Southward bound. We enjoyed some really fantastic scenic cruising on our way to Nordkapp and Honningsvåg this morning. At 12:00 we cruised slowly by Nordkapp. The impressive cliffs rise to 307 metres (1,007 ft). Nordkapp is often referred to as the northernmost point of Europe however there is some disagreement over that.
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| Nordkapp (Photo © Andrew Wenzel). |
There were many birds still nesting along the cliffs including a large colony of Gannets.
The scenic cruising got better and better as we sailed through narrow passages between islands. Green hills and mountains rose up on both sides of Fram.
We arrived in Honningsvåg at 15:30. Even though we were still very far north, we could feel that the air was appreciably warmer. When we first arrived it was raining fairly hard but it wasn’t the cold rain we had experienced on Bjornoya and it certainly wasn’t enough to keep us from enjoying the beautiful town of Honningsvåg. It is really a picturesque community and like practically all of Norway, extremely well kept. One never finds so much as a gummer wrapper out of place.
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| Cliffs beneath Nordkapp (Photo © Joe Decker). |
Lots of people had booked an excursion to Nordkapp and others went for a king crab feast. By all reports everyone enjoyed both immensely!
Those people that had not booked an excursion explored Honningsvåg on their own.
At 17:46 Fram had to leave the dock for just over an hour to take on more fuel. Once that was accomplished we went alongside the pier and picked up all those that hadn’t made it back to the ship yet.
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| Honningsvåg harbour (Photo © Joe Decker) |
When we departed the pier for the last time 19:15we were involved in a series of drills dealing with medivac procedures by helicopter. It was quite interesting to watch and comforting to know that on Fram, safety is always priority number one and that nothing is left to chance.
