Day 10 - Monday 9th October 2023

Today we'd be leaving Vik to travel inland to the Golden Circle on our way back to Reykjavik.

When we woke up, it was 8C and raining. Yesterday, Snorri had told us that not only was rain forecast for today but also there was a severe weather alert. They have three levels for these alerts - yellow, orange and red. Mostly they are warnings for road users and for rivers.

Yellow is the lowest warning level and indicates you need to take special care. At the orange level, it is dangerous for buses and vans but still OK for four-wheel-drive vehicles like the one we were travelling in. For red warnings, you should stay at home.

I wasn't convinced that the severe weather had arrived because the weather app was warning of  severe weather at 3am tomorrow morning. However it was raining steadily today and the rain was heavy at times.

We checked out of the hotel by 9am and packed all our gear into the Land Cruiser. It was stacked high with our luggage and heavy coats, puffer jackets, etc.

Yesterday we could see the mountains and the sea. Today visibility was very poor. We couldn't see the mountains.

The road was busy. It was only one lane in each direction. Snorri said most of the traffic would have been tourists doing a self-drive tour of Iceland.

Hopefully one day they will widen it or duplicate it.

At about 11am, we stopped at a farm, Fridheimar, that grows tomatoes in greenhouses. They also have a cafe and so we took the opportunity to have a cup of coffee out of the rain.

Apparently they also breed horses.

Snorri said he worked here during Covid when there were no tourists coming to Iceland and so he was unable to work as a tour guide.

Next we stopped at Gullfoss waterfall which is probably the most famous waterfall in Iceland. Although it isn't a tall drop waterfall, it is wider that other waterfalls we'd seen. There are viewing platforms at different levels.

I thought it was only going to be a short stop to take a few photos and so I was only wearing my puffer jacket. This was a bad idea because it was only 8C and, with the strong wind, it felt much colder. Freezing cold and driving rain. Not very pleasant.

Suzy had the right idea because she was wearing the heavy coat that we'd hired in Reykjavik.

I'm sure this would be a great place to spend some time on a fine sunny day to enjoy the view.

The next stop was the Strokkur geyser. This is a reliable geyser that shoots into the air every six to ten minutes. Snorri said that "geyser" in an Icelandic word which was first used to describe this geyser and is now used in various languages throughout the world to describe this phenomenon.

Because of the weather, Snorri planned the visit carefully. He said it would be best to approach the geyser from the lower side because this was downwind from the geyser. On the upper side, we might be hit by the hot water from the geyser.

Normally people park in one of the carparks - either at the top or bottom - and then walk to the geyser and back again. Instead he dropped us at the lower carpark so we would be walking with the wind. So the wind and rain would be hitting our backs rather than hitting our faces. He then picked us up at the top carpark.

We were both wearing the heavy jackets we'd hired plus the water proof pants and boots. Normally I would have been wearing my ski gloves too but that wouldn't have let me use my camera. My hands were very cold.

Travel guides suggest that you spend time here to see repeated bursts of activity. We saw one explosion and we were out of there to escape back to protection of the car. Nobody else seemed to be hanging around either.

Now it was time for lunch in the restaurant and cafeteria near the lower carpark. Everyone else was there too. It was very crowded. Quite chaotic. Luckily, Suzy managed to find a table.

There were two unrelated reasons to stop at the next location. Firstly, this was the original location of the Icelandic parliament that was established way back in 930AD which means that Iceland was one of the first parliamentary democracies.

The second reason was to do with geology. Iceland sits on two tectonic plates which are moving apart. There are chasms here as a result of this movement. The plates are moving about 1cm every year. So Iceland gets bigger every year (as do the chasms).

The island is also growing because of the volcanic eruptions over the centuries which deposit lava into the sea along the coastline.

Normally this visit would involve a fifteen minute walk in and then fifteen minutes out. There was no way we were going to do any such walk today. Instead we made a very brief visit to a viewing platform to take a few photos.

We were back in the hotel soon after 4:30pm. Snorri helped move all our luggage out of his vehicle into the foyer where we thanked him for taking us on our adventure for the last few days.

After the problems we'd had a few days ago at the Center Hotel in Reykjavik, they had organised a room away from street noise. It was on the fifth level.

This room was similar to the previous toom in many ways. However it was smaller and had a queen size bed instead of king size. On the other hand, it had a walk-in shower rather than a shower in the bath. We noticed that when we arrived the window was open.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant again. It was interesting to find that the wine in the mini bar in our room was about the same price as a glass of wine in the restaurant (except during happy hour). Normally the mini bar is much more expensive in most hotels.

Day 9 - Sunday 8th October 2023

When we woke up, it was warmer than usual (6C) and raining. When we walked across to the main building at 7:30am for breakfast, it was just a light sprinkle and by the time we walked back to our room, there were a few patches of blue sky. The forecast was for clouds but didn't mention rain.

Breakfast was a nice buffet.

Once again, the plan was to meet Snorri at 9am for today's adventure. We'd be coming back to the same hotel in Vik and so there was no need to pack our bags.

When we left the hotel it was sunny and by the time we'd travel for a while there was mainly blue sky with few clouds. We were in luck.

