The North Cape Adventure...
Yesterday I woke up late after a nice evening out chatting with the crew in the bar. I had IPM and I was planning on doing laundry. 
One of the girls called and said there was only one bike left and wanted to know if I was going to take it. I told her probably not since I had IPM and gave her ample time to go pick it up. I slyly removed myself from the list and thought, "if the bike is still there after this 20 or so minute process, then I was meant to take it and go off." It was and I went off. I heard a rumor that the lists weren't being spot-checked and several people have done it already so I was good. I went off to the left for what I thought was the town of Leknes, but later I found out town was to the right. No bother I still rode on. It was quite hilly and a work out. I came upon these two mounds that overlooked a bay and some beautiful mountains.
I pulled off down a dirt road and parked my bike to do some hiking. As soon as I stepped onto the lush landscape, it was the weirdest feeling. I heard about the region and the permafrost. There are some plants that grow in the tundra regions amongst the grass. It felt like I was stepping into a swamp and I was a little unsure until I realized it was just a foot or so of growing plant life. It was like walking on grassy pillows. My feet would sink into the greens whenever I walked. I made it to the top of the mound and tried to stay mostly on the rocks. The grass and moss were kind of freaky to walk on. I took it all in and grabbed some photos before climbing down and biking further out. I didn't want to go too far since yesterday one of the ship's bikes popped a chain and was not repairable. 
I got to a turn off point and decided to go back since I was by myself. I was biking back up and down the steep hills and then I ran into some friends from the ship. I decided to tag along and they were headed out to where I came from. We headed into a small fishing town called Ballstad. It was gorgeous. We stopped here for a bit and some of them stayed for waffles. One of the guys in the band and myself decided to head back since we were so far out. It was a work out and my glutes are going to pay for this trip on top of yesterday's trip. Whew! Yesterday was a fabulous day to bike. We're above the Arctic Circle so the sun now sets around 11:00pm and rises again at 1:00am. How strange. 
I didn't get to see the northern lights the other night since it was so light out whenever I checked and it was also cloudy. I hope to see them once while we're up here. After Lekness we're at the tip of Norway in Honningsvåg. I'm on tour to the North Cape. It should be interesting.
As I am writing it is just after midnight on the 2nd and the sun hasn't set yet. It's just now "dipping" below the surface. It's supposed to rise again around 1:00am. Now that'll mess with your system. The program for today's events says there will be no sunset at all on the 2nd. Amazing! Speaking of amazing, that's what today was. We ported in Honningsvåg, which is the gateway to the North Cape (Nordkapp).
I was on a transfer today that took us there by bus. It started out kind of sketchy, rainy, and cold. A low fog was settling over the flat areas and this was around 2:00pm. On our way out to the North Cape we spotted MANY a reindeer. They were grazing in the fields, crossing the road, or just meandering about. Everywhere! We stopped at a local tourist trap that farmed them for their meat and fur as well as a local store with other arts and crafts. We finally got to the cape and the fog was just rolling off the cliff. This cliff is the edge of Europe. The northernmost point on continental Europe. 
I can now say I've been to the northernmost point and the southernmost point of the world all in one contract. It's quite an amazing accomplishment. I took the touristy pictures of the Latitudinal Line of N 71' 10' 21" and the one by the top of the world globe at the edge of the cliff. What was so interesting to me was steepness of the drop over the edge of the cliff itself. Whoa! Some went to watch the large screen movie telling about the cape and I went to explore. My curiosity of the area got the best of me. The top of the cliff was so flat. If it weren't so foggy, you could see for what seemed miles. 
