Vågen

A fairly quiet day today. After breakfast Amr went for his ritual sauna and walk round the deck. On deck 5 you can walk right round the ship - he says 5 laps is just over a km! It is always nice to get out there and watch if it’s not too cold or breezy! At 11.15 we docked at Honningsvåg which is where some people went on an excursion to the North Cape marker. We contented ourselves with a wander through the town which did not take long...we did go into the North Cape museum though which was interesting and well displayed. This place, like so much of the coast of Norway, was burnt to the ground by the Germans when retreating, so it also is rebuilt, and quite pretty and neat. Of course, it is basically just a fishing town. We are way above the tree line now, and the land we see is just rocky crags. Any trees in the town were planted, and probably have trouble thriving.

Since leaving Honningsvåg we have been going out in the open sea and have to take care walking around, quite rocking! And I think this will continue as looking at the map we are out in the Norwegian Sea till we reach Kirkenes tomorrow morning. At the moment we have just pulled in to a fjord so it’s relatively calm, but we’ll be out in the open again soon, and continuing north till we reach our northernmost point before turning southeast to reach Kirkenes. There will be a few offload stops during the night, but for passengers that is the next port.

Kirkenes is the end of the voyage for quite a few people who just do the northern journey, though quite a lot of people are, like us, continuing on the southward journey back to Bergen. So tomorrow there will be the bustle of people disembarking and others embarking.

And today we did see rain for the first time!! There wasn’t much, and although it is quite cold, it wasn’t snow, so not that cold. By the time we walked around the town this morning it was quite bright, and though clouds are about there is also quite a lot of clear sky. I looked up the weather for tomorrow in Kirkenes and supposedly there will be snow overnight, but cloudy and little chance of precipitation in the daytime. That is so good as we have signed up for a walk to the Russian border! We do go part of the way in a bus, but then have a 4 km hike, which they have already warned will be wet underfoot. Glad I haven’t cleaned the mud off my shoes since the last muddy walk!

Now sitting quietly - Amr got us prime position chairs at the front - which is good for now. There are many sitting places and chairs and it is usually easy to find a cosy place to sit and read etc. with a view looking out at the passing spectacular scenery. It is getting too cold to sit outside for too long, although there is one outside place that has heaters and is partially glassed in. There are 2 “public” decks where you can find places to relax - 4 and 7. The other decks are just cabins. 4 and 7 have bars, the dining room, lots of room for everyone, although I don’t think we are filled to capacity. Let’s hope for anther fine day tomorrow.Read more