Today the objective was to travel to the Vatnajökull glacier which is not only the largest glacier in Iceland but is also the largest glacier in Europe. It is almost 10% of the surface area of Iceland.

It is about a two hour drive from Vik to the glacier but Snorri said he would be stopping at various places along the way to break the journey and to provide photo opportunities. The only time commitment we had was a booking at 1:10pm for a boat trip on the glacier lagoon.

We were travelling along the south coast of the island with mountains on the left and the sun over the sea on the right.

The road was built on lava flows over the centuries. The area was either flat or gently sloping towards the sea. Some areas were very barren whereas in other areas there were some farms with sheep grazing on lush green fields.

Often the mountains had snow on top and at times the peaks were hidden with clouds. Snorri pointed out various shapes in the mountains and rocks that represent trolls according to local folklore.

For most of the journey, we were travelling on a quality road with one lane in each direction. Many of the bridges were only single lane. Apparently the rule is that the first car to reach the bridge has priority over cars coming the other way. Not everyone seemed to know the rule.

At one stop, Snorri showed us the moss that covers the area. Next we stopped at a waterfall.

By 11am, we reached a viewing area where we could see two tongues from the glacier heading down from the mountain. At the viewing area, they also had remnants of a steel bridge that was destroyed by a massive flood.

Next we stopped at a village where we admired a small church whose roof was covered in grass as  insulation. We'd seen similar buildings in May when we were in Norway.

At noon, we reached the glacier lagoon area. Initially we walked down to Diamond Beach which gets its name from the chunks of ice that are washed down onto the beach from the glacier. The ice tends to sparkle in the sunshine.

After parking in the car park near the lagoon, we walked up a small hill to get a better view of the lagoon which had large chunks of floating ice broken off from the glacier.

The boat trip on the lagoon was in an amphibian vehicle that starts on land before entering the waters of the lagoon. As we boarded, they issued everyone with a life jacket. When the boat reached the water, it gave us a close-up view of the chunks of ice.

During the trip, we had a commentary from a guide. Then a small motor boat delivered a transparent chunk of ice to the guide which she then handed on to all of us so we could take photos of us holding the ice.

After the ride, it was time for lunch. There were two trailers selling food. Suzy had a lobster roll while I had fish and chips. Snorri says this is the best fish and chips in Iceland because it is fresh - it has never been frozen.

On the way back to Vik, we stopped at another waterfall but this one was different because, instead of falling from great height, it was within a river.

Further on, we stopped near a farm when we saw two of the Iceland small horses in the paddock next to the road. Both horses walked up to us - probably expecting food. They let us pat them.

We were back in the hotel at Vik at about 5pm.

We'd booked for dinner at the hotel restaurant again at 6:30pm. Before dinner we took advantage of happy hour at the bar again. This evening, Snorri joined us for dinner.

We were in bed at about 9pm after another memorable day of sightseeing in Iceland.

Day 8 - Saturday 7th October 2023

Today we'd be starting our tour of Iceland with Nordic Visitor. We'd booked a private tour with a driver guide and we were due to meet him in the hotel foyer at 9am.

We'd set our alarms for 6:30am. Outside it was a chilly (-1C). We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant again.

Just before 9am, we checked out of the hotel. We had a lot to carry downstairs with all the clothes we had. We wanted to be prepared with layers as people have suggested. So I had my light puffer jacket, my heavy puffer jacket, my heavy coat that we'd hired, my beanie, my light jumper. I was wearing my new thermal shirt and long john pants, water resistant pants, . . . . As usual, I had my suitcase, laptop bag and camera bag.

Our driver guide was waiting for us in the foyer. His name was Snorri which he told us later is a Scandinavian name which means naughty little boy. He wasn't little - he is a big man - tall and strong.

He drives a Toyota Land Cruiser which was parked right outside the hotel. Just as well he had a big car because of all the gear we had. I sat in the front passenger seat so I could take photos of the scenery as we went along.

For the first part of the journey, we saw geothermal activity which means that there is steam escaping from the earth. Apparently Reykjavik means smoky bay.

Wherever you look there is steam shooting out of the ground high into the sky. Much of it is natural but some is artificial based on bore holes that are often 1km or more deep.

Geothermal power is the main source of power in Iceland. It generates most of their electricity. They also pump hot water to their towns and cities via multiple pipes to provide hot water and to heat their buildings.

He said that because electricity here is cheap, they have heavy industry such as aluminium smelters. Apparently companies in Australia and elsewhere ship bauxite here to manufacture aluminium.

He went out of his way to show us the geothermal sites including geothermal plants. Some towns have these steam outlets in the streets. Often they are in the fields. Everywhere you look. He said we came at the right time because they were particularly active today.

He showed us one location where a steam fissure appeared underneath a house without warning and so they had to demolish the house.

Much of the area we were travelling on was flat plains with snow-capped mountains in the distance. Some were volcano mountains that disappeared into the clouds above.

One of the optional stops was the Lava Museum. It turned out to be very expensive and so we decided to give it a miss.

The next stop was at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall. One of the key differences with this waterfall is that you can walk behind it. In fact, this was one of the main reasons we hired the coats, pants and boots at Reykjavík - to protect us from the cold and wet.

