the three hs today as we passed honningsvag, site of the cancelled north cape trip and havoysund a couple of hours later. the third would be hammerfest just before lunch. lou stayed in bed feeling under par as i went down for a solitary breakfast and nearly missed a photo of the passing hurtigruten ship, ms polarlys. we pass two of these a day going in the opposite direction and sirens go off in greeting on both ships. i got outside just too late. Sometimes the temptation to dash out without the layers takes over and you always regret it as the icy wind bites into you!
There is always a little something going on somewhere and this day's something was an 'energy' coffee taken on deck 7 as we passed the 'melkoya production of liquified natural gas'. As you could hardly see your hand in front of your face due to mist and snow I passed! The sea stayed calm despite the changeable weather. We seemed to go in and out of banks of mist so it was always a pleasant surprise to look out and suddenly see the wonderful mountainous islands along our route which had been hidden only a short while before.
At hammerfest, the same latitude as the most northern part of siberia and alaska (we are kept informed of all these facts by 'alan'!) I trekked out into the snow charged with finding bottled water (tres cher on the boat), apple juice, plain biscuits (our tummies were protesting over the constant rich food in the evenings and a lot of salt and pickle in the lunchtime buffet, all quite lovely but I craved a bit of marmite toast with my tea just for a change and lou would have killed for beans on toast!) and a box of teabags as my cache of red bush had run out. The boat provides six types of tea/infusion bags but I was getting tired of earl grey and the english breakfast was too strong. Blimey, we're fussy! :)
it was a case of two sticks and crampons and the gangway was crowded with elderly women struggling to get into their stretch-on crampons. I stopped for a group of incoming toddlers and was sworn at by a crazy french woman. (I've nicknamed her 'crazy' as she marches around the boat looking very cross under her shock of pink hair and mutters to herself and glares at anyone crossing her path. This morning she threw her milk, teabag and packs of butter at her table from a short distance away. As I said, a crazy woman.) I responded to her in her own language telling her it wasn't necessary to be so rude to me!
It was a short and slippery walk to the nearest shop with the sign we now recognise as a newspaper, pick and mix, cold drinks etc. place. The chore of taking off the crampons, shortening the sticks and shaking off the snow was a necessary pain but I found some of our requirements and headed on into town to find the rest. The snow began to get thicker and my nose colder. A co-op appeared so crampons off etc. and in I went, a woman on a mission, a very wet woman now! No water without gas, 'we don't drink it much' a helpful young male customer told me and sure enough there was none in the back when a shop assistant looked but I could buy two small bottles! No red bush tea but lipton yellow label teabags (ah, signs of home!) and then marie biscuits and digestives. I hadn't eaten a marie biscuit in years!
The photo I had taken up the high street toward the church was now impossible to recognise due to the amount of snow falling. I decided whatever delights hammerfest has (the name is synonymous to me with winter sports and olympics?) I was going to pass!
Lovely to walk back to the quay and see the bulk of our ship moored there. you begin to realise what a lifeline it must be for the smaller communities.
Just by the dock is the polar bear museum so in I went, crampons, sticks, etc. pantomime and took a look at the display of many stuffed animals. The americans from the boat were photographing anything that didn't move! I bought my obligatory, by now, postcard and fridge magnet and stumbled back to the boat sans crampons.
To recover I made myself a lovely cup of liptons tea and drank it with a couple of maries!
In the middle of the afternoon we made a brief stop at a tiny village called oksfjord. It nestled in sunshine at the base of snowy crags that encircled it and the bay it lies on. After a photo or three I wandered across to the other side of the ship to further admire the setting. Another woman stood there and we just contemplated the grandeur of the place. 'Stunning,' I commented, 'epic,' she replied, which was a much better word for what I was feeling.
At 5.30 we were warned we were crossing a stretch of open sea, the loppa. The last time we had crossed it going north it had been windy and very bumpy, now it was lovely and calm. The evening stretched before us as I was going to the midnight concert in tromso. Suddenly enriched with the refunds from north cape lou said I should go although he wouldn't join me as it wasn't 'his thang'! Meanwhile we decided to skip the heavy dinner and ended up having the deck outside our cabin to ourselves with a private northern light show. I kept waiting for 'alan' to announce they were there but, maybe, the bridge kept quiet so dinner wasn't delayed two nights in a row. Last night the second sitting had to be pleaded with to go back and finish! :)
eventually we got too cold outside and contented ourselves watching the lights through the porthole with the inner lights turned off. Blasé or what?
At midnight we docked in tromso and I scurried off to catch the bus for the arctic cathedral as it is known. I met john by reception waiting to disembark. Sheila had decided her cold would cause her to cough and she didn't want to disturb anyone. We skidded to the bus and drove over the arching bridge, (these are everywhere, norway must have some good civil engineers) and up to the cathedral. It is an a frame shape and visible from many places in the town. There are eleven triangular concrete arches that represent the eleven faithful disciples and the last space is filled with a stained glass window. That wasn't visible to us as we arrived but I was surprised at the intimate space that had been created. I expected something a lot more austere. John and I marched to the front as we discovered we both hate the 'leave the front row empty 'syndrome that seems to attack people when they can choose where to sit!
The music started from the organ set high on the back wall and was joined by a soprano voice and a flautist. After two pieces they all came down and we were held spellbound for the n ext hour by a selection of norwegian pieces both folk and classical. The soprano had a wonderfully strong voice and could fill the space with enormous volume or seem to whisper. The pianist played contemporary piano composition that was built to a crescendo and gave us quite a shock but a good one. Inspired by their suffering in world war two or their violent storms at sea? I have no idea but it was 'epic'!
