What happened in Scandinavia ?

Here is the "Tour Diary 2"  -  Report 17th - 23rd March 2003

Monday 17th March 2003 - Helsinki

When we arrived in Helsinki last night we weren't too tired and decided that because we had a day off today we would head into the central city and check out the night life. We found a great little coffee shop and stayed for a cup of coffee and a quick snack and had a great time talking to the local people. Again the people we've met are so friendly and everyone in Helsinki speaks fantastic English.

This morning was a day off and we were thankful for a sleep in. But we all had one thing in mind - SHOPPING! The city centre is really close to our hotel and there are some fantastic department stores. After a quick brunch in a local Tex Mex Café we headed for the shops.

Everyone spent a good few hours shopping and sightseeing. Toni bought some jeans, shoes, and a great new dress. Meryl bought gifts for her family and Michael spent the day taking in the sights of Helsinki. After so much shopping we needed to relax so spent the late afternoon just chatting and taking a break.

We went to the Hotel Restaurant for dinner which had a great variety of food including pheasant and reindeer. They were certainly interesting dishes and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Off to bed early tonight because tomorrow we're spending the day with YLE!

 

Tuesday 18th March 2003 - Helsinki

After a nice relaxing day off yesterday we had an early start - well some of us did! Beth and Danny were up and ready at 7.45am for an interview with a morning radio show. They were taken to a local establishment where they had a drink of beer as the host told us that was what was traditional to do before work in Finland. Of course it is not a tradition but at least it will give the listeners something to chuckle about tomorrow morning!

Then it was everyone off to YLE, the national broadcaster for Finland. There is snow everywhere and the drive was really beautiful. We've never been anywhere where the sea has been frozen!

At YLE we got into costume and makeup. We had a quick photoshoot outside in our costumes with the TV guide and it was freezing! But we hopped back inside and had a hot lunch which warmed us up.

Then we had photoshoots and interviews with local media and a couple of fans that YLE had invited to spend the day with us.

After that we did a live children's show which was really cool. The set was really nice and everyone at YLE is lovely. We were asked questions that fans had sent in to the station and we told the viewers a little bit about what to expect in series 5 which airs in Finland in June of this year.

A short drive past the frozen sea again to a rock club where we were interviewed by heaps of media journalists and we had so many photos taken that we can still see flashing lights now!

We went downstairs to the main floor where all the fans were waiting patiently for us and we answered some questions and then signed autographs. Again, every single person we met was lovely and they gave us so many presents that we could fill a whole plane on the way home! Back to the hotel and we got changed for dinner. Some of the people from YLE took us out to a great place for food and then we had a bot of a dance before returning to the hotel and made sure our cases were packed, ready for the trip to Oslo tomorrow.

 

 Wednesday 19th March 2003 - Oslo

Well, what a way to start the day! A nice lie-in at the hotel before we checked out and drove to Helsinki airport where we had a fond farewell with the team from YLE who looked after us so very well. Once we had checked in for our flight we had some time to look at the shops and there was plenty to see from Moomin toys and books to typical Lapland products and clothing.

The flight to Oslo was amazing, there was a camera situated at the front of the plane and we got to watch the take ­ off from the in-cabin tv screens. What an incredible experience, it was like being on a theme park ride! There was some beautiful scenery on the way to Norway and we saw heaps of snowy mountains and lakes. We feel so lucky to be seeing so much of Europe and Scandinavia.

In to Oslo and we were met by an NRK camera team (the broadcasters who air The Tribe in Norway) and two competition winners. They had to send in photos of themselves to NRK in tribal make-up and they were delighted to have won the prize of getting to spend time with the cast.

Off to the hotel and we were all struck by the beautiful scenery of Oslo, what a gorgeous city! We had a bit of time to get our make-up on before we were picked up by the coach and taken to the centre of the city where there is a great ice skating rink surrounded by trees and the neon lights of the city. There were hundreds of fans waiting there for us and they watched us trying to make our way across the ice. Some of us were better at skating than others but we all had the best time!

After 15 or so minutes of sliding around trying to look like we knew what we were doing we got up on to the stage and answered questions from the fans. There was a bit of a tribal quiz followed by a performance of You Belong to Me by Meryl with the rest of us dancing in the background. She's such an awesome performer and it was great to see that so many of the fans knew all the words.

We hopped off the stage and signed autographs for quite some time, there seemed to be no end to the line of fans who were waiting in the cold night air to see us and they all had tribal make-up on. It was a really special night for us, we had the best time!

Back to the hotel for another rest before we were taken out to dinner by the lovely NRK team and we had a wonderful meal and some great conversation. Then it was time to jump into our fluffy beds ready for another good night's sleep full of dreams of all the sights and sounds of the tour.

 

 Thurday 20th March 2003 - Oslo

What an amazing day! We got up early and changed into our costumes, had a quick breakfast and got picked up by NRK and taken to their studios. We were met there by our two competition winners that we had met yesterday and they were going to spend the day with us.

It was a very cold morning and we had been told to wrap up warm because they had a surprise for us once we had done our makeup.

