Kirkenes

Exciting to say the least!!

We were given Hurricane certificates this morning to say that we had ‘crossed the open waters of the Barents Sea with winds up to 35 m/s or 68 knots, Beaufort 12 and maximum waves of 12 meters’!!!

I slept through, with only a couple of awakenings to check the time, as the alarm was set for 7am and I was worried that it wouldn’t go off or that we would sleep through!!! We docked earlier than planned, as the night time dockings were cancelled.

Down for a bite of breakfast as we were setting out on a trip at 9am.
We headed out to go dog sledding. Lots of show and picture post card views, temp 0 degrees so relatively warm!! Also no wind!!!!

We saw reindeer behind a fence and many of the huskies up close. They are trained to be people friendly and were like any family pet.

Our sledding trip set out with great promise, but half way round the sled dipped over the edge of the track and I got tipped out!! It felt more like a flying lesson and I had the good fortune to tuck in the arms (clutching the camera inside my outer jacket) and keep my legs together. I landed on my left side on a pile of snow.

It certainly winded me, but I could quickly check that arms and legs were intact, and there was no major pain anywhere, except the left side of my chest. The staff were brilliant and eventually (at my pace..not to be hurried) I got a ride on a snowmobile back to the lodge.

To cut a long story short, it was agreed that I would be taken to the local hospital to be checked out, which we did (B was with me) and the outcome is that I’ve probably broken ribs. The super doctor that I saw, the minute that I walked through the door, said that an Xray wouldn’t be helpful. I explained that I was a retired nurse, so we had a sensible conversation. What might the complications be and what should I look for!! We agreed on this.

He did say that it would be painful and get more painful and not resolve for a number of weeks!! OK agree on that as well. I expect that I will be sore in lots of other places in 48 hrs time!!! I have a cracking bruise on the back of my right hand already. It would have been so much worse if I hadn’t been wearing R’s glove collection. (Thanks Sunshine, the padding helped and they kept my hands warm whilst I lay in the snow)

A young man from the Husky centre took responsibility for me from the start, he took us to the hospital and in to see the doctor, then back to the ship to get copies of my passport and travel insurance. I’m impressed with the system, I was attended to before anyone asked for details and they got us back on the ship before we sailed.

A small bite of lunch (to protect my stomach), before a good dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen. Now periods of rest and whilst the ship is stable sessions of moving about. No dinner this evening, I don’t feel like it.

B appeared to be unscathed after the incident, he was behind me and stayed on. But when he took his snow boots off he appears to have tweaked his ankle. A right pair we are!

But we are very grateful, it could have been so much worse :0)