Day 24 King Crab fishing & the Snow Hotel

This morning we had to be up early & out of cabins by 8am. We were due to dock at 9am and we needed to disembark & get on the buses quickly. A group of Aussies (myself, my new friends & 2 Indian families traveling together) all boarded the bus for crab fishing. We were taken to a place where we were dressed in coveralls & given helmets. Then we piled into sleds and were driven by snowmobile onto one of the fjords. They had a numbers of holes in the ice with frames above them. They explained the ice is currently 35cm deep and that it is a mix of sea & fresh water. They pulled up the crab pot & it was full of crab! Interestingly though, it appears the crabs were pre-planted into the pot to guarantee some crab. They pulled some crab out & they were huge! They then killed them before we were allowed to hold them & take photos with them. They cut the legs off for us to take back for lunch. The body is thrown back into the water. We went back to the cabin where they cooked the crab for us. They gave us all scissors and demonstrated how to get into the legs. They were sooo good. I tried crab in Australia once and it was awful. This stuff was so sweet & warm & melted in your mouth. I had 3 legs and was so full!

After lunch we were collected & taken to the snow hotel in Kirkenes. We checked in & were told to wait for the guide for a tour of the place. It has both snow rooms and normal cabins but it also has dogs & reindeer. She showed us all these areas & explained parts of the complex. There is a barn connected to the snow hotel which has the restaurants for breakfast & dinner. There is also a lounge area for snow room guests as rooms are not accessible until 6pm. We walked around on our own for a while & patted some of the dogs.  these are not pure bred huskies. These are mixed breed everything! Apparently they cross breed the huskies with lots of other very strong dogs to get good sled dogs, including border collies, danes, labs etc. They also have some puppies which were super cute. We talked to the reindeer (one of them is named Rudolf, he is bullied by the other 3 reindeer!). We then went and looked at all the snow rooms. Each room has a different carving on the wall. Its really cool. Inside is a constant -4c. We then spent the afternoon in the lounge chilling.

At 5pm we had to attend a meeting where they have us a room number & locker key. I was given room 5 which has a mouse on the wall. Then we cooked hot dogs on the fire before going out to feed the reindeer. We fed them handfuls of moss. Then we went to the ice bar for a drink of crowberry juice. We went upstairs to the dinner restaurant to claim seats. It was conjugal dining in big long tables. We ended up sitting with some Aussies and Yanks. Wayne bought us a drink which turned out to be basically a shot but a little bigger. Boy were they strong, nice but strong. Dinner was served and we had mushroom & reindeer soup for entree, chicken (arctic char for everyone else) and chocolate brownie for dessert. It was excellent! After dinner they showed us how to get into the sleeping bags. They have us a -40c bag, cotton liner, thick wool socks & balaclava. We were told to only wear 1 layer of thermals.

After this we went to the ice bar for a drink.  They only serve shots so I had Bailey's, the least harsh! Once you finish they encourage you to smash your ice glass on the steps. So we did and it was awesome. Then of course we had to repeat.

When we eventually went to bed, it was a mussion getting into the bags! They are quite fitted so you can't move much. I ended up removing the balaclava but plugging the opening of the sleeping bag with the excess sheet. I was completely buried inside the bag! Now fingers crossed I don't need the toilet in the middle of the night!

Anyways that's bedtime. I'll continue tomorrow.

Day 23 The North Cape

This morning I woke up feeling ok. Last night with the rocking of the ship I felt terrible. It wasn't too long however before I started feeling a bit seedy again though. I went upstairs to the top deck late last night after I almost fell out of bed and could not walk across the deck in a straight line! It was a horrible feeling. Like being super drunk but with a clear head! Anyways I went off to breakfast and had a good buffet.

At 11.15am we docked in Honningsvag for a few hours. A majority of us, including my 2 new Aussie friends from Brisbane, boarded buses and headed out to the North Cape. It is the northern most point of mainland Europe. There is a visitor information centre and of course a monument for photos. The road is closed in winter however and from a certain point (13km out) you must wait for a convoy to be able to drive there. The convoy is led by a snow plow who clears the road and everyone follows. The snow plow waits at the centre and brings you back at the specified time. It was pretty cool. We got out photos taken, did some shoppinh in the gift shop & had a hot choc. As it is the polar night, the sun does not rise for 8wks. It was gloomy when we arrived and dark when we left.

