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| Leaving Vardø at 3AM (seen from our cabin window). |
After crossing the Arctic Circle we continued traveling ever northward, and the temperatures continued to fall. But it was not until the morning of our arrival in Kirkenes that we began to see ice in the water...
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Ice floes on the approach to Kirkenes.
Once away from the open water that is warmed by the Gulf Stream, things get colder! |
The ship's crew explained that the Gulf Stream kept the water too warm to freeze. But Kirkenes is located at the end of a long narrow passage, away from the open water of the Barents Sea. Here the water gets much colder, and ice forms!
Kirkenes
This very northern (and eastern!) town was our turn-around point; we arrived in the morning after six days of cruising, and left, heading back, just after noon. We had three and a half hours to get off and explore… and we did! While it was cold (someone said -12ºC/+10ºF), it was a beautifully clear, sunny day. We layered up with all our clothing and headed out.
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| A bit freaked out by all the clothing... |
During our initial planning for this trip we had given considerable thought to dealing with the very low temperatures we expected on this voyage (I mean, we're from California, what do we know about cold weather?). Everything we read about Aurora viewing emphasized the cold (after all, it’s only visible at night, when it’s cold!). During our Christmastime trip to Seville (
see that blog here) we scoured our favorite thrift store for warm clothing, finding wool sweaters and vests; Paula scored some excellent winter boots.
We had accumulated layers of clothing, starting with thermal underwear. To top it all off we borrowed heavy coats from our friends Mark and Mary—heavy coats they got for Chicago winters. We were set! Maybe.
To familiarize ourselves with this layer after layer of clothing thing, before leaving Montpellier we picked a cold night and made a trial run: we put on all our arctic clothing and went out. It was the coldest night we could find (the temperature was just above freezing), and we left around midnight. After an hour on a park bench we were satisfied; we went home and spent a half-hour getting undressed.
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| Suburban Kirkenes. Not so different from suburbs anywhere... |
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| Crab-themed playground equipment (can we assume that crabbing is a major industry in Kirkenes?) |
We’d made a couple of forays ashore already on this cruise, but Kirkenes would be the ultimate test. We suited up, I brought my studs (rubber slip-ons for my boots with metal studs… snow tires for shoes!). It was a half-hour trek to downtown, through a charming suburban area. The houses could have been anywhere, really. The neighborhood looked pleasant, with single-family homes and yards with picnic tables. Except, it was all under a meter of snow! We trudged along, fingertips chilled but otherwise cosy and pleased to be out. We found there wasn’t much in downtown Kirkenes—it was truly the journey that was worthwhile, not the destination!
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Entrance to a WWII-era underground bunker, which seemed to be the extent of the tourist attractions in Kirkenes
(well, that and the Russian border!) |
The next day I suffered a bit of a relapse—too much exertion too soon—but totally worth it!
Hammerfest
Our first stop after Kirknes was Hammerfest. I was very keen on seeing the monument for the Struve Geodetic Arc located there.
Before satellites, the size and shape of the earth was determined by terrestrial surveying, which consisted of very careful measurements of lengths and angles along the earth's surface. A particularly ambitions survey was begun in 1816. Stretching from Hammerfest in the north some 2800 km (1740 miles) to the Black Sea, this survey was instrumental in giving the first accurate determination of the size and shape of the earth.
The site of the northernmost survey station is marked with a stone monument. Fortunately, it is located near to where our boat docked. I wanted to visit it it, but after the previous day's adventure I was not capable of much effort!
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The Struve Geodetic Arc World Heritage site includes 34 commemorative markers;
this one in Hammerfest is the northernmost. |
The Aurora Borealis
And finally, the Northern Lights! There were a couple of minor displays while we were headed north, on the fifth and sixth days. Paula got some photos, but I was in no shape to get out of bed at 10PM!
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| Paula got this on the first night we saw the aurora. Not especially dramatic; a hint of what was to come! |
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| Wavering lights seen against the ship's equipment. |
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| Dramatic with the setting sun! |
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| (Those are antennas from the ship in the lower right) |
On Day 8, though, our first night heading south, we had a spectacular display lasting several hours. We were both out with our cameras clicking, along with everyone on board. And we found a huge advantage to "aurora hunting" from the deck of a ship, as opposed to from a truck on the tundra: we were warm! Oh, the night was cold, no question of that. But every few minutes we could duck back inside (there was a large, sliding glass door that made that easy), watch from the warm lounge through the huge picture windows for a bit, then return outside for a better view.
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| Those white dots are stars showing through the lights; they're squiggly due to the long exposure (2 sec). |
After this amazing, spectacular display, life aboard seemed to get "ordinary." We were going home; the trip was, essentially, over. We'd crossed the Circle into arctic waters, we'd seen the northern cities, now we'd seen the lights. What was left? This feeling, of heading back after the adventure, intensified after we'd crossed the Arctic Circle again, heading south.
Brønnøysund
We did make another stop at a northern city, Brønnøysund. We got off the ship and walked around; there was less snow now, I hardly needed my studs. I expect Brønnøsund would be quite attractive in the summer, with the trees and grass green. But it was a bit early for greenery.
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| The church in Brønnøsund. |
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| A pleasant town, brown and drab this early in spring. |
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| Crazy crosswalk downtown! |
Shipboard life was becoming routine! Oh, not boring, just routine. The landscapes were still spectacular, as we threaded our way through narrow passages and tight turns. Every day the weather got a little bit warmer. It was still cold, and we were still perfectly comfortable in the cushy chairs on the Deck 9 lounge, surrounded by huge picture windows (with bar service!).
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| This lounge on Deck 6 was rarely used on our trip, but would be warm and cosy on a dark, snowy night. |
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| The Deck 9 lounge was the place to be: great views, comfortable seats, bar service... |
Well, the trip is winding down. We will have one more post, about our tour of the ship, and the brief time we spent in Bergen before flying home.
This is Part Three of our Norway blog.
If you missed Part One, The Trip that Almost Didn't Happen, click here.
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A narrow passage just north of the Lofton Islands
(we'd just passed through there!) |
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| Fish Racks at the port of Svolvær (yes, there are fish in them, and yes, they did smell...) |
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