Our Nordic Escape and Hurtigruten Cruise

Ports visited; Bronnoysund, Sandnessjoed, Nesna, Ornes, Bodø, Stamsund, Svolvaer.

I can’t remember if we were in dock or not when we woke but anyway, the views from our cabin were much the same as previous days….. mountains, the sea, fjords, small pretty settlements of the edge of the coast line, sea birds and thick snow and ice pretty much everywhere.

Just after 07:00 hrs an announcement came over the tannoy that we were just about to cross the Artic Circle. I was quite excited about this and was even considering joining my fellow cruisers outside on Deck 7 to be baptised by King Neptune, but Terry was a bit flat about it all, so I didn’t go. We did receive certificates though, from the Captain, so they’re straight up on the wall in frames when we get home.

We went down for breakfast around 09:00 hrs and took our time. By this time we were docked in Ornes and were able to watch cargo being loaded on and off the ship and people slipping over. We have both felt really tired today and have lacked energy which is quite mad as we haven’t been doing much other than moving between decks to get to the bar and/or restaurant.

After breakfast we headed for the Explorer Lounge and were amazed to be able to get a front row seat, right by the window. Here we read, watched the scenery go by and in my case, continued to crochet squares for the ships blanket. I’m now up to 9, was hoping to break into double numbers today but got a bit bored.

At approximately 12.30 the ship stopped at Bodø for a few hours. Having read a little about it on the internet, we weren’t too impressed with what it had to offer but nevertheless, decided to take a walk out. Terry was extra vigilant pitting his spikes on the correct feet this time and they were a great success: no slipping round at all, he was very pleased.

We were quite right about Bodø. Other than a few shops and a modern church steeple, the town had little to offer that we were able to walk to in the time we had available to us. As we sailed out of Bodø though, we did see that the town had a lovely harbour and a few more shops further out of the town.

I will just say that Hurtigruten do offer activities daily however, they are extremely expensive and none of them have appealed to us thus far.

We had returned to the ship by 13:45 hrs and were able to slip into the restaurant for lunch just before it closed at 14 .00 hrs. This was in part planned but also due to the fact that it was -10 outside and although we had all our thermal layers on, our faces were freezing.

The afternoon was spent doing much the same as other days; reading, drinking coffee, watching scenery, snoozing and me, crocheting squares. The sea became very choppy crossing from Bodø to Stamsund and a few people, including Terry, started to feel quite ill. By 17:30 hrs his head started to lol and his eyes were bulging out of his head so I suggested going down to the cabin for a while so he could lie down.

While Terry had a snooze, I had a shower and washed my hair. It was quite a challenge staying upright in the shower and for once, I was grateful for its bijou approximations.

The sea became a lot calmer once we reached Stamsund and we were able to enjoy our evening meal on passive waters. I did notice the restaurant was emptier than normal and wondered whether this was due to the afternoons challenging seafaring conditions or the fact that it was Vegetarian night.

We settled down in the bar after dinner as my app was showing the chance of seeing the Northern Lights increasing the further North we headed. At around 22:00 hrs the app showed a 34% chance of seeing them at the location we were at. I thought I saw a cloudy sort of green in the sky a couple of times, but put it down to reflections on the windows. All of a sudden Terry said ‘wait a minute…what’s that?’ and pointed to the sky; this time there was no mistaking, so we grabbed our jackets from the back of the chairs and headed out to the deck. People saw us and started to follow; one woman said to me ‘ is it…..’, I said ‘ Yes, it is….’ . I assumed she meant the Northern Lights, that was the point of the cruise for most people.

It was literally freezing on the deck but the Aurora Borealis display was fantastic. One of the crew said he had been cruising the route for 12 years and it was the best he had ever seen. They were green, blue and pink and danced above our heads like billowing skirts; curling and twisting; it was beautiful to watch and I just loved every minute. The display didn’t last long, maybe 10 minutes before the lights became dimmer and then just disappeared out of sight. Terry tried his hardest to take photos but it was so cold and windy, the chill just made holding anything difficult. We will have to see whether he was successful tomorrow.