The next four days took us all along the very north coast of Norway. Though the coast of Norway could all be described generically as mountains and fjords, this area has a very different feel to the rest. Though it could be described as 'stark' I actually found it the most beautiful region with its towering, pointed mountains and everything bathed in whites and different tones of blues.
Day 5 saw us sailing from Stokmarknes to Skjervøy and we started the day with a lecture on the Sami culture, looking into where they came from, the treatment they have had to endure over the last few hundred years, and the steps that they have taken to be recognised as one of the only indigenous people in Europe. It was an introduction into their culture and a good starting point for learning more about them.
Today's Point of Interest was an island just outside of Tromsø (the day's longest stop) called Rystraumen. Due to the currents that run around this island it is possible to see whirlpools forming, but it wasn't really the right conditions this time though there was some movement in the water. The island also has an interesting connection to some oxen that were brought over to Norway and which lived on the island for a while (which didn't turn out very well for the oxen or local people wanting to use the island).
The main square of Tromsø is beautiful with it's centuries old wooden buildings and we had a lovely few minutes looking at the Domkirk (church) right in the centre. This was particularly interesting to see as we knew that no buildings like this existed further north in the county of Finnmark as most were destroyed during WWII when the retreating Nazis carried out a 'scorched earth' policy. We knew that the Polar Museum was unfortunately going to be closed when we were there and we weren't too interested in looking at modern art, so we headed for the Perpektivet museum. Unfortunately this turned out to be closed as well due to repairs to their windows and by now it was far to late to get a bus to the Tromsø museum on the outskirts of the town. In hindsight we should have just gone straight to the Tromsø museum from the cruise, especially as it had an exhibit on Samis, but we know for next time.
However, on our wanderings around Tromsø we did get to see some amazing snow carvings, found a lovely coffee shop to have a hot chocolate in, and get some wool for my Mum and a knitting book for me which contained some patterns of the traditional gloves you see sold everywhere here and which I wanted to give a go myself.....at some point. It is written in Norwegian adding an extra challenge to this, though the lady who sold me the book very kindly gave me a sheet that contained translations for the most common Norwegian knitting terms - so well organised. We had really put on the layers for this trip (again) and I found myself stripping off almost everything whilst walking around (again). But after this I finally learnt my lesson and started wearing just what I needed based on the amount of activity I was expecting to do.
We did have a little disappointment on Day 6 when the strong winds we were dealing with meant that we weren't able to do the trip to the Fishing Villages we had hoped for (there is a Christmas shop there and I had hoped to get some traditional Norwegian, wooden Christmas decorations there) as the road was unsafe.
However, that did mean we were able to actually see the northern most city of Norway, Honningsvåg and I'm glad about that. It was a lovely place to potter around and the museum was definitely worth a view as was a shop called West of the Moon which contained work from local artists.
I wasn't able to find the statue of Bamse (a dog during the war that saved many sailors lives), which is a shame but, if I'm honest, I didn't look as hard as I probably should have done. It was mainly because I had seen the statue of him in Montrose and thought it would be nice to see the cousin from across the North Sea.
This day saw us sailing from Øksfjord to Berlevåg and saw us dragging ourselves out of bed again during the early hours of the morning when the Northern Lights call came. But again we only saw the grey, almost cloud-like feature with no real colour and we were beginning to think that we would never actually see the Northern Lights in their full colours. Then in the evening we watched a documentary about Vardø and Pomor Trade. The Pomors were from the northwest of Russia and they traded goods, especially grain, for fish from those living in Finnmark (the northern most county of Norway). The coastal inhabitants of Finnmark were particularly poor at the time so this was a hugely important source for them and an interesting subject I had never heard about before.
The weather got particularly rough that night and the boat was swaying around, even with the stabilisers on. There's something very interesting about feeling yourself being ever so slightly lifted off your bed and then plonked back on. Not necessarily the gentle rocking you want to send you to sleep.
Day 7 was the day that saw us almost reaching the boarder with Russia as we moved from Båtsfjord to Kirkenes and then back around the north coast with the final port for the day being Berlevåg again. We arrived in Kirkenes a lot later then expected due to the bad weather and this gave us a lot less time to spend there. We did, however, still get to go on the excursion we had booked which was to look at the Snow Hotel. This is built every year for over winter and each room in the hotel has it's own separate and unique carvings on the walls. Apparently they tell the artists what they would like in the reception and bar area and then leave them to do their own thing in the bedrooms that they have.
