Sunday 26th February 2017

This morning we crossed the Arctic Circle (approximately 66.6 degrees north) about 7.30 and not too long afterwards stopped briefly at the village of Ornes pictured here.

There is some spectacular scenery along the way.......

..........we can watch it go by from our cabin.

The mountains are particularly scenic as you approach the city of Bodo.

Bodo itself is pretty nondescript.

The surroundings however are marvelous.

We docked in Bodo at about 12.45

We took a walk into the nearby city centre.

As I said earlier Bodo is quite nondescript but we did see this nice mural.

Since Alesund we have been sharing a table for evening meals with this couple from Northern Ireland. They should have boarded in Bergen like us but their plane from Belfast to London was delayed by storm Doris on Thursday and they had to re route and join Polarlys via Oslo and Alesund! They are getting off at Stamsund in the Lofoten Islands later today.

On the way back from town we saw some eider ? ducks.

I should have said more about the Hurtigruten earlier. A fleet of 12 ships runs continuously from Bergen in south western Norway to Kirkenes near the Russian border in the far north east of the country. Kirkeness is at the same longitude as Istanbul! Every day one ship arrives and leaves each of the 33 ports along the way going north and another does the same going south. The round trip from Bergen to Kirkenes takes 12 days. The Hurtigruten carries passengers, vehicles and freight. Many of the ports it serves are tiny and isolated and it is  a vital link for those communities. Today while we were in Bodo we sat at reception for a while watching people come and go. The bloke in the white shirt on the left is checking people on and off the ship.

After we left Bodo and headed out into the open sea there was a really nice sunset.

We could see the stupendous mountain chain of the Lofoten Islands ahead as night drew in.

At about 19.00 we docked at Stamsund in the Lofoten Islands.

A couple of cars were unloaded. Also our pals from Northern Ireland got off the ship here.

We arrived in Svolvaer about 21.00 but it's too dark to photograph the numerous enormous fish drying frames dotted around the port.