We got into a bus and started driving towards the mountains. We arrived at a beautiful little valley that was covered in snow and there were children skiing and tobogganing everywhere. It was magic!!! The scenery in Oslo was just amazing and we couldn¹t wait to hit the snow.

We were given some toboggans to use and we each took turns going down the slope. It was such a laugh because we were crashing into each other and seeing who could go down without falling out. There were a few tumbles but everyone loved it.

After laughing ourselves silly we crossed to the other side of the valley and lit a fire to sit around and warm up. We cooked sausages and chatted with the fans about Norway and how beautiful it is. We even sang some tribe songs around the fire.

There were so many kids around and we found a lovely group of 5 year olds fishing through the ice! We hadn¹t realised that we were on a frozen lake! We don¹t have anything like that in New Zealand so it was a great novelty for all of us. Michael and Tom both did some fishing and drilled their holes in the ice ­ it was really great!

After this it was time to head back to the studios and get ready for our live show with Etter Skoletid. We were in a lovely studio, which was bright and colourful and the show was really fantastic. We were asked if we could perform something special. Of course we would we love performing!! The guys got hold of 2 guitars and while Danny and James played the guitars Tom did a little rap about the fans and Norway and then Meryl preformed "You Belong to Me" from the tribe album. We answered a few questions from fans who had written in and then just as the show was about to finish they surprised us with two lovely cakes to celebrate Meryl¹s and James¹s birthday which are coming up soon.

After the show, we headed for the airport ­ the group split today and Meryl, James Antonia flew to Amsterdam and Beth, Mike, Danny and Tom flew to Copenhagen. Both groups were met by heaps of fans at the airport and the hotel at Copenhagen looked out over the whole city ­ its was beautiful.

 

 21st March 2003 - Copenhagen

We all had the best night's sleep ever and the beds at this hotel must be the most comfy we have come across so far. So, a few of us slept in a little before we got into our cossies and headed off to the TV station of TV2 in Copenhagen.

We appeared on the Bugs Bunny Club show, which will air on March 30th and we had a great time. The set was really colourful and the presenter was a Danish icon, Bobo. He was good fun. There was a live studio audience of young children who thought that Tom looked like the winner of the Danish Pop Idol show, John. So Tom got to sign even more autographs than the rest of us although his character hasn't been shown on Danish television as yet!

In the green room we got to meet the group Big Brothers who are from London and are on a promotional tour of Europe and the Netherlands themselves. They seemed like really cool people and we got to watch them rehearse their latest song on the Bugs Bunny Club.

Then it was time to head off to lunch at the Cafe Ketchup with 2 lovely competition winners and we had a great meal. While we were there we were interviewed by a journalist and had some photos taken.

After lunch we headed over to the TV2 offices where we took part in a live web chat with webcam and that was a real laugh, particularly because we're not the best typists in the world!

Then it was back to the hotel to get changed into our normal clothes before we went out into Copenhagen and had dinner out by the waterfront.It is so cold over here, the coldest day they have had in ages so we were definitely glad of our warm tour coats!

Back to the hotel again to watch the news together before bed. We are obviously greatly concerned about the War and our hearts go out to all those who are affected directly by it.As we slept in our cosy beds we counted our blessings and felt so lucky to be in the position to bring some hope and joy to people over on this side of the world at such a tragic time.

 

Saturday 22nd March 2003 - Copenhagen

What a way to start the day! It was great to be able to look out and admire the view of the canals of the city and after a nice breakfast, Saranne and Beth walked to a local shopping centre where they had a fantastic time checking out the fashion.

Then it was back to the hotel to see if the guys had woken up yet after a mammoth sleep-in. Michael was up and about and went out with his cousins who live in Denmark. Tom was still sleeping like a baby so Danny joined Saranne and Beth as they went to the town and checked out Madame Tussauds Waxwork Museum.

Then it was lunchtime at a really cool place called Rosie McGees. Beth decided to cruise around the town a bit more but Danny and Saranne went to see a movie because it was so cold outside! After the movie (Gangs of New York), we all met up again and had dinner together before heading back to our rooms to pack our cases once again and fall asleep whilst looking at the lights across the canal.

 

Sunday 23rd March 2003 - Copenhagen / London

An early start and a whole heap of pancakes and we were on our way to the airport where we checked in and then checked out the shops.We bought James some lovely aftershave for his 21st birthday tomorrow and then got on the plane.

We arrived at Heathrow Airport in sunshine and warm spring weather, which was a pleasant change after the chilliness of Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

We were really pleased to see so many fans at the airport and recognized some from last year. It was amazing to us to think that some of these people had traveled for hours just to come and see us! We really appreciated it and had a good chat with them before we jumped into our bus and headed into the city. We checked into the hotel and had just ordered our lunch when the other group arrived and it was as if we hadn’t seen them for a month there were so many hugs and so much to catch up on!

Meryl, Beth, Tom and Michael went out shopping whilst the rest of us made the most of the sauna and steam room and had a bit of chill out time and then we all met up again and headed to a local pizza place for dinner and a good laugh.

Then it was time for bed as we have a busy day tomorrow. We’re all really excited about the DVD release and the big in-store that we’re doing at the Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly Circus at 5pm. Hope that we see a lot of you there!