Initially we thought the track behind the waterfall looked too rocky and dangerous. However, Snorri pointed out another track that was flatter and so we gave it a go. We stop under the spray of the waterfall and took photos.

I didn't risk taking my camera under the waterfall and so Suzy got photos with her iPhone.

Next we stopped at the Skógafoss waterfall. This one has a long stairway leading to the top of the waterfall. You'd need to be very fit to do this climb because there are more than 500 steps.

In the fields, there were paddocks for sheep. They looked very warm with their thick woolly coats.

Occasionally we also saw small horses.

Snorri decided to take us to an unscheduled stop at a glacier. He showed us where the glacier used to finish  - it was more than 100m from the current location which he put down to global warming.

We noticed teams of people who were heading to the glacier carrying equipment that Snorri said was to give them a sure footing on the glacier.

Next we stopped at the top of a hill near the ocean. As usual, the car park was crowded. When we got out, it was easy to see why. The views were incredible.

There is a path leading around the headland. At the start of the path we admired the black sand beaches stretching into the distance below and the beautiful green land with some lakes.

At the end of the headland, we looked down on twin rock arches. Out to sea, there were rocky outcrops.

On the other side there were more beaches, green fields, lakes, etc. Everywhere you looked was ruggedly beautiful.

There was a lighthouse building in the middle of the headland.

The next stop was at one of the most popular tourist spots in Iceland - the Reynisfjara black sand beaches and Reynisdrangar sea stacks.

There are warning signs about freak waves that have been known to kill tourists. The signs call them "sneaker waves". Snorri repeatedly warned us to be careful.

The cliffs next the beach are amazing. They consists of vertical blocks of stone. It reminded me of the pipes in a church organ (except they are square rather than circular). Apparently they are a result of volcanic activity.

Initially the next destination was to be our hotel (Hotel Katla) in Vik but Snorri did a detour to a church on the hill that gave us a nice view of the town below.

The hotel is about 1km out of town. It consists of several single storey buildings with a central building that contains the reception and the restaurant. Our room was in one of the buildings a short distance from the central building.

The room is quite spacious and has a nice view towards the sea. It has a king size bed (once again with single quilts), timber floors, no carpet, open shelves, no wardrobe, work desk, two comfy chairs with side table, no safe.

Wifi speed was about 25Mb/s in both directions but variable. The bathroom is spacious with a walk-in shower. Like many hotel rooms, the lighting was dim.

We were in bed at about 9pm after another eventful day.

Day 7 - Friday 6th October

Suzy did not sleep well overnight because of the noise from the street outside our room. It didn't worry me so much because I take my hearing aids off when I go to bed. Mind you I did hear the motor bikes and the garbage truck at 5am.

However, went she opened the curtains, she noticed that the windows were open. This would explain why it was so noisy. The windows were double-glazed and so should be fairly sound proof. She decided that maybe we should stay in this room after all.

It left us wondering why they'd opened the windows. Perhaps it was because of the smell coming from the hand basin. The staff should have fixed this smell problem rather than just leaving the window open.

At about 7:30am, we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was a buffet breakfast - adequate but quite basic.

The first task for today would be to go to the laundromat to do a load of washing. We decided to catch a taxi there rather than walk. It was a cool day (only 2C) and cloudy but not raining. On the way back, we walked along the main street to look at the shops.

At about 11:15am, we left the hotel to walk down to the lake to admire the view of the snow-capped mountains on the other side. I decided to wear an extra layer this time because of the cold. The weather was gradually improving with more blue sky and sunshine.

Next we walked along the path next to the lake until we reached an impressive stylised statue of a Viking ship. We weren't the only people taking photos.

Then we walked up the hill to the main street again. Further along, we walked up to the next street to take photos of Rainbow Street and a monument.

For lunch we went to Brennslan cafe which had great atmosphere and character.

The next task was to pick up the heavy thermal clothes that Suzy had ordered on line. Each of us got a very heavy coat and water-resistant pants and boots. Suzy also got fur-lined gloves.

We were now ready for anything on our tour which starts tomorrow. Waterfalls, glaciers, snow, ice, volcanoes - bring it on.

For dinner, we'd booked at the hotel restaurant for 6:30pm. Staff at the reception had given us two coupons for free drinks because of the problems we'd had with our room and so we went down to the restaurant at about 6pm to take advantage of the freebies.

Tonight we'd booked to go on a boat cruise out to sea to see the northern lights - hopefully. The cruise was due to depart at 9pm and we caught a taxi from the hotel at 8pm to take us to the wharf.

The boat was already there and so we found a comfortable spot inside to wait for the departure rather than being out in the cold on deck. We'd worn the heavy clothes we hired this afternoon.

One of the services they offered was to provide warm clothing. We didn't need to take up the offer but some did.

It seemed to be a popular tour because there were people on all levels. Many of the people had American accents.

Apparently the boat is used for whale watching tours during the day and northern lights tours in the evening.

There was never any guarantee that we'd see the northern lights and we thought the crew were going to give up at about 10:30 but then some light started to appear.

At first it was hard to see. Over a period of about ten minutes it got brighter and then took another ten minutes to fade again.

It looked like a long green cloud. There were no fancy colours or bouncing lights - fairly tame. I was unable  to get any photos of it with my camera but Suzy got some shots with her iPhone. The photos she took looked better than it did to the naked eye.

