DAY FIVE: The North Cape

The four of us slept in this morning and then went to breakfast. Today sampling the tub of PRIM on toast this morning...tastes a bit like mild peanut butter icing. Likely will consume more PRIM than BaconOst.....

Kong Harald in Havoysund

Havoysund

As we finished breakfast, the ship stopped in the small fishing community of Havoysund (pop. 950) located in the center of a large group of islands in the Finnmark region. This traditional fishing village has it's own harbor. Now there are large deposits of oil and gas offshore, but fishing stocks apparently remain plentiful. Only a 45 min stop, so Manfred and I decided to take an after-breakfast stroll thru town. Apparently the daily arrival of the Hurtigruten ship is major source of local entertainment as most of the town was seated at picnic tables watching our ship arrive. As we walked up the small rise to the main road, there was a granite marker memorializing the sinking of one of the Hurtigruten Coastal Express ships in March, 1931.

SS Hera 1913-1931. Darkness, high winds and currents lead to the ship grounding at full speed on an underwater reef north of Havøysund. SS Hera immediately began taking on water and sinking. Officer Einar Ramm ("The hero of Havøygavlen") swam to land with a long line and rescued people on to the shore. 56 survived, 6 died. The sea tore a little girl out of her father's arms, while others died of cold and exhaustion in the pebbles. The survivors set off on foot across the mountains (with the deceased) to Havøysund. SS Hera broke up and sank in deep water. A much-needed beacon was later set up at Havøygavlen, while Einar Ramm was awarded a Gold Medal for Heroism.

Hurtigruten Central in Honningsvag

Reindeer hides for sale in Honningsvag

At the fishing village of Honningsvag (pop. 2800) on the island of Mageroya, we will participate in another Hurtigruten excursion tour to The North Cape--which is billed as the northernmost point in Europe at just over 71 degrees north latitude. Technically, we will reach the MOST northern TOWN during our stop in Mehamn (71 degrees 8' north) at 7:30pm this evening. This time we will be on the "Norwegian/English" bus from Honningsvag traveling 34 km north to the Nordkapp (North Cape) along with our Norwegian table mates, the Torbes.

Beautiful, but barren, lands of Mageroya

The people on the island of Mageroya maintain both pride and a sense of humor about living so far north of the Arctic Circle. They have formed many different clubs to occupy their time during the long, dark winter--the American Auto Club, knitting/weaving, model building, etc. Their gallows sense of humor is exhibited in a joke about two locals talking about the warm weather last summer...Ah, yes...I remember it well, summer was on a Monday, wasn't it???

Sami with reindeer

The Sami people inhabit a large swath of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia with the most of them living in Norway. Although the Sami language enjoys the same standing as Norwegian, the majority (90%) have been assimilated into the Nowegian culture.

The island of Mageroya is a barren island with absolutely NO trees! Even when viewing this terrain in early July, you can easily imagine the harsh winter landscape with the high winds. The human population density on Mageroya is roughly one person per kilometer and the reindeer population is nearly three per kilometer. There are currently about 550 traditional Sami families in Norway who still make their living by reindeer-herding. It is considered impolite to ask a Sami how many reindeer he has--analogous to asking someone how much money they have! Each Spring, the Norwegian Army's landing craft transport nearly 4000 reindeer across the mile-wide Strait to their summer pastures on Mageroy Island. In the Fall, the animals then swim back across the strait for the winter. The bird population is huge, with puffins common this time of year.

Puffins

The Nordkapp is a 1000 ft rock plateau (say cliff!!!) on the north side of Mageroya jutting out into the ocean with a large metal globe at 71 degrees 11' 8". Europe's absolute northernmost point is reached via a small footpath north to a small headland, Knivskjellodden, at 71 degrees north 11' 8". This is also the starting point for the north-south hiking path through western Europe extending all the way down to Gibraltar.

Art project featuring art from 7 children of different nations

The North Cape was given it's name by a British seafarer in 1553 searching for a Northeast passage to India. Today there are busy shipping lanes with trade from Russia, Europe and the US passing nearby. This area played a large role in shipping in WWII with an important sea battle that took place on 12/25/1943 just off the North Cape. The German battleship, "Scharnhorst", was sunk by Allied forces--only 36 of 1,934 men survived the sinking.

The "Church" rock formations

The bleak rocky coastline of extreme northern Noway is beautiful and desolate. Enjoying a glass of Aquavit on deck as I took this last on board photos. Difficult to believe, but this is the last day of our cruise. Tomorrow morning we will pack up and take this circus on the road!

 

Posted by TBW Travel Today!