There was a contest on board the ferry to guess the exact moment the ship crossed The Arctic Circle. Kory kept teasing Kaleb and telling him to look for “the line in the water.” They informed us it would be between 6:30am and 8:00am so we all picked our times within that range. We were up at six o’clock so we wouldn’t miss the big moment. At exactly 7:37:40 we crossed it. Kaleb’s guess was 7:34:27, so he came in second place and was the winner of a Hurtigruten coffee mug. He couldn’t have been more proud. It was a much better way to start the day than yesterday’s series of events.
We woke to a spectacular sunrise this morning, bright red sky and dramatic mountainous peaks silhouetting it all (see photo). Overnight we left behind the rounded mountain tops that were all apparently covered in glaciers at one time, and moved into the zone where the peaks did not get touched by glacial action so they were as jagged and steep as could be (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb enjoying the view). Think Swiss Alps – only flooded, so a boat can move around between the peaks. It was more awesome than words could describe or pictures could ever depict as it was another three hundred and sixty degree view day. I spent the whole day running from one side of the boat to the next taking at least 300 pictures. Uff da.
After much prayer and a therapeutic Jacuzzi last night on the top deck of the ferry, my knee made some major improvements today, for which I am quite thankful. It was good that we had rain yesterday so I wasn’t tempted to walk around too much and it had a chance to heal. It was quite swollen and a little discolored, but today the pain has reduced significantly and I’m not limping nearly as much (stairs are still a challenge however.) Nothing worse than feeling like an extra piece of baggage just along for the ride.
Just as we passed the Arctic Circle this morning, we also passed the Molvika farm. It was a big thrill for me to be in “the neighborhood,” as I wrote a book about that area and I could finally visualize all the places our friend, Halton, had told me about as I was writing his memoires. Very cool. We plan to visit the farm itself on the drive south.
We got off the boat for a few hours in Bodø – got some lunch and looked for an internet signal so I could post my blog. I also was on the lookout for a clock tower that I remembered quite well from the last time I was there in 1983. I have some vivid memories of my time in Bodø and it was quite satisfying to find some familiar landmarks. The town has changed a lot in 25 years though….
On the last leg of our journey today – crossing from the mainland out to the Lofoten Islands, the boat was packed. I didn’t fully appreciate how few people were on board the last two days, but once we hit the Friday night rush traffic (and the Friday night before a holiday week), the boat was standing room only. There was also a little “convention” on board of about 300 knitting women. There is a chain of stores in Norway called “Husfliden” (house made – aka, made by hand), and they sell very fine hand made products. Well, I was wondering what the people must do that live in these incredibly remote areas and now I know, they knit. The store had a meeting with all their “suppliers” from up here to show them the latest in fashion, so the entire seating area up front was taken up by these very chatty, busy ladies, knitting as they sat there. It was quite the sight. And they just rode the ferry over for the three hour crossing, got off and waited an hour for the southbound boat to take them back. I’m sure there are very few places this far north of the Arctic Circle that could have held all these women, so it was a very clever idea to have the meeting on board a ship.
We arrived safely in Stamsund, a small little town teetering on the water’s edge. There isn’t much “buildable space” here because of the incredibly steep mountainous rock surrounding it. It’s the opposite of where we live on sinking sand, as the houses here are all built on solid rock! There is one small hotel here, and no restaurants open on a Friday night – go figure. Fortunately we arrived ten minutes before the only grocery store closed so we were able to get some food and have a picnic in our room. We’re looking forward to the adventures that await us tomorrow and we feel blessed beyond measure. What a ride.
We woke to a spectacular sunrise this morning, bright red sky and dramatic mountainous peaks silhouetting it all (see photo). Overnight we left behind the rounded mountain tops that were all apparently covered in glaciers at one time, and moved into the zone where the peaks did not get touched by glacial action so they were as jagged and steep as could be (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb enjoying the view). Think Swiss Alps – only flooded, so a boat can move around between the peaks. It was more awesome than words could describe or pictures could ever depict as it was another three hundred and sixty degree view day. I spent the whole day running from one side of the boat to the next taking at least 300 pictures. Uff da.
After much prayer and a therapeutic Jacuzzi last night on the top deck of the ferry, my knee made some major improvements today, for which I am quite thankful. It was good that we had rain yesterday so I wasn’t tempted to walk around too much and it had a chance to heal. It was quite swollen and a little discolored, but today the pain has reduced significantly and I’m not limping nearly as much (stairs are still a challenge however.) Nothing worse than feeling like an extra piece of baggage just along for the ride.
Just as we passed the Arctic Circle this morning, we also passed the Molvika farm. It was a big thrill for me to be in “the neighborhood,” as I wrote a book about that area and I could finally visualize all the places our friend, Halton, had told me about as I was writing his memoires. Very cool. We plan to visit the farm itself on the drive south.
We got off the boat for a few hours in Bodø – got some lunch and looked for an internet signal so I could post my blog. I also was on the lookout for a clock tower that I remembered quite well from the last time I was there in 1983. I have some vivid memories of my time in Bodø and it was quite satisfying to find some familiar landmarks. The town has changed a lot in 25 years though….
On the last leg of our journey today – crossing from the mainland out to the Lofoten Islands, the boat was packed. I didn’t fully appreciate how few people were on board the last two days, but once we hit the Friday night rush traffic (and the Friday night before a holiday week), the boat was standing room only. There was also a little “convention” on board of about 300 knitting women. There is a chain of stores in Norway called “Husfliden” (house made – aka, made by hand), and they sell very fine hand made products. Well, I was wondering what the people must do that live in these incredibly remote areas and now I know, they knit. The store had a meeting with all their “suppliers” from up here to show them the latest in fashion, so the entire seating area up front was taken up by these very chatty, busy ladies, knitting as they sat there. It was quite the sight. And they just rode the ferry over for the three hour crossing, got off and waited an hour for the southbound boat to take them back. I’m sure there are very few places this far north of the Arctic Circle that could have held all these women, so it was a very clever idea to have the meeting on board a ship.
We arrived safely in Stamsund, a small little town teetering on the water’s edge. There isn’t much “buildable space” here because of the incredibly steep mountainous rock surrounding it. It’s the opposite of where we live on sinking sand, as the houses here are all built on solid rock! There is one small hotel here, and no restaurants open on a Friday night – go figure. Fortunately we arrived ten minutes before the only grocery store closed so we were able to get some food and have a picnic in our room. We’re looking forward to the adventures that await us tomorrow and we feel blessed beyond measure. What a ride.
