Tromsø. May 30-31, 2013

Thursday, May 30th

Caroline and I reunited in Oslo just as we boarded the 90 minute flight to Tromsø.  Caroline was coming from Belgium and I from Los Angeles.  After 1 month apart it was certainly good to see each other again.  We also reunited with friends and residents of The World heading in the same direction as us.

The flight took us north of the Arctic circle over rugged and desolate countryside.  At 69°40′33″ North Tromsø is some 300 kms or 190 miles north of the Arctic Circle.  We had a magnificent day for the flight and had stunning views.

With 24 hour sun at the moment, it is hard to believe that Tromsø is covered in snow 7 months of the year and has no official sunrise for 2 months each year.

Arctic terrain on the flight to Tromsø

Beautiful day as we approach Tromsø

On the wharf waiting for M/V The World to dock.
Our home for the next 3 weeks.

Friday, May 31st. (Caroline)

First on the agenda, for me, this morning was a visit to the ship's doctor to have a follow-up x-ray taken of that heel spur.

Then we set out for a walk over the Bruvegen Bridge, past the Arctic Cathedral, towards the cable car, Fjellheisen. From the top we were rewarded with sweeping views over Tromsø and surrounds on a gorgeous sunny and warm day. Oh how nice to be in warm weather again! Let's hope it lasts a while.
On the way back we visited the Polar Museum, which, amongst other things, has a nice exhibit on Roald Amundsen, the Arctic explorer.

Arctic Cathedral.

View from the top of the cable car.

Los Angeles, May 26-29, 2013

May 28

Today Sterlin got dropped off at Schumacher Cargo and Logistics for shipping to Australia. The process was extremely easy and very reasonably priced at $1,850.

In preparation of arrival into Sydney, Sterlin underwent a serious cleaning to remove any trace of bugs and oil leaks. Apparently the Australian bio-security folks are very serious when it comes to imported cars and bugs. And the local Department of Motor Vehicles does not like oil leaks.

We do not yet have an arrival date into Australia. Ideally Sterlin does not arrive until after July 10th, so we can be there to greet it.

It now feels like the big adventure is underway.  Tomorrow I fly to Norway.

Sterlin parked and ready to be loaded into a container.
Good news, the roof top tent does not need to be removed.

Sterlin loaded with Fridge, Pelican cases, Jerry Cans, pillows,
Sleeping mats and many other things.

 

Sunset over Santa Monica beach.

 

Gent and Eeklo. May 19-29, 2013.

May 19.

I arrived in Zaventem, from Stockholm around 7pm, jumped on a train to Gent and knocked on Hilde's door. Being Sunday there where no trains to Eeklo anymore at that time, but I'd pre-arranged to stay at Hilde's. And since Monday 20 May was a holiday we spent that day together as well. As usual very nice to catch up.
Together we visited an old haunt of mine: Cafe In Den Hemel. I spent many hours there long time ago - before I left Gent for London.
Stocked up on 'strips' again during my usual visit to Stripwinkel De Poort.

Nice street/wall art I came across in the
St Paulusstraat, side wall of St Pietersinstituut.

May 21st.

Arrived in Eeklo in the afternoon. Sorted out having my heel spur looked at next Monday.

It's all about family and friends here.

And let's not talk about the weather - 8 degrees C here!! Really?! And wet wet wet..

Meiklokjes / Lily of the Valley. Mum's garden.

May 28nd.

Sunshine and no rain all day yesterday!! Yay!!!!!
I couldn't go for a long walk because of the Shockwave treatment for my heel spur, but a lovely lunch in Kristien and Erik's garden made up for that.
Today the weather was nice till about 4pm-ish; I got my walk in before that.

Buddha statue in mum's garden.

When in Eeklo I  always spend at least one evening in Cafe 't Kabouterke, an old and favorite haunt of mine. I learned that this iconic little cafe may soon no longer be.... that will truly be a sad day for Eeklo.

't Kabouterke.

Twilight in Eeklo.

Heel Spur. No Kidding.

Most of you know I love walking and hiking. Weather permitting (yes, fair weather hiker)  I love to go for long walks to explore new places.
So, why have I not been on any serious walk since Hamburg? As it turns out I have a heel spur. What? Yep. Not funny. I call it my 'shark's tooth'. It's the small pointy thingy on the bottom of my heel.

I had experienced some discomfort after walking around San Francisco the last week at home but I put it down to fatigue or old shoes. In Hamburg however things took a turn for the worse with my heel actually starting to hurt during and after walks. So on May 10th I decided to visit the ship's doctor. One look at and feel of my heel and he suspected a heel spur and decided an x-ray was in order.
X-ray was taken on May 11th and without a doubt confirmed his preliminary diagnosis.
OK. Now what: long story short: I will go see an orthopedist in Eeklo. Meanwhile: Stretching exercises and icing and anti-inflammatory meds.
And taking it easy on walking. Not funny. Talk about bad timing.

