norway
- part iIi
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An early rise today, not
to catch the sunrise ...
... but the 'crossing of
the line' ...
... the line of the Arctic
Circle, here marked by this globe perched on its little island
alongside the Hurtigruten sea-route.
Occasional shafts of sunlight
enliven the sombre silhouettes of the mountains allowing glimpses
of high snowfields and glaciers inland.
Underneath its ice sculpted
and polished bare rock mountain; the port of Ornes, a 30 minute
stop after breakfast and fourth call of the day.
Then in and out of squalls,
as we continue heading north ...
... an arrow-straight wake
behind us, towards Bodo our next port ...
... where a small intrepid
group of our fellow travellers climbed into exposure suits for
an exciting trip to Saltstraumen the world's fastest tidal race.
....
The streets of Bodo rise
steeply into the town where this giant glass and concrete play-bricks
structure bisects the main square ...
....
... around the corner King
Haakon VII surveys us all heading further up the hill to the modern
(1956) cathedral to view the magnificent stained glass from an
interior reminiscent of an upturned ship's hull.
Then after two hours on
shore we are on our way ...
... across the open sea
to the Lofoten Islands, here in late afternoon a distant view
of part of the Lofoten Wall (of mountains).
A brief stop at Stamsund
and on, under the shadow of The Wall ...
... to Svolvaer where we
had an hour to stretch our legs.
Then off again, into the
gathering darkness and to an adventure unable to be depicted here!
An hour and a half later
we were slowly and delicately swivelling on the Nordnorge's centre
point in the conveniently circular dead-end of the Trollfjord,
whose narrowness we had entered in complete darkness illuminated
only by searchlights playing on the vertical cliffs that seemed
almost within touching distance on both sides of the ship!
Continued
in Part IV
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VISTAS
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