G 'n G go cruising on the Viking Stark no awwwww l. L

Two days sailing to the Northern most town in the world

Leaving Isafjordur we sail north for two days at sea, heading into the Arctic Ocean. The seas were gentle and the journey was very relaxing.

After two days we arrived in Longyearbyen, Svalbard in the far north and now officially in Norway. Our position is 78N 15E

Longyearbyen the northernmost town in the world

A husky dog sled but it is summertime and 5 to 7C so no snow.

The polar bear below tried to attack people in town and had to be shot.

If you go outside the town boundaries the road signs above warn you of possible polar bear dangers. The locals carry rifles for protection

The northern most Toyota dealership and petrol station in the world

It is very cold even now in 24 hour “sunlight”days. Mostly 5C to maybe 8C and this is before any windchill factor.

We don’t think we want to live here!

Onwards around Iceland

We enjoyed six ports of call as we circumnavigate Iceland. Isafjordur, Akureyri, Seydisfjordur, Westman Islands (Heimaey), the capital of Iceland Reykjavik, and a second visit to Isafjordur.

Dressed for the cold weather as we get close up with a glacier and icebergs

All dressed in polar gear as we explore a lake at the end of a very big glacier filled with icebergs of all different sizes

These things are much bigger when we are in an IRB or rubber ducky

Good sized icebergs with amazing colours

We sailed on to Heimaey a town that was almost destroyed by a volcanic lava flow in 1973. The weather was stunning and actually warmish,well relatively so.

Our ship was too big for the harbour so we anchored very close to the entrance

The lava flow was stopped by pumping huge quantities of sea water on to the lava cooling it and eventually stopping its flow. Often right on the edge of houses and buildings

Half a water supply reservoir not destroyed by the lava flow.

Solving the problems of the world with a local fisherman He was a great listener

Next day we arrived and moored in the capital of Iceland Rekjarvik with its mix of interesting and very different museums.

No not part of the aforementioned museum. The ultra modern cathedral spire.

The modern organ with 1575 pipes which unfortunately we did not have the chance to hear being played

Brightly coloured houses in the town centre

We were moving again overnight and as is normal on a cruise we arrive early in the morning for our next days adventure. This time it was back into Isafjordur and a not so good visit to see Arctic foxes. Good intentions but underwhelming

I think the best way to describe them is they are a similar size to a domestic cat

We will sail out of Isafjordur into the open seas and travel for two days well into the Arctic circle and even cooler days. Our next destination is Longyearbyen in Svalbard.

Hopefully the sea conditions remain calm

Sailing into the Arctic Circle. Weather is good and sea conditions are comfortable

Akureyri. Iceland

We arrived in this small city of about 2500 people I think. This is an ice free port and hence it supports a strong fishing industry and agriculture activities although from what we could see nothing very substantial compared to farming in NZ

It can’t be the weather that attracts visitors as it is mostly only 4 to 5C summer temps. and the sunrises at 2.05am and doesn’t set until 12.29am the next morning!

A busy cruise ship stopover with upwards of 200 ships per year visiting around the Icelandic coast!

We all got onto a bus for a drive for the day visiting a waterfall which was very impressive, farmland and a thermal area.

It’s bleak out there

Thermal area not much different to what we have in NZ

Very active with steam roaring out. Saw some dumb younger guys test how hot it was by putting their hands into the steam. That pulled them very quickly.

We have made landfall in Isafjordur Iceland.

It is not going to be warm out there with actual temps of 4-5 C and a wind chill on top of this. And this is a normal summers day in this small town of 2500 people

I hope they have good insulation in these timber clad homes

A lovely but likely smelly old fisherman in his cod liver oil cured sheep skin outfit

We had a great day off our ship in Isafjordur and finished it off in a little local brewery enjoying a very nice locally made lager.

YUM!

Greenland

So here we are very close to Greenland but not now able to make landfall. a little disappointing but nothing we can do about it.

The fog is still hanging around but drifting in and out. It is a little tricky getting clear photos but below are some I snapped and I trust will give you some idea of the area we are in. The sea is calm, there are small bits of ice in the water or mini icebergs if you let your imagination loose.

Big cocktails on the way with these blocks of ice

If you are looking at this via an iPhone try zooming in and the ice shelf is very obvious.

The crew have fished out some of the smaller pieces of ice and we are about to have aquavit and ice by the pool.

