by bus, going through an underground tunnel that had roundabouts and intersections, and continuing out in the countryside to the dog sledding place.

On arrival, we were given warm clothes (an all in one suit), snow boots and thick gloves and taken past the dog kennels to the sleds. The dogs were all ready to go and were yelping with excitement at the trip ahead of them. We split into pairs and were allocated to a dog team of 6-10 dogs and a sled. Our musher (driver) was a Pole who was working there for the winter and he told us that one of the dogs he was using today was a 9 month old who was being used for the first time to see how she went. According to the musher, she performed brilliantly.

Our husky sledding trip was an 8km journey through the snow, past the fjords and mountains and it was gorgeous. The dogs had a ball and kept wanting to run off into the deeper snow, which they love. One of the dogs had to poo while we were out on the track: they lift up their hind legs and keep running with their front legs!

After our sledding trip we got to wander around the kennels and meet all the dogs. The huskies are amazingly friendly: they bound up to you whenever you walk anywhere near their kennel. They love to play and steal gloves, cameras (and as I found out, the hood of your snow-suit) and they've got lots of energy.

All the dogs have their own kennels with their names on, and I notice that there is one free...
We also got to meet the puppies who are soo cute. The white one below is 4 weeks old and has the cutest blue eyes, and the other one below starting shivering when I was holding it. So gorgeous!

After our time with the dogs we got to go inside a lavvo, a traditional Sami tent with a fire inside and have tea, coffee and cake. Two of the guide told us (in french, english, german and danish) about the dogs and answered all our questions. The owners of the dog sledding place had just been away competing in a 1000km race from Finland to Kirkenes in Norway and aim to compete in the longest race in the world next year. The huskies love snow and apparently get a bit depressed in summer when there isn't any (and very hot).

We spent about 2 hours at the dog sledding place and then reluctantly had to leave. I'm surprised they didn't check more carefully to make sure none of the cuter puppies ended up in people's bags!

Upon return to the ship, we washed away the dog smell and then headed to another delicious dinner before a night of tea, songs and cards in the lounge. Later that night, the captain gave a lecture about his life, the ship and culture and industry of the region. His talk even included a demonstration of how they dry cod on huge racks in the open air, followed by some samples of cod prepared by the chef.

It took me a day or so to realise, but the atmosphere on the ship changed once we crossed the arctic circle. The reserved, dignified atmosphere that was present before was loosened up and the staff became a bit more wacky and friendly (even though they were the same staff members!) and there were more events planned.

Worn out, we decided to head to bed and had already changed into our PJs when they announced over the PA that there were some Northern Lights visible. Throwing trackies over our PJ's we raced upstairs to see them. Again, the cloudy sky obscured them a bit, but it was a great end to an exciting day!

Hurtigruten day 4 (14/3)

Off to an early start this morning as I decided to get up at 6:15 to watch us cross the Arctic Circle. It seems very few people had this idea as I was pretty much alone as we sailed past the globe on a small island that marked our passage into the Arctic Circle. I also noticed the scenery had changed slightly- there was more snow and it went the whole way down the the water. It was very cool sitting there, at 7:15 and 25 seconds, crossing into waters that are practically as far from Australia as you can get. I lost the competition though, having guessed 7:07 and 23 seconds.

As there was little else planned for the morning, I went back to bed for a snooze and woke up again later for the ceremony which we had been advised would take place at 10:30. We knew very little about it, just that there was to be a ceremony to commerate our crossing of the Arctic Circle. On deck, near the pool, we found a wheelbarrow full of ice, a bench, a trolley with wine bottles and small glasses and a stereo playing 'the final countdown'. Soon the arrival of King Neptune was announced and the ceremony was ready to begin. I don't know how many of you have met King Neptune, but let's just say he wasn't quite how I imagined (see pic below and click on it to enlarge it).

Commemoration of crossing the Arctic Circle involves baptism with a ladle of ice and water poured down your back. Wow, what a refreshing experience! After the baptism, you receive a certificate and a shot glass of wine. It was hilarious standing back after my baptism and watching the various reactions, from the reluctant (who received 2 ladles full!) to those who posed for photos.

Later that day we arrived in Bodø, a military city further up the coast. We had a lot of time to spend in Bodø, and to be honest, there is not that much to do there. We checked out the views and the cathedral in the pouring rain and then went for a wander along the dock. Luckily, there were several Norwegian Naval vessels in town at the time, and one of them was open to visitors. So we got to go and have a look and meet some sailors (but I couldn't take pictures as I had to leave my camera in a crate before boarding). I did get a picture of the sailor who minds the cameras though!

