Arctic Circle
This morning we crossed the Arctic Circle and continued North along the Norwegian coast. The scenery is pretty amazing, and I think it is only now really beginning to sink in. I guess it is sort of overwhelming to begin with and you don’t entirely appreciate the scale or the beauty of what you are seeing because it is so “in your face” and all around.
We got off the ship at lunchtime in a place called Bodø (in an effort to get some better food than is available on board the ship), and found our way to a nice little café (with a little venue downstairs) called the Café Kafka where we did have a nice meal for a slightly more reasonable price.
This evening we disembarked to go to a “Viking Feast” in the Lofoten islands. Given the cringeworthy “Arctic Baptism” that we had witnessed earlier which consisted of a crewmember dressed up as King Neptune pouring ice water down people’s backs, we didn’t leave for the Feast with very high expectations. Fortunately we were proved wrong and the meal was very nice – roast lamb with rutabaga, carrots and a very tasty oat dish. We had the meal in a replica of the largest Viking hall that has ever been discovered, which was situated about 20 metres away from the hall we ate in. There was an open fire and mead to drink during dinner and it was an altogether good evening.
The drive before and after dinner (we had to drive to a different town afterwards to catch up with the ship) was breathtaking. There are silvery-grey mountains covered in lush green plants and a lovely purple flowering plant that is probably a weed, but looks stunning. There is a subtle purple haze in parts over the landscape. The water that you pass is all crystal clear, with a few quartz-sand beaches here and there and mudflats and rocky beaches elsewhere. The visibility looks incredibly good – you could see down at least 5 metres through the water. Unfortunately I’m still unable to upload any photos (hopefully will be able to do so tomorrow), and in any event, taking photos through the window of a moving bus is rarely productive!
The average temperature in July is 12 degrees C here, but today it was high 20s, and in January averages minus 1 degree. For its position above the Arctic Circle, this area benefits from temperatures 25 degrees higher than anywhere else on this latitude. All of this is because of the Gulf Stream (the same ocean current which keeps the United Kingdom relatively warm for its latitude). As such, farms are very productive, and fruits and berries can be grown readily.
We got off the ship at lunchtime in a place called Bodø (in an effort to get some better food than is available on board the ship), and found our way to a nice little café (with a little venue downstairs) called the Café Kafka where we did have a nice meal for a slightly more reasonable price.
This evening we disembarked to go to a “Viking Feast” in the Lofoten islands. Given the cringeworthy “Arctic Baptism” that we had witnessed earlier which consisted of a crewmember dressed up as King Neptune pouring ice water down people’s backs, we didn’t leave for the Feast with very high expectations. Fortunately we were proved wrong and the meal was very nice – roast lamb with rutabaga, carrots and a very tasty oat dish. We had the meal in a replica of the largest Viking hall that has ever been discovered, which was situated about 20 metres away from the hall we ate in. There was an open fire and mead to drink during dinner and it was an altogether good evening.
The drive before and after dinner (we had to drive to a different town afterwards to catch up with the ship) was breathtaking. There are silvery-grey mountains covered in lush green plants and a lovely purple flowering plant that is probably a weed, but looks stunning. There is a subtle purple haze in parts over the landscape. The water that you pass is all crystal clear, with a few quartz-sand beaches here and there and mudflats and rocky beaches elsewhere. The visibility looks incredibly good – you could see down at least 5 metres through the water. Unfortunately I’m still unable to upload any photos (hopefully will be able to do so tomorrow), and in any event, taking photos through the window of a moving bus is rarely productive!
The average temperature in July is 12 degrees C here, but today it was high 20s, and in January averages minus 1 degree. For its position above the Arctic Circle, this area benefits from temperatures 25 degrees higher than anywhere else on this latitude. All of this is because of the Gulf Stream (the same ocean current which keeps the United Kingdom relatively warm for its latitude). As such, farms are very productive, and fruits and berries can be grown readily.
This evening we sailed into the Troll's Fjord which is a narrow (100m wide) Fjord...the ship sails down to the end of it where it does a pretty nifty little about face and sails back out. It was about 11:30pm when we got into it, but because we're so far north it was still fairly light. Just as we got to the end a Fish Eagle flew past over the boat. I got a few photos, but because of the relatively low light they are just silhouettes.
Tomorrow evening we disembark in Tromsø where we stay overnight and then board our cruise up to the Arctic. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to upload a selection of photos from Norway.
Ken
posted by Ken at 9:10 pm
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