Ports visited; Vardø, Vadso, Kirkenes.

I was awake until 03.15 hrs waiting for the emergency horn to announce us to abandon ship. The waves were so high they were hitting the portholes and I could feel and hear the front of the ship crashing down on to the waves, it was terrifying. I contemplated getting dressed at around 01.00 hrs as couldn’t imagine being able to ‘bra up’ in an emergency situation, but instead, rearranged my clothes on the back of the chair in the exact order and position in which I could jump into them should the 7 short and 1 long siren sound.

Terry, on the other hand, was fast asleep, Grrrrrrr.

I stayed wide awake trying to take my mind off of what was happening outside, but all I could think off was Titanic, I even caught myself humming the theme tune on one occasion. I decided I needed to occupy my mind so alternated reading ‘ The Secret Life of Bees’ (reached page 68) and playing ‘Wordscapes’ on the IPad (up to level 238). I was absolutely shattered by the time the ship stopped at the port of Vardø at 03.15 hrs so decided just to shut my eyes for the 15 minutes it would be stationary. The next thing I knew was that it was 07.15 in the morning and we were just pulling out of the port of Vadso.

We packed the last few bits in our rucksacks and headed for breakfast at 08.00 hrs. There were quite a few people leaving the cruise at this point so we had to join a queue for breakfast. We managed to get a window seat and was shocked to see ice on the water although one of the crew had announced temperatures as low as -22 degrees in Kirkenes.

We arrived in the port at Kirkenes at around 09.30 hrs and left the ship to the awaiting coach to take us to the airport. I had mixed feelings as we left the ship; whilst it had fulfilled the dream of being able to see Aurora Borealis, the previous night of fear was not one I would wish to have to endure again in a lifetime. I was glad I had only booked the ‘Bergen – Kirkenes’ alternative rather than the 12 day ‘Bergen – Kirkenes -Bergen’ voyage as feel pretty sure we would have decided to cut the journey short and disembark at Kirkenes anyway.

The temperature on the coach to Kirkenes airport read that it was- 23 outside. Passing small settlements en route hardly a soul was about; snow was piled up on the sides of the road and some of the houses and trees were half buried in snow – we had never seen anything like it. When we reached the airport, not a plane was in sight and none of the snow appeared to have been cleared from anywhere. It didn’t really look like an airport at all, not one aeroplane on the ground until an SAS to Heathrow landed shortly followed by our Norwegian Air.

The flight from Kirkenes to Oslo was without incident: we both tried to get some shuteye, but could hardly manage more than 5 mins thanks to the fidgety loud family sitting behind us. Even the hostess afforded us a apologetic smile when she handed us our coffees; I think they may have been regulars.

We landed at Oslo airport at around 14. 30 and managed almost immediately to find out ourselves (fluke) that the quickest way to our hotel would be by train. We bought our tickets and within minutes were on our way to Oslo Central Station.

Once out of the station we followed the instructions the Hotel had provided to reach them. We were made to feel secure in the knowledge that, according to the person who sent the instructions, it would take just 10 minutes to reach them. This may have been so had poor Terry not have had to endure pulling a 20 kg wheelie suitcase through ‘slush’ about 6 inches deep all the way to the Hotel; another new experience. I led the way to the Hotel which I must say, involved walking down a street which seemed to have attracted a good few visibly undesirable people. I worried Terry might be mugged of our gold coloured suitcase, so suggested he picked it up and carried it for a faster transit. My helpful suggestion was met with a much less positive response.

Once at the hotel we were allocated a room on the 7th floor. By this time, we were pretty hungry, so after dumping our suitcase; headed out for something to eat. Rather than returning to the city toward Central Station, we headed North and came across a small Turkish restaurant where we both enjoyed an average main meal and a couple of drinks before wandering back to Anker Hotel for the night. We were both suitably shattered.

Must be the ‘Long Stay’ Car Par at Kirkenes Airport.