Friday 12th December 2025

Around Honninsvag and North Cape

Finally found a bit of relief from the tour cold and enjoyed a sleep of the dead until 530- cough free.

Cold was the operative word with graders up early piling up the snow from overnight- ideal Snow Angel depth – if one of us can summon up the courage.

Dressed only to find my new merino shirt,which Jane packed,had me looking like the Purple Wiggle. Thank God for layering.

Another nice breakfast taken quickly to give us time to make most of the slight brightness in the sky.

Continue to be mesmerised by the huge snow covered mountain, with its avalanche / rockfall barriers, that towers over town.

Last night’s  cruise ship had been joined overnight by another bigger vessel and a dribble of passengers from both ships were traipsing the streets looking for photo opportunities.

The fishing fleet, pleasure boats and jet boats sat idle, many covered in snow after last nights heavy fall. Several cars parked in the street suffered a similar fate.The ski enthusiast would be licking their lips with the cover of powdery snow.

We wandered streets taking in the scenery and the array of colourful houses built dockside. Like most towns over here there was the obligatory fill of statues.

After a couple of hours it was back to join the crew for a ‘ crab experience’ optional tour. But not before a little bit of Jamaican bobsleigh training.

A quick trip through the tunnel and down a snowy road to the harbourside Sami styled  tepee where the eating part of the tour took place. A huge platter of King Crab bits and pieces was presented and eaten with much enjoyment.

Outside we were given a comprehensive briefing on the crab fishing industry. It was interesting that these fish can be caught in only 10 metres of water..

Even had a hands on experience with a 4kg one who was sadly destined for the table at the sitting following ours. He would be one of many to be dissected to provide the 1000 pieces to be devoured by tours today.

With dwindling stocks and an increasing fleet size the quota is being reduced by 40% next year which will annoy the revenous Asian market or this luvrstive tourist spot . Guess there will be enough fishing to provide footage for the TV show The Deadliest Catch.

Took a few parting shots of the stunning surroundings before  returning to the hotel for a warm up and then more shopping and wandering around before ending up in a brewery drinking a plate of Norwegian beers.

Prior to dinner watched the only English speaking TV show- a voiced over episode of Bluey – it just ain’t the same.

A nice buffet dinner was followed by 50 minute trip to the North Cape the most Northern spot up here. Honninsvag is the most northern city and Skarsvag the most northern fishing village. Seems everyone was looking for a subtle nuance to be closest to the North Pole.

What an adventure it was getting there on a snaking snow covered road with precipitous drops on each side. For once I was happy not to be in thr front seat and also the absolute darkness.

Got all the myths about Trolls and Cliffhanger on the way up to keep us amused and possibly take our mind off the narrow road.

Arrived at Nort Capp and went into the Visitor Centre with its cinema , cafe, gift shop, chapel, museum , bird collection, and an enormous rock cave. In between visiting all of these places, including a session on the champagne and caviar, we spent most of the time at the top of Europe in search of the Northern Lights – could we get the trifecta of three nights in a row.

Didn’t have to search much they were there in all their glory right across the sky in different colours and formations. It was a real snapathon and an air full of WOW’s.

A montage is at the bottom of the blog.

It was certainly something to behold and was complemented by spotting a shooting star, one of the zillions that

shine brightly in the night sky up here.

Two hours went by pretty quickly and  we were soon snuggled back into our new spacious bus wending our way down the hill. The headlights of the bus and the snow markets made you feel like it was a slalom competition as we picked our way down. If you can imagine Bulli Pass, Mount Victoria and Macquarie Pass all united and with snow it was a bit like that.

That ended another spectacular day. Tomorrow we head to Alta which is the Red Zone for Northern alights. It will need to be at its best to top today.