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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: 69.7206, 30.0514
We left Stockholm on Thursday afternoon to fly to Kirkenes. We first had to go through Customs in Oslo and then transfer to a domestic flight. We had a great experience in Stockholm airport where we were able to use the Business Class Lounge but at Oslo it was chaos. The queues to go through security were all jumbled and we got on the end of two before finding the right one. Then people were queue jumping blatantly without a care for the fact we had been waiting nearly a half hour. Once through we were quickly onto our plane and the flight to the north of Norway was fine.
We stayed the night in Kirkenes and had a great dinner at the Thon Hotel. Fletcher had the local specialty, King Crab which he said was delicious though messy to eat. I had a great entrecote with mushroom sauce. Yum.
The next day we boarded the Hurtigruten ship, Nordkapp. This fleet of ships operates a ferry service between Bergen and Kirkenes and return. The round trip takes 11 days but we are just doing the southward section. It stops frequently for short stays at many small towns along the fjords.They emphasise
that they are not really a cruise ship but more a ferry service. However, they provide good hospitality although the cabins are relatively small and sparse.
We left Kirkenes at 12-45 and headed out into the fiords. We had a safety briefing at 2pm after a great buffet lunch. During the briefing we were told about the safety equipment and other important information but also had the good news that there is free WiFi in the lounge areas. Bonus.
The first stop was at Vardo for 45 minutes. We walked up to see the fort on the hill and then stocked up at the supermarket on tonic and wine as the prices for drinks on board are very high. The houses here are all wooden and the churches have triangular high steeples. Shops do not have verandas, it seems very odd. We were assigned a table for dinner at which there were a German couple, who could speak some English and a Swiss journalist who could speak both English and German, so we were able to keep up a pleasant conversation. At 10pm we gathered on the deck to have a waving competition as we passed the Nordkapp's sister ship. This consisted
of us all waving white towels with balloons also provided while Abba was played over the loudspeakers. A bit of fun.
The weather turned cold and raining over night and we awoke this morning to misty rain and rough seas. This rather restricted activities as it was cold and windy on deck. Fletcher was awake at 6am when we stopped at Honnigsfjord but I missed it.. Our second stop was only for 15 minutes at Havoysund but we could take photos from the deck. The main stop today was at Hammerfest. This is the most northern city in the world, just above the top of Siberia in Latitude. We had 90 minutes to have a look. We walked up to the main street and explored the port but couldn't go far as Fletch was having trouble walking. Stopped at the Polar Bear Club shop where there was a display of the local wildlife and they raise funds for conservation. It was very cold with misty rain and this is still summer!
We returned to the ship after about 40 minutes and hopped in to lunch before the crowds. Tonight we land in Tromso at 11-45pm and we are going to a Midnight
Concert in the Arctic Cathedral there. Really looking forward to that. More to come in the next three days!
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