Hurtigruten day 6 (16/3)

I have sailed past the northernmost town in the world. I have also driven through the northernmost town in the world. But they're two different places.

How does this work? It's simple: both Hammerfest and Honningsvåg claim to be the northernmost towns in the world. It's a tag that seems to be prevalent up north, as we passed the northernmost windfarm in the world, the northernmost brewery in the world, the northernmost point on the voyage and visited the northernmost point in Europe.

We spent the morning relaxing in the panorama lounge and then watched a film about the indigenous population of Norway, the Samis. The Samis went through a period in which the Norwegian Government tried to force integration upon them, but now encourage respect for their culture. There are now Sami TV shows, a Sami parliament and other positive signs of two diverse communities living together.

After our film, we docked in Honningsvåg, where we set off for our trip to the North Cape. We were on a bus that had both Norwegian and English speakers and the guide spoke both languages to us. On the other hand, there were at least three buses of German speakers! Pic below shows racks for drying cod. second pic shows Honningsvåg. The lines on the hillside are snow racks, used for holding snow back from the houses!

Honningsvåg, possibly the northernmost town in the world, has the only Vinmonopolet (alcohol shop) for 200km. Despite (possibly) being the northernmost town in the world, it also has a beach, which according to our guide is nicknamed Copa Cobana (see pic below)!

It was a 45 minute bus ride to the North Cape, and our guide gave us an entertaining insight into life on the island of Magerøy (on which both Honningsvåg and the North Cape are located). As we passed the petrol station, we were in the 71st latitude. Magerøy is too far north for any trees to go naturally, so if you want them in your garden you must protect them over the winter. But, despite this, it is actually far warmer than other places of its latitude, due to the gulf stream that goes up along the Norwegian coastline.

There are too many reindeer in Norway and not enough food for them all, so there is now a ban on new people entering the reindeer herding profession (and only one child of a herder can take on the family job). In addition, in April every year, the Norwegian army boats bring 3,800 reindeer onto the island of Magerøy to graze over the summer. The animals have to swim back themselves in the autumn as they cannot survive on the island over winter.

About halfway through our journey to the North Cape, the bus stopped and the guide explained that the road to the North Cape itself is closed over winter. A convoy of buses has special permission to travel along it at a certain time of the day, provided they privately fund a snow plough to travel with them. So we had to wait for a while until the snow plough arrived and could escort us up the mountain.

On the way up, there was a gorgeous view of a fjord, snowy cliffs and a sparkling blue sea. We also drove past a Sami house (not inhabited until the summer time) and a camping facility (also obviously not inhabited until the summer!). But apart from this, there were few signs of life on this lonely road, adding to the feeling of going to the world's end.

We made it up the mountain and were given about an hour and a half to look around. The North Cape seems to have attracted a strange collection of sculptures, from the 'Children of the World' sculpture which was made by a group of children who were flown from all over the world to spend a week at the North Cape; the globe sculpture near the site of the North Cape and a rock in which the King of Siam inscribed his name when he visited in the early 1900s. Until the 1950s, when they opened a road, visitors to Nordkapp (the Norwegian name) were forced to climb the cliff 308 metres from the sea.

North Cape is considered to be the northernmost point of Europe, however the real northernmost point of Europe is actually just around the bay a little bit. This was apparently only discovered when modern technology allowed for a better analysis of the position of the land, and there is very little difference between the two spots. Pic below shows us at Nordkapp, with the real northernmost point in the background.

The only building at the North Cape is the North Cape Hall, which as well as the inevitable souvenir shop and cafe, contains a chapel for weddings, a Thai museum to commemorate the King of Siam's visit, photo and art exhibitions about the North Cape and a post office. Interestingly, part of the building is underground, tunneling under the globe statue located just near the cliff.

Not far from the North Cape is another island which is the summer residence of large quantities of Puffins. The Puffins arrive there every year on the 14th of April between 3pm and 8pm and will stay there until the autumn.

We had plenty of time at the North Cape and headed off back to Honningsvåg and the ship, which waited for us as we were a bit late coming back. We got back on the ship with some sadness though, as we knew it was the last night of our magical experience.

The experiences continued though, as we sailed through some more majestic fjords and some local fisherman came on board to show us their catch of King Crab. They were brought onto the freezing deck and placed on tables for people to look at and hold whilst hearing about them and the methods used to catch them. They are huge!

After the crab visit was another highlight of the day, a buffet dinner, featuring Norway's famous seafood (including King Crab), lamb, beef and lots of amazing desserts. Knowing it was our last decent food for some time, we definitely appreciated the spread!

About 8:30 pm we were in our cabins finishing off the wine we'd brought with us (we weren't allowed to drink in public places on the ship due to liquor laws, but drinking their wine cost nearly $100). We heard an announcement on the PA and raced up on deck as there were Northern Lights to be seen. We saw some more Northern Lights, but again it was a little bit cloudy.

Retiring to our cabin again, we continued our bottle and at around 10:30 headed up on deck again, this time armed with towels, bed sheets and doona covers. We had been advised that we would be passing another Hurtigruten ship at around 11 that night, and that there was to be a competition between the two ships to see who could get the most passengers on deck waving their white towels. We took that instruction a little bit further and covered ourselves completely in white to wave at the ship passing. Again, the staff were in a fun mood as they set up banners and played music whilst we waited to pass the ship. As we passed, we all cheered and waved madly, whilst I believe the other ship contained a few passengers sedately waving their hand towels. (note: I'm the one completely covered in white)Warmed by the festivities and our extra layers we stayed on deck for a long time, watching the stars, listening to the waves underneath and watching Northern Lights in the (now clearer) sky. Later that evening we pulled into a tiny dock in which one passenger got off. Those of us still on deck in our white gear gave her a fond farewell, and applauded the work of the fork lift driver who loaded and unloaded the ship.