At around 10:15 am, we are called to the deck as we are now passing through the narrow Magerøysund. It separates the North Cape island Magerøya from the mainland.
Somewhere beneath us is the tunnel that has been fortunately available since 1999 - because over time, longer and longer lines of cars formed in front of the ferry, which until then was the only means of transportation to the other side. By 2012, the tunnel had completely financed itself through toll revenue, because so many tourists wanted and still want to visit the famous cape.
When the tunnel was inaugurated in 1999, the weather was so bad that the celebrations had to take place inside the tunnel - that's what the weather conditions usually are like here. Take a look at our North Cape pictures, the weather was definitely different today. The local bus driver we met later even described the blue sky as a "miracle" and was completely thrilled about it ;-).
At the narrowest point of the Magerøysund - which is still over 1 kilometer wide there - is the reindeer swimming route. If the reindeer are weakened after the harsh winter in Finnmark (that's what this area of Norway is called here in the far north - only 1.5 Norwegians and 3 reindeer share one square kilometer), they are transported by truck through the tunnel from the mainland to the North Cape island. Before the tunnel existed, the military took care of the transport. Once on the island, the reindeer have several months to eat their fill and get fat again on Magerøy. And then, after the summer, the lead reindeer is attached to a boat and swims back towards the mainland - and all the other reindeer swim after it. We were assured that this is completely unproblematic, because fat floats on top and reindeer are generally good swimmers!
After the windy stay on deck, we could buy postcards with our own Hurtigruten North Cape stamp and postmark at the reception.
OFF TO THE NORTH CAPE
After landing in Honningsvag, an important fishing village here in the north, we went directly from the ship to our buses. Today, Stefano is our tour guide, who only ventures onto the island for 3-4 months in the summer for his job. In winter, it can sometimes be very uncomfortable here - for example, there is complete darkness from the end of November to the end of January.
After being a bit gray and windy in the morning, the island now showed itself from its best side: Blue sky and bright sunshine! It takes about 45 minutes from the harbor to the North Cape, and we interrupted the journey with a short visit to Sami (the Sami - or Sami people - are the indigenous people of Norway) Nils and his reindeer Rudolf:
Through a winding and barren landscape with many cliffs, we continued a short distance further into the interior of the island, but soon we were there: At the North Cape, at an altitude of 312 meters and 71° 10' 21": The famous North Cape Globe was of course the first thing everyone wanted to see and photograph, but you can also explore the area around it and get up close to the cliffs. As on our previous stages of the journey, there are also many "stone altars" here: There is also a monument that was built by 7 children from various parts of the world together with an artist. The children spent a week together at the cape and designed these large "coins." They - together with the statue shown below of a woman and child - are intended to symbolize that children, regardless of their skin color, beliefs, or language, should always understand each other. And that we should all aspire to that. After this tour around the area - and a bit of shopping in the North Cape Hall - it had become a bit quieter at the globe and we were able to take a "blank" photo without people: Fortunately, we had plenty of time to enjoy the sun at the North Cape and were only called back to the buses after 1.5 hours - before heading back to the harbor. Goodbye, Honningsvag! Tonight, we are supposed to meet with the expedition team at 9:30 pm. The daily plan we received yesterday only says "Midnight Sun / Polar Night." However, we do not know whether that means we will see the midnight sun...or just hear something about it. If there is something interesting to report, I will definitely provide an update tomorrow ;-). UPDATE: THE "WAVE COMPETITION"Although we did not see the midnight sun (we were already asleep), there is something else that I absolutely have to add for this day: The "Who has the most people waving outside on Deck 5" competition with the other Hurtigruten ship MS Finnmarken.We were already called to participate in this traditional competition during dinner, which has apparently been going on for several years between the two ships. Namely, whenever MS Polarlys is almost at the northernmost end of the route, in Kirkenes, and MS Finnmarken has already started the return journey south.Our hotel manager had already dressed up at 10 pm, set up the speakers, chilled the beer, and handed a Norwegian flag to everyone who ventured onto the deck: The music selection ranged from ABBA to Bruce Springsteen and Justin Timberlake to YMCA, and the atmosphere was almost boiling with so much party atmosphere - especially the older generations were really dancing up a storm ;-).When MS Finnmarken "rounded the corner" around 10:20 pm, it was just "EVERYONE WAVE - WAAAAVE!!": They waved back energetically (I think they won - even though our hotel manager didn't want to admit it and declared us as the winners)... ...before each ship went on its way again - still in glorious sunshine: And tomorrow: Our ship starts the journey back south. However, before that, we will take a boat trip to the Russian border.
