Thoughts from the top of the world as the owl and the pussycat mess about in boats

Nord Cap (North Cape) is the very top of Norway, and a popular point to visit both at midsummer (now) and mid winter, when you can witness the northern lights. It was cloudy when we arrived but by the afternoon, the sun shone as we clambered around the town of Honnesvag, the views down the end of the fjord were wonderful, the water as blues as the postcards present. It was really peak hour in the little port as there were three cruise ships coming in at various times. We sailed out very late in the evening, with broad daylight giving a bright farewell to the very north of Norway. We start three days at sea now, cruising through the stunning fjord of Geiranger in the next couple of days on our way south to Oslo. There may be a little dusk in the next day or so, but the daily news still lists: the sun never sets. An amazing time. It has added to the whole experience of being so far north, with no phone or internet or television contact – we were away from the world we know on a daily basis, and in a wild, lonely but incredibly beautiful landscape which demanded no distractions.

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Thoughts leaving Murmansk

I am not going to give too much history on this city – the largest city north of the Arctic circle. Around 340,000, and has lost about 1/3 of its population in the last 10 years. We had to wait for customs and passport clearance, so were late leaving the ship – onto buses, and local guides with us to give some narration. It is a city based on fishing, and the oil and gas industry being generated from the seas off north Russia. So the port area is very large and busy. There are floating dry docks, and oil or gas offshore rigs in for service, many fishing vessels, and others all competing for wharf space.

The city itself boasts the wide streets that we saw in St Petersburg, with a lot of trees on the side. It is early summer (or what sits as summer here) so the lavender bushes are everywhere. But we mostly noticed the blocks of flats – everywhere, in all areas of the city – there are three terraces of the city – all reflecting the different geological development periods of the harbour. There is a low area, moving to two higher levels. And everywhere, there are these oppressing buildings which house the vast majority of the population. Much of Murmansk was bombed to obliteration during the dark times of the second world war. After the war, the housing was very grim, and gradually, these utilitarian buildings of one, two and three room (not bedroom) flats were constructed. They reflected the different tough styles of the leaders, from Kruschev, to Breshnev, and the other leaders. Some newer ones are a little brighter, but they are still very bald - we do not appreciate how lucky we are. One wondered what the Local passport control staff thought of the grandness of the ship decor, while we were processed. There is little colour in the streets, other than the green of the trees. But they are very proud of their history, and there is a huge statue of a lone soldier on a hill overlooking the city and Kola Harbour, in recognition of the young soldiers lost in the wars. It is amazing to see close up.

It has been an eye opening visit, after the incredible wealth seen in St Petersburg a few years ago, a very different city, where there is little evidence of the historic wealth of the larger southern cities. But they are strong, they have to be to survive the winter time alone – in mid winter, there is 19 minutes of daylight on the shortest day – a little time of celebration, with only around 30 days of good sun per year – a lot of cloud, and some severe storms and high winds – and the long weeks of 24 hour daylight – quite a challenge all year round.

So we sail out, with some bewildered thoughts as to how the locals do pass their days and years, and understand how the population , particularly the young, slowly drift away.

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Of the birds of the air and fish of the sea, and the men who came.

Once upon a time there were some birds soaring and swooping over the seas of the land of the north. They knew of many people living on those lands, and they knew they had different ways of travelling and eating and hunting. Some of the birds knew of the people of what we now know as Norway, and some knew the people called Danes, and some more knew of the groups from a place called Sweden. There were groups of people who went from these countries and travelled in long boats to other countries to trade and sometimes to be fierce warriors over the people. And the birds followed them, to see what was there. Those that flew around Norway followed their people as they sailed north and west towards Greenland, and Northern Canada – they met other birds who taught them about other lands and different fish in the sea, and how to catch different gulf streams to soar and dive, and travel to wonderful new places, but also to track back home. Those that followed the Danish folk saw a wonderful new land with green fields, and cliffs, and towns and people wanting to trade. They were happy to trade and some settled, but the birds knew that they must go back, so the currents and fish streams led them eventually home with tales of all they had seen. They had seen giant fish, with spouts of water and huge back tails, that could drown men if they weren’t careful, but looked wonderful, gentle creatures from where the birds soared, and the creatures of the water looked out at the world. Some other birds followed their people to another place, east, across seas and some mountains, to a grand, ancient land, where much trade with the east happened, and a large country was evolving. The people found cities of high standing, and the birds saw Kiev become a great place, and they came back to tell the birds of Sweden what they had seen, and birds they had met. And they came and went to these new lands and saw what men were doing. The gentle giants of the sea sailed on as great leviathans, and saw the travellers come and go, and saw the birds swoop and play, and feed off the generous sea.

