Arriving in Bergen

Today is the last day of a 12 day cruise for many of the passengers and the last day of a two trip cruise for many staff. So it's filled with nostalgia. The nature/culture expedition guide Sofia created a video of the 12 day trip - I bought a copy. We had to check out of our cabins by 10 am, so the common areas of the ship are filled with people in a very different way. Mom says she hasn't been surrounded with this many adults napping in many years! 

Bergen
As the crow flies, it's just over 200 miles from Bergen west to the Shetland Islands. During WWII, England wanted to support the Norwegian resistance, so one of the things they did was send supplies and remove people via small fishing boats from Shetland to Bergen. It was dangerous work - sailing at night and in high seas were safest from the Germans - but not exactly safe! This operation was called the Shetland Bus. We learned about this when we visited Shetland, so I was pretty excited to see Bergen for myself. 

We arrived in the bright sunshine, which is apparently unusual for Bergen. Everyone was out enjoying the weather. We hauled our stuff across town and up a very steep flight of stairs to our Airbnb, then hauled our tired bodies further to the base of the funnicular. 

Fløibanen funicular
Bergen is a small harbor with a little bit of flat ground surrounded with steep hills. The funicular starts near the harbor and rises practically straight up to the top of a nearby hill. At the top was a lovely area to watch the sunset, restaurants, trolls, a little library in an old phone booth, a playground - and hiking trails. Meg and I took a fast hike through the pine trees to an amazing lake. 

Trondheim and Kristiansund

Regular cruises can adjust their shore times to suit the passengers. The mail boat stops so many times that many of the stops are fast or inconvenient. This morning, we arrived in Trondheim at 6:30 in the morning, when first light isn't until 7:15. Meg and I didn't want to miss any of our time in Trondheim, so we climbed out of our cozy beds and disembarked by around 7 am. We were rewarded with lovely early morning light. 

Walking Deck
One of the best things about this ship is the 5th deck walking track. One lap is 220 meters, so approximately 8 laps to the mile. I think Meg has logged many miles on this track! Walking AND enjoying the scenery is the best.

Kristiansund
Just before sunset, we arrived in Kristiansund. 

Dinner
The food has been really good. Fancier than we are used to, and so many choices. The fish is fresh enough for me to love it - I only love fish when it is super fresh.

Molde
Just before bed - a quick stop in the port of Molde. 

Arctic Circle Crossing

There are a variety of ceremonies that are performed when people cross the Arctic Circle. Going north on the Hurtigruten, crew dress up as King Neptune and pour cold water over people's heads. Their ceremony for leaving the Arctic is to offer a spoonful of cod liver oil. The oil is presented on a lovely durable metal spoon etched with the arctic and Hurtigruten, so I convinced all four of us to do it - so we could go home with four spoons. In case you haven't tried it - cod liver oil really does taste AWFUL!

At Sea
We had some time at sea after we crossed the circle. 

 

Bronnoysund
Our big stop of the day was Bronnoysund, which is billed as "The coastal town in the middle of Norway", equal distance to the northernmost and southernmost parts of Norway. We all headed off to the monument - then of course Meg and I took a much longer walk before meeting Wendy and my mom back on the ship. We found a lovely path by a lake, and some prehistoric caves.

Rorvik
This ship is the "mail boat", which is why it makes 33 stops over the course of our 6 day journey. Out our cabin window, I've seen them loading and unloading all sorts of things. In Rorvik, they took on a pallet of toilet paper!

Technically, this stop, at 30 minutes, should have been long enough for us to go ashore, but we're often a few minutes late arriving (but not leaving), so in practice it is just too short. Sometimes I negotiate to walk down the ramp and touch the ground but stay in sight of the boat staff. This time - I just stayed on board in my jammies. 

Tromso to Stockmarkness to Svolvar

Tromso
My mom and I have been checking the weather and light in Tromso Norway for decades, comparing our location to this town deep in the Arctic. Just before midnight, our ship docked in Tromso. In the summer, it would still be light here, but on our visit, it was very dark. I wasn't sure I was going to stay up, but in the end, I couldn't bear to be right there, in Tromso, and not get off the ship to see it. 

Here's Wendy in front of the Cathedral. Mom signed up to attend the midnight concert, so Wendy and I walked her over, and picked her up afterwards. 

In between, we walked around town. Despite being midnight - it was very well lit. I'm guessing that any town that experiences 24 hour dark. 

Stokmarknes

Stokmarknes is the birthplace of the Hurtigruten, and the home of the Hurtigruten museum. We arrived on a cloudy, rainy morning. The Hurtigrten museum is a large while building build around one of their old ships. Very cool - but walking briskly around town was even more exciting, despite the rain.

Rain out my cabin window

Hurtigruten museum

Rainy days sometimes bring these moments of amazing light!

Fjords

We spent the afternoon up in the deck 7 outdoor solarium, sailing through a passageway so narrow it felt like we could touch land on both sides. 

Svolvær

As night fell, we reached Svolvær, the largest town in the Lofoten islands. It was raining again, but the warm lights reflected in the water and it was magical.

Northern Lights

As we sailed away from Svolvær, we were treated to yet another show of northern lights!

Northernmost Hurtigruten Port

The ship announces things all day long, but pauses everything except the northern lights at night. Our first night - I was still awake when they announced northern lights at 1 in the morning. Meg and I were both so excited that we jumped out of bed and raced out on deck. The dark sky, bright stars, and smudges of northern lights were magical - even if they didn't photograph well. 

We were still outside when we had a short stop in Mehamn, the northernmost hurtigruten port. There's a spot further north that people like to visit - North Cape - but one must take an excursion to reach it. So Mehamn, at just over 71 degrees is the furthest north that we will go. 

Hammerfest

The next morning, we had a long (1 hour 45 minutes) stop in Hammerfest. It was cloudy, gray and eventually raining, but we had a delightful walk around the harbor. 

No one will miss me in my rain pants!

Hot Tub
The ship has two hot tubs. They're free for anyone to use, and they're empty most of the time. Watching the snow covered mountains slip by from the comfort of the hot tub was amazing, even if getting out to the cold wind was challenging. 

Fjords and Whales
There was a report of minke whales, and I did get to see some spray/spout, but they were too far away to get a good look. But the sunset was plenty amazing.

From here, we start our journey south. 

Kong Harald, Day 1

We just left Batsfjord, a tiny fishing village of 2,000 people. Our ship stopped long enough to unload a car and load several pallets of fresh fish. I can't wait - I LOVE fish when it's this fresh. 

It's been a big day. We packed and cleaned our Airbnb this morning, then walked the mile to the ship with all our stuff. Look closely for Meg - she's always way ahead of the rest of us.

We've now switched to ship life - and it is very different. Our cabin is adorable. The food is amazing. The 'entertainment' includes educational talks, a puzzle table, a knitting corner, tea and coffee. There is wifi - but it's very weak. The real star is always the scenery - and the stops. My kind of ship. 

Vardo
Our first stop was Vardo. From Kirkenes, we traveled north and east. Vardo is the easternmost town in Norway - farther east than Istanbul. Check a globe - it's wild. Passengers streamed off the ship to walk quickly to the fort or monument - to make the most of our stop. Meg and I took the brisk walk to a monument to 91 people who were burned as witches in 1621. Apparently, young women - and a few men - were easy to blame for "bad things" - but oh, my. I wish they knew that 400 years later, people would still know they died here.