Day 9 Baltic Jewels & the Midnight Sun: Honningsvåg, Norway

 Honningsvåg, Norway ~ Sunday, July 3

Honningsvåg is the northernmost city in mainland Norway.  The 260 acre town has a population of about 2500.  It was declared a city in 1996.

Situated at a bay on the southeastern side of the large island of Magerøya, Honningsvåg is a port of call for Hurtigruten Coastal Express and cruise ships, especially in the summer months. The ice-free ocean (the southwestern part of the Barents Sea) provides rich fisheries and tourism is also important to the town. Even at 71°N, many private gardens in Honningsvåg have trees, although rarely more than 10 to 13 feet tall.

We arrived in port at about 8:00 this morning, and snapped some photos of our surroundings in the heart of Honningsvåg. The landscape around us is stark, rocky, and harsh - words that reverberated with me throughout the day.

From our Stateroom Veranda, the gritty town of Honningsvåg

Jeff watched from our veranda as a tugboat with two men coordinated with two other men on shore to secure our ship to the pier.

Watching us dock from our veranda

Eventually we ventured up to the World Cafe for breakfast, and by 8:45 am were off the ship in search of Bus 4, where we met our guide, Albert.

Albert spoke very good English and was very knowledgeable about the town of Honningsvåg and the island of Magerøya.  He told us that the name Honningsvåg means "horned bay" in old Norse.  The rocky mountain-tops looked like horns to the Vikings who explored here - hence the name.  

Steep and rocky Honningsvåg vista on the way to the Nordkapp

We passed many reindeer on our way to the Nordkapp.

Albert explained to us that the Sámi, the indigenous people of this part of Norway, "own" the reindeer.  They are the only ones who can herd reindeer, which are prized for their meat and skins.  The Sámi are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Russia, most of the Kola Peninsula in particular. The Sámi have historically been known in English as Lapps or Laplanders, terms that are regarded as offensive by the Sámi, who prefer the area's name in their own languages, e.g. Northern Sámi Sápmi.  

Traditionally, the Sámi have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sámi are connected to reindeer herding, which provides them with meat, fur, and transportation. 2,800 Sámi people are actively involved in reindeer herding on a full-time basis in Norway.  For traditional, environmental, cultural, and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved for only Sámi in some regions of the Nordic countries.

On our way up to Nordkapp, we passed a Sámi camp.  Albert tells us that it is inhabited by a mother andher son, who run a souvenir shop.

Sámi camp

We also passed Troll's Island, which Albert tells us is for sale for about $300,000.  At low tide the "island" becomes a peninsula.

Troll's Island

After nearly an hour's drive, we arrived at Nordkapp.  It was a sparkling day with a stiff wind - but not nearly so windy as when we were to catch the coach an hour or so later!  We went inside the Great Hall to view a panoramic film.  The film takes the viewer on a journey of the four seasons of Nordkapp.  The landscape is just breathtaking, and the contrasts between light and dark makes you feel as if you are experiencing the warm golden summer with the brilliance of the midnight sun, and the depths of the polar night, with its arctic blue winter where the northern lights fill the sky.  There was a lyricism to the film as it showed generations of people living in unity with nature.  It was fourteen minutes well worth the time. 

This is probably my favorite picture of the day.  It truly captures the feeling of "the end of the earth."

You can see how windy it was by my crazy hair!

A rare photo of Jeff and me in front of the globe sculpture at the end of the earth

This marker points you due north

Back inside we sat in the cafe and enjoyed something to drink while waiting for our bus to return.

 

This obelisk was dedicated to King Oscar II, who visited Nordkapp on July 2nd, 1873, and here we are photographing it 149 years later!  The plaque, one can read:

"That is what King Oscar II, Union King of Norway and Sweden, said during the unveiling of the king monument at North Cape.

Not as a transitory adornment, but as a solemn sign that the Kingdom of Norway reaches hither, therefore I have erected this monument at the outermost point of the North.

King Oscart II
Nort Cape
2 July 1873"

On our way back to the ship Albert told us that the earliest houses on the island were made of rocks covered with earth and grasses.  As luck would have it we passed a couple and I managed to snap this picture:

Early homes made from rock and earth

Back to our floating hotel.  Viking Mars is the newest of the ocean ships.  We are actually the first "real" cruise for her.  They did a trial run with her and a select group of travelers, but she looks and feels brand new.

We were scheduled to leave Honningsvåg at 5 pm.  Shortly after 5, the Captain came on the public address system to let us know that our departure would be delayed due to high winds, and the lack of tug boats in the area to assist us.  He assured us that it would not impact our visit to Tromsø the following day.  From the photo above, you can see how windy it was.

As we waiting for our departure, we kept snapping photographs of the beautiful landscape just outside our windows.

Eventually, all was well, and we were underway, headed for Tromsø.