Crossing the Arctic Circle

After another reasonable night’s sleep it is time for breakfast and then up to deck 9 as we call into Oren’s for a brief 15 minute stop. It is a pretty little village, but I keep wondering what would the residents actually do there as they can’t all be involved in the fishing industry. Many of the houses are large too, so there had to be money in whatever they do.

We had crossed the arctic circle at about 7.20 this morning. SB went up on deck 9 to check it out, but I was busy having a lovely hot shower at the time so missed the occasion. At about 10.15 we were all asked to go up to deck 9 where Njord, God of the seas visited the ship and baptised all those who wanted to come under his blessings. There was no way I was letting some foreign dude in a blonde wig and sheets pour a ladle of ice down the back of my clothes so was more than happy to stand aside and watch others line up for the experience. I was mildly surprised to not see SB in the queue, and even more surprised to see Foggy get a ladle of ice Water ladled down his back. He should have been nearer the front of the line, as the stragglers appeared to have more water than ice poured over them.

Our lovel Kelli, that’s her in the fur hat, had complementary nips of cranberry schnapps for us after the ceremony so that was most welcome after being so cold on the open deck.

We had an early lunch at 11.30 as we were due to arrive at Bodo soon and Kelli was going to walk us into the city centre at 12.30. It was jolly cold getting off the ship, and the cold wind made my eyes and nose run! Not a good look but I was well rugged up with only my eyes visible. Kelli had warned us that there wasn’t much in Bodo and she was right. It is the 2nd largest town in northern Norway with a population of 50,000. It was a strategic port during WWII and has a major military base there now. We heard jets flying overhead but didn’t see anyone in military uniform. The shopping centre was small with nothing of interest so it was a matter of walk the short length of the place, turn around and head back to the ship.
It was lovely to get back inside a warm place. Captn D, Foggy and I agreed to meet on deck 5 for a cuppa so I took some scotch with me and weeach had an Irish coffee which warmed all the right places. We were joined by Leo and Kerry, who are flower farmers from somewhere in a Victoria I think. They chatted about all the bulbs they grow and it was quite interesting, or maybe the Irish coffee had kicked in, but anyway the conversation passed the time. SB had gone on a planned hike with the ship’s expedition team and was due back soon so I headed back to the cabin jade as she arrived. From all accounts, she thoroughly enjoyed herself and only fell over in the snow a couple of times. Sounds like she was snowed on, strong winds and steep terrain. Just highlights the differences between SB and me. She’s had a ball stomping about in arctic conditions, and the highlight of my day has been drinking Irish coffee in a heated room!
Here’s a few photos of our ship. The puffins are actually the carpet on our cabin floor and I keep thinking something has spilt on the floor! The huge crab is available to purchase, to then be cooked up for you! Not likely to use the jacuzzi although a couple of others have been brave enough to. I will try and get some more photos of public areas when there are less people around.

Time for some reading and then off to dinner. There are a couple of optional outings that don’t interest me so instead when we dock ar Svolvaer Kelli has offered to take us to a privately owned War Museum that is about 50 metres from where the ship is berthed. There is the slightest snow falling upon leaving the ship, but as quickly as it started, it stopped. There won’t be any Lights while it snows, but potentiallyat about 11pm tonight we may be very lucky! SB is exhausted from her snow hike so has put herself to bed. I’m happy to wander around the little museum that has hundreds of German military and Gestapo memorabilia. There are a few Norwegian military items, plus a few English ones. It certainly doesn’t glorify war,but I found it strangely interesting as all other WWHII memorabilia I’ve seen has traditionally been Australian and the Allies.

It was a quick visit as the ship was only in dock an hour. So now it is 10pm and I have to do my best to stay awake for another hour. I’m all rugged up like the Michelin man on steroid, which means I can head up to deck 9 as soon as we get the call that the Lights have appeared, but in the interim, it is like having a sauna wrapped around my body!