Today we had a leisurely day at sea to look forward to. As we head further north, the weather is getting windier and colder, and the dark nights longer.
After breakfast we wrapped up well and went out on deck to have a brisk walk in the crisp air. We did 10 laps which is two miles. At the moment the Boudicca is cruising through the Norwegian fjords so the sea was like a mill pond and the scenery is spectacular. We passed the Seven Sisters, a series of seven waterfalls cascading down the mountains, as well as many small islands. If you like the Lake District, then you’ll love the Norwegian Fjords which is the same thing, but on a much grander scale.
After our invigorating walk we came back inside and went along to a lecture about global warming, which was very interesting.
The lecture finished at mid-day, so we decided to be very virtuous and go to the gym for a good workout. We did 45 minutes, concentrating on the elliptical cross-trainer in preparation for our snow-shoe trek on Friday.
Workout finished, we then had a spot of lunch (and a well-earned glass of rosé wine!) before going up and doing another six laps around the deck.
I have only been following a fitness regime for about 10 weeks and I am already amazed at the difference in how much fitter I am so, seized with the enthusiasm of the converted, I hope I don’t become too much of a fitness bore in this blog! 🙂
At around three o’clock I decided I couldn’t be bothered to faff around with my hair, so I went along to the salon where they did a wash and blowdry for me, and trimmed my fringe. By the time my hair was done, the announcement came over the tannoy to say that the Boudicca was crossing the Arctic Circle. This is our third time: the first was on the Funchal in June 1999 and the second was also on the Boudicca in July 2008. This is the first time we’ve done it in the winter. 🙂
Dinner tonight at table #32 was excellent as always, and we enjoyed the company of Trevor and Eileen, David and Jill as we ate our delicious meal, which we finished off with a liqueur each before making our way to the Neptune Lounge where we watched the dancing couples before the main show. Tonight it was a comedian called Lee Carroll. He was quite funny, but not as good as the comedy magician we’d seen the other night. We still had a few laughs though.
Up in the Lido Lounge we did the quiz with Malcolm and Margaret, but a win has eluded us so far. Then a couple of minutes later someone came in to say the aurora had appeared again, so we shot out onto the rear decks and gazed eagerly skywards. Sure enough we saw the green glow, which arced upwards to the left and rippled and writhed gently. It’s a pity that the fluorescent lighting along the decks prevented us from appreciating the aurora a bit more, but nevertheless it was still awesome to see. Despite the fact that I was only wearing a dress with a light wrap and it was bitterly cold, I didn’t want to go back inside until there was nothing to see.
After a few minutes the aurora faded until it could no longer compete with the lighting on the Boudicca. We then went back inside to the warmth, and had a couple more drinks and a bit of a dance before going back to cabin 5050 and settling down to sleep. No music came out of our television, so we knew the Northern Lights had also retired for the night. 🙂