5.11. Hammerfest - first glow

After a rough night, the sky is still gray in the morning, but the Arctic Ocean has calmed down. We are back on a southern course and a little closer to land.

The ship passes by the largest liquefied natural gas plant in Europe on the island of Melkøya. Here, the gas coming from the Barents Sea through a pipeline is processed into liquefied natural gas and transported by tanker ships.

In Hammerfest, we disembark for 2 hours. The place is deeply covered in snow, but there are heated footpaths here as well. Hammerfest can still be called the northernmost city in the world, although there are now several more northern ones in Alaska. We visit the Catholic church built in 1961 with its flaming stained glass windows. I take the opportunity to become a member of the Polar Bear Club as a souvenir of the trip. This can only be done here on site.

Back on the warm ship, there is hot tea. We pass the time playing dice when suddenly the ship's radio announces the Northern Lights. We immediately go to deck 8 and there they are. Goosebumps. The lights accompany us more or less strongly until we arrive in Tromsø, where we disembark at midnight.