Hurtigruten; Wednesday, 22 July, 2015

Docking several times overnight ensured a disrupted sleep, but it also meant that I was awake in time to be up on deck a few minutes after 7 as we crossed the Arctic Circle.

After breakfast there was time to watch the precarious transfer of passengers from the Hurtigruten onto a small ferry for the Glacier tour, from the fifth deck it looked decidedly dodgy as this tiny catamaran bobbed up and down next to our ship.

As we weren't booked on any of the tours from Bodø we held off having lunch until after the ship had docked, consequently the restaurant was deserted.

After lunch was the long sail across the open water to the Lofoten islands, but with a millpond still sea and clear blue skies it was an incredibly smooth journey.

Dinner whilst in port in Stamsund and then we sailed onto the main town of the Lofoten Islands – Svolvær. We had a bit of a wander around the town, before heading back to the ship for a drink in the bar before it filled back up again as people returned to the ship.

The highlight of the day, and one of the key natural highlights of the whole trip, was the journey down into the incredibly narrow Trollfjord. With most passengers out on deck you could almost hear people breathing in to help the ship squeeze into the narrow cliff lined fjord. By the time we reached the end of the Fjord to turn around it did feel like we were at a celebrity event with the number of camera's going off.

Making the whole thing more incredible, and a confirmation that we were well above the Arctic Circle by now, was as we turned in the Fjord, in beautiful sunlight, all the clocks showed midnight.

Then it was time, along with the rest of the ship, to turn in for the night.

Weather

Sunny Intervals Sunny
AM PM
Mild (0-10C, 32-50F)
19ºC/66ºF