At 2am we set sail away from Tromsø and the epic northern lights heading for Narvik. A town first settled in the Bronze Age, with history of Vikings and the site of a monumental battle in World War II, Narvik is located south of Tromsø but still in the Arctic Circle. The day prior was spent at sea enjoying the ship though it was at this point we began to experience some of our worst weather. 70mph head winds meant the outside decks were mostly closed, at one point I decided to head out and jump on the deck, only to land in a totally different area! The swell was 20-25 feet high, and having been told all my life you barely notice you are on a ship when cruising, I assure you now, I noticed!
The next day winds had died down and we arrived in Narvik around 8am, having taken photos of the surrounding area as we docked we got some food and this time immediately went on our trip to the Polar Park. Located an hour’s drive from the town we took a coach to the Polar Park through the Fjords. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the local area and told us many interesting facts about the area including World War II information which I found fascinating. One of the interesting stories she told us was about the meat children! Due to its location not far from the Swedish border locals would do their shopping in Sweden as it is cheaper, however, there is a cap on the amount of goods you can return with per person. So people would take children off the street to Sweden for the day and therein double their possible returns when they headed home back over the border.
After an hour drive we arrived at the Polar Park very excited to see the animals. Although the animals are in enclosures for both their safety and the safety of visitors, they are very large. The only animal allowed to roam freely were the Reindeer. We were first taken to see the Lynx one of whom was far more sociable than the other. At each of the stops the guide would tell us all about each of the animals. We moved on the Musk Ox and Deer, the former kept evading my camera sadly due to the distance and amount of trees between us, that being said, you know its a good size enclosure when you can’t get a good photo with a telephoto lens!
We continued round to see if we could spot the Reindeer, however, due them being allowed to roam we looked across an open plain leading to trees and the guide stated they could literally be miles away, which saddened me as a tourist and delighted me as an animal lover. Having given the Reindeer plenty of time to pop by if they wanted to we moved on to the Wolves. We were very lucky to see the whole pack just on a ridge around 300 meters away and I was particularly happy to get some fantastic pictures of them.
Next was the Wolverine, to the guide’s amazement and ours, the Wolverine decided to come right up to the edge of the enclosure and say hi to us. As a visitor I was over the moon to be so close to such a fantastic animal, however, as I had expected to be further away I had totally the wrong lens on the camera to get a good shot. I decided rather to put the camera down and simply enjoy the moment. We progressed round to the Brown Bears who were getting ready to hibernate. I have seen many pictures of rather chunky bears pre-hibernation but to see it first hand was quite amusing. These normally lean and ferocious killing machines embodied the likeness of a cuddly toy, though I wasn’t jumping in to test that theory. The wife wanted to but I advised against it.
After the Bears we went to see the Arctic Foxes, being shy the guide was able to coax them out quite swiftly with the promise of food and soon they were in touching distance with only the enclosures mesh fence stopping them from getting in the bucket of food. The experience drew to a close as we were ushered back to the reception for coffee and a sweet treat, I took the coffee and decided instead to say hello to some friendly goats who rather enjoyed a scratch under the chin.
We hopped back on the coach and headed into the town. The wife decided to head back toward the ship and I jumped into the war museum with only an hour and half before closing time. Due to the time constraint I resolved to head round rather quickly taking photos of the exhibitions that interested me to read the information at a later time. I would have preferred to stay longer but sadly we can’t always get what we want. However, if you want to learn more you can visit, https://www.nordnorge.com/ and search Narvik for plenty of great info. After that we popped to a shop or two that were still open and visited a Swedish Maritime church near where we were docked.
Getting back on the ship I decided it would be a waste not to have another wander around the town, taking the opportunity to do my favorite thing when I travel, getting lost! In such a small settlement getting lost was harder than it sounds, rather I resolved to climb so I could picture the sunset. Soon I found myself in the sports university car park getting some odd looks as I photographed the sun setting over the mountains. The day was drawing to a close, and so was the cruise! With only one stop left I was determined to soak in all that Norway had to offer, odd looks and all.
I climbed back down and got back on the ship in time for a pub quiz, interspersed by the AFC Bournemouth game! Enjoying watching my team not only play whist in the Arctic Circle, but also win! The night was full of fun and activities on the ship, due to sail out at 5.30am we in fact left at 4am due to weather in the North Sea getting rather choppy thanks to Storm Amy. When we docked in Stavanger it was a welcome relief as the city had experienced its worst storm in 25 years, but that’s for next time.
195wanderer.com 