17. Day Twelve - Epilogue

Today's ports of call:

Departed Molde 21.30, arrive Alesund 00.30

Depart Alesund 01.00, arrive Torvik 02.15

Depart Torvik  02.30, arrive Maloy 05.15

Depart Maloy 05.45, arrive Floro 07.45

Depart Floro 08.15, arrive Bergen 14.30

Weather at 11.00am, overcast skies, light breeze, temperature +3C

Firstly, an apology for the lack of a concluding post, but I have been laid low by a rather heavy cold. Obviously the Arctic air was not quite freezing enough to kill off all the nasty little bugs!...but given the number of people on board who where coughing and sneezing throughout the trip, it's not surprising that I didn't succumb.

Our bags were quickly packed and we sailed the last few miles back to Bergen. Unfortunately we had no time to see any of the city as we had to get straight to the airport for the flight back to the UK. An overnight stop before flying back to Jersey gave us the opportunity to have a day in London, not to do anything particularly special, but just to walk from Covent Garden, along Oxford Street, across Hyde Park and ending with a quick look in Harrods.

And so this travelogue ends with a definite "mission accomplished!" For the six days we spent inside the Arctic Circle, we were able to watch the northern lights on five of them, two of which provided particularly impressive displays. This, combined with clear skies, calm seas and stunning scenery meant that Hurtigruten's boast of it being the world's most beautiful voyage would be hard to argue against.

As a final point and as I mentioned earlier, the Lights are difficult to photograph, even with specialist equipment. However I will post a couple of shots, one taken by us and one taken by a fellow passenger as, after all, that is what this blog was all about!

Until next time...ha det bra!