Suzy had been very keen to see the northern lights. In fact, it was the main reason we'd come to Iceland. At least we could say we've seen them even if it wasn't spectacular tonight. We've got a few more days in Iceland and so there is still hope for a better view.

The taxi got us back to out hotel soon after midnight.

Day 6 - Thursday 5th October 2023

It was another cool day (7C when we woke up) but at least it wasn't raining. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant at about 7:45am. 

This afternoon we'd be flying out of Helsinki heading to Iceland. At least we hoped we would. The flight was due to depart at 4:10pm.

Yesterday there was a message from Finnair informing us that there would be a short walkout by security staff this afternoon at about the same time as we would be wanting to check in.

The email suggested that we put any essential items such as medicine in our carry-on baggage which seemed to imply that our checked luggage might not make the flight. They also sent us messages emphasising that we need to comply with the limitations for carry-on bags.

This would be a challenge because we have suitcases full of warm clothes for the visit to Iceland. What's more, Finnair doesn't travel to Iceland every day - just three times per week. So we might be without our bags for two days or more.

By the time our bags arrive, we would be a few hundred km away on the other side of the island as part of our tour.

The email from Finnair seemed to imply that our flight might be delayed. Hopefully not by too long.

At about 10am, we went for a walk past the wharf area and up to the nearby Orthodox church (Upspenski Cathedral) high up on a hill overlooking the city and the harbour. The church is an impressive building with huge columns and ornate decorations.

The wharf area was just as busy as on the previous days. It was fascinating how many small groups of young children were out and about. Mostly they wore fluoro vests and some were held together as a group with ropes. Most of them seemed to be kindergarten age or pre-schoolers.

In anticipation of possible problems at the airport, we'd packed essential items into our carry-on bags such as medicines and spare clothes.

Also we'd decided to play safe and get to the airport early. So we asked reception to get us a taxi at 12 noon which meat we'd be at the airport almost four hours before the plane was scheduled to depart. We wanted to get through security before they went on strike.

The taxi that arrived was a Tesla. It was a very comfortable ride. On the way I noticed that petrol here costs more than 2 Euros per litre which is about $A3.50 per litre. We reached the airport at 12:30pm.

There was nobody in front of us at the Finnair priority check-in counter. My bag weighed 23.2kg and Suzy's bag was only 20kg. Luckily they didn't weigh our carry-on bags.

When we walked around the corner to priority security, there were lots of people. There were even more people in the standard queue. It seemed like everyone else had decided to do the same us us - get there early before the strike.

Just in front of us in the security queue, we noticed a woman who had a small dog in a purpose-built backpack. When she got to the front of the queue, she took the dog out of the backpack to show him to the security man. Then she put him back in the bag and took him through the body scanner.

When Suzy walked through the scanner, she set off the alarm and a female security officer gave her a full body pat down. She thinks this might have been caused by the metal plates in the arm she broke a few years ago.

We reached the Finnair lounge at about 1pm. It was very crowded and got more crowded as the afternoon went on. People found it hard to find a seat. This lounge was quite basic compared to most business class lounges. It certainly isn't luxurious.

Nevertheless we had a light lunch and a glass of red wine and relaxed while we waited.

At about 3:30pm, we headed off to the departure gate because it was supposedly an 8 minute walk to the gate. About halfway there, Suzy realised that we'd left our heavy puffer jackets on the coat track back in the lounge and so she dashed back to get them. It would have been a big problem not to have these jackets in Iceland.

When we reached the gate, there were signs about carry-on controls but still nobody weighed our bags. Within a couple of minutes, they invited us to board and boarding was completed by 4pm. Once again Finnair seems to be good at the boarding process.

We'd been monitoring the airtags in our checked luggage and we were relieved to see they had arrived at the plane before take-off.

Although we'd booked business class, the seats looked like economy seats - quite narrow and little leg room. However, there was an empty seat between us. It was only a small plane (A319).

The onboard menu listed a limited supply of snacks and drinks and it listed prices for each. I thought that business class should get a proper meal and not have to pay for it.

As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried. They offered us a drink (I had red wine and Suzy had a G&T) soon after take off and then they served us a delicious hot meal on a tray with cloth napkins, real cutlery and more wine. As usual, Suzy gave me part of her meat and some of her wine and so I was feeling quite full.

On the back of the seat in front, there were instructions on how to connect to wifi during the flight. It worked and took us into the Finnair app.

I continue to be impressed with Finnair. Mind you the seats in business class on this flight could have been better.

The plane landed on schedule at 4:50pm Iceland time (7:50pm Helsinki time). Our bags eventually arrived on the carousel and we took the exit to find the driver who would transfer us to our hotel.

It was cool (7C) with light rain. The trip took 35 minutes - mostly on modern motorways. The countryside was barren for most of the way to Reykjavik.

The van was spacious and comfortable. Our driver was very personable but had a heavy accent and so I didn't understand much of what he said.

We reached the hotel at 6:15pm. It was busy - possibly because there was live entertainment for the restaurant near the lobby. It seems to be a modern hotel.

Our room was at the end of the corridor on the second floor. It was close to the street and quite noisy with cars passing close by.

