Inside the Arctic Circle

Inside the Arctic Circle

                                       

Finally, the wind was in the right direction to take a photo of our flag, it was the usual Norwegian flag but in the centre is the symbol of the post office and the word in large letters saying POST indicating that we were a postal carrying service.

As we got nearer to the Arctic Circle that morning, it was getting darker and it hailed, driven by wind right into our faces. Luckily, it stopped soon after it started. It was 8.15am as we approached the marker indicating 66.33 degrees north, the Arctic Circle. This was taken from the south side...

...and moments later, we were over the line and we were inside the Arctic Circle.

The first settlement within the Arctic Circle, ten metres inside the imaginary line. Oddly, the clouds disappeared, it got brighter with some blue sky and noticeably warmer, perhaps 6 degrees centigrade.

                                        

We reached our next port of call at Ørnes.

                                        

We were late arriving but there was a reason for that as there was a local ferry that was late and it had cargo, post and cars for us. We didn't moor as there were only a handful of stevedores and they can't handle two ships at once, so we just circled in the sheltered harbour and waited. The local ferry can unloaded and then set off again. 

Then we were able to dock, unload, load and continue, now an hour behind schedule.

Then it was back to celebrating on the top rear deck in the open. Preparations of shorts and a bottle of bubbly if you want to buy Arctic bubbles.

We had to get the blessing of the Norse god of the sea, Njord, who came aboard and gave a speech.

Dressed in traditional costume of course...

...plus a long blow on his horn.

There had been a competition the night before to guess the time that we would be crossing the Arctic Circle and he announced the winner and gave a prize but it also had a forfeit, an ice cube down the back of your shirt, them she got her prize of the company flag, signed by the captain, and a shot of aquavit.