Honningsvåg and Nordkapp

  Honningsvåg, Western Fjords, Norway
Friday, June 18, 2004

Honningsvåg was the most northern port on our cruise. It is just 1311 miles south of the North Pole. It is is situated on the island of Magerøya in the district of Finnmark. The town was almost totally destroyed by the German troops when they withgdrew from the area during World War II.

Honningsvåg

1-Honningsvåg

4-Honningsvåg

Again, the weather was cold and drizzly but who would let that stop them from sightseeing?

The town is rather small, population being only 2600 people. It is the gateway to Nordkapp (the North Cape) which is the most northern point in Europe.

3-Honningsvåg

2-Honningsvåg

We first roamed around the town and saw that the homes are like those found throughout Norway, compavt and colorful.

5-Honningsvåg

8-Honningsvåg

Lo and behold, we then came across the Sarry Makk microbrewery (so named because it took over Tromso's Mack's for position as the northernmost brewery in the world!).

6-Honningsvåg

The town has a big fishing industry. There is a monument at the waterfront honoring those fishermen who provide that impetus to the local economy.

7-Honningsvåg

The other major source of income is for tourism, in particular the cruise ships that visit around 100 times a year.

We joined a group for a side excursion to the North Cape. We traveled by coach through and overr the plateau that ends at the Cape. we saw number of Sami (indigenous people) with their unique dwellings and their reindeer herds. Unfortunately the coach driver was traveling at a pretty fast speed and it was raining so the shots we tried to take from the windows are pretty poor. We think they should arrange a stop at one of the locales for photo opportunities as well as opportunities for the Sami to sell some souvenirs to supplement their income.

There is a large visitor center Nordkapphallen at the Cape with restaurants facilities, souvenir shops, and even a post office where they let you post a couple of postcards to get the Nordkapp postmark. From there you can walk out to the point where there is a monument that unfortunately has been marred by vandals by painting their names on the pedestal.

1-Nordkapp

The barren landscape is impressive from the point.

Nordkapp

3-Nordkapp

4-Nordkapp

They also have a marker that shows the latitude: 71°10′21″N 25°47′40″E. This point is only 1306 miles from the North Pole.

2-Nordkapp

After we left Honningsvåg, the ship cruised around the North Cape for a couple of hours. At this time of the year, the sun never goes down which I will show you in another section on this trip.

5-Nordkapp