It’s difficult to know what time it is when you wake up as the sun is shining in through the window all night long. It looked a far brighter day as we sailed up into the harbour with the pretty multi-coloured houses gleaming in the sunlight.
The sunshine lulled us into a false sense of security because as we walked from the ship to board our coach it was bitterly cold. The wind whipped around the ship and we were glad to take our seats for the journey to North Cape. We really shouldn’t have been so surprised as the town lies just 1300 miles from the North Pole!!
North Cape is the most northern point of mainland Norway and our journey there would take about an hour. The scenery is very barren with no trees, many small lakes and plenty of snow around. Herds of reindeer can be seen in the distance and these are tended to by the local Sami people. A typical tundra landscape (I can still remember this from O level geography). The road from Honningsvag to the North Cape is only open from May to the end of October and you can understand why.
After marvelling at the emptiness of the landscape we arrived at the North Cape together with a couple of hundred motor homes, a dozen or more other coaches and numerous other vehicles. It certainly wasn’t empty here!!!
The North Cape Hall is a large tourist centre set on top of the cliffs and as well as the obligatory shops and cafes also has an audio visual feature telling the history of the area and a small museum. Outside in the bitter cold I, like most of the tourists, lined up to have my photo taken next to the monument. No shorts were worn today and I’m pleased I made that decision.
There was almost a small revolt amongst the passengers when the return coaches hadn’t arrived when expected. Crowds moved to the doors of any coach that arrived only to be repelled by the drivers as they had nothing to do with our ship. Eventually order was restored and everyone calmed down for the return to the ship.
After lunch we had a walk into the town, stopping for photographs with some of the locals. Firstly Bamsey, a dog that was decorated for bravery during WW2………..
……..and then a random troll.
It was still very cold but the sunshine took the edge off it as we enjoyed the beautiful sights of the fishing boats in the harbour.
We even had a chance to visit the Christmas shop and have a chat with Father Christmas about my requirements for this year!
It really is a delightful little town with the only disappointment being the closure of the Ice Bar that I visited last time in my shorts. The building is now a cafe and shop.
The sun continued to shine all afternoon as we returned to our cabin to watch the sail away.
As the ship started its journey to our next destination, Tromso, we sat in the bar with a long cocktail (alcohol free obviously!!).
