Tromsø

Day 16

We spent the early evening yesterday chilling and taking photos.

Dinner was once again in Alexandria but we did remember the g&t’s first 🤣. However whilst Steve was collecting the ice for the g&t’s he got chatting to a chappie whom he struggled to get away from and now is his new best friend. During the conversation, besides it being obvious he was South African, there were a number of other pointers towards him being the missing man off our dinner table. We hoped they would show up for dinner but they still didn’t. So they haven’t been yet whilst we’ve been there. Let’s see tonight.

Dinner was good again. Then afterwards all 6 of us went to the Curzon for the show. Poor Steve had read the wrong newspaper and thought it was a comedy act. It couldn’t have been further from the truth 😂. The performers were Richard and Adam (a catchy name 😜) who had been on Britain’s Got Talent 11 years ago. They are two brothers who are both operatic singers with the most wonderful voices. We couldn’t believe it when they started, nor could you believe it when they spoke, their speaking voices did not reflect their fabulous singing voices. They did a wide range of songs finishing with Les Miserables which sent shivers down all our spines it was so good.

Afterwards we saw on deck that there was the most beautiful sunset (11.30pm) so went on deck for a few photos including a selfie of everyone on our dinner table.

Today was more of an organisational challenge simply because it was the first day we were doing two separate trips, the first organised by P&O and the second our own.

The first was a RIB safari. Once again I am searching through my mental dictionary to find words that will sufficiently describe the beauty of what we saw this morning. But I’m afraid I have to fall back on spectacular and superb as nothing else does it justice.

We left the ship around 9am for a short mini bus ride to our guide’s office in the centre of town next to the harbour. There we all got kitted out in immersion suits (for which we were all very grateful later when the waves were going over us) and life jackets.

In the harbour we spotted a floating sauna with a roped off area beside it to jump into after the sauna. Kjell, our guide, told us the water was about 6-7 degrees.

Initially, due to the earlier rain and the warmth, there was a low mist and it was hard to see the surrounding countryside but fortunately as the morning progressed the mist lifted and we could see the beauty of the mountains around us.

We saw plenty but of particular note was the site of the sinking of the Tirpitz. We stopped immediately above the position. Two thirds of the boat were taken for scrap but about one third remains so the area is designated as a war grave. There is also a memorial close by in land.

On November 12, 1944, the German battleship Tirpitz sank in Tromsø Fjord, Norway after being attacked by 32 British Lancaster bombers: 

The bombers, led by Wing Commander James Tait, carried 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) "Tallboy" bombs designed to penetrate the ship's heavy steel hull. The bombers scored three direct hits on the ship, one amidships, one at the bow, and one at the stern, as well as a near miss. The explosions caused the ship to catch fire and capsize within 11 minutes, with the hull breaking the surface of the water. Rescuers were able to save hundreds of crew members from the water, but few of those trapped inside the hull survived. Estimates of the number of people killed range from 950 to 1,204. 

The Tirpitz had been damaged by British mini-submarines prior to the air raid, and a deck fire spread to the ammunition magazine of one of the main battery turrets, causing a large explosion. The attack was celebrated in Allied countries and Norway, and the wreck is commemorated by several memorials and museum displays. Between 1948 and 1957, a joint Norwegian and German salvage operation broke up the wreck. 

Whilst the beauty of the scenery was outstanding, the RIB ride itself was fabulous and absolutely brilliant fun. We went all around the fjords near Tromso and around some of the small islands. Once again the smile was plastered on my face and the waves and the bumps just made it better.

We were on the water for about an hour and a half.  Then back to his office to get rid of our kit and pick up our bags. As we were in down town Tromso a few people stayed there but we went back to the ship on the minivan.

A quick lunch, pick up our rain jackets as rain was forecast and off for the next expedition. Actually it wasn’t too massive. We had been told about the Northern Lights exhibition from Mel and Karen and wanted to see it. I’d been in touch with the museum a month or so ago and confirmed they had a show in English at 2pm.

The plan was to walk up through the Botanical Gardens from the ship - a supposed 20 minute walk. Well we missed the gardens and got there in under 10. So we wandered around the interactive museum, which is really centred around children, but as we had proved in the morning, we still are children, so we enjoyed ourselves. As they had internet we caught up on a couple of things and read some emails. We have a small issue around our flat in the uk so we made some calls about that as well.

And then the show!  It was filmed and put together by Ole Salmonsen, a resident of Tromso and is shown in the Planetarium. The photography was wonderful and the film very informative, so having missed the Northern Lights wherever we have been this year, at last we can say we have seen them. Perhaps not in reality but still a very good representation. The only problem was that of course the seats recline and were extremely comfortable so we both had to work hard to stay awake despot the excellent quality of the film.

When we came out it was piddling it down so I went to the shop and Steve made another call about the flat. The rain had then eased off a bit so we started walking and found the Botanical Gardens easily which were lovely. But the rain increased so we didn’t we hang rang around. It was a straight walk back to the ship.

The rain is now more than piddling it down and we can barely see anything from the ship. Incredibly sadly the Captain has just announced that the weather will be too bad for us to stop at the Leknes Lofoten Islands. There will be high winds and strong seas and we would have to have been tendered to shore. So now we will spend the day at sea and head for Trondheim on Sunday. However it does mean that we won’t be escaping the high winds and strong seas tomorrow. So he has warned us that there will be plenty of movement on the boat. I might forsee a day in the cabin.

We are extremely disappointed not to be going to Leknes as it was one of the main places we were looking forward to but of course we understand the decision.

Right, let’s look up what there is to do in Tromdheim.