Woke up with the sun coming in the un-curtained windows. Allowed us to look at nature all night - behind closed eyes. Still looked good this morning. As we were walking to breakfast we heard the sound of a jet. Next thing a fighter jet zooms overhead into the wild blue yonder. Turns out the nearby airport is also a military base. This thing was going very fast and the noise went on for quite a while. Nice breakfast then went back and finalized packing. Called our valet service who picked us and our bags up. Stored the bags at the hotel and headed off on foot to Santa’s village. A 30 minute walk. Again, whine walking a couple more jets went screeching over us. This time different colored planes. Maybe Air Force and navy - ... read more

Last full day on the ship. Today we have 2 excursions. The North Cape and then a Sami experience. Beautiful sunny day again so we reckon we are in for a treat at the North Cape. Wrong. Got on the bus. Guide says we might have fog to deal with. We think he is full of it until we get closer. Sure enough, fog. Get to the visitor Centre and walk out the door towards the point where everyone has pics taken. A large globe structure. This is about 100 meters from the Centre. Can’t see the globe. Get there and we can see a bit. Take pics but can’t see anything else. Cold as buggery so head back indoors where they have a movie experience of the cape to watch. Those with glasses have de-fogged ... read more

Today we had around 2.5 hours in Trondheim. This is a pretty little town with a huge cathedral as its main attraction. Pleasant walk after breakfast through the very empty streets. Not much happens on a Saturday. Got up the cathedral and paid our entry. Timing was excellent as an English tour was starting in 5 minutes. Informative talk about this cathedral and its origins and how many times it has been destroyed by fire and re-built (at least 5). Wandered back along the river to the ship and straight into lunch. Then we had a discussion on the Norwegian history and stuff. Sun was shining so it was hard to concentrate on a book but also able to look at the passing sights so a pleasant afternoon. Found out that Ralph used to be the ... read more

Woke up in Bergen. A good thing after arriving here last night…. Weather was looking a little better but lots of clouds around. Busy busy breakfast then checked out, left our bags in the luggage room and hit the streets. Walked quite a bit around the fish markets, then all the small food places along the waters edge and finally made it to the funicular. People everywhere. A cruise ship in port today so we were queuing with all the unwashed. Finally got in and a car was about to leave. They had the front cabin closed off but as we were about to squeeze in to another one they opened it up. Meant we got to stand right on the window. Great views on the way up. Views back down once we landed were spectacular. ... read more

Winds have dropped so we are good to go for Reykjavík. Over the mountains on gravel again but a really scenic drive. Got into the burbs of Reykjavík and decided to go and do one of their tourist attractions before I took the van back to its home. This place is called “Perlan” and it represents Iceland’s fire, ice and water. Very impressive building and the displays were also very impressive. Into an ice cave at one stage. Froze my bits off. But worth the experience. Out and off up our hotel where I will drop the girls with all the luggage and go out to the airport to drop the van off. Tiny little streets in Reykjavík so had to be extra cautious with mirrors and street widths. Dropped off ok then I set off. ... read more