Day 8 (Sun 17th Mar) - Honningsvag to Tromso

The ship set off southbound from Kirkenes overnight and made early morning calls at Honningsvag and Havoysund. Mid-morning we tried an 'energy' coffee .. A mixture of coffee, chocolate and chilli, which had the expected kick in the tail and a warming effect (ideal given the below zero surroundings).

At Hammerfest we had time to go ashore. There was only about a foot of snow lying around and it was very icy. The temperature was -3C but with the wind chill it felt much colder (even colder than it had at North Cape). There was a strong wind blowing the whole time but the gusts increased dramatically and we were having trouble staying on our feet, despite the grippers. So we headed back towards the ship.

Before boarding we stopped off at the Polar Bear Club (or to give it the full title "The Royal & Ancient Polar Bear Society") which despite it's name, was only created in 1963. You can join the club and as well as a certificate signed by the town mayor, you get a lapel pin of a polar bear and the right to attend the annual meetings of the club in Hammerfest Town Hall.  I think it is quite an imaginative way to raise funds to protect polar bears. But if the half a million members all decide to attend the AGM one year it is going to be a very packed hall.

The wind was still very strong as we made our way to Oksfkord. We watched the world go by from the observation lounge on deck 8 for a while, then later on had dinner before heading for bed at 9pm. Sounds early I know, but after several late nights looking for the lights I was feeling worn out. And I knew I needed to get some sleep because we had booked ourselves on a very late excursion.

I had set the alarm for 11:15pm and we got ready to leave the ship at 11:45pm when we docked at Tromso. The late excursion was the Midnight Concert at Tromso Cathedral. The concert was a collection of Norwegian folk songs .. the soaring soprano voice of the lead singer, along with the other two voices and with flute and piano accompaniment at times, made for a wonderful experience, with the acoustics of the cathedral enhancing the atmosphere.

We did not return to the ship until 1:30am and it took a little while to settle down and go to sleep. Which was a bit of a shame because with immaculate planning we had booked ourselves on Monday's excursion which started at 8:15am :-)