Cruising the Arctic Circle

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I have a rather restless night as we make our way north to start cruising the Arctic Circle.

My cabin vibrates and is very noisy every time the shop makes port. Which means I’m awake every couple of hours.

I fall back asleep okay, it’s just not good the quality sleep I need right now.

My sea sickness hasn’t dissipated yet sadly. And despite not eating dinner last night I’m not really hungry this morning either.

However, I force myself to go eat breakfast regardless. It’s such a shame my appetite is on hold as the spread is impressive once again. But I stick to things I know are safely gluten free this morning.

All the tips for getting over motion sickness say to eat, stay hydrated, and get fresh air.

So there will be no more wine for me until I feel better! And I’m going to go outside every hour whilst at sea if the nausea continues.

Fresh Arctic Air

We cross over the Arctic Circle latitude line at about 8:06 whilst I’m eating.

Now there’s a landmarker apparently, but I don’t manage to see it. It’s pretty hazy out there today so decide not to abandon my breakfast to rush outside. There will technically be another chance on the way back south, but that will be at night…

As the plan is to become slightly nocturnal though, who knows!

I take a stroll around the outside of the ship outside (twice) after breakfast. Which means I’ve been a good passenger and checked out the escape deck as Hurtigruten request we all do.

The crisp air does help keep the sickness at bay, and I wish I could stay outside without getting frostbite 😂 Alas it’s only getting colder the further north we travel. We are cruising the Arctic Circle now after all!

Arctic Circle Ceremony

At 10:30 there is a ceremony outside on the top deck celebrating crossing into the Arctic.

It’s good fun as we summon the Viking God Njörðr to bless our voyage.

And he appears!

Albeit in the guise of a Hurtigruten crew member in a wig with a Trident. With a cold. Bless him.

But the blessing is given and then they poor ice down the back of the neck of any willing participants. The reward is a shot of Aquavit or some warm Gluhwein (white wine with apple juice).

Sorry to disappoint but I choose not to partake in that particular ritual. Maybe if I believed it was really arctic ice and not from the bar… but still, probably not!

The skies are clearing up though and the scenery is stunning.

I can’t do it justice with photographs, but suffice to say it’s like nowhere else in the world.

I’m officially Cruising Arctic Circle

Lunch is early today as we dock in Bodø at 13:05, so I head back to my cabin to sort my things out for later.

And there is something pinned next to my cabin door…

How cute is that?! Really nice touch from Hurtigruten. It’s the little things which make the experience special.

I do some sink laundry as I have somehow got pesto on my only pair of jeans, and test out the clever heated bathroom. The floor warms up and if you shut the door everything dries in about half an hour.

It works really well for my coat and other water resistant clothing. My jeans take half a day to dry but I think that’s still pretty impressive.

There is a laundry room onboard, but I’m hoping I won’t have to use that. If I do it’ll be towards the end of the voyage.

Okay, enough boring stuff.

I take some time to swot up on how to photograph the aurora and play with my camera settings. I want some good pictures, but don’t want to spend the whole time trying to take them.

Yesterday’s images were pure fluke and through my phone. I know I can do better given the chance.

Excursions

It’s an early lunch today as we dock in Bodø (pronounced Boe-Dani now know) at 13:05 and I have my first excursion booked.

It’s a bus tour of Bodø and a trip out to Saltstraumen, the world’s strongest tidal current. I prebooked the three activities I’ve opted to do in order to curb my spending.

Slightly annoyingly though the prices onboard are about £10 cheaper than I paid. And I also get a 5% discount as an 1839 club member now I’m onboard.

Still what’s done is done. I didn’t want to find the activities of my choice sold out so reserved early just in case.

I don’t think that would have happened now I’m here.

So here’s a tip if you’re thinking about cruising the Arctic Circle with Hurtigruten: book your excursions once aboard. Except maybe the dog sledding and snowmobiles. They do have limited spaces and fill up quickly.

There are also excursions that can only be booked from the ship. And as most run simultaneously you might miss out on one of those due to reserving something else.

Hurtigruten might let you swap but I haven’t asked so don’t know for sure. They seem pretty amenable though.

Before I depart the ship I buy some sea sickness tablets to take later. I’m fed up with the nausea now and really hope they do the trick!

Bodø and Saltstraumen

Bodø is a small town which is why I’ve decided to skip exploring on foot and instead head to the maelstrom. Saltstraumen boasts the world’s strongest maelstrom, where “every six hours, massive volumes of water pass through the 3km long and 150m wide channel at speeds of up to 20 knots.”

I’m not quite sure what to expect but hoping for nice scenery and maybe some wildlife.

The bus journey itself is fairly mundane. It’s an automated audio with video feed that tries to sync up with the surroundings. It kind of does, kind of doesn’t. Regardless, after a few minutes I find the video annoying and would rather look out the window!

When we reach Saltstraumen we have twenty minutes to walk down, look around and come back. And it’s down a slope.

I immediately fall over of course.

It was bound to happen at some point.

The scenery is lovely though and it’s a nice little visit.

Plus we get a little gift of salt produced from the current which is a cute addition.

Sleeping off the sickness

Back onboard and having taken my sickness pills I get into bed for a nap. It’s 15:30 and I figure I can get 3-4 hours sleep before getting up for dinner.

This means I have to skip the daily meeting, but as I know what I’m doing tomorrow that’s fine.

The nap definitely helps and the tablets seem to be doing their job. So at 18:30 I watch Netflix and read for a bit, then head up for my first sit down dinner of the cruise.

First dinner cruising the Arctic Circle

They’ve sat all the solo passengers together so I have a nice conversation over lovely meal. It’s good for me to remember how to interact with people. It’s much to easy to just be by myself all the time!

I’ve got all my outside gear with me just in case the sky lights up again suddenly.

So after dinner I go for another walk outside and play with my camera a bit, trying to optimise the night settings. At which point we sail by the MS Polarlys (another Hurtigruten vessel) heading south. There play a tune to each other on the horns as a greeting and then we carry on cruising the Arctic Circle northbound.

Evening Relaxation

I know I am meant to be avoiding alcohol as per the sea sickness advice.

But as I am feeling much better I can’t resist a Martini after dinner as I read my book.

Okay, two martinis…

The bartender said I can have an extra olive each time I order one 😂

Since I intend to stay up late tonight and lay in tomorrow morning what’s the harm!

Then at 23:00 they announce there will be Gluhwein with a souvenir cup available at the outside bar for those who want it.

Well it’d be rude to turn that down right?

Very nice it is too.

As there is no Aurora happening by 00:30 and it’s too dark to see the landscape I take myself off to bed.

Sound the alarm!

Don’t panic. It’s the aurora alert!

But since it’s technically tomorrow now, you’ll have to read on to see what happens…