Category: Norway

Who would watch videos of sinking cruise ships when on a cruise in the Arctic? The answer is probably only Karen Griffiths.

I couldn’t fault the food, the company, and the decor. However, it was all a bit boring for me. I am not really the type who enjoys the same routine of walking around a boat, then eating tiny plates of food, followed by another walk around the boat, then eating more lovely food, walking again, around the boat, in the opposite direction for a change, then eating some more equisite little dishes of food. To top it off, I couldn’t even have a couple of drinks with eat meal and get slowly meery as thd day dragged on because the alcohol was way out of my miserly budget.

As this wasn’t a huge  cruise ship, there weren’t any bands,   swimming pools, cabarets, casinos, massage parlors, or strip shows to provide me with  entertainment or distraction to reduce the monotony.

Also, I have been spoilt living in New Zealand and with some of the traveling that I have done in the past. The fjords in New Zealand are just as beautiful as here. Everyone is going “ooh” and “aah”  but I felt a bit sad that I was not so readily impressed. I did try hard to disguise my lack of interest by chatting to anyone who looked likely to listen to my steady stream of discourse.

I really needed some action, something to pull me out of the doldrums, so I spent time in my cabin watching  YouTube videos of cruise ship disasters, and there are a lot of them.  I deduced that the odds  of hitting something and sinking were relatively low but if it happened there was a high chance that it  would add a bit of variety to my day, even if it meant the possibility of me drowning in the Arctic Circle. At least it would be a good story for my family to tell, and there would be a payout from my travel insurance. I deserved at least that.

My decision to take the cruise was a last minute one so while in England, I had spent many furiating hours, on the phone, in the middle of the night, because of the time difference, trying to get 12 days in Norway added to my policy. Numerous times, I went through the damn automated system telling them my full name, date of birth, policy number, phone number, and what I wanted, only to be told that someone would get back to me sometime between 48 hours and a week. I was leaving in less than 48 hours. So I rang the Emergency number, went through the same questions with no extra ones to determine the nature of the emergency, and then I received the same answer. Wait up to a week.  Too bad if you were ringing to request permission to get treatment for the heart attack you were having, as the policy requires you to do. You may well be dead before they manage to return the call.

When I eventually managed to speak to a human, he gave me the same spiel until I lost the plot and finally made him realise that I needed this done NOW. Hence, I felt like I deserved to be able to get a claim from the insurance, even if it meant I had to spend my last 6 hours on a sinking ship to get through to them.

Checking out the policy, I saw that they would pay for a funeral and cremation or burial, in the area where I died, or, alternatively, they will pay to send my body home to New Zealand, but not stump up for the funeral. This means  my kids would have some big decisions to make in the event of my demise while traveling, and that is only if they have the patience to get through to the insurance company to start with. I was thinking maybe I should just stay in my cabin when the ship is sinking, so I have a  burial at sea to save them the hassle.

I amused myself for quite some time checking out the lifeboats, where to find the survival suits and life jackets, how to put them on properly, and the best way to ensure my survival. I packed a few important things like my passport, visa card,  toothbrush, phone and charger, a change of undies, and a pair of good warm woolen socks into a drybag. I reckoned I could slip that inside my survival suits to get around the rule that you can’t take any luggage onto the lifeboat. That all got my adrenaline going and filled in some time.

For some reason, my dinner mates were not interested in the details of the latest video I had watched, even if 120 people had died.

Some info on the cruise

• 6 days
• Aboard cruise ship Havila Pollux, built 2023
• Max 640 passengers but only about half full
• 1,600km trip
• NZ$ 2,112
• All meals included
• NZD$24 for a beer or wine
• Started Kirkenes, near Russian Border
• Finished in Bergen.
• 33 ports visited, some for pick up and drop off only, others 3-4 hour stop
• Excursions daily, very expensive
• The only excursion I did was  to Torghatten, the hill with the hole through it. Costing 1 471NOR  or NZ$235 for a 30 minute bus ride, walk 20 minutes up some steps to a hole in an impressive hill then back down again, an on to the bus back.

I did get off at each port when we stopped for more than an hour, to walk around the village or town. They were all very pretty and clean and tidy, mostly just fishing ports  or larger towns and cities servicing the area.

There was a daily talk about local customs, culture, food, etc. I learned about the  Vikings (blood thirsty savages) , the salmon industry, the history of the coastal route, and  the trolls (dangerous, stupid evil giants).

I do wonder how the Norwegians have developed to be polite and kind with a love of the outdoors and the environment. They value their independance and have a high standard of living and an advanced social welfare system. So the  trolls and Vikings can’t have all been bad.

At the completion of the cruise, I spent a couple of days in Bergen, a lovely city surrounded by 7 mountains and the sea. I walked up one mountain and visited some museums and did some people watching, which is always interesting.

I flew onto Oslo, the capital city, and had a day where I just hung out at my hostel reading a book. The rain was coming down in bucket loads, and I didn’t find anything worth going out for. Maybe I was a bit tired from the late nights watching YouTube?  I was feeling a bit pathetic to tell the truth.

On 24 August, I flew to Heathrow, London, leaving Norway now understanding why it gas the second highest quality of life in the world.

A banana squashed into to a fresh baguette was my breakfast on the way to be picked up for my tour to the Russian border.

We drove to the terminal to pick up some people from the Havila, my cruise boat. As I waited watching the passengers disembark I thought, “Oh, no, they are all old. No-one is carrying a backpack.” Maybe old and a big wheelie bag means rich?

Then I remembered that I was now officially old even if I am carrying a backpack. That  probably  indicates that I am not rich.

