13 September 2023

We had resigned ourselves to missing out on viewing the Northern Lights. We knew it was early in the season and our chances were low. I had downloaded an Aurora Forecast app and had been checking it each evening. Earlier tonight, the app indicated we had about a 14 % chance of seeing any action. Now I’m not a betting girl, but even I know that’s not great. And given my track record for winning things, (Yes you, Maryville Tavern) , I didn’t fancy my chances.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself!

We boarded MS Nordkapp late last night, and did a quick reconnaissance. As a sister ship to Polarlys, she is very, very similar.

Nordkapp has a grander staircase and slightly wider hallways leading to our cabin. She has the same layout re deck levels and venues. Deck 4 is dining, cafe, reception, shop, information and lecture rooms; Deck 5 is outdoor walking track and small viewing area; Deck 6 is the Jacuzzi deck and Deck 7 is “Party Central”. It has a large indoor viewing area (plus bar and cafe) at the pointy end and an outdoor viewing deck at the back. I use the term “Party” very loosely. For “Party” think jig- saw puzzling , cross wording, knitting, crocheting, reading, snoozing (snoring), and lots and lots of scenery viewing.

Having established our bearings, we quickly settled in and hit the sack. Or tried to. Our cabin is a little further to the back of the boat, directly above the “side thrusters” (???). Whenever they are employed (ie entering and leaving port) , they could wake the dead. Fortunately they don’t stay on for too long. Sleep eventually came.

Today was pretty much at sea, calling in to the smaller ports of Harstad, Risøyhamn and Sortland. Each stop was no longer than 30 minutes, so we stayed on board, supervising the loading and unloading procedures. It’s interesting to see what comes off and what goes on. Building supplies, cars, and lots of boxes. We’ve now got the procedure down pat.

The Expedition staff enhance our days on board with various “Points of Interest” on a semi regular basis. They call us up to Deck 7 to explain/ chat/ inform, as we pass by various landmarks. Given that this is a “no frills” kind of trip, these little activities are fairly well received by most of the passengers, and certainly well attended. We all traipse up onto the deck to listen, learn and look.

Near Risøyhamn we negotiated the Risøyrenna, a narrow artificial 4.5 km channel that has to be dredged in order to keep the shipping lane open to the small communities nearby. It was a Hurtigruten initiative in order to assist with access along its route.

Nearby to Sortland we were called to the pointy bit on deck 5 to wave Norwegian flags and honk the ships horns at the two buses perfectly timed to pass over us on Sortland Bridge. These buses carried passengers from our boat who had been on an excursion. It’s the little things! We flag waved with gusto!

At Stokmarknes, we disembarked, for an a short while and had a wander around the port area. It was nice to get off and stretch our legs despite the cool temperatures and a little bit of light r#*n.

And then the real fun began!

Remember Trollfjord at midnight on our way north? Once again the sea conditions were favourable and our Captain deemed it safe to enter Trollfjord. This time in the daylight. It was cold and fairly damp (drizzly) but well worth securing my place at the pointy end well beforehand. It was amazing to actually see just how narrow the entrance was and just how steep the surrounding cliffs were.

Once again the captain and his crew did a great job turning us 180 degrees “on a sixpence” and delivering us safely back out to sea.

I’m so glad we got to do this during the daylight. It helped to put our crazy night time adventure of a few nights ago into perspective.

After a Buffet style dinner, our next stop was Svolvær.

We started out in search of the brewery, but it was too nice an evening to be inside. We walked and explored instead. It is such a picturesque town filled with lovely wooden cottages and overlooked by monstrous mountains.

When we stopped here heading north, it was dark and visibility was limited. We could now see the surrounding mountains and the lovely buildings perched on the edge of the fjord.

Back on board, we managed to score some of the highly sort after comfy chairs at the pointy end.

A celebration of sorts was required. (Heading north, these chairs were fairly easily accessible, however, these “south-bounders” are a bit more chair- hoggy and a lot more sedentary!)

It’s a Hurtigruten thing. On a daily basis, we pass two of the fleet heading in the opposing direction. Whenever it occurs, there is an announcement made, horns are blown in greeting, and lots of passengers assemble on both decks to wave joyously to each other. Today we sailed by MS Richard With and MS Nordnorge. More little things!!!

Thinking that we’d had too much fun for one day, we decided to call it quits and retire to our cabin around 10:30 ish.

I had just climbed into bed, when the announcement came through. There was a small amount of auroral activity visible from the front deck. Now!!! Needless to say there was a scurry of activity in our cabin. We grabbed jackets and beanies, cameras and chargers, shoes and socks and even remembered the cabin swipe cards). We should have grabbed, thermals, additional socks and, most definitely, gloves. Omg!! It was cold and our pjs didn’t quite cut it as appropriate “north of the Arctic circle, at almost midnight with a strong sea breeze” attire.

The display started quietly and we were happy to snap away at barely a shimmer of light, thinking how lucky we were. It did get better, as we slowly started to lose all feeling in our fingers and toes. (Emily ended up with one of my jumpers tied around her head to protect her ears from freezing off.)

We lasted for about half an hour before the intensity appeared to decrease. We admitted defeat around midnight and returned to our cabin fearful that we might miss something even more wonderful. But, there was a real danger of us being turned into ice bergs. And that’s not good.

We climbed into our warm beds and switched off the lights.!!