Saturday, June 14, 2008

June 12th

12 June 08
Honningsvaag, North Cape; Norway


So I am writing this all offline for now as we lost our satellite connection last night (the 11th) around 6pm and were told this morning we won’t have it back till later in the evening after we sail from Hammerfest tomorrow.

I started off the day at 1.15am this morning when I was still up having a drink in the Wardie, when the sun came out from behind the clouds. I had gone back to my cabin a short time later, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep knowing the sun was out and I wasn’t taking pictures. So I dressed quick and grabbed the camera and went up on Deck 9 ½. Man alive ~ it was freaking cold!! Colder than Antarctica, since there is a strong, icy wind that smacks you right in the face. I was outside for a total of about 3 mins LOL

These are the pics from 1.15am:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.coaqeo8z&x=0&y=-o8pauz&localeid=en_US

So I got to sleep in a little today since we had a “sea day” morning and wouldn’t be arriving in Honningsvaag until 12.30 ~ I didn’t have to rush to the Cyber either since I knew the sat was still out. But I went up, checked my P&O email and made up some signs for the Pax and Crew cafes about the outages and then about 10am I was back in my cabin sorting out some laundry and reading J

Amie and Clare had to work till 12 so we were going to all go grab lunch onboard when they were done, before we went ashore. There didn’t seem to be much to do, but it was the top of the world and it wasn’t like it was raining (had it been ~ I would have been taking pics from the inside of the ship!) Actually I am sure it would be snow since it was so cold .. Which may have prompted us out after all. Anyway, Amie beeped me (and woke me up LOL) and then we went to get some lunch … needed soup to keep me warm when we went out side!

We headed ashore a little after 1; like I said there wasn’t much to do but we wandered in and out of the shops and had some “fun with trolls”. We were in a shop and it turned out they had an Ice Bar! I had heard about them, but never seen one or anything. It was 10e for crew so we said why not. Its not like there was much else to do. We donned parkas and off into the “fridge” we went. We were the only ones in there, but we had a great laugh taking pics and playing in the Igloo. I think we were only in there about 20 mins or so .. It was soo cold and there are only so many pics we could take. We were delighted to get back out into the sunshine! It was so nice and warm in comparison. So we walked around the town some more, sat in the sunshine for a bit and wondered what on earth these people do in this small town; there was another smaller cruise ship in with us, I mean what this town must be like when there isn’t a ship in!

After deciding there was nothing else to do, we headed back to the ship for tea. We went to my cabin to watch a little Jeff Dunham and chill out. The three of us were all getting sleepy, so after the DVD ended, Amie and Clare went to their cabins and I headed off for a nap. Not worrying about having to get back up at 6 for work was NICE! I woke up around 7.45 and got showered and dressed before I headed up to the Wardie for Indian dinner and to take pics. It was neat to see the town as we pulled out. Not to mention the sun was streaking through in the distance on this one set of mountains. But it was getting breezy since the ship was moving out (we didn’t leave till 9pm) and I was only able to stand being out there for a few minutes at a time.

Tonight is a Filipino party in the crew mess; it is the 110th Independence Day or something. So I am waiting for the group to finish up in the shop while I download my pics to my laptop and write this; then we will go over there after.

We are doing a cruise by the North Cape tonight at midnight ~ I am really hoping the sun comes out. You have to see how amazing it is to have the sun out in the middle of the night! These Norwegians that live up here must all have black curtains to block out the sun “at night” so they can sleep!

Tomorrow we will be in Hammerfest ~ which is still on the North Cape of Norway.

Here are all the pics from today in port as well as the sail away: (some are from Amie’s camera and Clare’s camera as well) Sorry they are out of order, the net is playing up so it is only uploading every other pic, so I keep having to go back and add in the ones that didn't go the first time.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bf232dhz.9y7o2dvn&x=0&y=-9yfr45&localeid=en_US

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