Tuesday, 12 March
Steps: 11830 with 12 flights of stairs
Song: Peer Gynt by Greig
Cruise day 4
Brønnoysund – Sandnessjøen – Nesna –Ørnes – Bodø –Stamsund – Svolvær
I was awakened by the announcement that we would be crossing the Arctic circle in about half an hour. I jumped up, showered and got into warm clothes. I tried to get David up and about, but had very little success. I raced up on deck expecting it to be packed and there was only a handful of people. I spotted the orb that marked the spot and as we crossed the ship sounded its horn. It gave me a thrill.
Later in the morning, we had an Arctic circle ceremony, where King Neptune pours a ladle of ice water down your back and you are rewarded with a shot of some liquor. The brave men of our team took part. The woman were more sensible. Nutcase John took his shirt off, so they poured the water down his pants. He had ice blocks stuck down his long johns!
You can also send postcards with the Arctic circle postmark. We sent one to both grans and one to ourselves in Swaziland. It will be interesting to see if it arrives in Malkerns before Burgersdorp or Johannesburg.
At 12:30, we docked in Bodø. June and the guys decided to walk to aeroplane museum. Gaeleen, Cherise and I took a bus to the city center. There is not much there. only one of the ugliest churches we have seen so far.
Most of the town of Bodø was destroyed by a German airstrike in 1940. Not sure why, there were only 6000 people living there at the time and I can’t imagine it was very important strategically or in any other way.
There is a block that has been covered by a glass roof to create a mall, where we wandered around. Local students had stalls displaying their entrepreneurial projects. I found it very interesting and bought some material squares that have been treated with beeswax, which you can use to seal dishes instead of plastic wrap.
At 7pm, at Stamsund, we got on a bus and were taken to “Meet the Vikings” at Lofotr in Borg, Lofoten. This consists of a Viking dinner in a Chieftain’s house which has been reconstructed on the remains of an original dwelling, which was inhabited from about 500- 900AD. The “Chieftain and the Lady of the house” host the evening, serving mead and a meal of lamb, turnips, wheat and scones with jam and cream all on one plate. There are also replicas and finds from that era on display.
The meal was a bit rushed and the audience was a bit heavy going. No-one really responded except our SA group. The dancing was a bit dismal, 2 steps to the left and 1 to the right, repeat and the crowd could not even get that right. Then, rather abruptly, we were herded down to the souvenir shop and onto the bus. On our way home, we could see the lights in the sky, but had no time to stop. As wee drove to meet our ship in Svolvær, we got to ask our tour guide questions. He is actually an archeology student and I learnt more about the Vikings from him than on any other occasion.
At 23:20, we met on deck for a drink in a special mug because we were passing Trollenfjord. It was basically rum and sweet tea and it was was quite delicious.
I slept in clothes because I was so sure we would get a call for the lights, but unfortunately there was too much cloud cover.
What I learnt: There was no race of Vikings. “Viking”actually refers to the profession of men who chose to sail out on ships and trade, also loot and raid, with people from other lands. So to say you are descendant from Vikings is equivalent to saying you are descendent from pirates.
Kim's journey 