At the end john and I were delighted we had come and sad for sheila that she hadn't. We clutched each others hands as we slithered toward the bus and did the same back on the dock as we came back across to the ship. Another day full of new and memorable experiences.
There is always a little something going on somewhere and this day's something was an 'energy' coffee taken on deck 7 as we passed the 'melkoya production of liquified natural gas'. As you could hardly see your hand in front of your face due to mist and snow I passed! The sea stayed calm despite the changeable weather. We seemed to go in and out of banks of mist so it was always a pleasant surprise to look out and suddenly see the wonderful mountainous islands along our route which had been hidden only a short while before.
At hammerfest, the same latitude as the most northern part of siberia and alaska (we are kept informed of all these facts by 'alan'!) I trekked out into the snow charged with finding bottled water (tres cher on the boat), apple juice, plain biscuits (our tummies were protesting over the constant rich food in the evenings and a lot of salt and pickle in the lunchtime buffet, all quite lovely but I craved a bit of marmite toast with my tea just for a change and lou would have killed for beans on toast!) and a box of teabags as my cache of red bush had run out. The boat provides six types of tea/infusion bags but I was getting tired of earl grey and the english breakfast was too strong. Blimey, we're fussy! :)
it was a case of two sticks and crampons and the gangway was crowded with elderly women struggling to get into their stretch-on crampons. I stopped for a group of incoming toddlers and was sworn at by a crazy french woman. (I've nicknamed her 'crazy' as she marches around the boat looking very cross under her shock of pink hair and mutters to herself and glares at anyone crossing her path. This morning she threw her milk, teabag and packs of butter at her table from a short distance away. As I said, a crazy woman.) I responded to her in her own language telling her it wasn't necessary to be so rude to me!
It was a short and slippery walk to the nearest shop with the sign we now recognise as a newspaper, pick and mix, cold drinks etc. place. The chore of taking off the crampons, shortening the sticks and shaking off the snow was a necessary pain but I found some of our requirements and headed on into town to find the rest. The snow began to get thicker and my nose colder. A co-op appeared so crampons off etc. and in I went, a woman on a mission, a very wet woman now! No water without gas, 'we don't drink it much' a helpful young male customer told me and sure enough there was none in the back when a shop assistant looked but I could buy two small bottles! No red bush tea but lipton yellow label teabags (ah, signs of home!) and then marie biscuits and digestives. I hadn't eaten a marie biscuit in years!
The photo I had taken up the high street toward the church was now impossible to recognise due to the amount of snow falling. I decided whatever delights hammerfest has (the name is synonymous to me with winter sports and olympics?) I was going to pass!
Lovely to walk back to the quay and see the bulk of our ship moored there. you begin to realise what a lifeline it must be for the smaller communities.
Just by the dock is the polar bear museum so in I went, crampons, sticks, etc. pantomime and took a look at the display of many stuffed animals. The americans from the boat were photographing anything that didn't move! I bought my obligatory, by now, postcard and fridge magnet and stumbled back to the boat sans crampons.
To recover I made myself a lovely cup of liptons tea and drank it with a couple of maries!
In the middle of the afternoon we made a brief stop at a tiny village called oksfjord. It nestled in sunshine at the base of snowy crags that encircled it and the bay it lies on. After a photo or three I wandered across to the other side of the ship to further admire the setting. Another woman stood there and we just contemplated the grandeur of the place. 'Stunning,' I commented, 'epic,' she replied, which was a much better word for what I was feeling.
At 5.30 we were warned we were crossing a stretch of open sea, the loppa. The last time we had crossed it going north it had been windy and very bumpy, now it was lovely and calm. The evening stretched before us as I was going to the midnight concert in tromso. Suddenly enriched with the refunds from north cape lou said I should go although he wouldn't join me as it wasn't 'his thang'! Meanwhile we decided to skip the heavy dinner and ended up having the deck outside our cabin to ourselves with a private northern light show. I kept waiting for 'alan' to announce they were there but, maybe, the bridge kept quiet so dinner wasn't delayed two nights in a row. Last night the second sitting had to be pleaded with to go back and finish! :)
eventually we got too cold outside and contented ourselves watching the lights through the porthole with the inner lights turned off. Blasé or what?
At midnight we docked in tromso and I scurried off to catch the bus for the arctic cathedral as it is known. I met john by reception waiting to disembark. Sheila had decided her cold would cause her to cough and she didn't want to disturb anyone. We skidded to the bus and drove over the arching bridge, (these are everywhere, norway must have some good civil engineers) and up to the cathedral. It is an a frame shape and visible from many places in the town. There are eleven triangular concrete arches that represent the eleven faithful disciples and the last space is filled with a stained glass window. That wasn't visible to us as we arrived but I was surprised at the intimate space that had been created. I expected something a lot more austere. John and I marched to the front as we discovered we both hate the 'leave the front row empty 'syndrome that seems to attack people when they can choose where to sit!
The music started from the organ set high on the back wall and was joined by a soprano voice and a flautist. After two pieces they all came down and we were held spellbound for the n ext hour by a selection of norwegian pieces both folk and classical. The soprano had a wonderfully strong voice and could fill the space with enormous volume or seem to whisper. The pianist played contemporary piano composition that was built to a crescendo and gave us quite a shock but a good one. Inspired by their suffering in world war two or their violent storms at sea? I have no idea but it was 'epic'!
At the end john and I were delighted we had come and sad for sheila that she hadn't. We clutched each others hands as we slithered toward the bus and did the same back on the dock as we came back across to the ship. Another day full of new and memorable experiences.
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