It had a king bed, small work desk, fridge, safe, carpet, open shelving, hooks on the wall but no wardrobe. There was no air conditioning but it did have heating. Wifi speed was about 60Mb/s down and 80 up.

In the bathroom, there is a toilet and a shower in the bath but no hand basin. The hand basin is in the hallway between the bathroom and the bed.

Perhaps the most unusual feature of the room was the light switches. Mostly they were in pairs, you use one switch to turn the light off and the one beside it to turn it back on.

There were a couple of master switches. When you press a master switch, it turns off all the light but when you press it again, nothing happens. You are standing there in pitch black. You need to feel around in the dark to find one of the other light switches to turn it on and then go around to turn on other lights that you want.

Although there was a safe, it wasn't locked down. It was quite light and so you could carry it around whether you like. Someone could quite easily pick it up and leave the hotel with it. We decided not to risk putting our passports in it.

Suzy decided that she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight with the noise from the nearby street and so we asked to be moved to a different room. Unfortunately, this wasn't possible because the hotel was fully booked but they said they could move us tomorrow.

The restaurant was also fully booked and so we went to a nearby supermarket to buy some sandwiches for dinner.

We got to bed at about 8:30pm (11:30pm Helsinki time). It had been an anxious day but we had at last arrived in Iceland.

Day 5 - Wednesday 4th October 2023

We went downstairs to breakfast in the hotel restaurant at about 7:30am. To get there, we took the elevator down to level 1 which is one level below reception and is the street level for the harbour side of the building. Then we walked through the courtyard to the building next door and up a few flights of stairs.

Apparently this building was built just over 200 years ago as the house for a naval captain. Not so much a house - more like a mansion. It is now known as Restaurant Haven. It's elegant with many of the original features such as tall painted ceilings and original fireplaces.

It was a nice breakfast with plenty of choice. The waitress gave us a table with a view over the harbour. We went at the right time because it was getting crowded at 8:30.

The ground outside was wet from the overnight rain. Now there was just light drizzle and the temperature was a cool 9C. The forecast says it would improve by lunchtime.

We'd booked to go on a hop on hop off bus tour of Helsinki using a company called Panorama. It departs at 11am from a bus stop a couple of blocks from our hotel. The tour takes 1 hour 45 minutes and stops at one location which varies from day to day.

Today the tour would stop at the Rock Church which is built into the granite hillside. Suzy was very pleased to hear this because that destination was her preference.

Initially the bus took us along the coast so we could admire the marinas, boats, pleasure craft and the islands out to sea. Then it took us along various city streets pointing out places of interest.

The bus stopped at about 11:40 so we could walk a few blocks to the Rock Church. It's a functioning church with pews, a large organ and a bandstand. The walls are rock and the roof is a giant copper dome. We took  photos at the ground level and from the balcony at the back of the church.

We had to be back on the bus by 12 noon to continue the tour.

We saw various parks and the site for the 1952 Olympics. The final destination was Market Square at the wharf and  close to our hotel.

It was a good way to see the sights of Helsinki.

At the start of the tour, there were a few patches of blue sky and by the time it finished, there was plenty of blue sky. Although it was still cool (12C), it was much more pleasant.

Our hotel receptionist had suggested to us yesterday that we should catch the ferry to a nearby island called Suomenlinna. It leaves from the wharf area and we were just in time to get the 1pm ferry. The trip takes less than 15 minutes.

The island was a fortress built almost 300 years ago to defend the city from invaders. There are various buildings that were part of the fortress, a church, cafes and two museums.

We started by having lunch at the Cafe Silo. Then we strolled along various cobblestone roads to look at the buildings, bridges, trees and water views.

It was a very pleasant place to visit on a (fairly) sunny afternoon. I took lots of photos on the island and on the ferry there and back.

We caught the ferry back to the city at 3pm and had another look at the stalls on the wharf area and in the Market Hall.

For dinner, we'd booked at another restaurant close to the hotel on the wharf level. Goodwins is a steak restaurant and our booking was for 6:30pm.

One of the distinctive thing about this restaurant is the "cow" sitting on the bench outside the restaurant. It reminded us of the restaurant we went to in Oslo a few months ago for Chris and Janet's 50th wedding anniversary.

Both the food menu and the wine menu are very extensive. At the restaurant next door last night, there wasn't much choice whereas tonight there was so much choice it was overwhelming.

In the end, I asked the waitress for a suggestion about the wine by pointing out that we like a shiraz. She came back with a Syrah wine from the Pays d'Oc region of France. It was perfect.

After much deliberation, I went for a ribeye steak and Suzy went for filet mignon. Both were excellent. The chips were great too - not the stringy French fries but genuine chucky traditional chips. The bread was great, he service for good, everything was good.

This was my kind of place. When I win Powerball (a major prize not just $8.67), I'll be back here every night.  It wasn't cheap - but then again, nothing is cheap in this part of the world. Back home, if people complain about the cost of living, they should spend a few days in Scandinavia.

Although the forecast was for rain again tonight, it wasn't a problem. The lights in the wharf area were very attractive. What a great place!

