When I get back to the Hurtigruten terminal, the same girl is on the reception desk. She had mentioned when I originally checked in that I should return to the terminal before the boat left, when I explained that I pretty much understood the principle that if I was not on the boat when it left,…

Sunday morning, 6am, and I’m leaving the hotel in a taxi. The ground outside is frosted up so much and the taxi driver mentions to me how cold it is and hopes I’m going to a warm country. I think he’s shocked to realise I’m going to the arctic circle. I booked the flight through…

I cannot remember precisely what point I wanted to go on a cruise to the arctic, but it was in my teens, and for a while I obsessed about it. I actually remember walking into a travel agent in Northampton – where I went to college – and asking for some catalogues. By this time…