8. Day Four...and more Northern Lights

Today's ports of call:

Departed Rorvik 22.30, arrive Bronnoysund 00.45

Depart Bronnoysund 01.00, arrive Sandnessjoen 03.45

Depart Sandnessjoen 04.15, arrive Nesna 05.25

Depart Nesna 05.30, arrive Ornes 09.30

Depart Ornes 09.45, arrive Bodo 12.30

Depart Bodo 15.00, arrive Stamsund 19.00

Depart Stamsund 19.30, arrive Svolvaer 21.00

Depart Svolvaer 22.00

Weather at 11.00am, clear skies with scattered clouds, light wind, temperature +1C

After the excitement of the Northern Lights, and crossing the Arctic Circle the next port of call after sunrise was Ornes. This was just a 15 minute stop but we set foot on dry land for a few moments before the ship's whistle blew and we were under way again. Still, the scenery was spectacular and by all accounts is generally considered to be one of the most beautiful sailaways of the entire trip.

A few hours later we were in Bodo, the second largest town in northern Norway. My earlier research advised that this was not the prettiest of places, but it's one redeeming feature was that it was home to a large aviation museum. Thus the decision was made for us and we jumped onto the bus for the short drive out to the airport...only to discover that it was closing early!

Never mind, we still had a good hour to look around and it was extremely informative and well laid out and covered both military and civil aviation. Amongst my favourite exhibits were a U2 spy plane and an atomic bomb (hopefully decommissioned) from the period 1966 to 1988.

An hour or so was then spent in the panorama lounge watching the passing scenery and then getting the daily update from the expedition team.

Dinner time arrived and we had just finished our starter when an announcement came that the aurora were in view. The restaurant emptied in a flash and we all too to the promenade deck to watch the show. Unlike in the early hours, this display was more out of the textbook as intense streaks of green ebbed and flowed slowly across the sky. 

Unfortunately we had to pull ourselves away after a while as our main course was getting cold on the dinner table, but thankfully by the time we had finished and went out on deck again, the display was still occurring.

The ship's lights and town lights in the ports of Stamsund and Svolvaer made it impossible to see the aurora although approaching Stamsund a long, faint ribbon was visible almost from horizon to horizon. In Svolvaer, we decided to disembark for a few minutes, risking life and limb on the ice covered roads and pavements, just to take one or two photographs.

Just as we were about to turn in there was another announcement saying that the aurora was particularly active. Rather than going out into the freezing cold again, we watched from the comfort of our cabin as the bright curtains of green and pinkish light danced across the skies. This was truly one of science and nature's most spectacular and amazing sights.

(I wish I could post a few pictures of the aurora but it is rather tricky to get all the camera settings in place and then to find a dark space with no movement of the ship. I will try again if they come into view, but it is definitely a challenge and best left to the professionals and keen amateurs.)