DAY THREE: Crossing the Arctic Circle-Bodo-Svolvaer-Trollfjord

Crossed the Arctic Circle (66 degrees 33' north) this morning at exactly 7:30am, so we are now in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Since Bergen we have had nearly 20 daylight hours each day, but now that we are above the Arctic Circle, the sun will not set for the rest of our time on the ship. A metal globe on Vikingen Island, a small island just west of our ship's route marks the exact point where we crossed the Arctic Circle. This will play a role in determining the winner of an onboard contest to guess in advance (the eve before) the exact time we would cross the Arctic Circle.

We have met all the other Americans on board--two couples from the San Francisco area traveling together and another couple from Pennsylvania. We have also met a French couple that live in Belgium, an Australian couple, and a couple from Germany. Only at dinner are tables assigned and we sit with a Norwegian couple who are dairy farmers near Bergen. In fact, the butter on our table is from their dairy co-operative. They have wanted to take the Hurtigruten voyage for the past 20+ years, but the dairy business typically doesn't allow enough time off to do a trip like this. Now they have formed agreements with others to make sure their herd gets fed, milked, etc. so they finally can take their dream trip.

Good weather and the locals are enjoying dining al fresco

Of the 34 ports of call, Hurtigruten stops at only 8 ports for 60 minutes or more. This afternoon we will spend 2.5 hours in Bodo (pop. 48,000). Manfred, Kenny and I headed into the town center to see the sights, including the Bodo Cathedral.

Large lighthouse looks small against the nearby mountains

Back onboard the ship, we crossed a large open body of water (Vestfjorden) and entered the most beautiful portion of this voyage, the Lofoten Islands. The ship made stops in Stamsund and Svolvaer where huge wooden racks for drying cod are evident around the harbor. In Svolvaer, the California folks were checking out a stall selling reindeer meat and sausage. Due to the uncertainties of importing raw meats, they never closed the deal, but the negotiations were entertaining.

Cod drying on wooden racks

Negotiations for reindeer meat in town square

As we progressed north from Svolvaer, one of the traditional high points of the Hurtigruten voyage is the detour down Trollfjord--which is a very narrow 3 km passage to a dead end cul-de-sac. This is where the captain and his officers get to show off their control of the ship in close quarters. As we approached Trollfjord, it certainly appeared it was going to be a tight fit. The sheer rock walls on both sides were only a few meters from the ship with various waterfalls running down the rocks.

Entering Trollfjord

Sheer rock walls of Trollfjord

Inside the cul-de-sac of Trollfjord

Bow of ship very close to rock when turning around

When we reached the end of Trollfjord, the captain brought the bow of the ship within a couple meters of the rock wall before easing the ship around and heading back out again. It was impressive to see the finesse used to maneuver the 375 ft ship in tight spaces with little forgiveness--and credit the amazing depth of the water in even the smaller fjords.

Waterfall in Trollfjord

Lupine flowering in Trollfjord

Narrow exit from Trollfjord

After leaving Trollfjord at midnight, we continued north with sunlight similar to what we might see in the mid-Atlantic U.S. around July 1 at 7pm. As we progress further north, the sun will be progressively higher in the sky at the midnight hour.

Lofoton Mountains north of Trollfjord

Last photo of day at 1am local time

It is difficult to force oneself to go to bed when there is sunshine and such beautiful scenery to enjoy. However, just after 1am, I finally took off my sunglasses and went to bed.

 

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