Hurtigruten Day 5

Hurtigruten Day 5

This morning at 9.45am we had a champagne (at a cost of course!) ceremony for the crossing of the Arctic Circle.... 66 degrees 33 minutes north and marks the southern most point for the Midnight Sun, which shines 34 hours a day in summer! In my research for this cruise someone commented that Hurtigruten charge for everything other than the air that you breathe! I am starting to see the picture although they do now provide water with meals whereas you used to have to buy it... tap water that is!!

King Neptune, the God of the ocean made an appearance for the baptism of crossing the line! Everyone that got baptised was given a FREE shot of some local spirit. Even that was not enough incentive for me!!

As it was very windy and therefore very cold out on deck I declined the baptism but was very happy to take photos of Peter's wetting of the head! King Neptune had a very big bucket of ice cubes and ice water and a very large ladle that he was using to pour down each participants back. It didn't help that the Captain held out everyone's collar and also had a firm grip on the waistband of their pants so that the ice cubes and water had a clear passage all the way through!! Some people were lucky enough to get two scoops! Peter braved it and was rewarded with a shot but required a complete change of clothes!! You can see why I volunteered to take the pics.

We actually crossed the Arctic Circle at 7.10am.... I didn't feel the bump as we went over the line!! The Arctic Circle marked the border to the Arctic region. In summer this means 24 hour daylight and often referred to as the "Midnight Sun". During autumn and winter, being above this degree of latitude provides the best chance to see the Northern Lights.... sadly not while we are here!

We were due to dock in Tromso at 2.15pm and depart at 6.30pm so this gave us plenty of time to explore. Our first priority was to get the public bus to the Cable Car on the other side of the river. We had to first buy the tickets in the tourist office and then validate them on the bus. We managed this without any issues and the driver dropped us right at the car park for the Cable Car. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the next ride. I was surprised at how expensive the tickets were... $35 each for a 5 minute ride with nothing much to do once at the top other than take a photo then come back down again. We decided to pay another $30 for a wine and a beer to make it all worth while although the view was pretty good and it was a beautiful clear sunny day.

The Arctic Cathedral is only a 10 minute walk from the chairlift but we didn't bother as Peter is churched out and I am booked to go to the midnight concert on our southbound journey so will see it then. We waited for the bus back to town where we walked around the waterfront to where the Polar Museum is to see the original old buildings dating back to 1789.

We then leisurely walked around the other notable sights such as the unusually shaped Library, the Cathedral where there was a boys' choir singing and the the main Square where the Cultural Centre is.

Tromso is a very nice city and we could have spent more time there.

Tonight at 9.30pm is ladies party night in the gift shop to showcase their jewellery and Nordic design clothes. Whilst they are beautiful it is not something I would wear in our climate at home... they would end up with moth holes and for $500 each I thought better of it... but I did like some of the jewellery... we even got a free glass of champagne so that made it all worth while! The "party" also included watching 3 movies on the merchandise with a written quiz at the end!! My memory and attention span is not that good.... and of course a prize for the winner which wasn't me!

Tomorrow is another action packed day as I am booked on an excursion.

I need sleep!!!! zzzzzzzzzzzz