The Sea Voyage that Was.

We enjoyed six days on the ship, eating far too much good food, making inland excursions, admiring the magnificent scenery and lazing about on deck enjoying Arctic sunshine when it was available.

D1, D2 and fellow travellers at the trough....

Seriously, these photos represent about 25% of the food options (who knew there were so many ways to prepare fish?) and I've just realised I didn't take even one photo of the desserts.

OK, I was just kidding about the trough thing (but you knew that didn't you?). Above are real photos of some of the buffet tables and of course D2 and I were very disciplined about our eating. *cough*

Norway has a rugged coastline and actually is made up of 50,000 islands (no, I'm not kidding) - some of them are only large enough for a couple of reindeer to stand side-by-side (if indeed there were reindeer on every island) while others are quite large. The population, though, is only 5 million, which makes Norway one of the most sparsely peopled countries in the world. The inland excursions opened our eyes to some of the prettiest little towns along this coastline, where we had the opportunity to explore centuries' old churches, walk paths barely trodden and to stand and marvel at the stark yet expansive landscape which supports so few people, but so many mooses and deer!

As we anticipated given the fact that we were on a working vessel, there was not a great deal of entertainment on board, if you don't count the German beer-drinking singalong each evening, the Travel Scrabble tables and the the groups of lovely Japanese tourist ladies teaching passers-by the art of origami. We made do with inventing stories about the other passengers, with calculating how quickly after the Germans vacated the deck chairs that we could pounce upon them and claim them as our own and with goggle-eyed observation of the amount of food American tourists can fit on their plates.

Anyway, the sun has set on our sea voyage and we're back on dry land now, having arrived in the south-western Norwegian town of Bergen, where we are spending a couple of days. More about Bergen follows in the next post.

D1

Not the Caribbean

I'm sitting in the 360 degree Panorama Room, the 8th (top) deck of the Norwegian vessel "Finnmarken" looking out to sea. The water is calm and in the near distance the sun is reflecting off gently sloping green hills covered in a light mist. The ship is smooth on the water and if it wasn't for the sound of the purring engine way below me, and the moving view from this window, I wouldn't have any sense of being on board a ship. This is surreal for me, the one who said I would never go on a "cruise" but to be fair, this is not the Oasis of the Seas (18 decks and 5,500 passengers) and I am not in the Caribbean. It's nice though, very nice indeed, and much more than I expected it to be in every regard.

When we boarded yesterday in Kirkenes, we were pleasantly surprised by the quite spacious cabin (larger than some hotel rooms we've stayed in) and the surprise gift of a fruit and chocolate basket, as well as bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us. Thought that was a very nice touch.

As I've mentioned before, when you book travel on the internet, you don't always know what you're going to find when you arrive, but we've been lucky so far and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues this way. The common areas of the ship, furnishings, the bars and restaurant, are all beyond expectation - and don't get me started on the food ... OMG! The food! It's EXCELLENT!

Pool Area - if you dare! Remember, we're pretty close to the Arctic Ocean

Panorama Room

The ship docks two or three times each day, sometimes just briefly while they deliver supplies and mail, sometimes for longer, allowing passengers to disembark to explore the little towns dotted along the coast. This part of Norway is quite remote and most people who live here have never been to The Big Smoke, which would be Oslo, 2,500 kilometres away. They are born here, live and work here, then die here.

Today we made an excursion inland, visiting the North Cape, the most northerly community in Norway. The area is barren and today it was quite cold and raining, but there is a beauty in this icy wilderness where the Sami (the indigenous people of this area) live semi-nomadically in tents not unlike wigwams, or small huts, herding reindeer and smiling indulgently for tourist photos.

D1

The End of the Earth?

Flying into Kirkenes, a tiny town in the north of Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle and near the Russian border, you would be forgiven for thinking you have reached the end of the Earth. The landscape is rocky and all around are rugged cliffs soaring up from a windswept coast. It is said that more reindeer live in these parts than humans - of whom there are just 3,500. It's one of those places you hear about in primary school geography class but never imagine you will actually see and I can't quite believe I'm here. I wonder what it is like in the winter months when there are only two or three hours of daylight in the middle of the day and snow blankets everything. Locals in these parts are either involved in the shipbuilding industry, tourism (husky safaris, dog sledding, snowmobile trips, king crab fishing, the famed ice hotel and of course the hunt for the elusive Northern Lights) or deer farming.

Looking at the photos below, you should keep in mind that today it is drizzling with rain, about 6 degrees and very windy.

Autumn colours enhance the rather desolate landscape

Downtown Kirkenkes

We've flown here from Copenhagen, via Oslo (about 3 hours flying time) in order to catch a "boat" travelling down the remote wilderness of the western coast of Norway to the fishing town of Bergen, over a period of six days. The Hurtigruten shipping line is not a conventional cruise line and this trip will be completely different from any fancy cruise you see advertised - the ship we've chosen (The Finnmarken) is a working vessel carrying around 600 passengers down the coast to collect and deliver supplies and post to the dozens of tiny towns dotted along the coast, in and out of the fjords. Locals use it to commute, for whatever reason, and tourist passengers are able to make various excursions along the way into the towns. We're hoping to have the right conditions to see Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, but you never know how that will turn out, as things have to really line up perfectly just at the right time, for that to eventuate. I've read about people who've made this trip several times, travelling from great distances, but still haven't seen the lights.

Kirkenes is prettier by night and the photos below evidence a rather lovely vision of a town which, when all's said and done, doesn't have an enormous amount to recommend it.

A fishing trawler docked at Kirkenes

Kirkenes church with churchyard gravestones in the foreground

Anyway, we have strong doubts about having internet access to blog over the next six days, but will certainly try. Either way, we will take photos and make notes and will post about the cruise when we can get back online.

D1