INDEX 2014 TO 2026

2026

JAN    Singapore

JAN    Finland/Norway

May    France

AUG   Alaska/Olympia/Vancouver

NOV    USA/Argentina/Falklands/South Georgia/Antarctica

2025

FEB    Japan (Hokkaido, Tokyo, Izu Kogen)

APR    New Zealand (8 trains, Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland)

JUN    Singapore

AUG    Sydney/Murray River Cruise/Monarto Safari Park

SEP     Fiji

OCT    Egypt/Jordan

2024

MAR    New Zealand (Wellington, Marlborough)

JUN     Fiji

AUG    New Zealand (Wellington, Christchurch)

SEP      France/USA

2023

NOV     Churchill Polar Bears and Oregon

SEP       Japan, Japanese Islands, Taiwan, Singapore

MAY     Galapagos and Machu Picchu

2022

APR      Svalbard (Above the Arctic Circle)

2021      COVID (Mom stuff - ignore)

SEP       Uluru

2020      COVID (Mom stuff - ignore)

2019

DEC      Antarctica

SEP       Danube Cruise and France

2018

DEC     Australia

NOV     Singapore

JAN     Australia

2017

AUG    Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa

JUL      Boston and Maine

FEB      Colorado

2016

DEC     New Orleans

NOV     San Diego

OCT     France

JUN      Thailand and Cambodia

MAR     Spain

FEB      Colorado

2015

DEC     Colorado

SEP      England and Ireland (Ashford Castle)

JUN     Thailand Golden Triangle and Chicago

FEB     Killington

JAN     France

2014

DEC    Belgium, Luxembourg, Bastone, O.B.E.R. Beer Festival, France, Christmas                    Markets

OCT     Al Andulus (Spanish Andalusian Luxury Train - best ever)

Final Oslo

CJ finally gets to Akershus Fortress. It was his one must visit place on the last stay that never happened. He never accepted trading Mauch for Akershus legitimate value. Art lovers will disagree.

There are good views of Oslo and its harbour from fortress hill. While there he visited the resistance museum. He has no pictures because they are on the phone he lost. If he gets it back from Uber (now that he knows they have it), he'll update this blog.

Retrieving Carol, we visit the Peace Museum, home to all that is Nobel Peace Prize. The award occurs across the street at City Hall.

One room is always dedicated to the winner from the current year. This year's winner is Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado. This painting of her is not in her special room, but at the far end of the gift shop.

The final stop of our free and day of relaxation in Oslo is dinner at a Japanese restaurant, Omakase. The restaurant has only one seating and only 10 seats. All 18 courses are prepared before you by the master sushi chef.

Each couple, immediately upon being seated, is greeted by Chef and shown the fresh cuts of fish that he'll be using for the meal.

The meal is paired with sake for CJ and wine for Carol.

The meal is prepared with the precision expected of a sushi master.

The dishes look superb on presentation, and taste even better. The meal begins with sashimi dishes.

Tuna tartare topped with a very generous serving of an excellent caviar.

The sushi section of the menu begins.

The service is excellent, the drinks very good, and the food marvelous. 

A late night is followed by a short night is followed by an early morning ride to the airport. A six-hour flight, four-hour layover, and another 12-hour flight deprived of Q-suites and we're back in Adelaide to begin the recovery process.

Flåm Railway Adventure

We depart with our driver, Jānis, for a long day of touring. The day might be as long as 15 hours. We depart at 0720. We travel in the luxury of an all-electric Mercedes touring van. Norway is rapidly removing nonelectric vehicles from its roads.

The drive to the train is picturesque. We change altitude often taking us from gorgeous views of fjords to barren snow-covered peaks well above the tree line. In parts of Norway, the tree line is at a very low altitude!

We are 'treated' to electric car long distance driving. We must stop at a gas station for 40 minutes to charge the vehicle.

We pass through a valley with mountains on one side, a mostly frozen river in the middle and our road.

Jānis delivers us to Geilo stasjon to catch our first train. This first train runs from Oslo to Bergen. We take it from Geilo to Myrdal in the direction of Bergen.

Most of this ride is above the tree line and parallel to one of Norway's largest lakes. Much of it through tunnels like the one at the end of this station.

The number of tunnels and avalanche caves is amazing. Here we are entering an avalanche tunnel.

We change to the Flåm railway at Myrdal.

This is both a working train and a tourist train. Shortly into the seriously downhill run, the train makes a five-minute stop at a waterfall, well, frozen waterfall at this time of year. Do you see Carol in the window?

The downhill ride, wholly on the brakes, has many picturesque moments.

In Flåm, we lunch at a small bakery/cafe in the visitor center building. The white pizza is divine.

Our boat, The Fjords, catamaran takes us on a cruise on Nærøyfjord from Flåm to Gudvangen.

Fjords are meant to be experienced from sea level, looking up at the mountains.

Frozen waterfalls abound.

Quick rest before more pictures and the end of a busy, experiential, and exhausting day.

Jānis is waiting as we arrive in Gudvangen. 

It is a long return drive to Oslo. Along the way we pass through Norway's second longest tunnel and many others as we cross over and under several mountains on our return to Oslo. We stop twice to charge the vehicle.

Jānis does well. We return in 14.5 hours. At some points in the day he had indicated it might have been more than 16 hours.