Inside the Arctic Circle

The next few days took us into the Arctic Circle . . .

First stop, Svalbard, the northernmost point of the trip - didn't see any 'armoured' bears (a la His Dark Materials), unless you count this very impressive sculpture!



Weather was dismal and damp, and our port of call, Longyearbyen, was a triumph of function over form . . .


. . .  pipes running through the town, mine workings, utilitarian housing blocks, and abandoned snowmobiles (left where the melting snow had stranded them).


Svalbard Museum was pretty good though, and the sun even came out as we left . . .

After a day at sea we were back to the coast of mainland Norway to visit what is (mistakenly as it turns out) often described as the most northerly point of mainland Europe - the North Cape.

We'd booked the North Cape shore excursion, which stopped off at a so-called native Sami 'camp' - there was a tent, an old boy dressed in traditional costume, and a reindeer or two - but most of the site was given over to the tourist shop!

The North Cape itself had a fantastic visitor centre, with some great cliff views - and the weather was at least dry, if a little dull.


Back to Honningsvag, where by the afternoon it was raining again . .  so we had another damp walk round a very deserted looking town, before returning to the ship.


Later that night we sailed past the North Cape which actually looked much more impressive from the sea.

Next stop, Tromso, one of the largest cities north of the Arctic Circle.

Got up to an unrelentingly wet day - had planned a long walk and a cable car trip up the mountain to take in the views - managed the long walk (refused to pay for the bus) but gave up on the cable car (wouldn't have been able to see anything!).

Ended up in the Arctic-themed 'Polaria' centre instead (which had the advantage of being warm and dry), and as it turned out it had some really good exhibits, and stunning panoramic films.

The large seal aquarium was also great fun (you could walk through a tunnel underneath it).  We were there for 'feeding time' which involved lots of stimulating activities for the seals, who all moved far too fast for us to take a halfway decent photo.

From there we eventually headed back out into the rain - walked over Tromso bridge to see the outside of the Arctic Cathedral - then retraced our steps on the long trudge back to the ship.

The rain did eventually begin to ease off, and we called in at the Botanic Gardens (nearly opposite the ship's berth) for a quick look round - would have been really lovely with a bit of sunshine.

By the time we got back on board we'd walked miles, and were more than ready for hot chocolate and a sit down!

After the uninspiring weather in the Arctic Circle, really hoping for some sunshine for our next port of call - Geirangerfjord . . .