Best Western Havoysund Hotell Hammerfest

... be in the North Atlantic it must have been terrible to be on ships slugging it out in such battles or doing convoy duty to Murmansk.

On a more positive vein, the weather in the North Cape area in October is surprisingly moderate. While I had read that this was the case, experiencing such a pleasant night out on Deck 5 is psychologically difficult to comprehend. And to actually take my coat off and walk about in shirt sleeves was perhaps overdoing this new reality ...

... pretty good!) we played a game of cricket out in the carpark...just because we could.

At 1:30am, with the bus half an hour late, we eventually began our return journey to Olderfjord. At about 3am we finally saw the sun shining through the clouds, so that was some consolation for not getting to see it at Nordkapp. We didn't arrive back until just before 4am...so it was
a long day!

August 11 Christian had already left quite early has he needed to go consult the nearest dentist which is 200km away in Hammerfest. I woke up a bit later and also later than wanted so I somehow missed the 'morning traffic'. I also felt the burden of having had my feet wet the previous day and having walk a lot by having my nose block and feeling a flu coming over. Anyhow, I prepared and hit the road by foot till the first ...

... finally walking along the road for a few km following the fjord and looking at the mountainous landscape. After some km of walk its a finnish guy in a van who stopped by the road and picked me over. He was going all the way to Nordkapp on this trip and was also going to fish at some other places on the island. He was an old man enjoying his vacation by himself as his wife didn't want to join him and stayed in Helsinki. The middle part of the road was even more ...

... norvegian took me over in his caravan all the way to the crossroad that goes to Nordkapp or Alta, in Olderfjord. There the waiting has been long, way more long and some little dropplet of rain get over my head so I sheltered for a moment. But the traffic was really scarce and the hours went on... mainly buses passing. Finally, a guy took me over after I started to walk along the road and brought me to the next crossroad which is only few km further. At least it was ...

... to it. Then drove to our campsite at the top of the cliff. It is so windy and cold up here. Cook tents have been known to fly away. That would be a funny site to see it go over the cliff. Our cabin is a hike up the hill, far, far from the toilets and showers. We kept warm in the cabin until dinner at 6.30. Then I had a hot and free shower and layered up, ready for Nordkapp.

... guide gave us information about the area. It seems that everywhere you go there is a polar bear anecdote to be heard, and sure enough the guide described how two Swedish girls were trapped at the top of this mountain in the summer of 1996 by a young polar bear. Now if polar bears are in this region in summer, they are basically lost because they should be further north where the ice and seals are. This one was particularly ...

... bus to the harbour I got talking to the two ladies who had to retire from the previous day's walk, as well as another smiley Norwegian lady who was travelling with them. I assured them that they had made the right decision as it was pretty tough, and they seemed relieved to hear that. There were more people on this tour than on the cruise to Tempelfjorden, though it was the same boat. It wasn't overcrowded though, but it was very cold outside so straight after the safety ...

... evening. The following day, we headed into town. We all headed our separate ways for lunch and then in the afternoon we met up at the marina for an afternoon of deep sea fishing. We all had hand reels and there were two hooks on each line. Our finder found a school of fish and everyone prepared to drop their lines over, but where was the bait. No bait is needed, trust us. So over the lines go and within 30 seconds, we had all caught at least 2 fish at a time! Massive Rock Cod ...

Couple more ferry crossings - one from Lyngen to Olderdalen on what is considered the perfect fjord Bought anoraks - only $5 including pants Moose & reindeer beside road Alta -stopped for tea at a Lapp camp - like Indian tee-pees with furs & antlers around. Windy & freezing at Hammerfest when we arrived at 11pm, so stayed in the youth hostel instead of camping. Midnight Sun