North Sea, en route for Amsterdam
The last full day of our incredibly varied trip was spent at sea. This gave us sufficient time to draw breath and reminisce about our journey which started above the Arctic Circle in Tromso. What an eye-widening experience it has been. Everywhere we saw incredibly impressive landscape vistas, dizzyingly high rock walls hewn by the incessant grinding and pulverizing action of ancient glacial ice. In some areas the rocks were a couple of billion years old. We have cruised, both in the Endeavour and in the Zodiacs, through a number of fjords. They were formed following the melting of the great ice sheets, around twelve thousand years ago, which caused flooding of these deep, U-shaped glaciated valleys. Fan-shaped scree deposits banked against the lower slopes of their walls added depth and texture. Throughout our journey we witnessed a plethora of plant and animal life and we were even fortunate enough to spot whit-tailed eagles. We met the Sami, an ancient people who have a close association with reindeer. They were originally nomadic but many of them have become settled with the passage of time. We caught glimpses into the distant past and experienced the landscape that was home to the Vikings. Each day of our journey together has been a veritable cultural feast. Everywhere we went we witnessed vestiges of the past.
As the galley staff worked hard preparing the Captain’s Farewell Dinner, a number of presentations were made by our expedition staff on a variety of topics. This began with an early ‘wrap-up’ recap in the lounge. David Cothran explained the geological background to Norway which was followed by discussions on linguistic connections from the Viking past and the use of flint in prehistory by naturalist Ian Bullock and archaeologist Vinnie Butler. Ian then explained the origin of many common, everyday sayings originating from the realm of the sailor. In the afternoon Carl Eric Kilander expounded on his work relating to conservation in Norway. The final presentation was by David Cothran who showed a selection of his underwater video recordings compiled during this voyage and he detailed the lifestyles and habits of a number of life forms. This was a fitting end to this marvelous cruise during which we had gained such an insight into both the natural and human cultural wonders of Scandinavia.
The last full day of our incredibly varied trip was spent at sea. This gave us sufficient time to draw breath and reminisce about our journey which started above the Arctic Circle in Tromso. What an eye-widening experience it has been. Everywhere we saw incredibly impressive landscape vistas, dizzyingly high rock walls hewn by the incessant grinding and pulverizing action of ancient glacial ice. In some areas the rocks were a couple of billion years old. We have cruised, both in the Endeavour and in the Zodiacs, through a number of fjords. They were formed following the melting of the great ice sheets, around twelve thousand years ago, which caused flooding of these deep, U-shaped glaciated valleys. Fan-shaped scree deposits banked against the lower slopes of their walls added depth and texture. Throughout our journey we witnessed a plethora of plant and animal life and we were even fortunate enough to spot whit-tailed eagles. We met the Sami, an ancient people who have a close association with reindeer. They were originally nomadic but many of them have become settled with the passage of time. We caught glimpses into the distant past and experienced the landscape that was home to the Vikings. Each day of our journey together has been a veritable cultural feast. Everywhere we went we witnessed vestiges of the past.
As the galley staff worked hard preparing the Captain’s Farewell Dinner, a number of presentations were made by our expedition staff on a variety of topics. This began with an early ‘wrap-up’ recap in the lounge. David Cothran explained the geological background to Norway which was followed by discussions on linguistic connections from the Viking past and the use of flint in prehistory by naturalist Ian Bullock and archaeologist Vinnie Butler. Ian then explained the origin of many common, everyday sayings originating from the realm of the sailor. In the afternoon Carl Eric Kilander expounded on his work relating to conservation in Norway. The final presentation was by David Cothran who showed a selection of his underwater video recordings compiled during this voyage and he detailed the lifestyles and habits of a number of life forms. This was a fitting end to this marvelous cruise during which we had gained such an insight into both the natural and human cultural wonders of Scandinavia.
