The Big Adventure

Goldiegirl

UPDATE

Health

• Walking for February 25/28 walking days. Total walked 70.08 miles. That's slighty more than January, which was a longer month. It would have been even better, but the snow kept me indoors
• Walking for March 0/3 Walking days. Still snowbound, but hope it will improve in a day or so

Mindful Spending

• Aldi £50.37 slightly higher than intended, but did a bit of extra stocking up, just in case we got completely snowed in.

Money Making

• £3.05 Prolific Surveys
• 50 Pts You Gov Survey

Enjoying Life

• Snowy walk in the sun on Wednesday, to take some scenic photos.
• Being grateful we didn't have to go to work when it was snowing and freezing raining

Karmacat

That's sounding good, Goldie, especially the walking.

Goldiegirl

Hello everyone, just a quick note to say that we're off on our Northern Lights cruise to Norway tomorrow.

Really looking forward to it. Hopefully we'll get lucky and see the Northern Lights, but if not, it'll be good to be on holiday anyway.

Karmacat

Goldie, have a wonderful time! I want a report on the ports, please I hope you get really good pics of the lights, this is the best time of year to see them, I hear.

Positive vibes!

newgirly

Me too , lots of detail please - have an amazing time x

michelle09

Hope you are having a great time! Fingers crossed that the lights come out for you.

Goldiegirl

Hello and happy Easter!

We returned from our cruise last weekend - and yes we saw the Northern Lights. We saw them from the ship on two nights - not the bright green you see in the photos, more of a milky white, but there were dancing strands of light all over the sky and the 'curtaining' effect.

Ironically, the night we went on an excursion to see the lights, it was cloudy, so we only got a tiny glimpse. Although it was an experience, standing around in a snowy field with 200 people, waiting for something to happen. It was as if we were waiting for the alien mother ship to land ! :rotfl:

The first week was glorious weather, the second not so good, but still good enough to get out and about between the snow showers. I'm pleased to report that the clothes we bought performed well, so we were properly dressed for the temperatures. Down to about -10C.

Unfortunately, we were both ill for the last couple of days of the cruise. We had this horrible cold/cough thing, and it really sapped our energy. It's taken most of the week to get over it.

Because of this my walking plans have taken a further knock, as I haven't had the energy to do much at all for this last week. The ironing was all I could do, and that was an effort.

I walked 74.37 miles in March, which was actually more than January and February, but still off the pace of about 83 miles a month needed for a 1000 miles in the year.

I started walking again yesterday, so intend to get out every day now, weather permitting of course.

I put on a quarter of a pound in March, which wasn't bad considering I was on a cruise ship for two weeks. The food was very good, so I'm lucky not to have put on more! We did have a very good time. It was our first time with Fred Olsen, and I would sail with them again.

On the home front, we've had our curtains and blinds fitted in the living room and dining room, and they look really good. We've got flooring going down in two weeks time, and a new coffee table and TV stand are on order, so it's gradually taking shape.

I'll probably be prepping another couple of items of furniture for ebay sale this week.

I've decided against weekly updates of my diary, as I found I was starting to micro manage my life again, which is something I don't want to do at this stage of my life, so I'll be updating when the urge takes me!

Goldiegirl

KC, what ports are you going to? If any are ones that we went to, I'll be able to give a bit of a report:)

Karmacat

Hi Goldie, there was a moderate magnetic storm alert a few days after you went, I was thinking of you I'm so glad you got sightings on two nights! What a shame about the cough/cold though infections must spread like wildfire, its the thing I'm dreading.

My ports: quite a few! We set off from Newcastle; then I've copied and pasted from the website:

• Kristiansund, Norway
• Bodo, Norway
• Tromso, Norway
• Honningsvag, Norway
• Harstad, Norway
• Flam, Norway
• Alesund, Norway
• Olden, Norway
• Bergen, Norway

I went to Bergen on my first Interrail trip, but I was there for about 20 hours in total, and it rained heavily the entire time - my diary **exudes** misery :rotfl: but since we're docking right at the centre of the town, practically, it will be much nicer.

Loving the not-micro-managing

Goldiegirl

Hi KC

These winter cruises are the worst for infections going round - in the summer it's not so bad, so with luck you should be ok.

Sounds like a really nice itinerary you are doing, and there's several places I haven't visited so I'd probably have chosen it myself.

I've been to some of the places -

Kristiansund. We went there more than 10 yrs ago, and all I really remember is that it was pleasant, but the weather was really bad that day. But I think we docked near town, so it was very doable on a DIY basis

Tromso. It was one of the places on the cruise we've just done. There's a shuttle bus into town, and once you are in the centre, most things are close together. We did a ships excursion to go over the bridge and up the cable car, which was fantastic, would highly recommend this. I noticed buses nearby, so I think it'd be possible to catch a bus to this area.

Alesund. Really nice little town. You should dock dock right in the centre, and there's plenty to see within walking distance. We walked up the 900 (approx steps) to get a view over the town. We had to have several rests on the way, but there's a nice cafe at the top.

Bergen. If you are lucky, you'll get the good berth, within walking distance of the Bryggen. If not it'll be a shuttle bus journey into town. Most people like to take the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen, and the fish market and the Bryggen are nice places to walk around, plus I like the lake in the centre of town.

We've been to Bergen a few times and have been quite lucky with the weather. But this time it was horrible wet snow, and, as I was going down with that cold, it wasn't the best day I've ever had.

You should also get a couple of days of scenic cruising as you sail up to Bodo and Tromso. It was spectacular a couple of weeks ago as the sky was so blue.

I haven't been to the other places, but I've heard that the Flam railway is good. Most people book a ship excursion as it can get sold out, but it can be done independently.

I think your cruise sounds like it'll be fantastic - how exciting!