Canada, Greenland, Iceland

We arrived in Akureyri and went for a whale watch.We had to be suited up, which given yesterday's soaking that seemed like a good idea. Onto an old converted fishing boat and off we went. Off across the fjord spouts had already been spotted. We got close. They tend to surface and do 2 or 3 spouts and then dive for 5 minutes or more. So the boat races to the place they did their dive and wait to see if it comes up close. Sometimes they get out right and sometimes not. We saw mostly humpbacks but also a minky whale too. whale video whales 2 Lots of jellyfish.

Another speciality restaurant, this time Cagney's steak house.  A fillet minyon cooked perfectly. To follow a 7 layer chocolate cake, well it had to be done.

First day in Iceland and we docked in Ísafjörður. We had a walk around but it's not very big and not much to see.  Then we had a trip booked to an abandoned village. This was and hour away by small boat. Quite windy and suddenly very wet. The village was abandoned in 1952 if I remember. Just not enough people living there to be viable. We were guided around the area. Then a quick snack of Icelandic things. Back on the boat to the ship. We suddenly came across some whales. So a definite win.

A quick breakfast before getting an appallingly bad score on the trivia. We have won about 5 packs of cards so far so can't complain... much. Then we went to a q&a on how a cruise ship works  Followed by a talk on Eric and Leif Erickson by the expert. He new his stuff but he just wasn't engaging. Lunch and then a talk from the NASA rocket man. He was engaging and told the story of the columbia tragedy. We had another long chat with Simon B. Cotter the comedian.  The evening entertainment was the return of the magician and the contortionist.

Instead of the many free restaurants we had a meal booked at the French speciality one, Le Bistro. We had some free passes for it.  I couldn't see the point given the normal food is excellent, but it was free. The food really was amazing though and delivered in style. Although I think the wine waiter despaired at our choice of wines  Simon had escargot and steak tartare as a starter. We did the Instagram thing...

Taking a short cut across Greenland. Started off very foggy But as the day moved on the sun broke through.Lots of glaciers and waterfalls. After the transit we exited into the ocean. The fog returned.

After we missed Nuuk, Simon was furious he wasn't going to get to Greenland. However the seas calmed and we dropped anchor in paaimunt, Greenland. This meant tendering rather than walking. So we set off. We landed and it was a lot like Wales. Green, mountainous and very very wet. It rained... And rained And it rained. Eventually we were soaked complete and returned back to the ship.

We should have been on Nuuk Greenland today. However the weather had other ideas as a storm rolled in so we couldn't get in to port or more importantly get to leave it.  So another day at sea it is.

We won another trivia quiz. At the last stop in Canada we took on a singer and comedian. So we had shows from them. More food... We also had an ex NASA engineer give lectures. One on the aurora which I fact checked. We bumped into him and his wife later and had a chat. The Canadian comedian was also very funny. Simon and I bumped into him in the Gatsby bar and had a long chat. He had been to Nottingham a couple of times. He also knew quite a lot of the British comedians such as Jimmy Carr Ed Byrnes and other familiar names.

We arrived here and there was a heat wave warning.  We started with a walk around cornerbrook which isn't very large. Then back to the ship to get ready for an outing. A hike around some trails. It was getting up to 30 degrees. Abnormally warm for here. We went on converted school buses. Then back to the ship.1 minute before all aboard time. Now we leave Newfoundland and Canada for the last time on this trip. Canada is really nice I decided.

Another early start but a chance to catch the sunrise. Sydney features a huge violin. Obviously. Then we got a taxi to the Alexander Graham Bell museum. Some great scenery and a chance to see what he achieved, which was a lot more than the telephone.