Last night was one of the most glorious nights, cruising the Norwegian Sea, that you could ever wish for. There was hardly a ripple in the ocean as we glided along with a full moon and once again we had the Northern Lights around 11pm. We have been told that it will happen again tonight, but a little earlier around 9pm.
The ship arrived into Honningsvag at 7am and our tour to the North Cape was slotted for 7.15am so it was an early start for us. The day is glorious with not a cloud to be seen, no wind but it is a little cooler at 14 degrees. Honestly, I (and half the ship) thought we would be reaching for our woollen clothes by now, but it is nowhere near as cold as Greenland and Iceland.
As we all boarded the bus to take us to North Cape, the excitement was palpable. It feels like the culmination of our Grand Arctic Cruise. It is a 45 minute drive to North Cape from Honningsvad and the scenery is beyond description with soaring rocky mountains and lakes that look like glass. The narrow road reaches heights that take our breath away, and we say a silent prayer and hope that the bus driver is experienced!
The gods have been very kind to us today weatherwise. We were preparing ourselves for a foggy day with zero visibility as it so often here at North Cape. We are so chuffed. The North Cape Centre sits high on a cliff 307m above the sea below. I expected the sea to be wild but it is just so incredibly still with the currents very visible in the water below. We take no time in walking the perimeter of the centre where, scattered here and there, are signs commemorating various times in history. But of course the most photographed is the "Globe" that marks the latitude - North 70 degrees 10'21" or the most northernmost point in Europe.
The hour and a half that we were given to stay at North Cape flies by and once again we are back on the bus heading back to Honningsvad. This is a quiet little fishing village and we take our time to walk around the town centre before heading back onboard. The fishing and crabbing industry is huge in this area and I would love to sample some of the King Crab but that was another entirely different tour unfortunately. I'm hoping that it might be on the menu in one of the restaurants tonight.
As we walk along the dock we come across a drying rack for fish heads. The smell is not great and I don't wish to sample that.
I'm off to the onboard hairdresser this afternoon to give my hair a well deserved treat. We are having dinner with one of the officers tonight. I don't particularly enjoy these dinners but when I found out that our new Aussie friends will be joining us I was relieved. Small talk is not my thing.
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