After lunch and a stroll through the shops, we went back to the ship for a swim and spa and later that day watched a film about the Northern Lights (aurora borealis). Wow. The film was a series of pictures of the Northern Lights taken over a series of 2 years, and some of the pictures were amazing. The lights are usually green and they 'dance' in the sky, but they can a range of other colours.

Dinner that night was fantastic and was followed by bridge until a brief stop in Svolvær, in the Lofoten Islands, known for their wildlife and scenery. We didn't see much of this, being 9pm at night, but we did get to go to a nearby ice bar and ice sculpture place which was fantastic. There were sculptures of local Norwegian scenes, scultures involving real fish and seaweeds, sculptures of the Lofoten Island bird and animal life and other nautical themes. A quick drink in the ice bar and we were back on the ship, ready for another round of bridge.

Later that night I had probably one of the best experiences I have ever had. At 11pm we gathered on deck and were given Norwegian fish cakes (which were pretty gross, but were good for warming hands!). We looked up and in front of us was a snow covered cliff. The sound system was playing 'sail away' by Enya and as we continued we sailed away through a gap between two parts of the cliff. We were therefore surrounded on all sides by the thick dark night, a snowy fjord, and the lights of a small fishing boat in the distance. The ship's music changed to something classical and then cut out all together as a deck full of strangers took in the majesty of the sights in front of us. The beams from the ship swung around us to highlight certain areas of the fjord and then, music playing once again, we reversed out of the fjord again (we weren't allowed to go too far in because of the danger of avalanches).

I think one of the things that added to the experience was the good humour of the ships crew who served fish cakes, arranged the music and enjoyed themselves despite the cold and late hour. The picture below was an attempt to capture this on camera but the motion of the ship and darkness of the night made it an impossible aim.

Hurtigruten day 3 (13/3)

On the third day of our trip, we docked in Trondheim very early in the morning, though after our nocturnal adventures the night before we did not see this first hand! Trondheim celebrated its 1000th anniversary about 10 years ago and it used to be the capital of Norway, so we were keen to have a look around. After a quick breakfast around 8, we set off to explore the streets of Trondheim before we left again at 12.
The docks of Trondheim are probably not the most exciting places in the world, but a short stroll through them saw us in the city itself, which was much prettier! We started off in the old part of town where we saw Norwegian coloured houses again, as well as the only bicycle lift in the world, installed to encourage locals who were scared off by an enormous hill to cycle more. It seems the bicycle lift is closed in winter however, as it was frozen over. The brave explorers (us) set off to walk up the big hill anyway and continued up to the fortress in Trondheim (Kristiansten Festning). But it was a cold day in Trondheim and the roads and rocks were icy, so we (well, I) made slow progress up the hill. The view from the top over Trondheim was nice though and we enjoyed our stroll around the cannons and buildings.

Once we descended, we headed over to the Nidaros Cathedral, which is the national cathedral of Norway and is historically very significant, having been built around 1320 over the burial site of (St) King Olav. It started snowing as we arrived at the cathedral and the graveyards, gothic architecture and snow made it look quite scary!

Covered in snow and unsure about where to go next, we decided to head for a coffee. I wanted hot chocolate, but declined when I saw it was 43NOK (around $9.50). This was a normal cafe and none of the locals seemed surprised by the prices! I settled for tea at 30NOK ($6.50) instead!

After another stroll through the town we headed back to the ship, and into the pool for a quick dip and spa! As we relaxed in the panorama lounge later, we passed a tiny red lighthouse on a small island in the middle of nowhere which used to be inhabited by a brave man and his family.

Later that day, after another fantastic 3 course meal, we stopped at Rørvik for a brief time, at the same time as the southbound Hurtigruten was there, so we were invited to go and have a look. It was the oldest in the fleet, built in the 1950s and was so different to the mammoth we were travelling on. Everything was wooden, cosy and authentic (they even had cod slung over the pipes!) and a lot smaller (see the picture below, unfortunately bad quality). On the way back, a Scotsman asked me what I thought of it, and we agreed it was gorgeous, but we were happy with the one we had, complete with spa, pool and bathrooms inside our rooms.


We finished off the night with more bridge and also posted our entries for the arctic circle competition- a competition to guess the time at which we would cross the arctic circle the next day.

Hurtigruten day 2 12/3

Before I continue with Day 2 I will fill you in on Hurtigruten.

