CFT Northern Lights - Kirkenes

Tuesday 13 March

We rolled and thumped all night, almost leaving the bed sometimes. At 3am I began getting bored with the motion and had to get up for half a cracker and drink of water to settle my tum. We docked at Vardo for a short delivery stop but it gave me time to get back to sleep in still water.

The next thing I knew - it was 6am the water was calmer and I was hungry! I had lasted the whole night with no sea sickness and no medication. This is a first ever for me!

Breakfast was delicious and I could actually eat it. We crossed slightly rougher water before berthing at Kirkenes.

A bus to our hotel and we all enjoyed lunch there then split into two groups. Our group went for a tour of Kirkenes in absolute white out conditions for much of it. The snow here is really heavy and everything is covered in a thick white doona. The locals just get on with life with their various forms of transport - the "sparke" (a snow foot scooter), dog sleds, cars/buses etc (that travel slowly and carefully and don't brake), spikes on shoes, snowmobiles, snowshoes, cross country skis - and all as a normal manner of transport.

One of the places we were taken was 15km away to the Russian border with strict instructions not to even put a toe across in jest.

After the tour we drove to the Snow Hotel where those going snowmobiling could be dropped off. It turned out that Barbara and I were the only ones from our group that did not go. Instead we had a long talk with Michael, our guide, about all sorts of differences between cultures and life styles.

Back to the hotel and dinner then at 9pm we were collected by Michael and another bus driver to go northern lights hunting. We drove some distance north west and bingo, the sky was clear and the lights were there with thousands of stars. Like many things, photos just don't do them justice, especially as I took my photos on normal settings.

The arc of lights stretched from east to west across the sky. They were pale and greenish, like vertical clouds that formed a slow procession and changed form as they moved.

Photo courtesy CFT

The snow clouds began to roll in to hide the lights so we all boarded the bus for home, ecstatic with the outcome of the night. We fell into bed at about midnight.

CFT Northern Lights - Henningsvag

Monday 12 March

We woke to a slow roll and a grey day. After breakfast it was actually snowing horizontally and visibility was quite low the the land barely visible.

When we berthed at Henningsvag it was snowing quite heavily with snow drifts right down to the water.

We organised our sandwich for lunch and readied ourselves for our outing to the North Cape. Unfortunately an announcement was made that the excursion was cancelled because the roads were closed due to the very heavy snow. Instead, I did my washing, packed ready for tomorrow and caught up on blog and diary. The next 18 hours or so could be rather rough as it is on open water until we get to Kirkenes.

Sure enough, soon after leaving port the ship started to toss and heave. The swell I would guess at about 5m though I could be very wrong. Some of the falls from crest to bottom of waves were roller coaster like.

I made it to dinner with no illness but about half of our group were not there. However, I was careful only to have a light meal. I did take some crackers back to the cabin to cover any hunger in the night.

CFT Northern Lights - Tromso

Sunday 11 March

Some photos of the Eiderducks as we left Bodo.

Up at 6:30 for a beautiful sunrise photo.

Breakfast was followed by a lazy morning watching the world go by until our first presentation fo the day followed by our short Sunday service.

When we arrived in Tromso we boarded a bus for a tour. Our first stop was Polaria, a museum attached to the Polar Research Centre.

Again our visit was far too rushed before boarding the bus again to see more of Tromso.

We stopped briefly at the very modern Tromso Arctic Cathedral which is really just a parish church.

Back over the bridge to the city centre where we were dropped at the Tromso Cathedral to attend Choral Evensong.

Photo courtesy CFT

Photo courtesy CFT

This is a beautiful wooden church with large gallery on 3 sides and 2 organs. The choir was 15 strong and the minister was a young woman. It was a wonderfully peaceful service - a traditional anglican evensong.

A short walk brought us back on board in time for dinner then we spent a bit of time sorting out what was happening in the morning as the various outlines we have seem to be contradictory.

As we were going to sleep the ship developed a distinct roll in a broad fjord. Certainly not the calm seas we've had which are apparently most uncharacteristic.

At about 10pm we had the Northern Lights call from the captain. A bit more obvious than last night but very pale green. Unfortunately it was really too indistinct for a photo but Bjorn (one of the ship staff) did photograph it with his camera on special settings and in fact it was stunning. It seems that the eye does not see as much as the camera in this case.

Troll Fjord. Photo courtesy Hurtigruten

Tromso northern lights. Photo courtesy Bjorn, Hurtigruten.

CFT Northern Lights - Bodo

Saturday 10 March

Soon after 7 am we were out on deck to view the globe marking the arctic circle. The sea was a bit choppy earlier but quickly settled in the lee of yet more islands and rocks. Sunrise was beautiful.

At 7:15 am we crossed the Arctic Circle and this warranted a ceremony on the top deck.

There was an arctic crossing ceremony with a visit from Neptune (or whatever he is called in Norse).

At breakfast I met Beverley Moor who has recently retired from Maths at UTS.

The morning presentation talked about the freedom-to-roam law in Scandanavia which basically you can walk anywhere even if it is private land. You can even camp 2 nights as long as you are 150m from the house. Another thing we found out about was Simon Beck and his snow art. It is fascinating and all done with snow shoe foot prints.

We had an early lunch then on arrival at Bodo saw lots of Eider Ducks on the harbour. Barbara and I went for a coastal walk as our afternoon activity. This was magnificent except for my back-hip-leg of course. The water under the sand was frozen and there were even sections of frozen tidal foam.

Our walk took us across a Viking ship burial mound and some large areas of ice.

At the end of the walk we were served a cup of warm mjad tea, a tea made from some plant with salicilic acid (I needed that) and with honey added.

Back on the bus and to the ship just in time for departure. Our group had a sing along around the piano and were then ready to leave on our next activity.

Barbara and I booked for the Lofotr Viking Feast. This meant we had a long drive to the museum before a very rushed ceremony and a delicious feast of slow cooked lamb and vegetables. There were lots of toasts to various players and gods with mead and even a very quick circle dance before we were herded back on the bus.

I would have liked to have had a little more time to really look at the Viking hall we were in and the gift shop. Our trip back to the ship was another 50 minutes drive to the next port.

We quickly went to bed and luckily I got about an hour sleep before the captain announced the appearance of weak northern lights. I got up and had a look but I could not wake Barbara. The lights were really just pale whispers and as it was really cold I went back to bed and slept soundly.