Tuesday 7th March 2017

The hotel we stayed at on the first and last night of this trip is in the business of supplying parking for people flying from Gatwick. There are cars all around it intricately parked so that they can be retrieved from being blocked in by other cars on the day of their owners' return. We got our car back okay and returned home to Devon.

Many thanks to anyone who has followed this blog. Bye for now, Roger.

 

Monday 6th March 2017

This morning dawned overcast. After several sunny days this was a change,

We traveled through a narrow strait with rocky shorelines.

Later on we saw this military ship pass close by.

As we neared Bergen there are more trees and no snow.

We passed this floating bridge. Apparently the fjord here is so deep that it was impracticable to sink piles to support a conventional bridge.

At about 14.30 Polarlys came into Bergen and ended her 5000 kilometre (3100 mile) round trip to Kirkenes and back.

After we docked there was a fair amount of chaos getting onto the coaches to the airport.

The route to the airport goes through a couple of long tunnels.

At the airport there was some uncertainty as to when we could check in but eventually we managed it.

We got onto our plane which left on time and arrived at Gatwick ahead of schedule. Unfortunately both our checked in bags had been damaged in transit so we were held up at the airport for a while registering our complaints. Tonight we are staying at the same hotel near Gatwick where we stayed on the first night of this trip and where our car has been parked while we've been away.

Sunday 5th March 2017

We woke up to another beautiful sunny day. Polarlys was docked at Trondheim and the northbound Hertegrute MS Nordlys (pictured here) was docked just behind us

The public face and voice of MS Polarlys on this trip has been Marko. He is variously described as Tour Manager, Expedition Leader and Host. He seems to make most of the PA announcements as well as giving briefings and talks. He is German but lives in Norway and speaks fluent Norwegian and English. Here he is giving a briefing on the procedure for leaving the ship at Bergen tomorrow.

There are a few more places on this ship which I haven't shown you yet. Here's the gift shop. If you need to look at the price then you can't afford to buy it.

I mentioned the "fine dining" and the king crabs the other day.

Each crab has a tag with a bar code on it. Apparently you can check on its provenance on the internet. I feel quite a lot of sympathy for these crabs as they wait in their tank for someone to eat them.

Next to the "fine dining" area is the Bistro. I had a smallish glass of beer here a few days ago - only 795 NOK (circa £7.90).

At about 16.30 we docked at Kristiansund.

It looks like a nice town but we weren't there long enough to have a chance to wander around.

The church looks very austere and Nordic.

Some of the passengers are off on excursions and are going to rejoin the ship at Molde, our next port.

This afternoon I splashed out again on a glass of beer. There is a map of Norway on the glass with a red dot to show where the brewery is. This beer is from Tromso - reputedly the northernmost brewery in the world.

As we headed out of Kristiansund there was some beautiful evening sunlight on the hills.

Saturday 4th March 2017

This morning we crossed the Arctic Circle. It's another beautiful day - here's the view out of the back of the ship from where we had breakfast.

At about 11.00 we stopped for a short time at Nesna.

These interesting looking characters came to see someone off.

This is the posh lounge upfront on the 7th floor. It is strictly forbidden to "reserve" seats here by leaving them with coats or bags on them.

Also on deck 7 is this rather "ye olde worlde" cafe. They definitely do not have ye olde worlde prices.

There is also a fitness room up here but there doesn't seem to be much call for it.

We saw this fine suspension bridge at Sandnessjoen. There is much less snow on the ground at sea level now we have come further south.

I went on shore here briefly but Ann stayed on board.

These huge chain links were on the quay. What are they for? We left Sandnessjoen at about 13.00.

At about 16.00 we docked at Bronnoysund.

We walked around.

This statue welcomes you to a shop.

Here's the main street.

Apparently Bronnoysund is in the very middle of Norway - half way between the northern and southern extremities.

Polarlys docked at Bronnoysund.

About 17.30 we passed Torghatten - the famous mountain with a hole in it!

Friday 3rd March 2017

Early this morning we docked briefly at Harstad in the Vesteralen Islands. It's a beautiful day.

Here we are having breakfast - there is always a wide range of things to choose from.

Here's the reception area. Further on is the gift shop.

If by any chance you're not satisfied with the full board catering in the main restaurant you can "upgrade" and eat here in the "fine dining" area. You can just see the king crabs in their tank awaiting their fate!

This morning there were fantastic views all along the way going through the Vesteralen Islands.

We saw this sea eagle.

At about 11.00 we stopped for a short while at Risoyhamn to load freight.

There is an impressive bridge here linking the Islands of Hinnoya and Andoya.

We arrived at Sortland about 12.30 where another fine bridge links Hinnoya to Langoya.

The views are so fantastic we've just been sitting around looking out of the windows.

I'm sure that we have been very lucky with the weather on this trip. Lots of clear skies giving sun in the daytime and views of the Northern Lights at night. Last night The Lights were particularly spectacular.

We stopped at Stokmarknes this afternoon where the Hurtigruten Museum is situated. Part of the display is this redundant Hurtigruten ship.

We took a brief stroll around town.

We were soon back on Polarlys and on our way again.

There is marvelous mountain scenery in the Vesteralen Islands. These peaks are on the island of Hinnoya.

As the light was starting to fade we entered the narrow channel which separates the Vesteralen Islands from the Lofoten Islands.

These mountains are on the Lofoten island of Austvagoy.

There was a beautiful pink glow in the sky.

As it was getting dark we passed the entrance to the very narrow Trollfjord. At this time of year it is too dangerous for the Hurtigruten to go through this fjord due to the risk of avalanche and rock fall.

It is dark now and we are just about to dock at Svolvaer - the "capital" of the Lofoten Islands.