Travelling On

greent

Have an amazing time, Kc! X

apple_muncher

You're gonna have such a fabuloso time!

debtfreeoneday

Have a great time. 

Karmacat

Hello!  I'm back!  Utterly fantastic time, two volunteers from Orca were hosted by the cruise ship, and they absolutely made the voyage a roaring success - there were 6 days at sea all told, which is quite a lot after all.  The places were amazing, the people were amazing, the whales and dolphins were amazing.  Even the seals were amazing: we saw our own first seal docked at Liverpool having breakfast before disembarkation yesterday.  The thought process went seal - no, driftwood - and then yes, seal again, because it folded up on itself and dove into the deeps.  

Fin whales!  Average size 18.5m - 20m.  We saw at least one maybe half the days.  Fin whale - Wikipedia

Fell in love with Iceland.  Thermal power plants!  Lava tunnels!  A trip in a "fishing boat" (hmm, with a dozen seats in?  fishing boat size, anyway ) through an ice fjord to a glacier discharging into the fjord.  And oops, Icelanders come from Viking men who kidnapped Irish women, didn't know that either   

In awe of Greenland.  Wild buttercups and angelica two feet high grow everywhere.  Tiny, tiny amount of level land.  Mesmerising.

Pictures were just taken with my phone: sailing through Prins Cristian Sund (with an ice pilot!) and an indigenous  peat winter shelter made by students in 1980 in Greenland.

elantan

Welcome back, your trip sounds utterly amazing, I'm so glad you had fun xxx 

themadvix

Lovely to see you KC and so glad you had an amazing (I think that's the word?! ) time. It sounds fantastic - all of it!

Karmacat

Hello both, amazing really is the word, madvix  

A few financial bits:
1. refund of £33 or so on the ice fjord trip, a lot of people apparently complained about how short it was.  Refund handled very badly though, so had a few fraught hours imagining it had *doubled* in price.

2. Won £50 on the premium bonds while we were away.

3. I didn't believe it was real, but it was: cruise line reduced the price of our cruise slightly before we booked, maybe 8%, something like that, but they also gave us £200 each, to be spent on whatever we wanted onboard other than shore tours.  So we paid for
- craft classes (2 x £8)
- shuttle bus to Liverpool Lime Street when we docked (£4.50)
- good size travel handbag (£12)
- And then ... ta-da, sister spent £157 on a leather Radley bag, and I spent £126.20 (!!! at the 20p  ) on two pairs of small silver earrings from Clogau from a shop onboard.  I had no earrings at all I felt comfortable taking away with me, so although they were expensive, it was "donated" money and a good investment for the future.  

4. Bought as much as we could at the villages - but 99% of their food is imported, there's one beekeeper in the whole of Iceland, it's not easy: coasters, sea salt, postcards, a big candle decorated with the Greenlandic flag, cookie cutters in the shape of Icelandic icons.

5. Very few things for frugalistas like us to spend on, so I'll get a lot back from the Post Office for my currency.

And finally ... we stood out like sore thumbs wearing masks, and we were followed about the ship by a creeper who kind of loomed over us (and I asked to step back eventually), but this morning, I've woken up with a sore throat, on one side.  I'm pretending its just dehydration, but I'm pretty sure this is how my colds etc used to start.  We'll see.  Positive vibes, please  

Cheery_Daff

Positive vibes heading your way KC ~~~~~~~~

And welcome back!! What a fantastic time you've had, what an adventure! Gosh, it all sounds so exciting. Good news on the extra dosh, and the refund too. 

What lovely memories you've made 😊😊😊

Karmacat

Hi Cheery!  I'm currently reading through the posts on your diary while I've been away - there's a lot, partly cos of your covid still, but also, yay, your promotion!  I'll congratulate you on yours when I've finished reading  this is such good news!

Just taking it easy this afternoon, checking through photos, using the washing machine, that sort of thing.  Really hope this *is* just a sore throat, I'm supposed to be heading off to a 50th birthday next week, and we think my brother can make it.  Will do a test later today.

themadvix

I hope it's just a sore throat too!