• Wayne Stollery

Scandinavia

En 37-dags äventyr från Wayne Läs mer
  • Skjolden

    2 juni, Norge ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We were up before 7 am this morning as Linzi had arranged for us all to have breakfast at our table in the main dining room to celebrate Fiona's birthday. After that it was all ashore for a walk around the small town of Skjolden which is home to some 200 poor souls who must hate it when a cruise ship with 2,500 passengers descends on their town. It is located at the top of Fjord which is over 200 kilometres deep. We grabbed the compulsory cinnamon bun and walked up the hill behind the town to a lookout. The going was steep and the last part was single track, slippery and rocky but Gaye with her new found strength crushed it. No doubt she will feel her back and legs tomorrow. Once we returned down the hill to the town we stopped for a hot chocolate and a beer before walking part way around the lake behind the town and then back to the ship. I was buggered by the time we got back and slept until happy hour.
    Dinner was great and we then we to a juggling show which was also very good. I keep getting notifications on my phone of strong aurora activity every evening but by the time it is starting to get dark at 11 pm it has clouded over. Frustrating. Went to bed feeling a bit under the weather with a cold.
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  • Ulvik

    3 juni, Norge ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    Yesterday the captain announced that the weather forecast for this afternoon in the North Sea was for winds of 40 to 50 knots and that it had been decided that overnight we would head for Ulvik which is at the head of Fjord and next to Eijford that we had visited last week. There is no wharf there so the only way ashore is by using the ship's tenders. After our heroics of yesterday we decided on a recovery day on the boat and declined Linzi's suggested walk ashore. After breakfast in our cabin we doped ourselves up and walked a couple of laps of deck 3 where to our surprise we found the sun to be shining and that it was quite warm. We watched the tenders ferrying people ashore which seemed to be quite well organized and then climbed the stairs to deck 10 where we secured a couple of sun loungers and enjoyed a coffee looking out over the beautiful bay. We had a pizza for lunch and relaxed there until about 3.30 pm before heading to happy hour and the trivia quiz at 4. Busy day. We met up with the rest of the group for drinks at 7 followed by dinner and a show. By the time we were going to bed at 11pm it was getting noticeably rougher with a 3 metre swell in the open sea.Läs mer

  • Kristiansand

    4 juni, Norge ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We were scheduled to be in Mandal today but because of the sea conditions it was decided that the ship would anchor in the more sheltered harbour at Kristiansand today and that people would be tendered ashore. Apparently it was quite lumpy during the night but we didn't really notice it and slept quite well. We woke to the sight of a huge German cruise ship berthed close by. It has over 5,000 passengers on board!!. Imagine the fight for breakfast on that. After our own breakfast bun fight on the Lido deck we met up with Russ and caught a tender ashore. Kristiansand is the known as the Riviera of Norway with a milder climate and sandy beaches. It is a lovely town with some interesting buildings including an old grain silo that has been converted into a modern art gallery and only opened in 2024. We paid the entry fee for a look around. The art was not really our cup of tea but the conversion of the building was amazing.
    We then returned to the ship for a little down time before Happy Hour and the trivia quiz at 4 pm. We managed to get Russ, Suzanne and Heather to join us and Brian and Jill also made a late appearance.
    After dinner we were in bed by 10.30 pm for an early night by recent standards.
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  • Oslo

    5 juni, North Sea ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    We were up at 7 am and drew back the curtains to find a beautiful blue sky sunny day. After an early breakfast which was less of a bun fight than usual I booked tickets for us on the Hop On Hop Off bus and we disembarked to find the ship berthed next to the huge new Opera House with a sloping marble roof that you can walk over.
    We caught the bus out to the V sculpture park which is a beautiful park on the outskirts of the city dedicated to the life of the Norwegian artist . He created all of the sculptures for the park but died before it was officially opened. It is a beautiful place.
    From there we decided to walk back to the ship and managed to navigate our way to the royal palace, the concert hall, the old fort and military barracks, the building where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every year and then to the Opera House for a walk over the roof before returning to the ship for a late lunch.
    After lunch it was time to catch on some emails and download photos off of the camera.
    We made it to Happy Hour and later met up with our group for drinks and dinner and to swap stories of our day.
    Oslo is a lovely city and we could have easily spent another couple of days there.
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  • At Sea For The Last Time

    6 juni, North Sea ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    We enjoyed breakfast in our cabin this morning and a relaxed start to our last day on the ship. It was a grey morning. After breakfast we did 3 laps of the third deck before having a coffee on deck 10.
    We met up with most of the group for happy hour and participated in the quiz which surprisingly the boys managed to beat the girls in despite being outnumbered. Happy hour continued on until dinner at 7.30 so everyone was quite merry by the end of the night. There was a beautiful sunset at 11 pm to cap off our last day on the ship
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  • Alpen en der Rein

    7 juni, Nederländerna ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Gaye was awake before the 6 am and primed for action. We had a final breakfast bun fight on the Lido deck and made ready for the expected chaos of disembarking with 2,500 other passengers. We decided to take our own bags off which meant that we could disembark at any time rather than have to wait for an allocated time slot. We were meant to meet up with the rest of the group at 8.45 am in the terminal so began our escape at about 8 am only to find that there was only a short queue and we were the first of our group off within about 15 minutes. We said our goodbyes to everyone as they headed to their bus transfer to the airport.
    After a short wait outside the terminal Theo arrived and took us to their place where we relaxed and caught up on their news and told them about our trip to date.
    It was a drizzly sort of day but we put our coats on and headed into town for supplies before enjoying a beautiful dinner and talking the night away.
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  • Delft

    8 juni, Nederländerna ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We all slept in until after 8am and were a bit slow getting into action. Theo and I booked tickets for a tour of the Delft ceramic pottery and after breakfast we headed off for the day. Delft is a beautiful old town and we both agreed that the further we get from Amsterdam the more we like the Netherlands. Delft has a huge cathedral in which all the expired Kings and Queens of the Dutch Royal Family are buried. It's main claim to fame was its ceramic pottery which was inspired by the Chinese and date back to . At its peak there were over 30 potterys in the are. The Delft pottery we visited is the sole remaining pottery and has the royal endorsement. The tour was great and took us through the history of the pottery and the manufacturing process. By the time we emerged from the pottery it had stopped drizzling and we were able to enjoy a bite of lunch and wander the streets of the beautiful old town. We headed home late afternoon for a beautiful dinner at home and another late night talking. One of our best days of the trip to date.Läs mer

    Resans slut
    13 juni 2025