Originally from France, the tour guide had been living in Kerkenes for 20 years. I learned that winter lasts 8 months and, interestingly, that the original town was all on the hills. The flat part was reclaimed from the sea mostly by the Germans during WW2 to enable their ships filled with soldiers, supplies, and machinery to dock.

The town was completely rebuilt after the war using shiploads of kitset houses from Sweden. Hence, the nicknames for the area is Ikea.  All the houses are the same, but some have made alterations since, especially to the insulation as the original ones were not designed for winters above the Arctic Circle.

No additional houses have been  ever been built in the town area, so any new builds are some distance out of the town. There is no infill housing here.

He gave us a good run down of the history, much of which I have forgotten already. It included Vikings but no Trolls. The indigenous people are the Sami and they own all the reindeer. They were originally nomadic people who followed the reindeer across the Arctic area in line with the seasons

But now that there are  borders in place, they settle within a country, either Finksnd  Norway or Russia. The reindeers knows not to cross the borders as the knowledge is passed down the generations. Maybe the young are told about Great Granny, who went across the border and was made into Reindeer Stroganoff, rather than Norwegian hamburgers.

Then we drove to the end of a gravel road to a border with Russia.

The two coloured poles mark the borders. They are only 4 metres apart at this point, so the No Man’s land is very narrow. Yesterday, 2 Germans took photos of each other standing on the Russian side and leaning on the Russian pole.  Very quickly, the Norwegian police were there arresting them.  They have a huge fine to pay and will probably be prevented from traveling to most countries from now on. Idiots.

We also went to the official border crossing to Russia, which is the only border open into Russia at this time because of the current war with Ukraine.  Russians can come over to visit relatives for the day only.

Norwegians have been asked not to cross into Russia and apparently, they always do as they are told.

I was delivered to my boat about an hour before departure on my 6 day cruise through the fjords of Norway. Norway has the 2nd longest coastline in the world. 103,000km compared with New Zealand of 15,134km and Australia with 25,760km. Ten points if you know which country has the longest coastline.

I was feeling quite excited and pleased to see that the ocean was calm.

Last night I watched a few videos about cruise ship disasters, so I am well prepared in case anything untoward happens. I don’t like cold water, so  I will let off my PLB and see if New Zealand will send me a helicopter, seeing as I have Frequent Flyer status.

Laura dropped me at Manchester Airport with tears in my eyes. Again, I think Garry should have been here to see his daughter now  a 40 year old woman driving confidently around the busy motorways and cities of England.

Manchester airport is a bit tired looking and very crowded, but I made my way to my gate without any hitches.

I sat in the very last row of the plane with a handsome young man from Manchester  who was very eager to tell me all about his job as a marine engineer on a £200 million  Super Yacht, that is owned by  Mr Simony from Microsoft. Having completed his time on an oil wanker, he wanted something better. And he has definitely found it! The boat owner was 85 and married, so I decided not to ask if there were any jobs going.

Two flights, first to Oslo the capital of  Norway for a quick change, then 3 hours to Kirkenes which is right at the top of Norway, close to the Russian border.

The bus station was at the door: $24 for a 40-minute ride into Kirkenes.  15°C

They drive on the other side of the road which I hadn’t expected. Note to self: look again before crossing.

Hostel is a bit tired too, but  I have an ensuite  room to myself and clean sheets, so nothing to be concerned about. It is called the Barents Breakfast hotell on the websitev but there is no breakfast.

I was hungry as I had had no food since my cucumber and fried potatoes breakfast with Laura and a banana and an apple at Oslo airport, which cost $3.20.

9.30pm, still daylight, so I dropped my bag and went for a wander. Nothing open except posh hotel, so I spent about $45 on a very nice reindeer hamburger and chips.

Went back to my room and did of bit of research about this area.

Another note to self:  All the major predators can be found here, and luckily, I didn’t become their dinner as I went searching for my dinner.  There are about 20 known brown bears in the area, and  Kirkenes is also the home of Wolverine and Lynx. Wolves are observed on rare occasions, but these are only stray animals coming from Russia.

Being in the Arctic Circle this area is covered with deep snow for most of the year, but the sun was out as it is mid summer and 24°. There is a Snow Hotel here which I didn’t visit.

On the next  day I visited the Museum and found out that Germany invaded Norway in April 1940 and had a huge military build-up in this town ready for its campaign against the Soviet Union. This upset the Russians so Kirkenes became the  2nd most bombed place in the war. 3,000 locals lived in a large underground bunker under their mountain. 10 babies were born underground , and 3 people died. 

Most of the buildings in the town were ruined, and the Germans set up awful prisoners of war camps in the area.

Looking at the buildings here now, I don’t think they had a lot of money to rebuild.  I noticed that the buildings are very  plain and functional compared to the UK, which is full of  very ornate buildings.  Maybe they won’t want snow piling up on their gargoyles. I was reminded of Lhasa in Tibet.

Apparently people are not permitted to enter Norway on foot. They thought this rule would keep out the rif Raf backpackers (like me) and any refugees. So, a 🚲  company set up on the Russian side  selling cheap bikes with no gears or brakes. Thousands of Syrian refugees have cycled across into Norway and more recently 33,000 from Ukraine. Their bikes end up in the tip as they need to have brakes to be ridden here.

The earlier history of Norway is all about fighting and squabbling over land. The Vikings and came from Norway. Iron Ore and oil have provided wealth.

I had a whole day wandering around but saw very few people, the place seems deserted, sad and lonely. I booked a bus tour for the morning to go to the Russian border. Russia is at war with Ukraine but there hasn’t been any action this far up north. I will be on my best behavior  .