We got back to the ship at 2.30pm and left port almost straight away. I hung out in my room for most of the afternoon as there isn't much to do on this ship. It is a cargo ship so doesn't have all the whizz bang fancy stuff companies like Carnival have.

Tonight we had a buffet for dinner which was nice. I had a carnivores feast! Shrimp, king crab, duck, lamb and reindeer. My favorite was of course the reindeer! I also had some veg for the first time this whole trip! Delicious!

After chilling flee a bit we got an announcement to say the northern lights were out. They were but they were quite weak again. Everyone came out tonight, the deck waa so full of people. The ship was rocking and the moon was so bright so my photos are blurry and not so good. After about 45mins it looked like they were not coming back and done thick clouds were coming over and ur was sooo cold that we have gave up and went inside. Tomorrow we have to be out of our rooms by 8am & disembarking straight away as soon as we dock. I'm off to the snow hotel & to do a bit of ice crab fishing!

Day 22 Tromso - Updated

Today I had a tour booked to a reindeer farm with some Sami culture. The farm is only 20mins from town and it turns out it is fairly new (only 6yrs old & 4yrs with tourists). We were given an overview upon arrival then went out to feed the reindeer. They have 300 at the farm and they were all VERY hungry! We were given buckets of pellets and we could hand feed them. Greedy buggers ate for nearly 2hrs! I myself gave out 3.5 buckets of pellets!

I also did a sleigh ride for 30mins around the paddock which was good but cold as it was snowing, or maybe hailing as it was solid stuff!

Then we were given lunch of traditional reindeer stew which was delicious. If you ever have the opportunity you need to try reindeer meat. Both times I'v had it, it has been so unbelievably tender, melt in your mouth and such a nice flavour. Not strong like venison, kind of a little like beef or mild lamb. Really very good. I wish we could buy it at home cos I'd be eating it regularly!

Anyways then we learned about the Sami people. They are native indigenous people in 4 countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland & Russia). They sang some songs for us too.  Then we headed back to town.

I grabbed my suitcase and headed to my cruise ship. Excited! I've never been on a cruise before and even though this is a working cargo ship and cruise ship combined I'm still excited. I boarded and upgraded to a window cabin as Apparebtly they are quieter. The ship has 3 restaurants (1 for my package), 2 jacuzzi outside, a bar, bakery cafe and lounge areas. It's awesome. My room has a bed, couch & bathroom which is nice. I explored the ship then disembarked to explore the town a little more (3hrs until departure).

Tromso has a shopping area and main street. I wandered around and checked out local stores. I love the Norwegian wool jumpers but they convert to over $350-450 AUD 😭 I have never paid that much for any piece of clothing in my life!

Anyways back on the ship, explored the public areas and now waiting for the ship to leave in 1hr. Dinner is at 7pm and I think it is a set menu of fish 🤢 We shall see!

Update: yep it was fish. Arctic char. I was du hungry I ate it & fortunately it was not a strong flavoured fish. After dinner they made an announcement that there were sombre weak northern lights visible from the back of the ship. I grabbed my camera & tripod and headed out. They certainly were weak but after a while they became very strong and began dancing right above us and across the whole sky! Unfortunately the clouds came back and the rocking ship prevented really good photos. It is also a very bright near full moon so that doesn't help.

Right now we are pulling into a port to offload some cargo. I'm off to bed to warm up and get some sleep before our adventure tomorrow to the North Cape 😀

Day 21 Travelling to Tromso

Today I slept in & it was wonderful! I Havre not been sleeping well due to being in dorms which can be noisy & the hot rooms. There was only 1 girl in my dorm last night and she left early. Finally a bit of sleep! I packed and headed back to the train station to go back to the airport. Unfortunately I had written the tinge of my flight wrong so I arrived at the airport 4hrs before my flight. Fortunately you can check in early so I ditched the suitcase then wandered. I indulged in TGI Fridays for lunch (it was actually cheaper than a local restaurant!) and window shopped. It was snowing a lot in Oslo and the snow plows were working overtime to keep the airport clear.

We arrived in Tromso in the dark at 5pm to more snow. Lots of snow! I'm back in the Arctic Circle and currently the most furthest north I have ever been on the planet! I found my hotel, bought some snacks for my trip and note im chilling in my hotel room that looks like a Chinese laundry! I took the opportunity to wash almost all my clothes 😀 Tomorrow I have a tour to learn about the Sami culture & then I'm boarding the cargo cruise ship!

