Snow overnight and another cold morning. As we are now above the Arctic Circle it is to be expected. Both Aaron and I put extra layers on today and it was better. We decided to walk around Tromso as we waited to board the boat. The weather was changing between snowing and raining. It is so beautiful to see the mountains and streets covered in snow. Finally, it was time to board. The Mv Polarlys had arrived. The welcoming was good and efficient and we were soon ...

We slept, off and on, for about 12 hours. I woke up about 7pm last night and walked back to the airport and purchased some rolls and drink for dinner. Then back to sleep. We certainly needed the sleep. Breakfast this morning in the hotel was a wonderful buffet. Checked out and the 5 minute walk to the airport to check in. Quite cold. Completely self check in for our Scandinavian Airlines flight to Tromso - 2 hours. Very rough flying at times. Absolutely magnifice...

The Qantas A380 departed Singapore 30 minutes late at 11.45pm. It was a long 13.5 hours. I now say that I can tick off more countries that "I've been to", because we flew over India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other "..stans", Russia, Poland, Germany and Denmark before arriving at London Heathrow at 5am - 25 minutes early. An efficient transfer fromTerminal 3 to Terminal 5 - 45 minutes from leaving the aircraft, bus and security screening until arriving at Termin...

Well, part 2 of the Long Service Leave travels begin today. Today Aaron and I depart for the Arctic. We fly out this afternoon to Oslo, Norway; to begin our adventure. Over the next 3 weeks we will go on a cruise, fly to within a few hundred kilometers of the North Pole, ride a snowmobile, climb a volcano, bathe in hot springs near lava fields (Iceland) and go on a three day dog sledding trip in a remote part of Greenland. Our flight leaves at 3.30pm via Si...

Only got a little sleep. Kept trying to get comfortable although as I had a bulkhead seat which didn't recline it was going to be impossible. Crew kept the cabin dim until 11am Perth time, then served breakfast. We were going to be about 40 minutes early. A lot of smoke haze on the descent with Rottnest Island, the coast and city hardly visible. Immigration, quarantine and customs surprisingly quite efficient. Yellow Fever cards required for Africa and S...