Sea Eagle

We cross the Arctic Circle again. I stand outside and watch the sun rise onto a mountain top (extra).The temperature has risen a bit and the ice on the bottom of the lifeboats starts to melt (extra). On the sea a flock of seagulls battles against the waves. They get separated then suddenly all come together in a tight huddle and stay like that for a while before setting off again.

There is a talk on deck today about the Seven Sisters, a dramatic mountain range with seven peaks. After the ‘serious’ information on the open back deck, Niri, one of our guides, starts to tell us the legend of the Seven Sisters then clears a space on the deck and picks out seven people, one being my mum, to act seven beautiful troll-maidens. He doesn’t realise that the tall red-bearded Viking he chooses to be the horseman in lascivious pursuit of them is my son (her grandson, obviously). Probably because I am grinning so much, Niri then picks me out to be the guardian of the maidens against the marauding Viking. Niri tells the story, we act. I fight off my evil son but the sun rises on my mum and the other maidens and turns them all to mountainous stone (extra). Red beard then sets his sights on me and we do our best not to spoil the telling by giggling too much.

We have three days to go and already I am feeling nostalgic. A day of watching mountains and skies turns into a night of the same. I cannot believe our luck as the Northern Lights come out to play again and I cannot believe how few people are outside to watch them. Yes, it’s very cold and no they are not very bright, but I cannot tear myself away.