And a new time came, and the birds saw new objects on the water around their lands. These were on the top of the sea, not under it. And there were travellers - not traders of fur and riches, but those taking pictures and waving, and admiring the lands, and the seas, and the birds that swooped, and the giants of the sea who blew water out, and splashed their great tails, and gently swam along, while the dolphins jumped and squealed joyfully to be in such a slip stream – it saved energy, and was great fun. And the birds loved this new plaything they found on the waters, there was warm air from its spout, not like the water spout of the whale, but a warm cushion that let them float and drift without any effort just above this floating box. And the fish were easy to catch in the wake of this box, and it was fun to glide beside it and look in at the people – looking out at them. They felt sorry for the people – they could not fly and swoop and enjoy the scenery from such a height, and move onto a new lands at a whim. And the birds knew they had friends and relatives in all those lands the early people had ventured, and perhaps those people in the floating box did too, and were trying to find them.

A town called Hammerfest, on a Saturday, at the top of the world

It was a little drizzly, and not so cold – 10C, and we decided to walk into the little town – Hammerfest is very far north, and contests with Honnesvag for the title of most northerly town on the European mainland. A pleasant walk brought us to the few shops – mostly inside in a warm shopping complex the winters are so cold and dark, most shops are all in here together. The library was shut – it is Saturday, and this size town would not warrant opening. We spoke to a local who described winter in this northern part of the world. He described it as murkita (sic) or dark place – and this is more than the physical darkness for a couple of months, but the psychological issues of depression and sadness that can affect the locals and visitors.

A nice little place which seems quite content with its own quiet existence, where many are happy to spend their days and years .

We are now en route for Murmansk in Northern Russia – we have extensive directions on what paperwork we must have with us to go ashore – we do not have visas, so are limited to guided tours, which are strictly controlled – understandable and accepted.

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The story so far - please read on

We have been far beyond the satellite footprint, so I have been saving some thoughts to send when we returned to the modern world of instant communication - so please read this from the start - and it will bring any reader up to date with our northerly adventures.

BERGEN, NORWAY – Saturday 25 June 2011

It was a cloudy, and calm morning as we turned left out of the North sea into the islands and peninsulas that guide you to Bergen. We are now on the edge of troll country, so we approach it quietly , and the city greets us on a Saturday morning. The city already has two ships in before we are also disgorged into the streets and cafes, and tourist points. We took our time, and I even managed a sketch (not that good yet), before we took to the paths and streets. This is our third visit to this pretty place, so we have already done the main points - so we sought out the main public library, and found a lot of the same problems with old buildings and extension possibilities, and stock and expansion are common the world over. The staff of course had perfect English, and I could only respond with the hellos and goodbyes and thankyous in their Norwegian (very similar to Danish in these phrases), and felt very inadequate. Photos will be posted when we have better connection and speed.

Sunset this morning - 12.41am, sunrise – 5.41, so sleeping is quite strange – but it is getting more normal. Darkness will be significantly shorter from now as we go a long way north, on a sea day. We’ll see how what else there is to do while messing about in boats.

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We are well over the ARCTIC CIRCLE, gliding past the most stunning scenery on our way to Harstad, a very cultural community in the north of Norway. There are snow capped mountains, and serious troll territory. Our daily news announces for today – the sun never sets, so we have made it to the land of the midnight sun. It is quite a surreal experience, the lack of darkness, it is so natural to us, that its absence is quite strange. Not necessarily missed, just different. We are waking very early – often around 4.00 – and there is the day already up and presenting itself in all the glory of Norwegian landscape. It is pretty cool – mild – with the gulf stream keeping the harbours warm all year. The seas are gentle – the sip is just gliding, so the ship’s company is very happy. The only unfortunate news at the moment – we may not get as far as we hoped to the polar cap – the ice is breaking up earlier, and significant drifts of ice are moving into the shipping lanes – and we are definitely not an ice breaker – we will have to wait till closer to the area. That is all part of the fabric of travel, and mother nature is in charge up here.

Have started classes again – the viking life and explorations – very interesting .I did not know how far east the Swedish Vikings moved – founding Kiev, and named by the Finlanders as the Rus – hence Russia comes to the language.

Breakfast and solid ground awaits.

