Cruise day 6 Deck quoits, whales and the midnight sun cruising in Norway July 20th 2019 After staying up until after 2:30am we had a bit of a lie-in this morning and I even passed up on a late breakfast, opting for an early lunch instead. Prior to that we sat out in the sun (I had my hat on Mum) writing blogs and enjoying the views. We are still sailing down the fjords so we have views on both sides. Later.... It’s strange how you do very little all day but are never bored and are left wondering how you would ever fit in attending the dinner service. Suddenly two hours out of your day seems like such a waste, particularly when the food is good at the buffet anyway. And you get coffee. We ... read more

Cruise day 5 Our last sunset and sunrise and finding our tribe July 19th 2019 Claire must have needed some sleep as she slept for over 13 hours and didn’t even set an alarm for ridiculous o’ clock or have a pointy stick. Crazy days. She woke at 10am and, after a late breakfast we headed up on deck as we were passing Torghatten. This is a small hat-shaped mountain with a hole in it. Our onboard expert told us, over the tannoy, the true story of how trolls made the hole then made up some nonsense about rock erosion. The twerp. The weather is glorious and it was nice hearing tales of rain back home...for the gardens I mean....obvs. One thing I haven’t mentioned so far is the hand sanitizing. To stop the spread of ... read more

Cruise day 2 Posh togs and the ship bore July 16th 2019 Despite being warned that the clocks were going forward an hour we expected our Apple watches and iPhones to do their usual thing. But there’s no internet....so no automatic updating....so we walked through the lounge where we were due to see the talk on our first destination, Andalsnes and everyone was already there....over an hour early... Aah. Quick breakfast (really good!) and we sneaked back into the talk which by now was standing room only. Luckily we hadn’t missed much. Our devices are now the right time. Next up was a talk on Ice: Frozen Landscapes and Polar Seas where we sat at the front as Claire had left her glasses in the cabin. It was a bit warm in there and the speaker ... read more

2:30am Saturday morning. The alarm goes off. I can finally get up and admit that I am having no sleep. I’ll sleep in the car on the way to the airport I think. That didn’t happen. I never thought I’d sleep on the plane and I was right. We’re flying Ryanair, I’m 6’ 3”. It’s not going to happen. I’d have to go a week without sleep to even nap on most planes never mind a Ryanair one with all their announcements about scratch cards (that I’ve never seen anyone buy) etc and the minimalist leg room. Three of us arrive in Hamburg. Dave is joining us by train. Don’t ask. We’re in Hamburg before he has left Manchester. We get off the plane, Suzanne gets on the bus, the doors close. Now there are two ... read more

Tanzania day 13 Three adventures in one day including giant tortoises on Changuu, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa. We had a bit of a shock this morning when some hot water came out of the shower. It didn’t last long but we have called the relevant authorities and the Garden Lodge will hopefully be dealt with accordingly. Claire was so disturbed she threw the toilet roll into the toilet. We failed to sleep though to a 7am alarm despite staying up late last night writing about what an exciting day we had yesterday. There was no noise-we have seen no other guests where we are-but we were both awake by 6:30. After breakfast up on the roof, this time even better as they had avacado, it was time for another trip. Today was our rest day and before ... read more