Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: The Farthest North

The next day on our Hurtigruten cruise we rounded Nord Cap, the most northerly point of the Norway mainland – the John 0’Groats of Norway – and stopped at the picturesque town of Honnegsvåg. At 71⁰N it is the most northerly European town.

Honnegsvåg harbour

We took a walk along the hill behind the town and were treated with some delightful views and a multitude of beautiful wild flowers.

Overlooking the town

Wild orchids

Heather, but smaller and lower to the ground than what we saw in Scotland

A peaceful resting place. The inscription says 'Thanks for everything'

What struck us about these little towns above the Arctic Circle was how normal they seemed. The towns consisted of colourfully painted wooden houses with pretty gardens of bright flowers, green grass and trees. Bob had spent a year at Casey Station in Antarctica which is located at 66°17’S or 26 nm short of the Antarctic Circle. There the average high never rises above freezing and ice and snow cover the ground year round. Here we were at 71°N and people are mowing their lawns! It just shows the powerful effect of the Gulf Stream on the climate in these parts. One wonders what would happen to Norway (and all of Northern Europe) if the Gulf Stream ever changed course.

On our way back to the ship we met up with Martin and Elspeth, our mess mates for the last week. These intrepid cyclists were leaving us to ride their bikes from North Cape back to Trondheim over the next 5 weeks – over 2000 km. This is just a short ride for them as about 6 months ago they had finished cycling around the world over a two year period. We will miss them as mess mates but look forward to following their travels on their blog. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?user=Elspmart1

Martin and Elspeth off on their 2000 km Norwegian tour

We travelled on enjoying the scenery and stopping briefly at little towns such as Mehamn and Berlevag where the MS Lofoten brings vital supplies and fishing is the main industry.

Cathedral rocks

Mehamn harbour

Fish drying on harbourside racks

Delivering building supplies in Berlevag

The next day we arrived at Kirkenes, the half-way point in our journey and the start of the return southbound trip. Kirkenes, at 30°02E, is further east than St Petersburg and only a few kilometres from the Russian border and Murmansk. It was a quiet, pretty town.

Watching for the Russians

Tidy houses of Kirkenes

As with all these towns above the Arctic Circle, we were struck by the homogenous multiculturalism of the modern world. Everywhere we go we see Kebab shops, Asian food stalls, Pizza parlors and the faces of a wide mix of ethnic groups. The products in the shops were the same brands one gets everywhere in Europe and Australia. One expects this in big cities but we were amazed to see such diversity in these remote small towns. Ironically the one ethnic group we did not happen to see were the original inhabitants of the area, the Sami people.

The menu is pan-Asian - sushi, Thai Red Curry, Tikka Masala and everything in between

On our southbound journey we stopped at some different ports or the same ports at different times so we could see them during the day time. We had a short stop at Vardø where we all trouped off to check out the 18^th Century fortress overlooking a blustery coastline. Vardø is also where Nansen returned to Norway after his 3 year expedition towards the North Pole.