Master Charlys Musings

 Today we are not being picked until 4.30pm. So we have time to go to the Shearwater Aviation Museum. We said our goodbyes to the others, who are off to Philadelphia, at breakfast time. We left our cases at reception all with tags on, and the hotel called a taxi to take us to the museum. This base is right by the river and during the war there were Sea Planes stationed there. Masters Great Uncle Billy had been stationed there during the 2nd world war with Canadian Pilots. Looking around the museum I found a reference to the F36 Flying Boats from Felixstowe that were there. Master had a long chat with the curator of the museum and was able to speak with the Librarian too. He would like to find out a bit more about his Great Uncle Billy's posting to Shearwater. I think they are going to try and find out more for him. We walked along the road to the Tim Horton Cafe and had a bite to eat, then went back to the museum and phoned the taxi driver who said he would come and pick us up and ...

 Very early breakfast today, 6.30 am at Lindstrom for the last time. We managed to be first there today. We had our regular Porridge, cooked breakfast and a large cup of tea. During breakfast the ship started sounding its horn about every 2 minutes. It was on the final approach to Halifax, it was also very foggy. Back to our suite and made sure everything was ready to go and we made our way up to Deck 11 to watch the ship dock. The RA swung out and reversed very neatly in to a side dock by the terminal. Coming up behind us was a huge cruise ship 'The Norwegian Pearle' it was big as the one in Corner Brook, Norwegian Joy. The weather is deteriorating and it is now a fine rain, typical of Halifax, I don't think the sun ever shines there! We went back to our suite and collected our things and went and sat in the Explorer Lounge so that Ricky and the rest of the household team can start cleaning the Suites and Cabins. Eventually most of the other passengers came up to the loung...

 Today we got our cases packed. We donated some thermals and our walking boots. These go to various settlements that the Hurtigruten Foundation support. We handed them in at the Expedition Desk. Also we had to hand in our Rubber Boots and the 'Artic Foxes' patch. These are all cleaned and got ready for the next cruise. Our lovely Red waterproof coats are for us to keep. There are various events today. At 14.00 there was a showing of the underwater Drone footage that had been taken at various places on the voyage. We went to the Quiz at 17.00 in the Explorer Lounge and we scored 24/40. Then at 21.00 there was the Captains farewell in the Explorer Lounge. More Champagne and Speeches and a lovely slide show of photographs the ships resident photographer had taken. We learnt that in 8-10 weeks we will all receive an email with a link to  download this slide show. Am Looking forward to it. We sang one last Sea Shanty. Back to our Suite to put our suitcases in the corridor and just ...

 Well today Missus says we are going to a place called Corner Brook. We watched the ship turn left on our TV map, into what appeared to be a very narrow channel. Went up on to deck 7 to watch the progress along this channel. Lots of small isolated settlements along the way. We think the only way in and out would be by boat. Eventually the inlet widened and we saw steaming chimneys from large buildings  on the right of the harbour. Already in harbour was the biggest ship I had ever seen. It was called 'Norwegian Joy'. Missus says they have at least 2000 passengers on board. The RA is having to stop a distance away in the harbour and we are going over to the port by Tender. These Tenders are also Life boats for the ship. Strange things. When they tie up, a person has to climb through the front window to throw the rope to the jetty. The person driving is in a seat about 6feet off the floor and can stand up and put their head out of the roof-light to give them all round vision!! D...

 Master is finding his pills very useful, as the sea is definitely more active now. We are heading across the Labrador Sea towards to Red Bay, Labrador. Most of this day is at sea. We don't get to Red Bay till this afternoon. So we decided to listen to Brendan's Talk about 'Seeking a safe haven' this was about Seabirds and their colonies. Brendan's talk did not disappoint. Seabirds form mixed species colonies, as  doing this can help each other with different strategies for spotting predators. It is interesting to note that there is an abundance of food in both the Artic and Antarctic for these birds. But there is a greater number of birds species in the Antarctic than the Artic. On islands in the Southern Ocean, where Wandering Albatross breed, they are gradually speciating and changing, because they always go back to the island where they hatched, to breed when mature. Some birds such as Storm Petrels nest under ground and one bird stays on the nest all day while ...

 Today we will be able to view the recycling competition and cast our votes. The various departments on board have to make something from recycled materials. The items will be available for the passengers to view and vote on this lunchtime. There were four entries, a cardboard Muskox scull, a cleverly made Christmas scene of a Polar Bear with a Christmas tree, a working electric lamp and a large whale that wobbled! We liked the whale so the Missus and I voted for it. It will be a couple of days before we find out who won. There was a very interesting talk this afternoon by Elsa. She gave a talk about sled dogs, and a bit about the history of dogs in general. Experts are still not completely sure when dogs did actually split from wolves, and form a relationship with humans. A wolf-dog was found buried with 2 humans in a grave dated to 14,000 years ago. North American peoples used dogs as pack animals at least 11,000 years ago. The evidence for this can be seen in the spines as they ...