The fog did manage to lift for a few while I was out there and I got some amazing shots. I was a daredevil I must say and got right up to the edge. My knees got a little weak at the sight of the drop, but I was still curious. At one point I flat out crawled on all fours to a ledge that was jagged and no larger than a coffee table to get a sight of the view. It was too bad a thick fog had rolled in just as I did it and I really couldn't see below me, but I think if I really DID see what was below me (nothing but a steep drop) I would've freaked out. I was nervous as it was. I wanted to wait for the fog to clear, but I was so far out and we didn't have much time at the cape. I still wanted to see other things and send some postcards from here. I was so far away the silence was insane. It was so quiet you could hear every nuance that you would make as you walk along gravel. You could hear your own breathing. There was just nothing around me and the Arctic Ocean and it's vastness to the north. 
I finished at the cape and took the very scenic drive back to the ship where I grabbed some dinner and then continued on our long day to the ice bar. This was a bar sculpted out of ice. It was hilarious. There was an igloo in there and everything. It was literally walking into a freezer locker. Even the shots of non-alcoholic mixer they served were in ice carved shot glasses. After this fun event I left my group and just went exploring through the local town taking it all in. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in an area where the sun doesn't really set at all and the temperatures here in the summer don't get much over 60 degrees. We sailed out and we were supposed to sail around the North Cape around 11:00pm. 
I went and saw the singer on tonight who was amazing. She had a fabulous show (Jeri Sager). She's played many a diva role on Broadway and had a fascinating story to tell in her show. Mainly it focused around her role as Grizabella in "Cats." After this we were rounding the cape from the water and I wanted a different perspective. 
The sun was close, but still a good distance from the horizon at 11:00pm. We rounded the cape and I got some more fascinating shots. I got so many of the sunset (since the weather was astonishingly beautiful) I don't know what to do with them. I think we lucked out on weather today since it's known for being rainy and foggy. I stayed out until midnight to catch the position of the sun. While currently out there the sun dipped officially around 11:40pm and it will rise again at 1:00am. As I said for the evening coming up there will be no sunset at all. As I sit here and type, the front of ship TV station is still showing that pink glow you normally get at twilight. It's also unbelievably cold out there with the wind and all. Yikes! I'm going to try and sleep now since we have a full day of scenic cruising Bear Island in the Polar region and our Broadway singers cabaret. Whew! This is one exciting cruise for the top of the world.
One of the girls called and said there was only one bike left and wanted to know if I was going to take it. I told her probably not since I had IPM and gave her ample time to go pick it up. I slyly removed myself from the list and thought, "if the bike is still there after this 20 or so minute process, then I was meant to take it and go off." It was and I went off. I heard a rumor that the lists weren't being spot-checked and several people have done it already so I was good. I went off to the left for what I thought was the town of Leknes, but later I found out town was to the right. No bother I still rode on. It was quite hilly and a work out. I came upon these two mounds that overlooked a bay and some beautiful mountains.
I pulled off down a dirt road and parked my bike to do some hiking. As soon as I stepped onto the lush landscape, it was the weirdest feeling. I heard about the region and the permafrost. There are some plants that grow in the tundra regions amongst the grass. It felt like I was stepping into a swamp and I was a little unsure until I realized it was just a foot or so of growing plant life. It was like walking on grassy pillows. My feet would sink into the greens whenever I walked. I made it to the top of the mound and tried to stay mostly on the rocks. The grass and moss were kind of freaky to walk on. I took it all in and grabbed some photos before climbing down and biking further out. I didn't want to go too far since yesterday one of the ship's bikes popped a chain and was not repairable. 
I got to a turn off point and decided to go back since I was by myself. I was biking back up and down the steep hills and then I ran into some friends from the ship. I decided to tag along and they were headed out to where I came from. We headed into a small fishing town called Ballstad. It was gorgeous. We stopped here for a bit and some of them stayed for waffles. One of the guys in the band and myself decided to head back since we were so far out. It was a work out and my glutes are going to pay for this trip on top of yesterday's trip. Whew! Yesterday was a fabulous day to bike. We're above the Arctic Circle so the sun now sets around 11:00pm and rises again at 1:00am. How strange. 
