Bronnoysund to Svolvaer including Bodo

Monday 24^th September - Day 4

We wake this morning to an announcement that we will be crossing the Arctic Circle. It is almost 7 am and we quickly throw on some clothes and head on deck. We are two of only a few people who have come to mark the occasion with a photograph or two, most preferring to say in the warmth of their beds or the ship. A globe on a small island marks the spot and it suddenly feels like we are in new territory. The weather is misty, but has it’s own beauty. The mist hangs over the mountains and the light reminds me of an episode of Wallender.

As we progress further North today, we travel past the dark jagged wall of mountains that mark the Loften Islands. This continues for 100 km and seems impenetrable as the pointed caps rise up on either side of us. It’s a dramatic part of the trip with a stop over in Bodo (pronounced Buddha – which I like) during the afternoon.

We disembark for a walk around Bodo. There’s not much to see here. It has a modern town centre and pre-war architecture particularly reflected in the church and clock tower. However, we do find a shop selling traditional hand-crafted goods from Norway and are torn between gorgeous weighty blankets, brightly coloured scarves or hand-knitted cable socks. We remember that we have a luggage limit on our return flight and so decide on a hand-cut Christmas decoration depicting reindeer in the snow. I tell the shop assistant that we shall proudly display it this Christmas and will think back warmly on our trip to Bodo. And we do.

The shops here tell you a lot about the town and the weather. There are several craft shops, a couple of wool shops, a bookshop and two shops selling musical instruments. I can only assume that during cold, dark winter nights people gather for craft evenings, knitting circles and to play music together. That may be quite a romantic view of life, but it’s the one I choose to take away with me.

Back on board, I head to the library. It seems a regular crowd is forming here. Three highly competitive American women are playing a game that looks and sounds a lot like dominoes, a German man sits writing at a table while his wife, secretly snoozing, pretends to read a magazine and an American gentleman who reminds me a little of the crazy Professor from Back to the Future (sorry Tom) is trying to send emails. There is a little excitement when one of the women makes some sort of illegal move in the game, but this is soon forgotten when a Dutch man interrupts and invites them to play cards with him. Once again, I feel tired and so I return to my cabin for a sleep. 

  

My husband wakes me a little later to tell me that I will be sorry to miss the sunset going down over the mountains and he is right. It is magnificent. After more photo-taking we once again jump in the hot tub and it is noticeable colder on our cheeks and noses. But then again we are in the Arctic Circle now!

 

After dinner, we retire to the panoramic lounge, luckily securing a front seat and I think that perhaps we are set here for the night, but we don’t realise that Hurtigruten has more in store for us this evening. At 11 pm we enter the Trollfjord, which is a very narrow piece of water with mountains rising up to 1000 metres high on either side. The gap through is at times only 100 metres wide and with the spotlights from the ship illuminating our way, it looks like you could reach overboard and touch the surface of the mountains. We keep an eye out for Trolls, but they must be sleeping and we make up jokes about trolls to keep us entertained. There is a real camaraderie on deck as passengers mill about in padded jackets and hats drinking troll soup to keep warm. As the fjord is a dead end, the Captain has to turn the ship round. I’m glad he’s doing it and not me. Eventually, everyone disappears off to bed, apart from Andy and I. We look up at the sky filled with hope of seeing the Northern Lights, but it seems tonight will not be the night as we can make out only a few stars in the otherwise cloudy sky. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow night.

Vadso - Kirkenes - Berlevag

Thursday 27^th September - Day 7

Today we arrive in Kirkenes and we have reached the turnaround point of our voyage. There is definitely change in the air and you can feel a different energy on the boat this morning. Some people will leave us here to catch their plane home or to continue their journeys elsewhere. Later in the Library I notice that the American domino-playing women are gone as is the Dutch man that joined them most days.

 

We get off the boat at Kirkenes to find that we are once again surrounded by the colours of Autumn. As we walk from the port into the town centre, we pass tree-lined avenues filled with the usual clapperboard houses that we have become accustomed to seeing. The trees still have their red, orange and copper leaves on display and many also have bright red berries. The day is a crisp, bright cold one and it is the sort of day that you feel glad to be alive.

 

We discover that as it is the last Thursday of the month, there is a Russian market in town. Ten or twelve stalls are set up selling hand knitted socks, lace-edged tablecloths and of course Russian dolls. The colours are somewhat garish to our eyes, but it brings a vibrancy to the town square. We wonder if this is just for the tourists, but no, we see locals haggling with the Russian market stallholders to get the best deal. As we wander, we notice that the road signs are in both Norwegian and Russian and we see a sign directing us to Murmansk. This really is very different and unlike anywhere that I’ve ever visited before

Kirkenes had the life bombed out of it during the Second World War and as a result is full of pre-war architecture once it was rebuilt. A sign tells us that there were over 1000 air raid announcements here during the war and the Andersen shelter can still be seen on the walk into town.

We stop in the centre for a delightful cup of coffee and a piece of banana cake, jauntily decorated in bright yellow icing. It is good coffee and very welcome after drinking predominantly herbal tea on board.

