We had a normal morning with breakfast at 8.30ish, I had the standard oats and a cheese and jam roll for a change. We were due to dock in Hammerfest at 10.20am, so some more reading and chilling time till then.
Lots of snow has fallen overnight, it is between 10 and 15cm thick on the ground, and of course icy underfoot. So finally I got to use my snow cleats that I bought on my last trip. Worked like a charm. Once again we just did our own thing in town. The boat docks virtually 5 mnutes walk (our minutes…trust me) . We headed up to the church first. Not too much to see, but there was a great view of the harbour and mountains bathed in what little sunlight there is. It was a far milder day than we have had, I think the temp was about 4degrees, so not bad at all.
As has been mentioned, we make our own fun. Today the churchyard had huge spaces of untrodden, fresh snow, lying around. So what do you have to do??? But of course you have to make snow angels. Which we each duly did! Then we set the self timer up for a aselfie down the hill. I guess it is hysterical if you are there to watch the commotion of trying to set a pic up. The mad dash down the hill, falling in the snow, and then trying to get up and look normal (well normalish!)… all in 10 seconds. Some hilarious flops where you can see Dawn in the background tidying herself up for the shot. Well that kept us busy for a while anyhoo, and to quote Miranda- such fun!
From there to another smaller Lutheran type church, with a huge cemetary, you can see some pics of the headstones which have lamps built into them. Huge tradition of lighting lamps or candles in the cemeteries at certain times. From there we headed back into town, again not much to see. Interesting that the Christmas displays and decorations are not out yet. Only a few stores are starting to bring things out. But no trees or decorations are up yet.
We had a quick stop at the Polar Bear society display, right next to where the boat was docked. It was so hot inside that I think I hit menopause early- in Hammerfest. Sheesh, I overheated something terrible. Perspiration pouring off me and I just could not cool down. Got back onto the boat stripped off and guzzled two bottles of water. I had a cracker of a headache to boot. But good old rehydrate did the trick.
Lunch was a standard buffet, I had a broccoli soup (not as good as mine). Some pork and roast beetroot. We stood on deck and watched the ship set sail. Then siesta time. The brilliant thing about it being dark by 2.30pm, is that you cannot see anything, and have nowhere to go….so you can legitimately and without guilt, just sit or lie and read! Which is exactly what I have been doing. I am on book 3 already for the holiday. No guilt about missing out on the sights.
We went down for dinner at our 6.30pm slot, but as we got to the restaurant, we heard that the northern lights were visible. So with only our light jackets we dashed onto the deck and saw a brilliant display. But the cold claws at you and it hurts. So we dashed up to our rooms, grabbed jackets and hit the top deck. It was fantastic, a really strong display, light green but it moved and changed shape and stretched right across the sky.
My Pics did not come out well…I can see the green blob, but not good enough to post. Luckily, a couple that we have had some fun interchanges with, from Holland, managed to get some great pics on her Samsung phone, so these are the ones posted here. I realised I should have used my Iphone 7 rather. So I am hoping for a do over. But we are so lucky to have seen the lights on 4 occasions already. I know people who have been here for 10 days and don’t see the lights.
EVentually we went down to dinner. Starter was a spinach and shrimp soup. Followed by steamed haddock on root vegetables and some special potatoes. Truly delicious, possibly my favourite meal on board so far. Desert was a bit odd, a whipped cream and porridge cereal thing, with a rasberry coulis sauce. Not bad tasting, I didn’t like the texture- a bit like stodgy sago.
Early to bed tonight. There is every chance we could get a middle of the night call for the lights again. So the gear is stashed accordingly. Socks in boots, pants ready, jacket has gloves in left pocket, beany and ear muffs in right pocket. Cameras are charged and we are good to go! Thank heavens the beanies hide the middle of the night hairdos. As some of you know, I am truly the last of the mohicans with my nighttime hair!!!
thanks again for all the chirps. Enjoy todays pics
Selfie fun with the timers
Finally tonights aurora borealis…. and the beautiful moon
Leanne Maree's blog 
Leave a comment