This would be a good place to do dry January or sober October - my small glass of wine last night for about 12 quid would soon put you on the wagon. Its either going to be a relatively dry trip - or I'm not going to want to open the credit card bill.
OK, I guess I could have left home a day later. The boat actually leaves at 10.30 this evening although dinner is served throughout the evening and I wouldn't want to miss that! Chance to check out just how small a cupboard I am camping in and also to meet my fellow passengers...more of that later.
Perhaps not surprisingly given the location in the north of the North Sea in March, the lovely weather of yesterday has disappeared in a mist of torrential rain. I'm guessing I will get pretty much whatever the Shetlands gets but a day later. The influence of the gulf stream means damp and mild, even at this latitude. Apparently on occasion it can be as much as 30º colder in Oslo on the same day at roughly the same latitude! Lets see what the arctic circle brings!
So I’m bundled up in down jacket and waterproof - last time I looked like this I was at the top of Kilimanjaro (show off!) - and good to tackle the slippery streets of the town. And first impressions did not lie. Its a lovely olde worlde sort of a place with cobbled streets, wonky buildings and a thriving port. Plenty of coffee shops (which is obviously good for a man who has nothing better to do than write rubbish and drink coffee), full of local students and mobile workers.
Norway’s second city actually feels like a small town. Its roughly the size of Brighton and Hove but feels quite provincial. Known as the city of seven mountains it is surrounded by hills and islands. The "broken" nature of the Norwegian coast was apparent as we flew into the airport yesterday afternoon and I'm expecting a voyage through countless passages and around numerous islands. I am told the ferry spends only a few hours in the open sea on a voyage of some 2 and a half thousand kilometres to Kirkenes. I'm counting on it! I can also see why it is going to take 5 days!
So, about these passengers... I'm safely checked into my rather bijou little cabin on the boat. Considerably bigger than on the train across Australia so I have nothing to complain about. Similar demographic on the boat though - lots of grey pounds being spent here! A smattering of German, Japanese, lots of English courtesy of Australians, Americans and well...English. Average age...hmm, bit younger than I expected - maybe it sneaks down to the 50s? There are certainly some pretty ancient passengers but I have already seen some in their 30s. Or maybe I am just being optimistic.
Just discovered that from tomorrow the evening meal is in assigned seats - so I might have to speak to people after all. It might be like a wedding - if I get seated next to the mad aunt, I won't be happy. Might be eating very quickly! Or sneaking in sandwiches from the ports we call into.
As expected the boat looks much like a cross channel ferry - maybe a bit upmarket but not a lot. And the beer is almost certainly more expensive - they have a cunning system in which you sign up for a credit account, "pay" for everything with a swipe of a card (not knowing the price of anything), and weep when you see the bill at the end of the week. They are trying to flog a beer or wine package, but that requires me to know what I want to drink each night - we will see, if the cash outlay at the end of this leg is disastrous, I might have to sign up for it on the way back.
I'm getting few strange looks as I am obviously travelling alone. But given that I have already heard two couples fall out, before the boat has even left harbour, I think I might be on to something. Well that will do for this evening. Ive found the bar! Just don't look at the prices. I will have plenty of time to write tomorrow - yeah, I know, you can't wait!