Day 4 - Tuesday 3rd October 2023

I stirred several times during the night. Each time, Suzy seemed to be sound asleep in the next cubicle. My watch was still showing Singapore time and I tried to work out what time it was in Helsinki. The Finnair steward had turned off the monitor for me before I went to bed.

At about 3am (Helsinki time), they turned the cabin lights on as a prompt for people to wake up. I'd managed to get more than eight hours of (broken) sleep.

During the night, I often had to battle with the blanket. Also, the sleeping seat belt over my hips was annoying. Suzy said she was only able to curl up in one direction because the strange narrow area where your feet go.

At about 4am (Helsinki time), they served us breakfast. It was another delicious meal. We landed just before 6am (11am Singapore time).

Overall I was very impressed with Finnair. The service and food in business class were excellent. They are almost as good as Qatar - which is high praise.

At Helsinki airport, the queue at customs was slow. They seemed to be giving preference to people who were catching a flight to another European city in the next 45 minutes.

That was puzzling to us because we thought they could have passed through EU customs at that city. When we asked the attendant at the end of the queue, he said the rule is that they have to do customs at the first city they land in.

By this time it was 7am. The taxi rank was confusing because there were cars lined up in four lanes side by side. Drivers in two lanes were from Helsinki Taxis and the others were private operators (like Uber I guess).

One of the private drivers quoted us 50 Euros but we declined and went for an official taxi which ended up costing us about 36 Euros.

The taxi dropped us at the entrance to the Hotel Haven at about 7:30am. The entrance was somewhat confronting because there were two flights of stairs to get to reception. There was no way I could have got my bag up there.

We'd organised for early check-in at 7am (rather than the standard afternoon check-in). Because Suzy had joined their loyalty club, they'd upgraded us to a better room. The room was on level 7, was quite spacious and had a glimpse of the harbour area and the sailing ships moored there.

The room has a king size bed, carpet, wardrobe, work desk, safe, plenty of power points, two comfy chairs and a side table. The bathroom is bigger than average with a shower in the bath. Wifi speed was about 40Mb/s in both directions.

After settling in, we set out at about 9:30am to explore the hotel and the surrounding area. We spoke to the hotel receptionist to get suggestions on what to do and where to go while we are in Helsinki.

One of the reasons that Suzy chose this hotel was that is close to the harbour. It's a nice setting with large sailing ships moored at the wharf. Larger cruise ships were moored further away in the harbour.

We left the hotel via the lower entrance near the harbour and went first to the Old Market Hall which is a long brick building on the wharf area.

This place was fascinating. It consisted of many little stalls selling a wide variety of goods - many of which we'd never heard of before let alone seen.

For example, there was reindeer food, moose food, bear food, elk food . . . Our receptionist had told us about reindeer soup and salmon soup.

After leaving the Old Market Hall, we strolled along the wharf area to see more sights we'd never could have imagined. Several boats had moored next to the wharf and were selling seafood products from the back of the boat.

Further along, there were stalls selling more amazing goods. For example, have you ever tried moose meatballs? Suzy used her Google Translate app to work out what they were selling.

Finally there were stalls selling a wide variety of fruit. There were a few stalls selling mundane things such as clothing.

This area is known as Market Square and the waterway is known as South Harbour.

The receptionist told us that we came at the right time because they are celebrating the herring festival.

The ground was wet but it was no longer raining. It was cool (12C) and there was a light breeze. I wondered whether I should have worn by gloves and beanie. They are forecasting more rain tonight and tomorrow.

When we'd asked the receptionist for a good place to go for lunch, she had recommended a cafe nearby called Kappeli.

This turned out to be a great recommendation. It's in an elegant building close to the hotel. The food is excellent. We both had shrimps and I had a delicious chocolate cake.

After lunch, Suzy went shopping to Stockmann, a fancy upmarket department store. I took a few photos of a nearby park and went back to the hotel.

For dinner, we'd booked at a restaurant, Sue Ellen, which is right next door to the hotel on the harbour side of the building. It specialises in seafood and gets good ratings online.

They were booked out for normal times so I booked for 5:30pm which wasn't a problem because we'd prefer an early night tonight after the flight from Singapore last night. Also we didn't want to have to walk too far - partly because I'm not very mobile nowadays and partly because they were forecasting rain tonight starting at 6pm.

When we arrived, there was only one other couple there. Later a group of people arrived and went to a private room at the back.

On their website, they didn't list wine prices and it was easy to see why when they gave me the wine list. The cheapest bottle was 76 Euros. So we only had one glass each. The one I chose was from the Rhone area of France where we'll be in a few weeks.

I ordered the halibut fish and Suzy just ordered an entrée. It was a very nice meal. It seems to be a worldwide trend that the more expensive a restaurant is the smaller are their servings.

I'm always tempted by chocolate and so I had the chocolate mouse dessert. We'd planned to have coffee but when we saw that they had Irish coffee, that was our choice.

When we left the hotel, it had indeed been raining. We were back in the hotel room by 7pm. Suzy found a murder mystery on Netflix that is based in Iceland and decided it was just what she needed to watch prior to our flight to Iceland on Thursday.

We were in bed at about 8pm (after we'd worked out how to turn the correct switches on or off).

