Tofino diary - Dec 26

Another drizzly, cloudy day, good for packing up, sigh ...

Ironically,  this is the first stormy visit we have had at Long Beach Lodge Resort,  despite having come here twice before especially for that purpose.

And you may have seen or heard on the news that there have been nine earthquakes in the last three days off the coast of Vancouver Island.  We have felt none of them here.

So, Last Supper  ...

Last martini  ....

Goodbye to Patrick,  Monika, Cole, Aaron,  and Jaime ...

See you next time!

Tofino diary - Dec 25

Christmas morning on the Very West Coast.  Tide is in, and the waves are mostly whitewash.

Later, a walk near the forest ...

... and a fire by the beach.

Lots of people out, even as the sun sets.

And Christmas dinner in the Great Room.

Tofino diary - Dec 24

Drizzly Christmas Eve day.  The surfers are out in full force in Cox Bay this morning.

Finished breakfast at noon.  (It's a tough life!)

Christmas cookies from the resort staff.

And another lovely evening ...

Cheers!

Tofino diary - Dec 23

BIG breakfast, eaten very late.

Walking on the beach.

A little shopping at the Surf Shop ...

And another long, leisurely dinner.

Sublime.

Tofino diary - Dec 22

Early dinner, and early to bed.  Zzzzzzz ...

3 cheeses that were ...

Food on the cruise ship is good, really good.  But it's not the same as eating Quebec cheeses in Montreal ...  It's about the ambience, the martinis, the Quebecois  ... the whole package.

Which led us to Reuben's for smoked meat sandwiches and Molson Canadian beer ...

We are soooooo tired .....

St John's NL

St John's was both wonderful and disappointing. Disappointing because it is really not walker-friendly; wonderful because, well, it's St John's. Had a long conversation with a young woman who was visiting her brother on the west coast in couple of weeks ...

In one of those twists of fate, our good friends from Uxbridge were leaving St John's on the same day our cruise ship arrived.

Second to last day on our cruise and well fueled by alcohol ...

Pictures are for my brother, Rick, who has very fond memories of this place ...

Nanortalik

Despite being the most southern of our three Greenland stops, Nanortalik was the coolest and windiest weather-wise, though beautifully sunny. It's also the only place where we've seen icebergs and bergy bits.

 The scenery is SPECTACULAR!

Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq is a picturesque little town in southern Greenland. With a population of only about 3,400, they were overrun today with the ship's passenger complement of almost the same number. Good thing we had to be tendered into port in small groups!

Weather was a little bit cloudy and a little bit cool, but much more comfortable than what we experienced in Nuuk.

Qaqortoq is the only town in Greenland with a fountain in the town square.

And in the early 90's, a Qaqortoq artist and other Nordic artists chiseled designs in the rock faces in town. 

And through the miracle of modern technology, I was able to go into the bank in Qaqortoq and use the ATM there to withdraw 500 Danish Krone from our bank account in Victoria!  Wish we'd got a picture of that!

Nuuk, Greenland

It was a beautiful sunny day in Nuuk, though a little on the coolish side.

For some reason, I expected Greenland to be flat. Not so. It reminded us of Newfoundland and Iceland. Not surprising, I suppose, given that all three places are "north", built on rock, and surrounded by ocean.

Brightly coloured homes offset the gray and brown landscape.

In the centre of Nuuk there was a state-of-the-art cultural centre, a shopping mall, and a market selling fish and seal meat.

Oh, and Greenland has "free" medical and dental care, paid through taxes. Civilised ...

North of 60

We sailed past the 60th parallel north about 6 am today.  We are now in polar waters.

Northeast of Labrador

Only 9C outside, but nothing that pizza, beer, and a Broadway show won't fix ....

All aboard!

We made it ... finally!

We arrived in Halifax by air yesterday, and checked into our third hotel in as many days, The Prince George. We've never stayed there before but, I confess that I googled "Best hotels in Halifax" and chose it from that list, determined to make lemonade.

It turned out to be a great choice. The hotel has this fabulous patio off the lobby that is just perfect for relaxing. So that's what we did. We spent several hours just chillin' in the warm shade, having a couple of drinks and some snacks, before settling into our last night in transit.

 
This morning the hotel staff picked up our luggage, told the cabbie our story while we checked out, and then settled us into the cab for the short ride to the cruise ship dock.

Our cabbie, following Amanda's directive, stopped the first security guard he saw at the dock, and gave him the scoop. The security guard radioed his supervisor who radioed his colleague, George, and the ship. George looked after us until three (three!) porters arrived to manage our two suitcases and assist Tom up the boarding ramps.

At the security checkpoint, a rep from Passenger Services met us, took our passports to the Security desk for clearance, and gave us our medallions. We are in!

(As Tom says, the regular cruise check in isn't this efficient!)

So here we are, once again relaxing in the warm shade, on the balcony of our cabin, drinking our traditional (for us) first drink of the cruise, Dos Equis. Clothes are unpacked and I have completed by self-directed orientation tour.

The only fly in the ointment? Those of us who boarded the ship today still have to do that damned lifeboat drill.

And those medallions are the bomb! I can carry a plate of food and two beers and not have to put anything down to unlock the cabin door.

Life is good.

Thanks, Amanda. 

The best laid plans

We arrived in Montreal yesterday on the first leg of our trip to Greenland.  We are still here ...

Because of a weather event in New York, our connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport was cancelled.  Air Canada rebooked us on a flight today but, unfortunately, it arrives too late to allow us to board our cruise.

Enter our intrepid travel agent, Amanda.  After texting her, she spent hours on the phone with Princess and Air Canada trying to make the best of a bad situation.  Our entire trip was in jeopardy. 

With some fancy footwork, Amanda has worked it out.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, we fly to Halifax, and join the cruise when it docks in Halifax on Wednesday. 

And, in the meantime, we are enjoying martinis and smoked meat sandwiches in a number of Montreal airport hotels. 

And for those of you who don't think a travel agent is necessary, well, you're on your own.

Greenland, here we come!