May 21st.

Talked to doctor in Eeklo today and got referred to the fysio department at the hospital. Managed to get an appointment for next Monday. Hopefully we'll be able to do something called 'ESWT Orthopace - Sanuwave' to try and reduce the annoying shark's tooth in size. Which should then reduce the 'discomfort'.

May 28th.

Yesterday morning I had my appointment at the hospital in Eeklo, with a doctor in the fysio department. She concurred with other doctors I had consulted that, in my situation, Shockwave treatment was the best course of action.
First she did an ultrasound of both my heels (to compare). Next I got an injection in my heel to 'lessen' the pain of the treatment. And then it was time for the shockwave treatment to try and blow that heel spur to smithereens. The doctor had said it was going to hurt, a lot, injection or not, and suffice it to say, hurt it did. A lot. But only during the treatment, there was no lingering pain.
Did it work? So far the pain that was caused by the heel spur seems to have gone. There is still discomfort; I mean, they did 'blast' a calcium deposit in my heel, so naturally that whole area needs time to heal (pardon the pun). But I can walk, just need to take it easy for a while.

May 31st.

Back on board m/v The World I had a follow-up x-ray takken this morning. And the little annoying 'shark's tooth' is still there. Grrrrrr.... And I felt it during today's walk. Because of a nasty blister on my little toe, that almost got infected, I cannot, for the time being, wear the shoes with more heel support....

June 24th.

That morning I had a follow-up appointment in the hospital in Eeklo. First to radiology for an up-to-date x-ray, which of course showed the spur still there in all its glory. Then back to the doctor for an assessment. The plantar fascia thick connective tissue , fascia, which supports the arch on the bottom, plantar side, of the foot) was still infected and swollen, slightly more than before (tell me about it...) and the spur still there, not really diminished. Staying just about totally off my feet would also have helped.... but really? While traveling? Me?! The doctor had explained to me the first time that ESWT is usually not (totally) successful on the first shot and it may have to be repeated. Normally the preferred time between treatments is 6 to 8 weeks, to give to tissue time to recover from and deal with the spur. But given my situation (ie.: being on the move) we she suggested an second treatment now.
So another 4.5 very painful minutes later the second 'shot' was finished. And now we wait again - and I'm supposed to stay off my feet.... mmmmmm .... I'm writing this on July 20 and can tell you that that has not bee very successful....
The plan is to have another x-ray done around August 24th (2 months after this treatment) and discuss progress (hopefully) and options.


To be continued...

Uppsala. May 16-19, 2013.

I disembarked from M/V The World in Oslo on May 16 to fly to Stockholm and then bus to Uppsala, to spend a few days with my friend Kristin and her family.
It's been lovely catching up and chatting. We made 2 trips into Uppsala proper (Kristin leves about 10km from the actual city) and generally have been enjoying the nice weather.

Tulips in Kristin's garden.

Viggo and the Bronze Man.

Danmarks Edeby, where Kristin lives.

Aalborg & Skagen. May 13-14, 2013.

Monday May 13th and Tuesday May 14th

Although Aalborg looked quite nice, I only ventured out for about an hour's walk - in the rain. It just about drizzled the whole day. You have to give the people points for optimism though: despite the rain just about every cafe had outdoor seating set up, glistening with water.

In Skagen (pronounced 'Skain') we had better luck. I went shoreside around 10am and only got drizzled on for about 10 minutes and then the skies went blue. Skagen is very pictoresque with is low yellow houses with red roofs.
Went for a walk to Grenen, a sandy shifting headland at the north tip of Denmark, which is the boundary between Skagerrak and the Kattegat.

Skagen Fire Tower.

Flensburg. May 10-11, 2013.

Friday May 10th and Saturday May 11th
Impressions of a city.

Women with attitude.

Returning from the  Rum Regatta
(Flensburg Fjord Yacht Race).

Kiel Canal. May 9, 2013.

Thursday, May 9th

The World - with me on it - is currently traversing the Kiel Canal. Quite spectacular really as it is rather narrow and the greenery going by outside at the moment is level with the deck 10 apartment I am in. Sometimes the trees are higher.

Approaching the lock at Brunsbüttel.
Looks like it will be a tight fit!

Entering the lock at Brunsbüttel.

Traversing the canal.

98 km (61m) later in the lock at Kiel-Holtenau.

Hamburg. May 5-8, 2013.

Monday, May 6th.

I arrived in Hamburg, on The World, around noon yesterday, May 5th. I was hovering around the exit gate while the ship was being cleared by customs as I knew my friends Ilse and Nils where waiting for me ashore.
Once reunited we went for a short walk before settling for drink on the beach StrandPauli. After a pitstop at their home they took me for a lovely walk to Wasserkunst Hamburg - I adored those little valve houses.

