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We’d already stopped at three ports by the time we woke up this morning: Mehamn, Kjøllefjord and Honningsvåg. We popped up on deck to watch the sail into Havøysund. It was a stunning sail-in especially when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds throwing down some wonderful pinky-blue shades.
Kong Harold was waiting for us a little way off as they were docking just after us.
Next stop – breakfast. We are being quite spoilt on board. Smoked Salmon for breakfast (and lunch!) every day!!
We were out on deck for the today’s point of interest – the very “picturesque” Milk Island, located close to Hammerfest. The expedition team were being sarcastic when saying it was picturesque … it’s now the home of Norway’s LNG processing plant. It only opened in 2007 and the profits covered the construction costs by the end of 2015. Most of the gas is exported to France, Spain and Germany with a ship arriving every five days on average.
An impressive amount of snow had landed on deck this morning and where the snow had drifted, it was a little icy in places. David (Expedition Team) tested and nearly fell over!
Alongside the Point of Interest, the kitchen were serving a special coffee up on deck. Not really to our taste and didn’t take anything more than a sip.
We’ve two short stops where we can get off today – the first being Hammerfest. We arrived late into port so we only had 1 hour 15 minutes and our mission today was to become members of The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society. You cannot sign up remotely, you have to go the Society HQ in Hammerfest and sign up here. We are now proud to be members 287781 and 287782. We have a certificate and polar bear pin badge as part of the membership!
By the time we had found where we needed to go and signed up, it was time to head back to the ship. It’s quite a quirky town and a shame the stop here wasn’t longer. There had been a fresh fall of snow but it was quite icy on the dock by the ship (yes, I did gracefully slip over!!). Once Jon stopped laughing, he and another gentleman helped me back up on my feet.
Back onboard we grabbed a bite to eat before heading up to the Explorer Lounge to watch the world sail by. It’s amazing as there is nearly always something to see outside as we are sailing so close to land. The couples we met on the coach on the way to the ship were sat at the table next to us.
We headed out on deck to watch our arrival into Øksfjord – one of the ports that passed us by on the way up as we were asleep!
At the gathering, Robin and Ana Therese were running the briefing. A Scottish lady had told Robin off after yesterday’s gathering – he’s meant to be training her but did all the talking himself! He took what she’d said to heart and Ana led most of todays session. We learnt more about Polar Bears today.
Robin also had a confession to make. There was a bit of a hiccup with the coffee served on deck this morning. The entertainment team were surprised how few people were enjoying the coffee, took a sip and realised something wasn’t right. They headed to the kitchen to find out what had happened – the special mixture that was meant to be added to coffee was still on the side, untouched. So what on earth had they put in the coffee. Turns out it was Teriyaki Sauce!!
Time to head back to the cabin and get showered and dressed for our 3 course meal in Kysten, the speciality restaurant onboard. This was our prize for winning the quiz night. We say got dressed up – everything onboard is very casual, so I put on a smart jumper and Jon a polo shirt!
Kysten is by the Bistro on Deck 4, in an area partitioned off. We arrived bang on 6,30pm and shown to a window seat. There were only three tables set so it wasn’t a busy night. Everything would be cooked to order.
All the food on the menu sounded delicious and we struggled to decide. Jon quickly decided on the Butter fried Snow Crab leaving me to umm and ahh between the Beef Carpaccio and the Raw Prawn and Sea Urchin starter. I decided on the Prawn and Sea Urchin however, fate would intervene! When the starters were brought over, I received Carpacchio. Christoffer was mortified and incredibly apologetic – but it looked amazing and was more than happy with the switch (especially as I was struggling to decide in the first place). It tasted amazing!
For mains, I ordered Duck and Jon the Reindeer – Jon’s main was outstanding – mine was good but not in the same league!
For pudding we both chose the Cloudberry Dessert – something very local and something you’d never eat at home. It was lovely and light.
Whilst in Kysten, we stopped at Skervøy for 15 minutes. We had a great view of our arrival and departure from our window seat – in the warm – which provided a little distraction from the food.
And no, aliens did not land whilst we were in port – it’s the reflection of the light in the dining room!
The meal itself was unrushed and we both really enjoyed it. A delicious unexpected treat – Thank you Hurtigruten.
Back to the cabin for a bit and then we headed down to see what was happening in the auction. This was something they do each cruise to raise money for the Hurtigruten Foundation. All money raised goes back into the Norwegian Community to fund projects up and down the coast. A ginormous Norwegian Postal Flag and Chart used to plot the course around Ålesund were the main prizes – these both included a tour of the bridge. Whilst the items were nice, it was more a case of practicalities – where would we put them. Instead, Jon turned his eye to a lithoprint “Skarvene fra Utrøst” (The Cormorants from Utrøst) by Norwegian Artist, Karl Erik Harr – this used to be on display on Richard With before she was refurbished.
The final prize was a behind the scenes tour of the ship including the bridge, galleys, engineering and the prison! Yes, we found out the Hurtigruten Ships are frequently used to transport prisoners up and down the coast! There is also a morgue onboard – something most cruise ships will have. Sadly we have seen hearses arrive at the dock at two of our ports.
About thirty people came down to watch the auction being held by reception on Deck 4.
A silent bid was put in for the Postal Flag of NOK 5800. No-one else topped that so they won. The Lithographic print was next. I nudged Jon and told him not to appear too keen … bidding started at NOK 700. Jon eventually bid at NOK 800 – no further bidders so he ended up winning the print. It should fit comfortably in our suitcase and we will frame when we get home!!
The navigational chart went for NOK 2000 and the behind the scenes tour went for NOK 1600.
All in all, the auction raised NOK 10,200 for the Hurtigruten Foundation which will be added to the “Green” room service – every day you don’t need your cabin serviced, NOK5 will be donated to their Foundation.
One final drink up in the Explorer Lounge tonight before bed. After a wonderful meal, I decided a G&T would round the night off perfectly. Jon went to the bar to order me a Hurtigruten Seaweed Arctic Gin, but the barman informed him that the ship had jumped the gun with the printers and they hadn’t received any stock yet onboard! The barman and Jon decided I needed to go to the bar to decide on an alternative – they didn’t want to get in trouble. I wanted an authentic Norwegian Gin and went with the barman’s recommendation of the Bivrost Gin. He also said to try a sip neat before adding the tonic to get the full flavour. Jon had a beer – it’s actually really good (I tried one the following day and enjoyed it!).
The ship would be welcoming another large party of Chinese tourists in Tromso this evening – they would be onboard overnight and disembarking in Svolvær tomorrow night. They will be sleeping anywhere they can – on the way up they were sleeping on the settees, reclining chairs and seats in the Bistro – although still space for the regular passengers. If you are onboard as a ferry passenger for more than 24 hours, you need to book a cabin.
A busy day ahead tomorrow. A couple of short stop ports, but the highlight will be sailing through the narrow channels near Trollfjord – hopefully it would still be light when we pass the entrance.
