Master Charlys Musings

 Well the plane landed safely and on time at LHR and Missus had a wheelchair from the plane and the electric buggy booked to baggage retrieval. Master and Morgan had to walk there. Passport control went smoothly and on to baggage control. We were amazed, Master and Morgan had got through Passport control and had collected all the luggage by the time we got there. Then we had to go through the green lane at customs and didn't get stopped. So through into the arrivals hall and to find the driver who is taking us home. We couldn't see anyone with a card with our name on, Master had a telephone number and rang it. The driver answered but it was difficult to see who was talking to us, as there were several of the drivers on their phones at the same time. However we did find him eventually and he had a placard with the Masters name on it. Then it seemed as though the car was parked a long way away in the carpark. Still we got loaded into the car and the driver set off for Brandon. I ...

 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 ...

 02.09.2023. Today is the turn of the Artic foxes to visit the Bridge, at 11.00. The visit lasted about 20 min. It is amazing how everything these days is controlled electronically. The Pilot sits in the middle of the bridge and everything they need for controlling the ship is at hand. The ship also has a Port and a Starboard Bridge. This is to control the ship while docking at a port and the windows give a good view to be able to monitor progress. The Starboard Bridge control is used when the dock and Zodiacs are deployed. The ship doesn't even need to deploy an Anchor when it stops e.g. Sutton Island. It holds its position by satellite navigation. You just press a button. No more damaging the sea bed with Anchors.   The ship also carries out Sonar scans of the seabed where it goes e.g. Sutton Island. These scans can be sent to other ships that might go there and also sent for recording for geographical reasons. Like Sutton Island which hadn't been visited for several years. ...

 Dreadful drizzly and cold day, Morgan and I have opted to stay in the warm today and are sending the Master and Missus out to look at the place and report back. There is a mountain here called the Lady's Bonnet because of its shape, but you cannot see any mountain tops today. The Roald Amundsen is actually docking in the harbour today so everyone will be able to walk off the ship. It will be serviced while here e.g. all waste removed and some supplies to come on board.  Master and Missus sallied forth in the cold drizzly weather and managed to find the museum and  souvenir  shop. It was terribly crowded in there with our people and others from another ship, so Missus bought some cookie cutters and then they came back to the ship for a light lunch. Time was a bit tight as they were going on a coach tour of Sisimiut in the afternoon. The coach picked them up on the dock side. They had an interesting Danish guide. The tour took them all around the town. Sisimiut is the...

 Today we made landfall in Ilulissat the third largest settlement in Greenland. Population 4000. I am pleased to say Master is his old self again and is up for his walking challenge today. My carer is going on a boat trip and we are staying on board in the warm. It is still quite cold outside. There are some quite large Icebergs floating around near our ship. One of them has parked itself behind the ship, so we will have to shuffle around a bit to get out of this bay. The Fjord we are going to see has been made a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is known to have spawned the Iceberg that sunk the Titanic. The Iceberg started forming when David was King of the Israelites 1000 BC. It would have taken 1 to 3 years to reach latitude 45deg where the Titanic was when hit. Only 2% of Icebergs spawned from this glacier reach this latitude. It was probably about 120m/400ft wide and 30m/100ft high. For the trip today M&M don't need to wear those big boots, and the trip across to Ilulissat w...

 This morning Carol Frances the on board Historian gave a fact filled talk about the ill fated Franklin  Expedition of 1845. There was so much to take in so the Missus missed quite a few facts. We were mind boggled by the time she finished. We hadn't realised just how many follow up expeditions there had been to find out what had happened. Franklin had set off with two ships the Erebus and Terror, there was 24 officers and 104 men.  There were two supply ships which were were sent ahead. They had 10 cows and 8000 tins of food, sealed with lead solder. The ships got caught in the ice and it sounds as though things went down hill from there. Franklin died on 11 June 1847. They overwintered at Beechy island t 1845/46. One of the most credible reports of the loss of the Franklin Expedition came from  Dr John Rae from Orkney. He worked for the Hudson Bay Company and had a good rapport with the Inuit. He discovered that the Inuit were trading Franklin artifacts and he aske...

 Today there is to be some small boat cruising, this means people going out on the Zodiacs to see wild life. The place chosen for this activity is Conningham Bay. We watched the early scouts go out to see what they could find. Our group Artic Foxes was one of the first out at 7am. No way! we didn't go! It was bitterly cold at that time and we saw them when they came back absolutely frozen, but they did see 7 Polar Bears feeding on seals and whale. In fact they were sharing food. Other stories we heard later were that people got very wet, cold and it was difficult to take photos. Also one zodiac got stuck on rocks near a bear and another sounded as though its engine was failing. Some people not happy, others ill. However we did get to see a very large Polar Bear from the Expedition Lounge deck 10. It walked round from the bay along a hillside then came down to the water walked in and swam away. The other highlight for today is going through the Bellot Strait. This narrow channel wit...

Today we went to a very interesting talk about Whales, given by Karen. We learnt many fun facts about them. Firstly there are two types of whale, Baleen and Toothed. There are more than 80 different species of Whale. They can use 90% of the oxygen they take in, and they are protected from the cold of the oceans by a thick layer of fat called Blubber. The Baleen Whales are an interesting group, Baleen is made of Keratin and has a stiff layer of ribs on the outside and hair on the inside. They also have a very large tongue for licking off the food they catch on the inside hairs and usually a fairly small throat. This means they can extract the water they take in very quickly. They feed in 3 different ways. The Gray Whale that feeds on the muds at the bottom, so they tend to feed in shallow water. They also feed one sided so their Baleen is shorter one side than the other. Usually the right hand side. Humpback whales however feed on larger prey e.g. Herring, they blow bubbles to surround ...