After a night at sea we crossed the Arctic Circle at 9.30 am with the sun shining brilliantly on the blue waters. An enjoyable day was spent on board and I attended a couple of classes on the basics of digital photography which proved very useful for the unintiated such as myself. I was up on deck early the next morning to take lots of photos as we passed the North Cape – the northernmost point of Europe. It was bitterly cold and I was able to don my huge white (fake) fur hat which kept my ears lovely & warm. After yesterday’s classes I was able to practice with the self timer on my camera and for once have a photo of myself up on deck. In Honnisvaag we were again berthed in the middle of the fjord and had to go ashore by tender. The sea was quite rough as we set off in the little boat and a few screams were emitted by passengers as we rolled about on the waves. I had experienced far worse at Cairns in Northern Australia last year so for once I was one of the calmer passengers !
The tour I had booked took in a couple of fishing villages and included a stop at The Christmas Shop – a tiny little cottage selling nothing but Christmas goodies all year round. Being a sucker for Christmas I was looking forward to this but was deeply disappointed as I found most of the produce was “Made in China” rather than being locally produced handicrafts. However, the village was very pretty and the trolls were smiling on us for the sun came out – apparently for the first time in weeks. It was beautiful to see reindeer grazing contentedly by the side of the road – they seemed to know that I wanted a good photograph for they immediately “posed” for me.
On the way back to the ship I went in search of something other than the normal tourist shops but all seemed the same. Machine made woollen mits being sold for £45 per pair – one would need to take out a mortgage if a coat was to be purchased ! Then, on a corner of the quayside I noticed what appeared to be nothing more than a shack but outside hung a variety of reindeer skins and wooden products. I ventured inside to be greeted by three very large, very happy Sami ladies all dressed up in their colourful traditional dress. “Oh, have I found a Sami shop?” I exclaimed with beeming face – yes, indeed I had. It was a little treasure trove and I could have spent a whole afternoon browsing through its contents and chatting to the ladies. Alas, the last tender was due in 10 minutes so my time was severely limited. I managed to find a lovely reindeer muff and scarf in that time and was delighted with my purchases as I knew that these were locally made and they were half the price of the tourist tat in the other shops. As I mentioned before it is the Sami people who own the large reindeer herds and depend on them for their living so here I felt I was able to buy one or two things without feeling sad for the animals – after all we eat cows, pigs and lambs. The Sami people eat reindeer. I was delighted when one of the ladies allowed me take her photograph and I gave her great big hug. They were all curious about my big fur hat and I let them feel it to show them that it was only fabric and not real fur. I waved them goodbye and set off happily back to the ship.
The "boys" from the ship were on hand at the quayside handing out cups of hot beef tea to warm us up as we waited for the tender to tie up. I might add that this was VERY welcome.
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