Day 3 - Monday 2nd October 2023

This morning we managed to sleep in until 9am. Just as well because we needed to recover from a busy and late night last night. Plus it would be a long day today with the overnight flight to Helsinki.

For breakfast, we went down to the White Marble Restaurant near the lobby. It was table service rather than a buffet with much more choice. The food was better than the Club Lounge but the service was surly.

Today we'd be going on the hop on hop off bus again but this time on the red route. Since the red route doesn't go past our hotel, we needed to catch the yellow bus to the Suntec Centre and swap there to the red route.

We left the hotel at about 10:30am. Once again, it was hot and humid.

This time I took my streamer device which communicates with my hearing aids via the iPhone app. This meant I was able to hear the recorded commentary on the bus this time.

When we reached the Suntec Centre, a red route bus was waiting there.

Apparently the English set up separate parts of the colony for the different racial groups and religions. So the red route would go to the Indian village, then the Malay and finally China Town. We'd been to China Town on a previous visit to Singapore and Suzy was keen to go back there.

According the commentary, Indians make up about 10% of the population. The streets in the Indian area were decorated with banners across the main streets.

Similarly, China Town had street decorations too. We got off the bus at China Town and walked slowly through some of the streets. Suzy thought it looked quite different from our last visit.

Rather than catching the bus again, we decided to get a taxi back to our hotel. This would save quite a lot of time. We were back at the hotel by 1pm.

By this time we were tired from the oppressive heat and humidity. Suzy decided to cool off in the hotel pool.

For lunch, we went up to the Club Lounge where we had a light lunch of croissants, pastries and coffee.

We'd organised a late checkout time from the hotel (6pm) because our flight to Helsinki tonight doesn't leave until 9:40pm. After checking out, we left our bags with the porter and went back up to the Club Lounge for a glass (or two) of red wine and some finger food.

We got a taxi to the airport at about 6:30. The driver was very chatty and informative. In particular he was encouraging us to go to The Jewel which seems to be a fancy shopping centre at Terminal 1.

I'm sure it would have been interesting but when we reached the terminal at about 7:15, we sent straight to the Finnair check-in counter.

I guess we were early but there were no other customers there. We started to think that not many people fly from Singapore to Helsinki.

Whenever we check in at an airport, we take careful note of the tag that they put on our bags to make sure the bags are going to the right destination. Interestingly, the airport code for Helsinki is HEL.

Perhaps that's appropriate because we'd just spent the last two days living in SIN (Singapore) and now we were going straight to HEL. (Is that a Dad joke or maybe a Grandpa joke?)

Business class passengers with Finnair can use the Marhaba lounge. This was a good place to relax and enjoy a light meal and another glass of red wine prior to our flight.

We got chatting to a lady sitting nearby who turned out to be a travel agent from Perth. We swapped experiences about travel and we were even able to give her some advice from our travels. For example, do stay at the Samma Samma Hotel in KL and in Portugal do not travel with Air Portugal (TAP) if you can avoid it.

It was a long walk from the lounge to our departure gate - probably the furthest gate along a long walkway.

There we needed to go through security. They seemed to be obsessed with checking boarding passes. At least four or five people one after the other checked everyone's passes.

Just as we finished the security check, they announced that business class passengers should board - perfect timing. So we were on board by 9:15pm and all passengers were on board by 9:25. The plane pulled back from the terminal at 9:35 which was five minutes early.

I guess we'd travelled on quite a few planes over the years but this was probably the most efficient boarding process that I had seen. (The exact opposite of TAP in Portugal).

Although our seats were comfortable, they had lap sash seat belts which were not comfortable. Thankfully we were allowed to disconnect the sash part after take-off. There was another seatbelt further down which they recommend we use at  night while we are asleep.

About an hour after take-off, we encountered some turbulence which was a worry because they had just poured me a glass of McLaren Vale shiraz and there was a risk it would spill. So there was clearly no alternative but to drink it quickly to avoid losing an of it.

Once the turbulence was over, they served an excellent dinner. The service was friendly and attentive. I was very impressed.

At about midnight (Singapore time) they dimmed the cabin lights so people could get some sleep. The business class beds lie flat and horizontal (once you work out how to do it).

One thing that is strange is that the end of the bed where your feet need to go is quite narrow.

Normally, I have difficulty sleeping on a plane. Perhaps tonight I'll have more success.

Day 2 - Sunday 1st October 2023

When we woke up this morning, it was warm, humid, cloudy and raining. By about 9am, there was occasional sunshine.

For breakfast, we went up to the Club Lounge on level 17. There was a choice of fruit, bread, croissants and some hot food plus coffee. I thought it was OK but Suzy thought is wasn't so great.

Suzy planned to go shopping this morning (without me) along Orchard Road and she set off at about 10am. By the time she returned at about 11:20am, there was more blue sky and people were swimming in the hotel pool below.

She said one side of Orchard Road has designer stores while on the other side there were large crowded shopping centres. Often there were expensive designer shops of the same brand in several different shopping centres. For example, there were multiple Gucci shops.

For lunch, we went to the Brewerkx Restaurant at street level near the lobby. Although they specialise in a wide range of beers, I decided to just have apple juice. I had a delicious fish and chips whereas Suzy had chicken satay sticks which turned out to be too spicy for her taste. Both were generous servings.

