Today is our final day on MS Midnatsol. We docked at Hammerfest very early this morning and my aim had been to make it out onto the viewing deck to take a look at the town, which is the northernmost in the world. In truth I took a bit of a blurry eyed look of it from the warmth of my little cabin then sloped back to bed for a few more hours sleep. So I cant say that I’ve stepped foot in the town, but can honestly say I have been there!
The sun has graced us with its presence for most of the day, so it was disappointing to see it disappear in the distance at lunchtime and for it to be more or less completely dark by 3pm. Today was a good day for photos though and we were told that the conditions were favorable for seeing the lights later on!
We docked in Honningsvag for quite some time in the middle of the day and many of the locals came on board for lunch with their children. It was really nice to see some young children having fun around the ship and it appears to be a treat for the inhabitants of this town to jump on board for a few hours for a coffee or some lunch. It all went quiet at about 2.30/3pm when the locals left the ship and we prepared to set sail for our journey to Kjollefjord.
On route we passed the Finn-church, known as the most elegant sea cliff in Norway. Illuminated by green, pink and blue lights and accompanied by native sounding music, we passed by the rock formation which Norwegians feel replicates the shape of a church and so consider to be a great attraction. Unfortunately I didn’t have my specs on so did not have a fantastic idea of quite what the attraction was, but spending half an hour up the viewing deck in the freezing cold wind sure reminded me that I am within the Arctic Circle!
Dinner this evening was a Fish buffet. We had been introduced to the giant red crabs (that later appeared on plates) up on the deck earlier on in the evening – they really are huge and I was unsure whether or not to eat them! I made do with prawns, mussels and other fishy things! The buffet was quite spectacular, but it was interrupted by the appearance of a welcome guest - The Northern Lights! Never has a restaurant emptied so quickly! We rushed to Deck 9 where we were treated to a 90 minute light show like nothing we could ever have imagined.
WOW! Its pretty indescribable – like whispy white cloud, mixed with lazers, spotlights and glitter! AMAZING! Feel so lucky to have seen them in such fine form.
WOW! Its pretty indescribable – like whispy white cloud, mixed with lazers, spotlights and glitter! AMAZING! Feel so lucky to have seen them in such fine form.
