MV FRAM EXPEDITION BLOG: Else Kristine Tjessem

Showing posts with label Else Kristine Tjessem. Show all posts

Monday, 22 October 2012

Let the crew talk

Crossings are very special trips we have aboard FRAM. We have passengers aboard, an expedition team, crew and workers for special renovation works. These works have to be done before we reach Buenos Aires. So we have a mixture of people and interest but we believe we are doing well and passengers, crew and workers enjoy their time. In the following report, written by our receptionist Clarice, you will get a little feeling about our daily life on board.

It’s amazing how many days we are at sea already, and still we are enjoying the good weather, good food and of course fun at work. Work starts at 8am; we are almost finishing counting all the shop stocks from deck 3, up to deck 4 and 5. Quite excited with the progress at the moment, our ship’s shop is being renovated to make it bigger and wider. There are things that we don’t usually do or shall we say can’t do if not only during crossing, like for instance, having more time to rest, relax and have fun during the night with passengers we have on board. Just like today we have the awarding of certificates for the lucky ones who were baptized when we crossed the Equator, quite fun to see new faces experiencing it, and had a blast from the past seeing ourselves seating on that chair feeling the same. One of our new Receptionist, Rose was also baptized that day hahaha lucky her. After a day of work, dinner together in the outside deck is sooooo good. This is one thing we would really miss during crossing, good weather, enough rest, games during the night and of course how could we miss the sumptuous barbecue/food the galley team is preparing for us every night. Our day is mostly spent counting the things we have in the shop, office supplies and a lot more. Another thing we are so grateful during this crossing is German lecture we do every day, we might not be the best German speaker after this but surely we’ll have a little confidence dealing with our German guest once the cruise starts. It really feels good learning new things, and the best part is, our dear passengers onboard are so great of helping us learning German, surely this is a great experience for us compared to the previous crossing we have done.

Our proud fresh baptized members of King Neptune´s Kingdom got their baptism certification in the evening.

Saturday, 20 October 2012

Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere!

In the early morning hours at 05:42:48 we crossed the equator. The ship´s horn was blowing three times as a greeting to King Neptune. We could not see any red line; there was no sudden jerk to feel, nothing like this. Everything looked the same like before but during the next days we will see the difference when we look into the stars. Everybody hopes for a clear sky during the next nights as we want to see the Southern Cross.

At 15:00 it has been thus far. The ship´s horn was blowing three times again and His Royal Highness King Neptune came on board together with his Queen Neptunia and his entourage.

Everybody has been welcomed by the Captain and afterwards King Neptune´s entourage started directly with the baptism.

We cannot describe this procedure with words. Please look at the pictures.

Friday, 6 July 2012

Enjoying the ICE every minute of the day!

Last week we launched with success the activity "Arctic Sky and Ice, Sleeping on the deck". As soon we arrive in the waters around Disko Island the vessel is surrounded by many icebergs in the most amazing shapes. It is midsummer here right now and the sun is at its lowest around 01.00 a.m., giving the sky a deep red and golden colour. It's a magic experience to see the sun shining on the icebergs during this time of the night! The beds are ready at 23.00 O'clock, sleeping bags and pillows puffed up. As soon the passengers are comfortably lying in their beds they get served a "welcome outside" drink, hot chocolate and some refreshments. Some passengers can't resist the views and crawl out off their sleeping bags again to take pictures and film the spectacular views. Others just keep lying and are silently enjoying. And some passengers are so tired of the day and fresh air that they fall asleep straight away.
Those who stay until 06:00, get fresh pastry and coffee served as a pre-breakfast.Ready to start a new day. Today we started at 9.00 with an extra landing at Qulissat. This old mining settlement was abandoned precisely 40 years ago after the mine was closed. Normally we only meet a few people while strolling through the streets, that are persons who are spending their holiday in the settlement. But today we could see numerous little boats in the bay upon arrival. Tomorrow they will memorize the fact that the coal mines were closed. Kuupik Kleist, the Prime Minister of Greenland, born in Qullisat, is one of the
awaited guests, they expect 500-1000 in total! It will be a kind of festival gathering offering theater, music and the possibility to meet old friends.

Around 16.30 the captain announced it was impossible to reach the landing site near glacier Eqip Sermia in time because of the ice, so we went for plan B: Icecruising, what a great alternative. And so we filled some more time of this day with enjoying the ice, the pictures explain the rest.

Thursday, 17 May 2012

Two golden days in a golden city

We arrived in St. Petersburg yesterday. And again we could sail directly into the city and again it was warm and sunny. That is not normal for St. Petersburg – there are only a few very sunny days in a year and we got two of them. Perhaps we have only angels aboard.

St. Petersburg is difficult to describe with words. Everything is so impressive. The river Neva, the neoclassical fronts of the houses, the palaces and churches and of course all the golden cupolas, which are shining in the sun.

We had many different excursions during these two days in Russia and we made the decision:

Let the pictures talk!!