We were having a leisurely morning looking at the wonderful rock formations as we ate breakfast.  They made an announcement that we were going to be passing the Arctic Circle again – this time in the day time so we would see the the marker.   They said that we would receive a gift if we came up to deck 8.  The waiter indicated that we were very close so even though we were in the middle of breakfast but we left everything on the table and went outside on level 5.  It was pretty cold and we decided to run down to our cabins on deck 3 and grab jackets and hats and head up to deck 8.

We had plenty of time.  On the way we passed Selsøyvik. It is a small island that is 0.8 square kilometers and has 9 inhabitants in winter, but in summer the number increases significantly. Selsøyvik old trading center dates from the 16^th and 1 7^thcentury although the web says the 18^th century.

From 1777 there has been continuous operation at the trading site, but already in the 1600s Selsøyvik was citizen rent for outriggers from Trodheim.  The commercial site was preserved in 1942. The oldest buildings are over 200 years old and the youngest from the 1980s.

Between 1983 and 1985 a new fish processing facility was built and a refurbishment of Storbrygga. The work was designed by an architectural firm, Boarch Architecture, from Bodø, They were awarded a third prize in the Council of Europe Architecture Protection Competition in 1986 for their work on the listed trade site.

 

 

We also passed this site and I had to ask what it was.

I was told that it is a feeding farm for farmed salmon.

We hadn’t reached the marker yet, but the views were spectacular.

As I was taking photos, I saw this but nobody could tell me what it was.

Finally we came to the actual marker.  I took many photos but this is my favorite.

As I learned several days ago,the exact location of the Arctic Circle varies each time you travel past it. Over the course of a full year, the virtual line shifts by almost 15 metres – while Vikingen and its Arctic Circle Monument remain firmly in place. The exact position of the line depends on the angle of the earth’s axis compared to the plane of its orbit at the time.

After we passed the marker, they told us about the gift.

The small bottle on the table is cod liver oil.  They said that we would be given the spoon as a gift after we ate the cod liver oil.  I remember my parents giving me cold liver oil frequently as a child and it was not a pleasant memory.  First there were 3 children who at it.  Non of them made a face about it.

I was next in line and Marty took a couple photos of me.

I have a spoon as a souvenir.

Today was another laundry day.  The gathering in the laundry room is a social event.  It takes a bit to figure out the machines (finding instructions in english and choosing a cycle to use).

These people were trying to figure out how to get one of the dryers to work.

We finished our laundry, relaxed in the lounge on deck 8 and had lunch.

John’s last talk was at 2:00.  He continued his enthusiastic talks.

Then he showed us the fantastic photos he shot this year.  Barbara gave me her email address and is going to send me a couple of her photos.  I was so excited because John made a flash drive of his photos to sell to us later this afternoon.

At 3:00 we landed in Brønnøysund and took a walk with LIv.  It was a lovely town but the hike was too short.I did take a few photos.

Several days ago I took a photo of a sign that had the word, “Fart” in it Today I learned what Fart means.  This sign means speed bumps.  Fart means speed.

Before dinner I was able to upload the photos from John onto my laptop.  They are wonderful. It will take me some time to figure out how to create a post with some of his images.  I hope I can accomplish that.

I was disappointed tonight when I discovered that I could have done the hike that people did today.  It wasn’t on the original list of excursions and I missed it seeing it.  Walter and Gerda told me that it was wonderful.  They hiked up to Mount Torghatten whiich is mountain with a hole right through it.   We saw it from the ship but they were able to actually go into the hole.

We were served champagne at dinner and the captains and staff paraded through the dining room.

Tonights dinner was;

• Soup of green peas with sourdough bread Gratinated with well -preserved jarlsberg
• Cod with fried kale, beetroot Byggotto, and Beurre Noisette Vierge
• Sukkerbrød og vaniljets fra Svolvær (Andvika- meringue and cloudberries.

We have seen the last of the visible auroras.  We have been so lucky on this trip to have seen them over several evenings.

The weather on this trip has been positiveoy way beyond any of our expectations. We were actually never had to walk in any rain which is quite amazing for this time of the year.