8.9.18 Day 9 - Arctic Circle, Bøda, Stamsund, Svolvær

Today I skipped sunrise, we have a busy day ahead. 

Announcement over the PA via phone at about 6.45 am that we are would be sailing across the Polarsirkelen in 15minutes. Up to level 7 we went, ready to pass by a tiny island with a globe statue marking the Polar circle. There was an eagle sitting nearby and he took to the wing as we passed. This is meant to mean good weather ahead. 

A funny little pimple on this mountain in the morning sun

Sun hitting the top of the mountain

Yet another village.

Polar Circle Crossing courtesy of Google maps. Great free wifi on board. Quick and reliable

There she is the globe marking the circle. Unfortunately I didn’t snap the eagle with iphone (maybe on the camera…later!!!)

There’s two of us. I’m not sure where T was.

Two Hurtigruten‘s passing one another. Each time we met one they announced it and  the ships sounded their horns.

Arriving into Ørnes which was a picturesque little port. In and out 15 minutes.

Watching the docking process again.

The crew all had good gear.

Later in the morning we were invited back to deck 7 for a ceremony to mark the crossing into the Arctic. One of the expedition leaders dressed as Nord the god or something or other. He carried out a christening of passengers wanting to mark the crossing - we were christened with a ladle is ice and water down the back of our neck followed by a nice shot of Multe. It certainly was cold and went straight down the back and even into undies. A good bit of fun, my top wasn’t too bad but needed to change bottom half. 

Greta, a new waitress pouring the shots. 

Head waiter and Manager and Greta.

Revving us up for Nords arrival.

Here comes Nord.

The prize for the winner of closest guess to time we crossed the polar circle.

Here I am getting the ladle of ice and water down my neck and back

And a nice warm reward.

This is the bottle.

A special ceremony to come.

Greta is new and this is her first crossing so she got well and truly drowned/baptised.

We needed to have an early lunch at 11.30 today as we were off on an excursion at Bøda (pr. Boodah, rhymes with good) our adventure was RIB (Rubber Inflatable Boat) Safari tour to Saltstraumen. Here we experienced the very large tides at the meeting of two very deep fjiords. Then we cruised to see lots of birds including Sea Eagles, amazing rock formations, a fish farm, and some speedy boat rides across the water. We had to wear amazing suits. It was a awesome fun, even managed to score front seats. Photography was a bit tricky tho. 

The company we travelled with. 
All dressed and ready to go.

Tracy and I didn’t need the warm hat as the weather is quite warm. Suzie out hers on during the trip.

On board our RIB Suzie and I scored front seats.

Great shot of both the ladies and the ship.

Here was our driver and guide whose name I’ve forgotten.

Smiling happy people as we get ready to roll n

We are off.

Hat on, hood on and holding on. It was breezy but not too cold at all.

After our RIB safari it was back on board to cross the Vestfjort to the Lofoten (pr. Low-foat-en) Islands. 

It is said that the Baptism by Norde this morning means good sailing and also good for Northern Lights. 

Tonight we did another excursion  to Meet Vikings and have a Viking Feast at The 83x12 metre Chieftain house that dates back to 500AC. We left the ship in Stamsund in the Lofoten Islands. 

The chieftain house is a replica of one that had been discovered in the 1980’s. Archaeologists worked to excavate the site between 1983 and 1989. Chieftains were wealthy mainly due to trading goods across the Islands and beyond. 

Luxury good like Eiderdowns, walrus tusks etc were traded across Europe by the Chieftains for other goods like grains and spices that were then sold to the people of the Lofoten Islands. 

A farmer had been working his field when he found glass shards. This was important as glass was something only the privileged owned. This led to the discovery of a Chieftains house dating back to the 500BC. 

The Lofoten Islands enjoy mild temperatures thanks to the Gulf Stream., allowing the Vikings to grow many vegetables, herbs and such. Grains were important for food and beer. The Vikings drank beer everyday. They had sheep and goats to provide wool meat and milk. 

120 farms in Lofoten Islands with 1800 Vikings living across the Islands.  

Mural on the wall at Stamsund



The viking house, a replica of the original from the 500's

Christian, our guide at the door.



We received a 'bottomless' glass of mead and one of water.

Cheers everyone.

Our Viking feast, damper like bread, cream, jam, meat, carrot, squash and really nice barley type stuff.

Actors playing the role of Chieftain and wife, daughter and others.


The exit sign was a ripper

Some stuff on display within the house.



Viking helmet. Horns were a falacy.







The sunset out the window on bus trip back to ship.







Back home.

MS Norkapp all lit up and waiting.

Leaving Svolvaer.

Hooroo.

After we returned to ship at 9.55 our day was not done. 

We were due to sail up the Trollfjord at about 11pm, however, they announced that the Captain was not going to sail up the Fjiord as it was too dark. As we sailed up to the entrance they shone the ships light on it, it was a narrow entrance to what looked like a pretty narrow gap. Oh well, we were seeing our first glimpse of Northern Lights and to say we were excited was a huge understatement. 

It was really difficult to capture pics from a moving ship. The camera did manage to pick up more colour than could be seen with the naked eye. 

To look at it was like a light cloudy patch moving weirdly in the sky. 

We had held no expectations, so to see them on first night in the Arctic Circle was a real treat. Made going to bed awfully difficult. 

This shot is actually showing the ship's light shining
on the entrance to Trollfjord. We were actually pretty
much stopped, so the pic is a bit clearer.