Auckland to Dubai

We headed off from Morrinsville about 11.30 am and met up with Mum, Wendy and Jeff for lunch at Summerset. We left the car at Wendy's and she took us to the airport in the rain. We were checked in,Lue lisää
Dubai to Helsinki

We only had a couple of hours in transit in Dubai so by the time we got through immigration and found the gate for our next flight to Heathrow it was nearly boarding time. It was nice to have aLue lisää
Helsinki

I woke about 6 am. It looked to be getting light about 3 am. We had breakfast in the hotel and then headed out walking. The temperature was about 8 degrees but a beautiful blue sky morning. AfterLue lisää
Helsinki

Another beautiful crisp morning. I managed a quick run before breakfast and then we all met up at 11 am for a tour of Helsinki. The tour included the Senate Square, the Russian Orthodox Church, theLue lisää
Helsinki

Yet another beautiful morning and another leisurely start. We all met up at 11 am to transfer to the port for our ferry ride to Suomenlinna Island which is fortress built by Sweden at the entrance toLue lisää
Helsinki to Stockholm

We had another relaxed start to the day so I headed out for a couple of laps of Central Park over the road from the hotel. After breakfast we packed our bags and headed down to meet up with the restLue lisää
Stockholm

We woke at 4 am when the ship docked at an island briefly. We were then up early and down to breakfast. I then spent an hour up on deck taking photos as we made our way through the thousands ofLue lisää
Stockholm

After a great night's sleep and breakfast we headed off about 11am and walked to the docks for a cruise around the harbor and the city taking in the fifteen bridges and the 14 islands on whichLue lisää
Stockholm to Copenhagen

We were up at 6 am this morning and down for an early breakfast before meeting at 8.15 to walk around the corner to the Stockholm central train station. We boarded our train to Copenhagen about 9.30Lue lisää
Copenhagen

Up early and out for a short run to help move yesterday's pork along. After breakfast we boarded our bus
to travel to the island of Fyn, and the city of Odense which was the childhood home of HansLue lisää
Copenhagen

A leisurely start to our Sunday. We boarded our bus at 10 am and drove to see the home of the Danish Parliament and the opera house before heading down to the new harbour which was developed in theLue lisää
Hamburg

After a good night's sleep I managed a run before breakfast and then it was time to pack the suitcases and get on the bus for our day traveling to Germany. Another day another country a differentLue lisää
Hamburg

A reasonably early start at 9 am this morning. We began what was going to be a 3 hour walking tour with a visit to St Michael's church next to the hotel. The interior is far more impressive than theLue lisää
Bremen

Getting used to these leisurely starts. On the bus at 10 am heading for Brenan in Germany. Not a lot of traffic heading out of Hamburg but thousands of trucks crawling along the autobahn heading forLue lisää
Amsterdam

We were on the road at 9 am for our 5 hour journey to Amsterdam. We had a couple of stops along the way and finally arrived in Amsterdam at about 3 pm. After checking in we bundled through someLue lisää
Amsterdam

After a brilliant run of weather with only a few spots of rain in Copenhagen today dawned cloudy and cold. We all formed up at 10 am and walked into the heart of the city. It rained on and off andLue lisää
Rotterdam

We boarded our bus for our transfer to Rotterdam at 11am which was also when the rain arrived. The bus took about one and a half hours to get to the cruise terminal and by then the rain had set in. OnLue lisää
The North Sea

We slept in a bit and awoke to a drizzly morning. We had a nice breakfast and I met up with Brian to the Pickle Ball court for an introduction to Pickle Ball. Unfortunately the courts are on the topLue lisää
Eijford

After going to bed at 11 we were awake at 3.30 am with the sensor light in the cabin coming on every time Gaye moved. By then it was getting light so we dressed and went back up to the Crows Nest onLue lisää
Alesund

It got a bit rock n roll in the night as we headed back out into the North Sea and headed north towards Alesund. As we lost cell phone coverage for some unknown reason my phone reset the time toLue lisää
Nordfjord

Not wanting a repeat of the previous morning we set the alarm for 7 am and had breakfast in the main dining room which was a nice change from the organised chaos of the Lido deck.
The ship had dockedLue lisää
Bergen

We both slept well and were up at 7 am before the ship docked in Bergen. Bergen is the second largest city in Norway and also one of the wetest so we ventured ashore on our own today carrying a packLue lisää
At Sea

Today the ship was at sea as we make our way back to Rotterdam arriving tomorrow morning which will mark the end of the first leg of our cruise. Gaye is suffering from a bit of a bad back which hasLue lisää
Rotterdam

We woke early to find that the ship was already tied up at its home port of Rotterdam. After the usual scrimmage that is breakfast in the Lido restaurant we got ready to head ashore for a look around.Lue lisää
At Sea Again

Of our group of 13 there are only 3 of us that haven't succumbed to a cold-like bug that is nasty enough to put most people out of commission for several days. I developed a bit of a cough last nightLue lisää