At Sea - Arctic Circle and Harstad to Tromso

Thursday 24^th May

We were having a sleep in this morning when an announcement wakened us, “We will cross the Arctic Circle in about 15 minutes”.  Dressing quickly we went up on deck to view the globe on a small island marking the Arctic Circle, just as I depressed the camera shutter, at 7:20 and 53 seconds, to photograph the globe the ship’s siren sounded, so I recorded our actual crossing att 66degrees, 33 minutes.  Overnight the snow-capped mountains have returned, they are much higher and more rugged than those we passed yesterday.

During breakfast the ship stopped briefly to transfer some passengers to a small boat to view a glacier, they will re-join the ship at lunchtime at Bodo.  Shortly after breakfast we stopped at Ornes for some rapid cargo transfer and were pulling away from the wharf while still closing the watertight doors.

During lunch the ship docked at Bodo and later we went ashore for a walk around what appears to be a modern town.  During the German invasion Bodo was heavily bombed and 2/3rds of the buildings were destroyed, including the Cathedral.  This was rebuilt in 1956 and from the outside it has a very austere appearance and inside it was very light and open but like most Lutheran Churches little decoration. 

Leaving Bodo we had three hours sailing through open sea but the weather was calm and it was quite pleasant sailing.

Our next stop was a brief one at Stamsund before sailing on to Svolvaer arriving two hours later.  Entering the harbour we were greeted by a strong smell of fish and lining the edge were dozens of racks with fish drying.  We had less than an hour for a quick walk around in light rain, the first since leaving Bergen, before the ship sailed at 10:00 pm with sun shining on the surrounding mountain tops.

Sailing slowly through a narrow waterway we entered the 3 km long Trollfjorden with waterfalls cascading down the mountain sides, in places the fjord is less than 60m. wide at high tide and around 3km long, at the end it widens just enough to allow the ship to spin 180 degrees to sail out.  Unfortunately just as we entered the fjord the heavens opened, making standing on deck to view the scenery a little uncomfortable.

After leaving the fjord we returned to our cabin and got into bed just on midnight and it was still light enough outside to take photos.

Friday 25^th May.

A good night’s sleep with the ship docking at three towns during the night and we didn’t hear a thing.  We were woken just after 8:00 with the announcement the ship was leaving the fourth port of call Harstad, we had intended to get up and walk around the town but obviously needed the sleep.

At 10:30 we were advised that King Neptune had boarded the ship and was on the top deck to “baptise” all those who crossed the Arctic Circle for the first time.  The ceremony consisted of reading a proclamation by King Neptune and then kneeling while a dipper of cold water and ice cubes was poured down our neck, wetting us through to our underpants.  After the “baptism” we were presented with a certificate detailing our crossing and given a small glass of Cloudberry wine to celebrate, then most people performed a “ritual dance” jumping up and down to shake out all the ice cubes lodged between our clothes and skin.  Shortly after the completion of the ceremony the ship docked at Finnsnes for a short stop but we were drying out and missed going ashore.

Nearly three hours later we docked at Tromso, the capital of arctic Norway and it was raining and blowing quite strongly.  Rugging up in polar fleece and gortex complete with gloves and beanie, the first time this trip, we set out to walk to the “Arctic Cathedral across the harbour, walking over the 1km + bridge.  The wind on the bridge was very strong nearly blowing us off our feet on several occasions and with the temperature around 6 degrees the wind chill factor probably brought the temperature down to around zero.

The Tromsdalen church, “Arctic Cathedral, was built in 1965 from concrete and with its stepped roof is reminiscent of Sydney Opera House, though its roof is triangular shaped rather than rounded.  While in the church, admiring the largest glass mosaic in Europe, we were treated to several items on the large pipe organ.

Walking back into town across the bridge but on the opposite side to the prevailing wind was much easier than the walk over; we wandered around looking at the old timber buildings which contrasted to the post war constructions.  Stopping briefly to view the timber Tromso Cathedral from the outside we returned to the ship to dry off.

At 6:30 we sailed, making a brief stop at Skjervoy at 10:30 before entering open sea for 2 ½ hours.