Of freezers,fjords and Denis Savard

Our lunch/dinner partners, Jennie and Daryl from Australia, told us a funny story the other night. They took his mother, pushing late 80's or so, on a cruise in Australia on the Queen Mary 2. During the cruise, apparently 5 people passed away. What to do? Call the staff and store the deceased in the ship's freezers !!! Why am I telling you this story today? Because I took an antihistamine late Monday night that conked me out. Catherine, as per usual, was up and at 'em early. She kept popping back to our room only to discover that I was still sawing logs. I finally managed to wake up at 10:06 a.m only to realize I had missed breakfast by a mere 6 minutes. During lunch, I whispered to Jennie that I think Catherine had contacted the Captain inquiring about how much freezer space he had on board. Catherine overheard our conversation and didn't deny that she had thought about it. So, my day got off to a late start but according to the schedule, I didn't miss too much....a port or 2 but nothing to worry about.

Our day was mostly sailing until we reached Stokmarknes and were to have a 1 hour stop. I joined Steve (from Vermont...nice fellow but wayyy too bright for me!!) and we waltzed over to visit the Hurtigruten Museum. We could have spent a few hours there but sadly, didn't. The info was very interesting and they had mothballed an old ship that was our's to explore.

Late in the afternoon we reach the Lofoten Islands. We notice that the topography has been changing most of the day and now is really changing versus the first two days. We then remember that today we are going through Raftsundet....a narrow passage leading into a dead end fjord. We enter at 5:00 p.m and it is (stop me if I have used this before) jaw droppingly stunning. And the crew navigate the entrance like veterans. Apparently our ship will be the last Hurtigruten ship this season to sail in/out of this spot. We realize that what we just saw the past 20 or so minutes will be seen again as we retrace our course....YIPPEE cuz it is beautiful. Before we leave, we need to back out but that doesn't happen nowadays. Today we are treated to a full 180 degree Denis Savard. Yup....the old Spin-o-Rama. WOW.......soooo cool.

We are enroute to Svolvaer and because there are 4 off-boat tours originating there, dinner is served earlier than normal. Of course, I am too busy enjoying the fjord/spin-o-rama and before you know it, Catherine comes looking for me as dinner starts in 5 minutes. Oh, did I mention that Cath decided to freshen up before dinner? She missed the entire fjord/spin thing altogether.

Following dinner, Steve's wife Priscilla joins Catherine in visiting Svolvaer's Magic Ice House, an ice sculpture spot complete with an ice bar and beverages served in ice glasses. Steve and I briefly considered visiting the War Museum but I told him that we know how that story ends! We opt to walk around the town. Boy, did we make the right decision. We stumbled onto an large plaza where a band was playing, video screens are set up and people, despite the wet snow, are rockin'. We make our way into a presentation tent and I ask two young kids if they can tell us what is going on? "They are launching updated currency" was the reply. All this to launch new designs on your paper money? Wow. We are able to swap out our NOK's for the new ones BUT they wouldn't give me anything for the $5 Canadian bill nor the $20 I offered up.....but I had the Norge Bank staff in stitches nonetheless. We set off to explore some more and let me repeat myself here from a previous post.....THIS town is what Port Stanley wants to be. It had hotels, condos, tours of various shapes and sizes, lots of restaurants and all of it built along an inlet that was as smooth as glass. Back at the ship, we asked about tourism. The Norwegians come but so too do lots and lots of Germans. It was a beautiful little port town that pleasantly surprised us.

An eventful day ends early. We have found that sitting in deck 7's comfy chairs is too relaxing and causes one to not be able to keep one's eyes open!!!

The alarm is set for tomorrow because the highlights start early.....it is a very special day on the cruise. Stay tuned.

Pics....entrance to Raftsundet,Cath @ Magic Ice, 3 of Svolvaer, sceneryRead more