After lunch, we went back up to the Club Lounge for coffee where we asked one of the staff her advice on what we should do this afternoon and tomorrow. Her suggestions was to do the hop on hop off bus to see the sights of Singapore. In particular she suggested the night tour. She said it was very popular.

Suzy researched it and downloaded the hop on hop off app and booked a 48 hour pass for us both including the night tour. Initially it said the night tour was fully booked but she rang them later and convinced them to include us.

During the day, there are two routes: the yellow route and the red route. The yellow route has a stop close to our hotel.

We set out from the hotel at about 2:30pm. Unfortunately we missed the bus by less than a minute. We waited at the pedestrian crossing for the lights to change as the bus headed off on the other side of the road. The buses come regularly and so we only had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one.

The only stop where we got off was Raffles Hotel. We walked around the corridors, courtyards and shops rather than going inside the hotel.

The bus took us to the Suntec Centre which is a large shopping centre and acts as the terminal for both the yellow and red routes of the hop on hop off buses.

After the bus left Suntec, we managed to get the front seats on the top deck which gave us a better view and was ideal for me taking photos along the way. Suzy listened to the bus commentary using ear pieces they provided to each of us. They weren't suitable for me because of my hearing aids.

Singapore is a well planned city. It has been ever since the English arrived in colonial times and laid out the streets etc. Some roads are only three lanes in each direction but most are at least four lanes in each direction.

The government uses tolls on the city streets. You regularly see gantry structures above the road labelled ERP. These are the toll points.

We were back at the hotel at about 5pm which didn't give us much time to be back at the Suntec Centre to join the evening tour which started at 6:15pm. So we organised to get a taxi there rather than the yellow route bus.

When we arrived at Suntec, there was already a long queue waiting for the night tour. It turned out that there were three buses for the tour and we would be on the third. Several staff members were organising the customers and making sure random people weren't able to get on board without a booking.

Rather than a recorded commentary, each bus on the night tour had a guide. They only allowed people on the top deck rather than inside downstairs. Our guide was called Roger.

The first stop was at the Marina Barrage which is a long curved ramp up to a grassed park area with a fabulous view of the city and the Marina Bay area. It was a great place to take photos and admire the view.

We had a good view of the Singapore Flyer Ferris Wheel and the Marina Sands Hotel. The hotel is one of the most iconic places in Singapore nowadays. It consists of three buildings side by side with a long "boat" across the top of all three buildings and beyond. Our guide told us that the hotel has more than 2600 rooms and costs about $1000 per night.

The Marina Barrage is clearly a popular destination for tourists and local residents. Many family groups were enjoying an evening picnic on the grass while plenty of people were flying kites. The sun was setting behind the clouds near the Marina Sands Hotel.

It was all a rush because we had a deadline to get back on the bus to get the next destination which was the Lau Pa Sat which is famous for its satays. It was much bigger than I expected. It had dozens of stalls both inside and outside the building with each selling their own variety of satay.

The stalls outside were the most interesting because they were barbecuing the meat out in the open. The tables inside and outside were crowded with people enjoying the experience and the bright lights gave it a festive atmosphere.

Roger told us that we would sample satays as part of the guided tour and then we could order dinner. However, there was no time for dinner because he was rushing us to get back on the bus.

The next destination was the Marina Bay Gardens. The traffic was very heavy and slow. Police were trying to keep control of the vehicles and the incredible throng of pedestrians. It seemed as though the entire population of Singapore was there tonight.

Our driver somehow managed to manoeuvre the vehicle to the  drop off point for coaches. Roger pointed out the massive queue waiting for taxis. He warned us that this is the worst place to try to get a taxi in Singapore. Thank heavens we were on a guided tour rather than trying to fend for ourselves.

Roger had an interesting way to guide us. Instead of a flag or a coloured umbrella than some guides use, he put his water bottle on top of the flashlight on his phone to make it look like a lantern. Simple but clever.

He headed off into the throng with us trying to jostle our way to keep up with him.

First he led us through a display consisting of a tunnel of brightly lit artificial trees. It was crowded but at least most people were walking in the same direction as us. Until a small train load of tourists came the other way. This was getting farcical.

The objective was to get to see the Gardens Rhapsody Show which is would be held at the base of the Garden's "trees". The show was due to start at 8:45pm and he got us there with a few minutes to spare. We sat on the rocky steps waiting for the light show.

It was worth the effort. It was a vey colourful display accompanied by music and lasted about 15 minutes.

Roger then guided us back to the bus pickup point but there was no bus. It must have been fighting its way through the traffic.

The driver would be dropping guests off at various points along the way but wasn't going to our hotel. We decided to get off at the Marriott Hotel and walk from there to our hotel.

After we got off, we tried to cross the busy road using the underground past the metro station. When we resurfaced, we didn't know where we were. However we weren't completely lost because we could use the navigation app on iPhones to show us the way.

I was still hungry because we hadn't had dinner (just satay samples). So we stopped at a stall on the footpath on Orchard Road near our hotel and bought a chicken shish kebab. Just what we needed. By this time it was after 10pm and the various restaurants were closed.

We were back at out hotel by 10:30pm and in bed by 11pm after a busy day and a very memorable night tour of Singapore.