I didn't get to see the northern lights the other night since it was so light out whenever I checked and it was also cloudy. I hope to see them once while we're up here. After Lekness we're at the tip of Norway in Honningsvåg. I'm on tour to the North Cape. It should be interesting.As I am writing it is just after midnight on the 2nd and the sun hasn't set yet. It's just now "dipping" below the surface. It's supposed to rise again around 1:00am. Now that'll mess with your system. The program for today's events says there will be no sunset at all on the 2nd. Amazing! Speaking of amazing, that's what today was. We ported in Honningsvåg, which is the gateway to the North Cape (Nordkapp).
I was on a transfer today that took us there by bus. It started out kind of sketchy, rainy, and cold. A low fog was settling over the flat areas and this was around 2:00pm. On our way out to the North Cape we spotted MANY a reindeer. They were grazing in the fields, crossing the road, or just meandering about. Everywhere! We stopped at a local tourist trap that farmed them for their meat and fur as well as a local store with other arts and crafts. We finally got to the cape and the fog was just rolling off the cliff. This cliff is the edge of Europe. The northernmost point on continental Europe. 
I can now say I've been to the northernmost point and the southernmost point of the world all in one contract. It's quite an amazing accomplishment. I took the touristy pictures of the Latitudinal Line of N 71' 10' 21" and the one by the top of the world globe at the edge of the cliff. What was so interesting to me was steepness of the drop over the edge of the cliff itself. Whoa! Some went to watch the large screen movie telling about the cape and I went to explore. My curiosity of the area got the best of me. The top of the cliff was so flat. If it weren't so foggy, you could see for what seemed miles. 
The fog did manage to lift for a few while I was out there and I got some amazing shots. I was a daredevil I must say and got right up to the edge. My knees got a little weak at the sight of the drop, but I was still curious. At one point I flat out crawled on all fours to a ledge that was jagged and no larger than a coffee table to get a sight of the view. It was too bad a thick fog had rolled in just as I did it and I really couldn't see below me, but I think if I really DID see what was below me (nothing but a steep drop) I would've freaked out. I was nervous as it was. I wanted to wait for the fog to clear, but I was so far out and we didn't have much time at the cape. I still wanted to see other things and send some postcards from here. I was so far away the silence was insane. It was so quiet you could hear every nuance that you would make as you walk along gravel. You could hear your own breathing. There was just nothing around me and the Arctic Ocean and it's vastness to the north. 
I finished at the cape and took the very scenic drive back to the ship where I grabbed some dinner and then continued on our long day to the ice bar. This was a bar sculpted out of ice. It was hilarious. There was an igloo in there and everything. It was literally walking into a freezer locker. Even the shots of non-alcoholic mixer they served were in ice carved shot glasses. After this fun event I left my group and just went exploring through the local town taking it all in. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in an area where the sun doesn't really set at all and the temperatures here in the summer don't get much over 60 degrees. We sailed out and we were supposed to sail around the North Cape around 11:00pm. 
I went and saw the singer on tonight who was amazing. She had a fabulous show (Jeri Sager). She's played many a diva role on Broadway and had a fascinating story to tell in her show. Mainly it focused around her role as Grizabella in "Cats." After this we were rounding the cape from the water and I wanted a different perspective. 
The sun was close, but still a good distance from the horizon at 11:00pm. We rounded the cape and I got some more fascinating shots. I got so many of the sunset (since the weather was astonishingly beautiful) I don't know what to do with them. I think we lucked out on weather today since it's known for being rainy and foggy. I stayed out until midnight to catch the position of the sun. While currently out there the sun dipped officially around 11:40pm and it will rise again at 1:00am. As I said for the evening coming up there will be no sunset at all. As I sit here and type, the front of ship TV station is still showing that pink glow you normally get at twilight. It's also unbelievably cold out there with the wind and all. Yikes! I'm going to try and sleep now since we have a full day of scenic cruising Bear Island in the Polar region and our Broadway singers cabaret. Whew! This is one exciting cruise for the top of the world.
posted by Chris | 6:58 PM
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