Various but just to update you all along the way

Hey there sorry i've been away for a whilst but here's the first of two updates today.....

So hit the ground running I needed to, and thankfully I managed to as it was back to earth with a quite literal bump as I landed in Manchester on the 21st May!! 2 days before I was due to start work again.

Still it felt good in a way to be back in the UK even if it as just for a couple of really manic days.

After getting pretty much everything I needed to do done, and having my first acupuncture I set off from home on the Sunday morning at 4am, with the destination Southampton. I made good time, then again on a bank holiday weekend and so early in the morning 90Mph was always gonna be achievable, and not a bobby in sight!! Genius!!

I arrived early doors and managed to get myself signed on all but straight away which was great and then headed into Southampton to grab a quick bite to eat.

I’m going to admit right now that after the way things went over the winter I’d grown increasingly apprehensive about coming back onboard the Boudicca, but I have to thank the real friends who are still here for the way they welcomed me back and it became rapidly clear that someone who o won’t dignify by mentioning her name had left a pretty poor reputation.

I got the impression from that moment on that things might just go my way after all this summer, it’s earl doors, but we’re heading to Norway and I get to spend most of two days with Laura too, what could go wrong.

So the cruise began and our first port of call was Zeebrugge, now I’d hoped to either get myself to Brugge or to Ghent, and the Agent, Geert, was duly willing to take me there however this being my second full day onboard sadly work took precedence and I remained onboard for the duration of our short stay.

The day after was a day at sea and allowed me to get things 70% back to the way I wanted them, however a hotel meeting and formal night had me scurrying about to try and ensure things were in place for the next port of Bergen.

So bring on Bergen, Norway and for the second time in three years this was my first Norwegian port of the summer. It was also my first time as full time manager for the summer season, and my first time working with our port lecturer Siren. Bergen is always a favourite as there is so much to do and see.

The morning was pretty busy as there was a wet dispatch to deal with and all of the tours went off on time, however there were some rather frustrating guests who elected to return to their cabin without informing anyone and as a result came pretty close to missing there tour. Still all went off in the end on time and I asked Norma to take care of the afternoon tour.

It left me to head into Bergen Matty to get our Wi-Fi on and get some unforgettably expensive pizza, that said I had actually forgotten just how expensive Peppes can be!! It was a good afternoon though peppered with rain showers continuously but then again what would Bergen be without a little rain.

So onwards to the double port day of Flam and Gudvangen which was fantastic as it meant I got to see Laura, and even better than that because of our brilliant Captain she got to sail with us from Flam and down the Naeroy fjord to Gudvangen. The day started off wet and pretty cold with plenty of snow in the mountains but it turned out a really sunny day with blue skies even if the temperature didn’t warm up too much.

I took a walk around the perimeter of the fjord to one of the smaller waterfalls in the afternoon after the afternoon tour had gone of to the Stalheim hotel and the Tvinde waterfall. The area at the foot used to have a footpath all the way along the edge of the water but due to numerous rockfalls the walkway is now slightly hazardous.

It was a fantastic day as I got to see some old friends again from the Prince, especially in the afternoon as both ships were at anchor so plenty of people managed to get ashore, It was nice to see Ellen and Hayley again as well as Ash.

I left Laura behind, again, but it wasn’t all-bad as we were docked together again in Eidfjord the day after. So we arrived in Eidfjord and once again it was pretty cool in terms of temperature, something I was very surprised about. There was once again a lot of snow in the mountains and even people on the tours were coming back stating they were amazed at how much snow there was in the mountains.

It was another great day though, the Prince arrived around lunch time and hopefully I’ll get some images put up on here of both ships in Eidfjord soon.

Laura and I grabbed some lunch in one of the local cafes and then took a walk around the fjord and it was actually just nice to get to spend so much time together over the two days considering we hadn’t seen each other for around a month.

Sadly though once again we had to say goodbye, which was a bit gutting but we know we’ll be docked together again in around 3 weeks time in Bergen.

Actually one of the best things about sailing in and around Norway is the tiny villages which we cruise past and sometimes in between and this was one of those occasions. At around 11pm with the sun yet to set en route to Farsund we passed through a narrow channel of water and the small town of Haugesand.

Moving onwards to the next port of call, which was a new one for me, the port of Farsund, in Norway. Sadly due to a lifeboat drill, paperwork, preparation for the next cruise, the FA Cup Final and an earlier sailing time my time was limited to just an hour in town. I went in with Matt, Amy, Andi and Hayley - and we decided on the great mode of transport of the mountain bike. Very strange bikes indeed, just a front brake and to operate the back brake we had to cycle backwards, slightly confusing!!

Still a very nice small Norwegian town, with a canon fired upon our arrival, a greeting from the mayor - who also guided one of the coaches - as well as a number of other locals welcoming the ship and our guests upon arrival.
That about wraps up my first week back onboard and I’m pleased to say no major disasters, I got to see Laura again, some familiar faces, some of which hopefully I can introduce you too in the course of the customary images which hopefully will accompany this blog.

Stay well all and I’ll be back soon with some tales of the baltics…..

So there ya have it, thats upto about 3 weeks ago, another update is coming soon....

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