13. Day Nine

Today's ports of call:

Departed Tromso 01.30, arrive Finnsnes 04.15

Depart Finnsnes 04.45, arrive Harstad 07.45

Depart Harstad 08.30, arrive Risoyhamn 10.45

Depart Risoyhamn  10.45, arrive Sortland 12.30

Depart Sortland 13.00, arrive Stokmarknes 14.15

Depart Stokmarknes 15.15, arrive Svolvaer 18.30

Depart Svolvaer 20.30, arrive Stamsund 22.00

Depart Stamsund 22.30

Weather at 11.00am, clear skies, light wind, temperature -3C

Yesterday's aurora lasted all evening, on and off, but we're not particularly bright, more of a waving pale cloud with just a tinge of green. When not watching them we took part in the evening's entertainment, a music quiz, scoring a creditable 34 out of 44 points. The winner scored 42, but what made it memorable was that one of the waitresses from the restaurant sang a couple of the songs...and a very good voice she had too.

It was a busy day in terms of ports of call. Each one varies in size and most have a minor claim to fame, although it's impossible to say which is the most picturesque. 

Risoyhamn is at the entrance to a narrow channel which was dredged in the early years of Hurtigruten in order that its larger ships could pass through without having a significant detour on their route. Sortland is the headquarters of the local Coast Guard and Stokmarknes is the spiritual home of Hurtigruten as this is where the company was founded. We only had time to disembark in Stokmarknes for the obligatory walk around and photographs.

After Stokmarknes we passed through the Raftsondnet, a 20km long passage with as dramatic scenery as Mother Nature can possibly offer. Narrow at the best of times but in places you could literally reach out from the deck and touch the passing islands. The clarity of the air and cloudless sky made the sunset and snow covered mountains look even more stunning than usual.

The early evening stop was in Svolvaer, the capital of the Lofoten Islands. Although we had been ashore here for a few minutes on the northbound leg, we had a lot more time on the southbound....and this time we were prepared with our crampons!

Not much was open due to the hour, but we had a look in the local supermarket, mainly on the lookout for rude or amusing brand names which can raise a chuckle. Sadly we failed. So we moved on to the Ice Bar which was open and enjoyed a rather expensive cloudberry shot whilst admiring the ice sculptures. The fact that the interior of the bar was -6C compared with -10C outside made it feel like a temporary heatwave.

As I write we are on our way to Stamsund and perhaps our last chance to see the aurora before we sail back south of the Arctic Circle tomorrow morning.