Hurtigruten is the company that runs daily coastal ships from Bergen to Kirkenes and back again. The idea of a coastal ship started in the late 1800s as a postal and cargo shipping service and was relied on by the islands, towns and cities along the route for supplies, but also for transporting their produce to the international port of Bergen. The company has around 12 ships which go up and down the coast and also do annual or seasonal trips to Antartica, South America, Greenland and Europe. The ships vary from the traditional, cosy boats built in the 1950s to the massive modern ships, such as the one we went on. But they do not have the formality, the heavily organised programs or the facilities of traditional cruise ships. Also, they are still very much used for carrying cargo and transporting locals from port to port and thus stop up to 8 times during the day and night at tiny ports along the way. The name hurtigruten means 'the express route' in norwegian (the -en suffix is 'the').

So, back to day 2. When we awoke, something felt a bit strange and as we got up we realised we were walking a bit wonkily. We gradually got used to it and set off to level 4 for our 1st breakfast. Wow. We were served a buffet breakfast with fruits, boiled eggs, meats, cheeses, breads, cereals and yoghurt (including yummy cherry drinking yoghurt to pour on your cereal), juices, tea and coffee and some hot items to keep the Brits happy (strangely enough, one of the hot items was chicken nuggets- not that I'm complaining!). As our package did not include lunch we grabbed some bread rolls, cold meats and cheese and put our sandwiches in napkins. Free lunch! We later found out the buffet lunch cost 275NOK if we wanted it, or lunch from the onboard 24 hr cafe (for those travelling port-port) cost 70-100NOK, so we did very well with our sandwiches!

The dining room on the ship had windows everywhere so we enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful sunny day as we ate a leisurely breakfast. We passed the west cape at one stage, which is as far west as Amsterdam or Marseille and went for a brief wander in a small town called Torvik during our 15 minute stop there. The rest of the morning we spent exploring the ship and reading in the panorama lunch, as well as taking brief spells of cold air on the deck!

At lunch time we arrived in Aalesund (Aa is the same as the A with the circle on top, pronounced a bit like the word 'awe'), which was absolutely stunning from the harbour, and only got better. Aalesund is a city built over several islands, with snowy mountains in the background. It was destroyed by a fire in 1904 and the whole of Europe got together and donated money for it to be rebuilt. It took 3 years to rebuild and it was rebuilt in an art nouveau style. Interestingly, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II (who had holidayed in the area) send 4 boats with temporary shelters and provisions to the town the day after the fire and thus a street was named after him.

Once we got off the ship, we climbed the 418 steps to a lookout on the Aksla mountain. The climb left us breathless, not only from the 418 steps but because of the beauty of the view the whole way up. In a 180 degree panorama you could see the fjord and Atlantic ocean with nearby islands, the snowy alps of Sunnmøre and the gorgeous colourful town with pretty bridges. Wow.

At the lookout at the top of the hill we had our lunch and looked at a map which showed us the location of the road tunnels under the fjord we were looking at. It also pointed out the location of the oil rigs nearby (famous for making Norway the rich country it is). Norway is full of tunnels and bridges that link small islands and coastal towns separated by fjords.

After climbing down the steps we strolled around the town and took in the art nouveau architecture, before heading back to the ship for a swim, spa and sauna, followed by another brief stopover in a town called Molde, which had a nice view over a nearby fjord. Molde is a modern town, as it was almost completely destroyed by WW2 and this seems to be common for many of the towns along the coastline.

After a delicious three course meal (clipfish salad, chicken and cheesecake) we retired to the lounge where they offered free tea and coffee (any other time during the day you had to pay for it) and a crooner from Bulgaria (who was quite good, singing old favourites such as 'what a wonderful world' and 'you look wonderful tonight'). We played Uno and then bridge and probably had 3 or 4 cups of tea each and enjoyed the night-time scenery.

At 10:15pm we pulled into Kristiansund (not to be confused with Kristiansand in the south of Norway) for a brief stop. It was magical approaching the town, and like a story book as we saw a little island (linked to the others by a bridge). The dominant building on the island was a church, surrounded by picturesque coloured houses. To complete the picture, a full moon was in the background, making it all look like a Christmas card picture.

Tired but happy after our day, we went to bed around 11, but got a surprise at 12:30 when the phone in our cabin rang. The previous day we had been told that we could register with reception to receive a telephone call if there were any Northern Lights to be seen during the night. We didn't expect this to occur so far south, but were thrilled to throw clothes over our PJs and race up on deck to see them. It was a bit cloudy so they were not as spectacular as pictures I have seen, in which the whole sky is green, but it was thrilling to stand on the icy deck in the pitch dark night, with the rush of waves 5 floors below us, and see these flashes of light in the sky.

