The Plummers of Australia came to see the Northern Lights
By Eileen Ogintz
What is on your bucket list? For some, it might be visiting every continent, perhaps seeing lions and elephants in the wild. For others, it’s climbing one or more of the world’s highest peaks or scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef in Australia or the Blue Hole in Belize.
For Kim Plummer it’s seeing the Northern Lights during the Arctic Winter in Norway. I’m guessing that’s on the bucket list for many of the 260 people aboard the Hurtigruten ship MS Trollfjord who have come from around the world – everywhere from Korea, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada and the US, 18 different nationalities this trip, for the experience as we sail up the Norwegian coast.
Plummer, who is from Melbourne, Australia, explained that she has breast cancer and she wanted to do this trip sooner rather than later with her husband Chris and their three daughters Polly, 21, Annabel,19, and Phoebe,16. “This has always been on my bucket list, “ Kim Plummer said.
Having a white Christmas also is special, added her husband Chris, noting that holiday season in Australia is summer. “I really love the snow,” said Phoebe Plummer, adding that all of the small towns along the route are so picturesque.
Australians are famous for traveling great distances (24-hour flights in this case). But this was the first time the Plummers invited their daughters to bring a friend or in the case of the two older ones, their boyfriends. All are having a spectacular time, they said.
“Just having quality time with my family is really nice,” said Polly Plummer, explaining that she goes to university in Canberra, a flight away from home. The girls also appreciate the freedom to split up for different activities and then come back together to talk about their experiences.
Kim Plummer said her daughters have learned to research destinations—in this case each port—to decide what they want to do. For example, Annabel Plummer is designated to find the best coffee shop in each place. In Bronnoysund, they mapped out a run around town in the snow and in Alesund, they climbed the 418 steps to the top of Aksla Mountain and then, based on the advice of the Expedition Team, were able to do a trail run in the forest afterward. In Stokmarknes, they have found a sauna with a hole in the floor so you can jump in the icy sea when you get too hot. “It was hard to choose between that and dog sledding,” one of the sisters opined.
“We have been able to build rapport with the crew and it is so helpful that they can tell us where to go, “Polly Plummer said.
That includes the food, noted Food and Beverage Director Eindride Lauritzen and Executive head Chef Sivert Overli. They take on food at different ports—reindeer, fish, King Crab, lamb, cheese from local suppliers. The menu for lunch and dinner changes daily in the main restaurant Flora and the fine dining Rost. “When I first applied for this job, I couldn’t believe that” said Lauritzen, a veteran of the restaurant industry. “I thought it was crazy. But it works.”
Arran, the bistro serves the same menu including reindeer shanks and burgers at lunch and dinner, with an upcharge for terrific steaks which we have enjoyed, and the chef said, halibut which we must have before the end of the voyage. t
Chris Plummer n0ted that he is pleased his daughters have a chance to try so many different dishes—28 different menus in Flora alone with 25 wines and 15 beers as well as several kinds of the Norwegian spirit Aquavit included. (All diets can be accommodated as well as finnicky young eaters.)
Each menu contains a bit of history about what is being served: beer dating back to Viking times; smoked dishes, semolina popular in Norwegian deserts. The chefs also do demonstrations—how to fillet a salmon or make gravlax (just four ingredients) for example or steam mussels.
“We hope you can go home and make it,” said Chef Overli.
“This cruise is meant to be a culinary experience,” said Lauritzen. “We want guests to explore the tastes of Norway,” and the stories behind the dishes, he said.
While there are burgers and pasta, just don’t expect pizza. Sometimes, he said, that’s a challenge to explain to some guests.
Not the Plummer family who are enjoying every meal and the beer, one of the boyfriends, Fraser Harris, added. When I told the girls Bergen, where the cruise ends, was in part the inspiration for the Disney megahit “Frozen,” they burst into song.
“They know the words to every song,” laughed their dad.