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Sailing through daylight all through the ‘night’, we are making our way towards Magdalene Bay, very near the Arctic ice barrier – we have been able to come further than first hoped. It is just after 6.00 am, and the sun is high and pouring into the cabin. We can already see the west side of Spitzbergen, with snow and little glaciers through the early clouds hugging the coast. Breakfast ensuite, while we get dressed in the warmest clothes we have – yesterday it only got to 6 C, pretty chilly, though the 13 laps of the track (equals 1 km) does warm you up nicely. The captain is predicting we will be in the ice flows by 8.00 – we are a very long way from home, and from much life at all. It is so amazing to see nature this raw, and pure beauty – Ill report more as we experience this incredible sight.

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What an amazing day we have had. The captain informed us it was 3 C., we are 80 degrees north, 600 miles from the north pole. Incredible sights awaited as we sailed into Magdalene fjord and bay. The glaciers come down to the water, though there is quite a lot of morain – one of the speakers has noticed some comparative changes in the reach of the glaciers from a couple of years ago. The blues and greens of the sea, the ice with its subtle shades of blue at the edges – the quiet crunching of the little berger bits – (mini icebergs – these can be up to 30 metres wide – and only about 1/8 is showing above water.) It is hard to construct expressions to describe this beauty, the camera does not do it justice as the panorama is 360 degrees around us. It has to be seen and experienced. It is also very quiet – people don’t speak much, and with only a few hundred spread all round the boat – there is space for all. To know we are so far north – almost the top of the world is almost overwhelming – with a new admiration to the original explorers – even with all our modern fibres, it is still incredibly cold. How the Vikings managed in their open boats defies belief, but they did make it, and much further – all the way to Greenland and on the Canada.

Yesterday and today – the daily news announces – The sun does not set – The lowest point of the sun and the movement up the horizon coincided at 2.00am – I actually awoke around that time, to a cloudy but bright daylight, and a little fishing boat nearby – we were not quite a lone in this wilderness. It was the first sign of human life outside our vessel in over a day. The birds keep us company, and the quick ones (including us) have spotted a couple of whales (minki and orkas)

We sail on – to the edge of the permanent north ice cap. On the horizon , we saw the strange low white lines, with broken shreds of ice drifting around. That was the edge of the last stretch of ice leading to the north pole. The ship glided further. Closer till we got to the point where the ship could not safely go further – we stopped and drifted for a while, - we exclaimed how far away from the real world we were, a rubber inflatable was launched, and a couple of the crew retrieved a lump of this floating ice , a tiny gesture in this huge, demanding environment. This day has been an absolute highlight of the trip, and a memory that will remain forever. To be so far north, after such a long trip, is amazing, to be thought about long after our return. This part of the world is obviously so fragile, it does bring home the reality of what man is doing to this planet, and what may have already been irretrievably lost. Again, we find it hard to capture the scene photographically, it is beyond our abilty to capture and contain – that is how it should be.

Might go and thaw out some more –(only 3 C still) those layers do work, and I appreciate all the items that jumped into the bag.

There is still no internet – we are way too far north, (officially we are out of the satellite footprint) so all of this will be placed on the blog when the link is made again – in the meantime, the world goes on without us.

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A visit to the most northerly city – with over 1000 inhabitants – Longerbyen in Spitzbergen . The first place we have visited which has warned you not to leave the city area without a guide – because of the risk of an encounter with polar bears – everyone of which you will come off the loser. So we played it safe, and found the library – and I have possibly made a significant library visit – to the most northerly public library in the world. The librarian was very helpful,(one of two members of staff) and interested in where we were from – I guess any visitors to this part of the world are welcome. It is also the first Library where I have had to take off my shoes - a common feature here – I guess due to the snow and slush everywhere –and that is fine – keeps everything very clean. All the Libraries we have visited have great lighting – in the rooms and also over shelves – a reflection of the long period of darkness in the winter months, and this one is no exception – a bright happy looking place – very clean lines and unfussy furniture.

We visited the local church – also the most northerly in the world –there they offered rubber clogs for your footwear swap (think croc style) – in various sizes in the entry porch . Photos will be attached when the links are better. Longerbyen has the feel of a frontier town – coalmining is the main occupation apart from some tourist activities, and the infrastructure of that industry dominates the town. We walked the main street – and checked out various sights and viewing points – very cold, though double the temperature from yesterday – a toasty 6 C – top temperature – a few layers are involved when dressing. ( I am feeling like the proverbial polar bear).

The daylight continues to provide curious activities - waking at 3 am – and wondering if you should really get up and make more of the opportunity. It is strange – we see night (aka darkness) as the completion of the day – it defines the boundary of each calendar day – I am still working on this one.

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