Tuesday – The North Cape (Nordkapp)

First off as I begin the 556th post on this blog, thank you all for reading and viewing everything we post. And thank you all for the comments. We read every one, but we don’t respond unless there is a question to be answered or something to be corrected. There have been 1,789 comments in all. Those numbers do not include posts and comments from our old travel blog which was discontinued in 2013 (but which remains on-line for posterity here).

We arrived in Honningsvåg at around 8:00 am this morning under partly cloudy skies and very cool temperatures. The highs for the day ended up being in the mid-30’s. After our usual nice breakfast in the World Cafe, we headed out into the cold for our bus trip from Honningsvåg to the Nordkapp (the North Cape). It was about a 45-minute ride. It was difficult to take pictures from the bus window because a) it was cramped quarters and b) the reflections from the windows. I managed one. we saw lots of reindeers grazing in the cold. The reindeer are owned by local Sámi farmers.

71º 10′ 21″

Then we arrived at Nordkapp. Now taking pictures was hard because it was freezing outside. But we persevered. Fantastic views. Latitude 71º 10′ 21″ – billed as the northernmost point in all of Europe. Actually it isn’t, because a small sliver of a peninsula that you can see from Nordkapp is actually slightly further north, but it can only be reached by a nine-hour hike. So 71º 10′ 21″ is the northernmost point in Europe that you can drive to and you can actually see the actual northernmost point. For two months a year the sun never sets here (including tonight). For two months a year the sun never rises. I suspect there are less tourists here then. The views from the cliffs are stunning.

In 1943, the Battle of the North Cape was fought in the Arctic Ocean off this cape, where the German battleship Scharnhorst was eventually sunk by gunfire from the British battleship HMS Duke of York and torpedoes from the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Stord, and other ships of the British Navy.

The steep mountain cliff rises 307 meters above the Arctic Ocean, and marks the end point of the European continent. Nordkapphallen, the visitor center, has a rich variety of sights including a panoramic film that takes you on a journey through four seasons in a landscape full of contrasts, light and breathtaking scenery. There are dioramas of local birds that look pretty real. At the top level of the building center you will find a restaurant with stunning views of mountain plateau and endless ocean, a coffee shop and a bar. There is a chapel, a cave of lights (that wasn’t working properly), and a small Thai museum. (Weird?) And of course there is the obligatory (huge) gift shop. It’s quite a mélange.

The Globe Monument stands almost at the edge of the clifftop, this iconic sculpture has become a symbol of the North Cape and is one of the most photographed spots in Norway. See cold Elaine?

Then there is the Children of the World Monument. The sculpture features seven bronze discs based on clay reliefs made by seven children from different countries, symbolizing friendship, hope, joy, and working together. See me in the pictures – twice actually, one not very obvious?

Then it was back to the ship to warm up, rest up, drink up, and eat up. Tomorrow we leave Norway and will spend the next two days traversing the Barents Sea as we head to the Shetland Islands. So far the ocean has been like a lake. You’d hardly know you were sailing. We’ll see if that continues. Here are some pictures taken back at the dock. As we ate lunch the huge MSC Preziosa (3,500 passengers) docked next to us. Glad they all weren’t converging at the North Cape site when we were there. (See the avalanche/rockslide fences on the hillside?)

While shoving of at 6:00 pm to head to our next port, we met Jim and Theresa (from North Carolina) for drinks and then dinner and then after dinner drinks. As we dined, we passed by the North Cape (with the globe) that we had visited earlier in the day. It’s way up there on that cliff!

The Midnight Sun

This cruise is titled “Into the Midnight Sun”. So last night we stayed awake until midnight. Here is the picture from our room at the stroke of midnight. That’s the low point of the sun for the day and it will start rising again as we go to sleep. I’m not sure if that’s a ship way out there in the distance or an oil rig.

Be back tomorrow for the first of two consecutive sea days.