The North Cape

It all looked so promising when we opened the curtains in Honningsvåg this morning.

Looking out from our verandah, the morning looked fine and clear and I was fascinated to see the new and very modern tug there beneath us, proudly displaying the LPG fuel source.

We were perhaps a little less enchanted to see the Jewel of the Seas berthed there alongside, having read of the scrums which occur at the North Cape when several ships are in port at the same time. Today, it looked like just the two of us - our 374 fellow passengers and their 2500.

The thing was, our North Cape transfer wasn’t till 11.45am and the weather was already coming in as we set off.

The closer we got, the more murky the skies.

The one thing we none of us can do anything about is the weather. By the time we arrived we could see not much further than our nose end. Who knew if there were 500 or 5000 people here?

We soon realised that we had no idea where we were going, though I recalled a photograph of my parents here, standing in front of a globe or similar. But it wasn’t on a roof!

We walked a little further in the chilly mist, eventually spotting a familiar sight. We watched and waited a little for the hubbub to die down before noticing how quickly the ebb and flow of visitors come and go to such places, eventually taking our own selfies and a couple of atmospheric photos for the collection.

The visitors centre was warm, comfortable and had much faster wifi than on the ship. so we made good use of that in our remaining time here.

We returned to our bus, driven by the same driver as yesterday who said the forecast was for bright sunshine by 6pm. Hah! Not much use to us, then.

We did notice the mist lifting as we drove away, back to Honningsvåg.

And yes, of course, by 6pm, out in the fjord, the air was crisp and crystal clear.

Strangely, the conversation this evening on the ship is one of peverse delight in the weather conditions. After all, we can see the North Cape perfectly in any number of photographs and pictures, but to experience it in such circumstances was special. I think I’d have to agree with that.