We had dinner in and I stayed the night at 'Nilse'.

This morning I walked back to the ship and finally got to catch up with Alison, for about 1 hour, before she was off cycling around Hamburg with friends.

I came across these 'floating ladies' this morning.

On a tip from Nilse I visited Miniatur Wunderland, billed as the world's largest model railway and it was fun!!! Apart from several extremely detailed (I would not want to have to dust it) country exhibits there is also an airport with planes taking off and landing, very cool!

Later that afternoon I walked back in the general direction of Nilse's place and we all 3 spent the evening together again.


Tuesday, May 7th.

This morning on my walk back towards TW, I enjoyed going through Planten un Blomen, an absolutely gorgeous and huge public garden. A very nice way to start the day.
I got back to the ship in time to see Alison and friends off on their 4-day cycling tour from Hamburg to Flensburg.

The rest of the day I spent leisurely walking around HafenCity, Altstadt und Neustadt, before heading off to (N)Ilse for dinner and the evening.


Wednesday, May 8th.

I have found a photographer to add to my favorites list: Harry Callahan.
Today I visited the Deichtor Hallen; one of the buildings is dedicated to photography and the current Harry Callahan Retrospektive blew me away.
This is my last day in Hamburg as The World is scheduled to sail at 6am tomorrow morning.

View from a terras.

Rathaus by night.

London, UK. April 30 - May 3, 2013.

Thursday, May 2nd.

D-Day has come and gone and I have survived the 'shock' of no longer having house keys, at least temporarily. I guess they will be replaced with car keys soon enough, but for now I am footloose and fancy-free. Although, by now, boarding The World is always a little bit like coming 'home'.

So yes, Stephen and I did some serious packing last weekend and we got most of it done. All my clothes made it into boxes, except for the 4 bags I took on this part of my trip.
Excessive? Totally.
But necessary for my peace of mind for now; I don't think I could've handled leaving with less. It is after all luggage for what I consider 4 different 'sub' trips: The World, The White Sea Expedition, Europe (and hopefully it will get warmer soon or I'll have to hit the shops) and the Big One.
Naturally I won't be taking the fancy stuff after this Europe leg of the trip. Some of it will stay on board The World, some at my mum's in Belgium (will be nice to have those clothes when we get there in Sterlin some time August/September 2014) and some will be put in storage when we pass through San Francisco early July.
Which should leave me with the appropriate stuff for winter in Australia and warm weather in SE Asia. We'll deal with Vladivostok and Russia at a later date.

Sunday evening, April 28, I took my house keys off my key ring and handed them to Stephen, who will leave them in our loft when he leaves on May 27th.

Around noon on April 29 my flight left SFO for LHR where I arrived early morning the next day. A pre-booked minicab ride later (so no need to worry about being stuck in the morning commute) I boarded The World, docked at Greenwich Pier.

Old Royal Naval College Greenwich.

Apart from a quick hug as we briefly crossed paths on the pier, as I arrived and Alison left, I haven't seen Alison yet; she'll be back on board in Hamburg.

I always like spending a few days in London and it's always first about the friends.
My first evening here I went to dinner at Silvia and Wayne's and stayed the night at their place; much easier than making the trek back from Balham late at night.
The next morning I took in the National Portrait Gallery (Man Ray exhibition), walked around Greenwich a bit, relaxed, before heading to Skylon Restaurant in The Royal Festival Hall for dinner with our good friend Pete.
Today I went to Wagamama's Canary Wharf for lunch and then walked back, via the Greenwich foot tunnel, to The World.
Tonight I'm meeting up with Silvia again.

Greenwich foot tunnel.

Friday, May 3rd.

Spent a lovely evening with Silvia last night; started off for drinks in the Old Bank of England Pub and followed with dinner at Cote Restaurant Covent Garden.

Today I didn't wake up until 7:30am (a vast improvement over the previous mornings), so jetlag is just about over. Caught up with friends Stephanie and Peter on board and then went for a walk up to the Royal Observatory here in Greenwich. And yes, I paid the money and queued up to do the 'one foot in the East, one foot in the West' thing :-). The photo below however is not of the Meridian Courtyard but of the line under the Meridian Laser.

Panorama shot from the Observatory.
Yes, that is The World on the left.

Walking through Greenwich Town Centre I came across 'Jamie Olivier in Greenwich' where I bought a yummy salad for a late lunch. Also did some grocery shopping for the next few days on board.

And now I am just back from the mandatory safety briefing on board before The World sets sail on the Thames towards the channel and the North Sea en route to Hamburg. About 30 minutes after leaving we should pass through the Thames Barrier.

And pass through The Thames Barrier we did.... just!