14 September 2023

We crossed back over the Arctic Circle at 8.50 am. Of course, there was another ceremony on Deck 7 as we passed by the little globe monument with Hestmannen (the disobedient knight troll) in the distance. Now there’s a legend brewing here, but I’ll save it til later in the day.

The ceremonial crossing was a little different on the south bound trip. Yes, there was cheering and horn honking and a lot of jumping up and down, but there was a twist. This time the ritual consisted of downing a teaspoon of Cod Liver Oil. The participants not only received the health benefits of said elixer, but also the official spoon on which it was delivered. “We need some new teaspoons”, says I !!!! Grahame!!!!

Since the great “Accidental Fish Chip Debacle” in Tromsø a few days ago, I’ve been a bit averse to anything of a fishy nature. So the lure of a free commemorative spoon in exchange for a dose of cod liver oil was not particularly appealing. However, I knew that I’d never live it down if I subjected Grahame to this challenge and I didn’t follow suit. We are now proud owners of two spoons.

Emily doesn’t suffer from peer pressure, as I do, and opted out of the ritual. No spoon for her!! After she headed back to the cabin, I couldn’t help thinking it was a shame, so I sent Grahame in as her proxy!! Emily loves her new spoon and Grahame’s been visiting the bathroom regularly.

As a clever marketing ploy, Hurtigruten gave us the opportunity to purchase a very expensive glass of champagne to wash down the bad taste. Of course, we complied!!

Not long after, we were summoned yet again back on deck. (It was a beautiful day weather wise, so I think the crew were taking advantage of the great conditions). This time it was to officially celebrate Hurtigruten’s 130 years sailing the route from Bergen to Kirkenes. There were speeches, thank yous and free champagne. (Could have done with that an hour earlier!)

Near Sandnessjøen, we passed by the “Seven Sisters“ mountain range. You need to count them! (Number 4 is Twins, and count as two).

The troll legend continues to develop. Stay tuned.

Our next stop was Brønnøysund and it was great to be outside enjoying the positively balmy conditions again.

We spotted a church spire from the deck before disembarking, so we headed in that direction (along with the rest of the passengers of MS Nordkapp). It was a pretty church , a mixture of stone and timber. It looked very neat and tidy, despite being overrun by a boat load of tourists.

The highlight of our visit, however was the kids playground cleverly disguised as an outdoor sculpture.

But don’t be deceived! On the other side were three climbing walls. Even more surprising was the lack of namby-panby “soft fall” stuff you would expect to find in our parks at home. No, any adventure loving Norwegian kid who wanted to have some fun here, would experience the joy of falling several metres on to pointy sharp bits of rock and gravel! They’d soon learn to hang on tight.

I fearlessly demonstrated how it was done to Grahame and Emily.

And then it was Grahame’s turn.

Brønnøysund’s claim to fame is being midway along the length of Norway, so Grahame thought we needed to acknowledge this fact. I thought he meant taking a photo of the monument, but he had other ideas.

We set sail shortly after and there were hints of a significant “Point of Interest” coming up. I had done my homework, and had heard talk of a particular mountain with a hole in it. Not only was it a famous geological landmark, but it would be the final setting for the troll legend. I was fully invested! I headed to the pointy bit on deck 5 to secure poll position.

I can’t help but say that I was a little underwhelmed. Sure, it was an interesting mountain, but all this talk of a hole had been seriously over inflated.

Meet Torghatten.

There were two troll kings, one had a naughty son Hestmannen, (“the knight” from the Arctic Circle) . The other had seven daughters, (The Seven Sisters). The seven sisters went to visit their cousin Lekamøya (another soon to be rocky landmark). All eight girls were frolicking on the beach in the moonlight, when Hestmannen spotted Lekamøya and wanted her. The girls all took off, seven in one direction and the cousin in the other. Hestmannen gave chase, but couldn’t catch Lekamøya. He got a little cross and decided that if he couldn’t have her, no one could. He fired an arrow with the intent of shooting her dead. Luckily the King of Soma (not sure where he came from) is watching this chase unfold and he throws his hat in the way and saves Lekamøya. The arrow shoots from the bow and pierces the hat which falls down to become Torghatten. At the very same moment, the sun rises, and everyone is turned to stone, because, as we all know, trolls cannot withstand the sun light!

Now, I’m a bit dubious about all this, given that the hole in “the hat” was a bit of a stretch.

A few minutes later, the announcement was made that we would soon be approaching Torghatten and the Captain would do a special detour to allow everyone to get a good view. Really??? We approached the rock from the other side!! Oh!!! I get it now!!!

Dinner tonight was a special treat in honour of Hurtigruten’s 130th birthday. We had a five course set (choice for the main) menu. And it was fabulous. The menu highlighted produce sourced from the regional ports we had visited along the way. Such a treat. And way better than anything we expected.

And much, much better than the cod liver oil!