Today is mid-journey and we cross the Arctic Circle. For the Canadian readers, that means that we are still at a latitude well north of Whitehorse, though not quite as far north as Inuvik. When I think about that, I am astonished that this part of the trip has been so temperate - most of Norway has a maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers. Because of the influence of the Gulf Stream, Norway has a much warmer climate than its latitudinal position would indicate. What we have been very lucky with, has been the lack of rain – it’s been cloudy, but they’re used to a lot of precipitation, and it looks like it’s holding off till later in the week.
I woke early, in time to watch our arrival into the little town of Ørnes. It was very clear and still, and the reflections had incredible depth. I love watching the precision with which the crew docks – we barely feel it as the ship touches, and only two ropes hold it in place while loads are taken on and off. No passengers this morning – just goods and a fifteen-minute turn-around.
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| The Arctic Circle marker |
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| The captain offers my arctic dose of cod-liver-oil! |
There was a formal crossing of the Arctic Circle in the morning – we sailed past the island that shows the latitude marker, and the “ceremony” involved a dose of cod-liver-oil. Now there’s a childhood memory! I now have a commemorative spoon. I believe the northward crossing involved ice...
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| Mary, Kathy and me - all feeling healthier now! |
I’m really enjoying being on my own, but making contact with people casually as we go. I’m scheduled for dinner with Mark, Mary and Kathy each evening, but we keep running into each other – we had a very interesting session with Magnus this morning about Norway’s history – makes me realise how totally inadequate our history courses were at school!
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| today was T-shirt weather! |
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| Norwegian bridge-building is something else...! |
After a short stop at Sandnessjøen, a number of us gathered on the top deck as we sailed past the Seven Sisters, and heard all about the legend that turned these troll maidens into mountains. It’s a really spectacular range – and apparently offers a good challenge to climbers who want to climb all seven!
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| The Seven Sisters (though you can't see them all clearly from this angle) |
Our longer stop today was mid-afternoon at Brønnøysund. This place is a boater’s paradise – lots of little islands, and Brønnøysund as the commercial centre for mooring and re-stocking and laundry and so on.
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| Looking north from Brønnøysund |
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| Hurtigruten has its own dock |
As we prepared for dinner, we passed by Torghatten, which is a stand-alone granite mountain with a hole in the middle of it
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| Torghatten |
Dinner in the evening was a slightly more formal affair than usual – Hurtigruten is celebrating their 130th anniversary, and there was a five-course meal (all little portions, but beautifully presented and very tasty!) a formal reception and certificates of our participation in this season’s travels.
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| Tasty appetizer! |
Afterwards, Mary, Kathy and I met out on Deck 5 to watch the docking/loading process at Rørvik – and decided that an early bedtime was definitely needed – we start tomorrow morning with a 6:30am docking at Trondheim, and we have three hours to spend there followed by a full day of travel.
Beautiful!
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