Sunday, 26 March 2017

Journey South

Having left Kirkenes, we were now on the Southward leg of the Voyage - retracing our route / revisiting ports, but on a different schedule . . .


Here we were in Hammerfest mid-morning (on the way North we stopped briefly at around 5am).  It wasn't the nicest of days weather-wise - lots of snow - which continued throughout the day and into the evening, as we sailed south:











Later that night, we arrived back in Tromsø, where I headed out to the Arctic Cathedral for a Midnight Concert - beautiful music / acoustics, although the inside of the cathedral isn't as impressive as its exterior.


Nice views of Tromso by night though:


















The next day we were back into snowy sunshine at Harstad - visiting the medieval Trondenes Church and its neighbouring Historical Centre, as part of a tour of the VesterÃ¥len region.

Great view of the Finnmarken itself too, as it sailed on to the next port (where we were due to rejoin the ship later in the day):















That evening we were back in Svolvaer (which we saw briefly by night when Northbound) - it was considerably livelier on this occasion, with a cod-fishing contest drawing in the crowds.


The harbour area was packed with boats, and the town with people (with more arriving by coach and taxi by the minute).





The bars and restaurants were doing excellent business - add some marquees, and loud music, and it looked like it was going be a very good night!

Enjoyed the sights and sounds (including this lit map feature on the side of one of the hotels) - before returning to the ship.


The next day saw us cross back out of the Arctic Circle, and we began to see the snow disappearing at ground level (by our return visit to Trondheim it had gone completely).















On the final leg of the journey we didn't really stop anywhere for very long, and the weather was decidedly grey - no more sightings of the aurora, but still some sights to see (such as this bridge at Kristiansund).


Next stop Bergen, and the flight home!

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