Later today we stop at Vardo. As we arrive, the words, "Eternal Light, Eternal Night" are painted on the quayside. It tells you all you need to know about Vardo. As we walk up towards the church, we get chatting with a local Norwegian lady called Elsa, who is out walking her dog. She grew up here and then moved to Oslo where she met and married a Texan. They returned to Vardo and he fell in love with it and so they moved back here. She tells us that she’s just about settled again, but it took some time. We ask her what it is like when there is no light at all during the winter months and she surprises us by telling us how absolutely beautiful it is. She says that the light comes from the moon, the snow and of course the Northern Lights. It is a magical time of year and sometimes when a big storm comes, she is unable to see her neighbour’s house, which is only a very short distance away. It makes me want to experience this life. I’d like to step into her shoes for a short period of time, during the middle of the Winter, to know what it feels like, to experience the darkness and the cold. But only for a couple of weeks. I certainly don’t think I could make it through a whole Winter. Once again, I am in admiration of the Norwegian spirit and the town already seems lighter with people like Elsa living in it. I muss with Jasper her dog and at the same time Elsa’s daughter Daniella comes outside to greet her mum and say hello. Again I’d love to know more. There are so many questions I’d love to ask this lady and I’d definitely forego a trip to the town to stand and chat. Once again we have a snapshot view of each others' lives and then we move on.

 

The sunset tonight is absolutely spectacular. I've seen some good sunsets over the years, but I'm not sure anything compares to these with the Norwegian mountains as a backdop.

We decide on an early night tonight, only to hear an announcement that there has been a spotting of the Northern Lights just as we have snuggled down under the quilt. I don’t think I’ve moved so quickly in a long time as we struggle into our clothes and head out on deck. There is a green hazy light hiding mischievously under the clouds and it is definitely not moonlight reflecting on the clouds. We get an occasional burst of green light moving into an arc and there is a slight pixilation as the lights breaks into rays. We are on deck for a couple of hours taking a die-hard approach, straining to see more. Eventually at 12.30 am, the cold finally beats us and we decide to head back to our cabin. But nature has one more delight in store for us. Before we turn in, we sit with a mug of tea at the back of the boat on deck 6 and as we stare at the night sky, we are blessed with a shooting star.

 

 

Harstad - Trollfjorden - Lofoten - Stamsund

Saturday 29^th September - Day 9

Day 9 looks like it could be a little boring when we review the day’s events and instead it turns out to be the complete opposite. The day starts off a little misty and slightly cooler than it has been but there’s no rain until much later and then it only lasts for a very short time. We really have had the most perfect weather. In fact the staff on board tell us that the self same journey two weeks ago saw rain virtually every day. The people on that trip must have very different photographs to ours.

The Autumn colours completely surround us on this part of the journey. There are swathes of red and gold, outlined by swathes of dark green evergreens. Each one looking like it would make a perfect Christmas tree.

 We stop at a small port and as usual the fork-lift truck driver roars up ready to unload today’s cargo. On route we’ve seen roofing insulation, office stationary supplies and food deliveries amongst other things being loaded on and off of the boat, but more exciting are the people jumping on and off along the way. Today we see a man reunited with his family, his son jumping up and down in anticipation as he sees his father walking down the gangway. He rushes forward to give him a big hug at his arrival home. Such scenes warm the heart.

The weather decides to get better and once again we find ourselves under blue skies and glorious sunshine. We make a short stop at Sortland and from the ship see a church that looks interesting. Once off the boat, we realise it is further away than we thought, but it has led us to a small gallery on the outskirts of town that is hosting an opening. We are welcomed by a smiling face and a glass of sparking apple juice and are invited to browse the artist’s work. The pieces remind us of covers from Pink Floyd albums in the 70s and 80s but it is an interesting exhibit and fun to be part of. We sign the guest book, thank our hosts and return to the boat.

Our next stop today is Stockmarkness. We wander up the main street and join the locals out doing their Saturday shopping. It seems that we are destined to see these small towns in their best light as the sun continues to shine. Today is dog day it seems as we pass several people with dogs. There is an adorable, white fluffy husky pup who is stretched out on a park bench taking some rays with his owner. Also on the other side of the street is a pup straining at the lead and very excited to be out and about. But my favourite dog of the day is Esmelda – the white and black French bulldog who runs up and greets me enthusiastically when she realises that I am bending down to muss her. I’m not sure if it is very expensive to keep pets in Norway, but we have not seen many on our travels.

We continue down the main street. It seems that all the towns we’ve stopped at have an indoor shopping centre. It makes sense and will be needed once snow lines the sides of the streets and temperatures plummet.

Also at Stockmarkness we do a quick tour of the Hurtigruten museum. Here you will see archive photographs and reconstructions of bunk rooms and the like. It is a fascinating review of the Hurtigruten history including information about the fact that once upon a time there were three classes on board. First was for luxury passengers and we see fine china, cutlery and linen. Second class was for regular travellers and third class – well there weren’t many pictures to see, so I’ll leave this to your imagination. The museum is well worth a visit and our only disappointment is that we would have liked more time in the town to explore more, enjoy a coffee and do the museum justice.

Back on board, we find ourselves once again able to enter the Trollfjord due to the good weather and this time we get to see just how narrow it is in the daylight. In addition, we are joined by some sea eagles soaring up in the thermals about the mountains near the boat.

We think that our journey into the fjord is dramatic, but then we hit the wall of mountains that make up the Lofoten Islands. This part of Norway is a definite return to destination. I’d love to get up close and personal with the Lofoten Islands and explore the area between Trondheim and Tromso in more detail. It is beautiful countryside.



We watch the sunset over the Lofoten Islands from the hot tub and reflect on the beauty of the day.