Cheers

I think they call these small icebergs “growlers”

There is a big shelf of ice between us and Greenland

I think 80% of the ice is under the water, so it is a real barrier

Bugger! We are getting ice shelf problems

Well yesterday we learned that our two planned ports of call into Greenland had to be abandoned as the harbours were completely iced up and the ice is too heavy to try and make an entry.

No worries the safety of the passengers and the ship are the first priorities.

So alternative plans to travel 160 miles further North were put in place.

But…….now due to very heavy fog we have just learned this option is now closed! Double Bugger!!

Heavy fog conditions rolled in about 4.00am this morning

No sun block needed right now. This is very disappointing as we will now not make landfall into Greenland.

Might go to the bar to have a drink and toast to what might have been.

The Vikings discover and settle in the Americas

We had a day cruising further North into cooler climes, to Newfoundland Canada in the North Atlantic.

We used the lifeboats to go ashore and visited the site of the first European settlement in North America. The Vikings settled here in L’Anse aux Meadows at least 500 years before Columbus discovered America. This has been verified and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site

Viking settlers. That set up a small village and stayed for about 100 years

The lifeboats being shuttle boats/ferries to go ashore

These lifeboats are quite big and relatively comfortable.

The day was overcast and quite cold being around 7 to 9C. So we pulled out our cold weather gear before leaving our ship.

An iceberg moving down the coast. Probably bigger than our ship.

We had a small fleet of school busses waiting on shore to transport us to the Viking village site. The big yellow busses we see on TV and in movies.

Here are some images of the recreated Viking buildings and of the now empty sites where the original village was once located.

The inside of the longhouse was in fact quite warm and cosy.

The “buildings” are made from earth sods.

The mounds of earth where a longhouse used to be

Another iceberg floating down the coast line.

It was time to return back to the ship and a late lunch.

Our ship anchored off shore waiting for the passengers to return.

The wind had come up a little bit and it was getting cooler. Time to take some shelter back on board.

Sailing out in the ocean.

The open sea all around us as we make our way up to Halifax Nova Scotia. Good weather but there is of course a bit of ship movement. We are all doing a bit of drunken sailor walking at times and it is not the bourbon causing it.

Sunny and mild weather but definitely cooler than NY

We arrived into Halifax for a full day of looking around the city. It is very much a maritime city with a strong history and of course some of that is related to life (or not) at sea.

The small headstones are set out in the shape of a ship

Many of the headstones are not named as it was not possible to identify the bodies. A moving visit and there was a constant stream of visitors.

Wooden houses and many have a typical style

We visited the Halifax Maritime Museum on the harbour’s water front which was certainly a good representation of how much Halifax was shaped by the sea and seafarers.

The city has done a great job creating a waterfront with a boardwalk opening the city to the harbour with all the normal bars, and restaurants. Apparently Halifax has the highest ratio of pubs and bars per person per head of population.

We have sailed out into the ocean again and this morning we are sailing in quite heavy fog.

It is a day of sailing as we move to New Foundland and visit an early Viking settlement tomorrow

Our ship has lots of open spaces, a walking track or deck. Four laps is a mile long.

One of a number of good stops for a morning coffee.

Ooops I forgot to add some photos of the waterfront of Halifax. So here are a few

I must have had an off-day and the photos do not do justice to how pleasant downtown Halifax is.

We have a day at sea today so I hope to put together a blog on our ship and will publish this later today.

Leaving NYC on the Viking Star.

A quiet morning after packing before checking out and getting ready to travel to the Manhattan CruiseTerminal to board our Viking ship…our home for the next month.

Anne and John approaching the gangway to board the Viking Star

We are wondering how many millions of people over many years looked at the Statue of Liberty with hopes for their future in their new country and a new start in life.

An iconic skyline with the Freedom Tower standing where the World Trade Centre towers used to be before 9/11

We have enjoyed a wonderful four days in this great city.

The sun setting on the horizon as our ship sails out into the open sea

Sail GP in NYC

It will be good to see it in Auckland sometime

We had a great day on Governors Island watching the Sail GP racing. We were in a grandstand right on the finish line. NZ sailed very well and won the final race in dominating style.

Cruise holiday starting.

Well it has been a long wait but finally today we board our ship Viking Star at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

This is a whole new travel experience for us all and 31 days of cruising life is looking good. To get some relief from the NYC heatwave will be a refreshing change as well.

But it would be wrong to think we did not love being in NY once again.