They are absolutely amazing and I would definitely like to stay one night. The weirdest thing was that the walls didn't feel wet at all or as cold as I was expecting, though you would still need the sleeping bags that they provide. Fun fact about the Kirkenes Snow Hotel: they don't have a room 13 (or a cabin 13) as no one ever books it. People are funny little things.
There were also some reindeer at the hotel (but only neutered males as only Sami are legally allowed to own reindeer of both sexes which aren't neutered) and a whole lot of huskies as they also do husky sledge rides there.
All absolutely gorgeous, though some more friendly then others, and my favourite named pair were the ones called Sorry and Dynamite. We decided not to do any of the husky sledge trips, especially as my Mum would spend the whole time feeling sorry for the dogs.
We did get to see Kirkenes as we drove from the port to the hotel, but not as much as we had hoped and it would be interesting to return to see what it really looks like. It's also a shame we didn't get to see the museum, which contained items by the Sami artist John Savio, but another time perhaps. I had also planned to do the Ice Sea Swimming that was going to be available when we reached Vardø, but the delay due to the bad weather meant that we couldn't stop there long enough to have time to do it. I would have loved to have been able to say that I had swum in the Norwegian sea, north of the Arctic Circle, during winter but it wasn't to be.
In the evening we got to have story time with one of the Expedition Team, Haakon, who told us two stories from his childhood. One was the the seven fathers of the house and the other was, of course, a troll story where a troll was tricked by the young boy into doing all his work and eventually killing himself. Haakon even did voices and so deserves credit for that. The funny thing for me was that I recognised these stories from my childhood as well as we actually spend about four or five years in Norway until I was 12.
Of course, the best thing about that day was the Northern Lights. After story telling we got all bundled up in our gear ready to spend a very long time outside as the forecast was a good one. And it was good, in fact it was absolutely spectacular. I took some photos with my phone as evidence that I actually saw them and then just stood back and watched.
They are completely mesmerizing and very serial, and I can completely see why the Vikings thought that they were bridges to Valhalla. That is a memory that will stay and a sight I don't think I could ever get bored of. We went to bed cold and tired but very happy travellers.
And so onto Day 8. The night was a lot less choppy and tiredness probably helped with the whole sleeping side of things. This day took us from Mehamn back to Tromsø just before midnight. Our longest stop was at Hammerfest (which I think sounds like a battle metal band or metal concert), but before we reached there the Point of Interest for the day was the island of Melkøya. Melkøya is where the natural gases collected from the Snøhvit gas fields are processed before being sent to the mainland. Surprisingly interesting talk despite the fact that I'm not really into the collection of natural gas and oil.
We hadn't booked any excursions at Hammerfest but I decided to try and tackle the zig zag path that takes you up to 'Mount' Salen. This turned out to be much more difficult than the possibly icy path I was expecting, with snowfall cover a section of it so deep that you couldn't even see the hand railings. It required a bit of climbing to get to the top and only me and one other fellow cruise member (or nutter) gave it a go, practically everyone else went to see the church. However, it was worth the scramble and the freezing winds at the top as the views were spectacular and the feeling of being alone after seven days on a cruise amazing. I spent as long as I could based on the time we had at Hammerfest before descending down the long route back to the ship. I did quickly pop into the Polar Bear museum beside the port, mainly to look at the shop as I had no interest at looking at all the stuffed animals and animal skins they had there. You can also become a life long member of the Polar Bear Society, which sounds fun but I didn't have time to join up before the ship left the port.
We did then have a very interesting, and one I was looking most forward to, talk on Norwegian polar explorers. These included the well known Roald Amundsen (even us Brits know about him - the man who beat Scott to the south pole), an interesting man called Fridtjof Nansen who we don't learn about in Britain but really should, and most interesting to me was a woman named Cecilie Skog who I definitely want to find out more about.
The forecast for the North Lights wasn't particularly good for that night, but we decided to stay out and have a look for them anyway. We still got some sightings and they did produce some beautiful colours, but nothing like the night of day 7. We were spoilt that day.
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