We had an earliesh breakfast today as our boat docked in Kirkenes at 9am. We had pre-booked a husky sled ride, but the excursion was cancelled due to the late snowfalls. Apparently the snow is about 2 weeks later than normal. I can only assume that they deem it unsafe now as the snow that has fallen is too light. We did get a full refund on our fairly expensive excursion, When I went to the counter I was offered a swop to a marble mine- didn’t seem like a great deal.

So instead, we caught the boat that the bus provided to the city centre for the morning. We had about 3 hours to sightsee. Anyone who has been to Kirkenes before, will have started laughing already. We navigated around the main square and surrounding streets in 30 minutes flat…and that included a 10 minute browse in a shop. So our options were to either sit and wait for time to pass by in a coffee shop, or to walk back to the boat, or to take a walk to one of the museums. So we popped into a tourist centre and got some directions and a map….20 minute walk they said.

If there is one bit of travel advice I can give anyone. Never trust the time that people quote it will take you to walk somewhere. It is never true- you can bargain on it taking double or triple as long. It’s not like we even got lost or did not head in the right direction. But it was seriously uphill, on icy roads and about 2 inches of snow. We did take the scenic route through the village, which was great but it had a catch. It was great to see the gardens, the home layouts, little parks and village life. But the catch was a seriously slippery uphill climb through the ‘veld’ covered in slippery ice and snow. But being intrepid explorers we made it. Finally getting to the museum about 45 minutes later. We arrived huffing and puffing with the perspiration pouring off ua. Its amazing how much you can perspire under all that clothing, and with physical exertion….despite the fact that the temperature is close to zero. My hair was wet and matted to my scalp.So we sat and had a coke and a coffee, stripped down to the bare essentials, trying to cool down,

What a disappointment. Although they have tried really hard, the museum is quite dismal. Upstairs is an eclectic mix of bric a brac (or in plain english…crap). The weirdest collection of photos and drawings – see the cockatiel and rabbit pic, some spinning looms and Sami clothing (local tribes). Downstairs was a bit more interesting, but took 10 minutes to go through. A collection of artifacts from the WW II. Some interesting stories and poems about the war. An old plane and other memorabilia. Many of the towns have much of the history on show based on the exploits and hardhsips of the Norwegians during the war. As mentioned before the Germans were anxious to control the Russian border and annihalated everything in their scorched earth policy.

A few minutes later it started snowing quite heavily, not blizzard studd, but serious snow. Naturally, being Africans this is a major novelty and the two us headed outside to play in the snow. I have a waterproof cover for my cellphone, so we could set it up and take time delayed selfies. We had many laughs trying to rush the timer!  Our bis picked us up at 12.10 and it wa straight back to the boat. We left the port just after 12.30.

Kirkenes is our turn around port and now the ship heads back down to Bergen. We have only 4 more nights on board as we get off the boat early Tuesday morning in Trondheim. I did a bit of laundry this afternoon and we sat and interneted and read in the Explorer lounge. The boat hit some serious turbulence this afternoon as we hit the open waters, my first bout of sea sickness this trip. Just took a valoid and lay down in my room with aircon set to cold and waited it out. Glad to report that it is over now, I bless my doc and these pills.

Dinner tonight was a mixed bag. The starter was herring with potato, spring onion and a mayo. I don’t like hering at all. Had a taste of it, taste is okayish, but the texture grills me. Main course was roasted reindeer (we checked…not Rudolph- so Christmas is still on this year), with brussel sprouts and mash potato. Very yummy served with a lingenberry sauce and gravy. Desert was a Russian Sharlotska (apple pie type dish) with an aqyavit ice cream. Very good too.

Herring starter

Reindeer fillet with mash and lingenberry sauce

Russian Sharlotka

had our traditional after dinner walk around and sit in Explorer lounge and now its blogging time in bed. Been another great day. Thanks for the comments and smses and whatsapps from home. Always good to hear from you all. Sleep tight

Local modes of transport

This lady was old

Granny taking baby for a stroll

Stalking the camera in a cemetary

In Kirkenes square

Navigator at wor

The dreaded short cut hill

Leanne the brave sets off

Slow and steady

Dawn’s snow angel

Picnic anyone

Lots of laughs

Statue in front of museum

Sami food storage hut

Exhibit in the museum

Photo on wall

The cockatiel and rabbitt

Forlorn playground

The loom

Cranberries in the street

In the snow at the museum

Grading the road

Easy does it

The walk through town

Loved this

We had to find fun

Beautiful view

The camera man in action