Day 20 Chateaus of Loire

Today I headed to Orly Airport to pick up a rental car and head down to the Loire region to see some Chateaus. I first drove to Chambord and went to the Chateau de Chambord. This Chateau is huge! Unlike Chateau Versaille the other day, these Chateaus are stone, inside & out with a lot less wood & decoration. Chateau Chambord is stunning & definitely my favorite. The stone however makes the place very cold even though there are a large number of huge fireplaces in every part of the building. I absolutely loved this place. The top is so ornate and the views over the gardens are stunning. Definitely worth visiting!

 

Next I drove down to Chenonceaux to the Chateau de Chenonceaux. This one I saw on Getaway and know it has a history of a married man, a scorned wife who became a widow and a beautiful mistress. This one is much smaller than Chambord but it was built across a river. Inside it has a lot more wooden & tapestry decoration on the walls. There are 2 gardens, one for the wife & one for the mistress. Both are nice. There is also a cat who resides in the gift shop!

I had planned to continue south to Chateau Villandry but I was concerned about time. I discovered on my journey south that almost all main roads in France have HUGE tolls much to my shock so I had the GPS take me on toll free roads only, thus increasing travel time. Therefore I headed back to the airport and lucky I did as I arrived exactly at my booked return time!  Then I hung around before boarding my go flight to Oslo. It was snowing in Oslo when I arrived which was nice.

Day 19 Disneyland Paris - Updated

Today I started with a sleep in and then took the train 2 stations to a bakery. I finally got myself some French pastries! They were delicious!

I headed out to Disneyland mid afternoon when there was a break in the rain. It's a long way out of town & takes an hour to get there. I had entry to both parks so there would be plenty to do for the 6hrs I would be there. Fortunately the rain stopped a couple of hours after I arrived. The rides I went on were great! The Star Wars hypercoaster was incredible! And the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror was truly frightening. My stomach is still not back in the right spot!

At 10pm there is a light show called Disney Illuminations. I got a position at 9.15pm as people were starting to line up already! 9.50pm they teased us with a little warmup. Then at 10pm the show started. It was absolutely amazing! They had scenes from movies projected onto the castle and Mickey was traveling through them and they had music and everything. Annnd..... They had fireworks included!!!! It was amazing! It went for 20 minutes! The whole video is on YouTube so check it out. The final fireworks scenes are awesome. I have to admit too, that Let It Go from Frozen just didn't have the same effect when they sing in French!

Then I joined the thousands all headed for the train back to Paris. Tomorrow I go to Orly airport to pick up a rental car & go see Somme Chateaus in the Loire region before flying to Oslo tomorrow night.

Day 18b NYE in Paris!

 Happy new year!!

So my original plan to come to Paris for NYE was to see fireworks out of the Eiffel Tower. That was crushed by Melanie who told me Paris don't do fireworks on NYE, there is a light show on the Arc de Triomphe & everyone goes to Champ Elysees instead. Ok, disappointing I won't see fireworks but it'll still be cool to see the light show.

A girl in my dorm asked if she could come with me so that was ok. At 10.30pm we got the train to the city. The train was packed! We got off and walked up the street towards the Arc de Triomphe. There were armed police & army guys with automatic rifles everywhere. We ended up going down a side street to get a better view and got utterly and completely squashed. It was chaos! We found a good spot and stopped. It was 11.15pm. There were lights on the Arc & they were pretty. At 11.20pm new lights came on. Every picture for the next 25mins or so had the clock and a different theme. It was awesome. Then are like 11.45pm thry started playing this clip of a black cat (I think it's a well known black cat, I've seen the picture a lot but I'm yet to Google it) who is doing all sorts of things. Running, jumping, going to fashion week etc. It was very cute! Video usd in YouTube of the cat. Then the countdown started! It was exciting! I was curious what kind of light show too expect. Then at midnight BANG!!! Fireworks exploded everywhere! It was sooo awesome! Omg I think they put fireworks on just for me 😁 They only lasted a couple of minutes but they were still great & so unexpected!

After that the crowd began moving back to the main streets and as we were so tightly packed in, everyone moved as one big mass. We got jammed into a train and headed back to the hostel. There was a party in the basement club so we went down to check it out. We had a couple of drinks and a dance then 2.30am came around so it was bedtime.