Hurtigruten - MS Trollfjord - Day 4

At 7:22am we passed the Arctic Circle 66°33’north and I was there to catch the moment. Right through this little island it goes.

After that a good breakfast (as always) it was time to gather my camera bag and tripod because I was off for an excursion. We were picked up at 8:30, by a boat out at sea and then we headed towards Svartisen. It is a glacier called that, it means black ice. This is not a glacier from the ice age so the colour is a bit different than the colour of glaciers that are older. You can see the grey nuance when it is raining but we were luckier than that, the weather was absolutely perfect today too.

What I did get, was an opportunity to take a picture of MS Trollfjord as it sailed on. We would meet again in Bodø.

A few pictures from the 90 min. trip on a little boat with a guide that said everything in Norwegian, English and German. I was pretty tired in the end, hearing the same info in three languages.

The first one is a picture of a white tailed eagle, sitting there all by it's lonesome. The guide told us it usually sits there with what food it has collected, enjoying it. Sort of like us humans, we love to enjoy our meals and have a good view at the same time. I did miss my 18-300mm Sigma several times during this trip, this was one of those moments.

Then there is this colouful old abandoned factory. Good quality paint that has lasted so long. One of my faves pictures from the trip. Ansel Adams said that 12 significant pictures a year is a good crop. For me, this is one of mine.

This is one of the many fingers of the glacier, I think she said there were 13 in all, but I might be wrong.

A short walk from the boat to the lake in front of the glacier, we could not get any closer and I found that a little disappointing – I know from home how fascinating it is to be standing close to the ice, to see it for real.

But a charming place and they served coffee and hot chocolate and cakes of many different kinds.

Then back to the boat, over to the other side and there we were picked up by a bus that would take us to Bodø.

The one above is taken from the bus, not a quality shot, but I love they way it was in a way hovering over our heads.

We made one stop to get some refreshment at the local grocery store and we stopped at Saltstraumen too – nowhere in the world is there a stronger tidal current; 372 million cubic metres of water passes four times a day - a popular place for fishing and I have never seen anything like it - there were 10-15 people fishing there when we arrived and they were literally heaving them in. The picture on the left does not do the place justice, but I did want to try to capture the force of those currents. A beautiful place and one is always in awe at such power.

The ship was waiting in Bodø; we arrived there just before 3pm, after an interesting little trip.

It was that afternoon that I heard why the captain had blown the horn the day before. It WAS because of that little boat with the flag. An older couple that was travelling with the ship had been on holiday on Malta some years before and met another couple from Norway. The kept in touch and now that they were sailing right by, they decided to have a rendezvous at sea and the captain was kind enough to acknowledge the little meeting. So, I went to our cabin, took out the Canon Selphy CP400 printer that I had brought along and made two copies. Peter, who had met them, presented them with the postcards and they were very surprised. I guess the other couple felt much the same when they got a card in the mail – I know they sent it from the ship and I know for a fact that the mailbox was emptied every day.

There were so many things to see this day – at 7:30pm we came to Stamsund and from there on to Svolvær, both part of Lofoten. We strolled around Svolvær for almost an hour. I bought some dried fish, popular in Iceland too, but foreigners usually decline the offer to taste this wonderful snack. These two boats were in the harbour in Svolvær.

Here we meet MS Midnatsol (Midnightsun) our sistership in the Hurtigruten fleet. And both captains really blew their horns, repeatedly, almost a little contest they have going. There is a towelwaiving contest, but I'll get around to telling you about that strange thing later on, when we are further north.

And if we had not seen enough for one day, we sailed into Trollfjorden late that night; our ship must be named after it. It is not as long as Geirangerfjorden, but really narrow and turning around took some effort.

Just before midnight we sailed out of Trollfjorden again, long days indeed. And then they sailed into the sunset ... it's just that the sun does not set, it hardly takes a dip even, and is on it's way up again.