Hurtigruten, day 1 (11/3)

Hei hei!

I have just arrived back in Oslo after a week on the Hurtigruten ship and I still feel like the earth is rocking slightly! I had an absolutely amazing trip, travelling 2300 km up the coast of Norway, from Bergen, in the south west of Norway to Kirkenes in the north-east and 10km from the Russian border.

After a frantic week last week, cumulating in a presentation on the Wednesday morning, we raced back home, ate lunch caught a bus, a train and then another train for our 3pm flight to Bergen. At Oslo airport, we were not surprised to see that, whilst warmer in Bergen, the forecast was for rain, as apparently Bergen is always wet!


Our 45 min flight was magnificant, over houses surrounded by snowy fields, roads and forests. It was a beautiful day for flying, sunny and clear, and as we approached Bergen we began to see fjords, bridges and islands. We were surprised to find a gorgeous sunny day in Bergen as well when we landed and took the bus from the airport past fishing villages, bridges and fjords. One thing I particularly love about Norway is the housing- all the houses are brightly coloured reds, yellows, greens and blues.

Bergen is a gorgeous place, quite similar to Hobart, with a harbour-town feel and a huge mountain in the background (except it was covered in snow!) We strolled round for an hour or so, looking at the gorgeous harbour and the famous row of coloured waterfront shops there. The relaxed feel and the sunshine definitely made it a special place!


We then dragged our bags round to the Hurtigruten terminal and got our first glimpse of the ship, MS Finnmarken. Wow- it was huge! Excited, we raced into the terminal, which was elegant and quite cleanly decorated. We were so excited when we checked in our bags (they loaded them to our cabin for us) and got our ID card for the ship etc. Then we got to board, going through a glass walkway onto the ship for the first time.


Each passenger is given an ID card which has their name and cabin number on it. This is scanned every time they enter or exit, in order to quickly determine who is and is not aboard. The ID card is also used to access the cabins, marked with the meal package you receive to display on entry to the dining room, and can be used as a charge card to buy things aboard.

Our cabin was an inside cabin on the 3rd floor of the ship, so we raced down then and started to unpack. Each cabin was for 2 people, and contained a couch that folded into a bed, another bed that folded into the wall, a small bathroom, a fridge and a desk with a chair. There was a surprising amount of space in the cabins, and plenty of room for all our belongings!

After a brief spot of unpacking (we'd only brought 2 suitcases between the four of us) we set off to explore the ship, taking in the dining room, gym, sauna, outside (heated) spa and swimming pool, bars and panorama lounge, with windows on 3 sides to view the scenery. There was also a beautiful view over Bergen at night.

After seeing the dining room, we decided it was dinner time and set off to eat. Before entering the dining room, after eating, when embarking and disembarking you are required to use an alcohol rub on your hands to prevent the spread of infection. This was put in place after an outbreak of gastro 2 years ago on a Hurtigruten ship, and seems to have worked!

Our meal package included breakfast and dinner, and I'm so glad it did! The first night, we had a buffet that was utterly amazing, with lots of Norwegian seafood (I've never seen so many types of herring- steamed, tomato sauce, curry sauce etc) and delicious desserts, particularly berries which grow well in Norway because of the extended sun in summer.

After dinner we had a briefing in which we were told about the ship and safety instructions. It was here we learnt some more about our fellow passengers. For a start, we were by far the youngest (easily 30 years younger than the other passengers) and as such we were stared at a lot. In addition, I'd say 80% of the ship were German, apparently Hurtigruten is marketed extensively in Germany and certainly we got a far better deal from booking in Germany than we would have anywhere else (I was travelling with 2 German sisters and a Swiss girl). As a result of this, the staff on the ship are amazing. All announcements were made in at least Norwegian, English and German, and some were if French if the person doing the other announcements spoke French as well. In particular, the tour manager was hilarious, telling jokes in all 3 (sometimes four) languages! Everyone, dining room staff, bar staff, cleaning staff, reception staff spoke at least English and Norwegian, and usually German as well.

The safety suits are hilarious. Due to the fact the water is quite cold, as well as a life jacket youa required to dress in a bright orange all in one suit, which was demonstrated to us by the safety officer on the ship.


We stood on the outside deck as we left Bergen, taking pictures and watching the lights get smaller. Then we jumped into the spa (heated to 38 degrees) and sat there on deck as we set off on what is marketed as 'the world's most beautiful voyage'...