Boring borders - anti-climaxes followed by a crazy crustacean!

Had to repack our bags last night - boy was that interesting. We seem to have expanding 'stuff' and I am not talking about our souvenirs which are minor.
Still, managed to get everything in to the bags and had them out for collection well before midnight so we could go to bed a little earlier given that we had an earlier start today.

This morning we were at breakfast earlier than any other morning - 7:30 am, wanting to beat the 8 am 'must be checked out of the cabin' rush.  Same sort of food on offer as previous days - good and hearty to start the day - especially as we won't be getting lunch today.

We pulled in to our last port of Kirkenes and we were all told that the gangway would not be lowered until all the luggage of people leaving the ship here had been deposited on the dock. Donna was pretty sure she saw ours on one of the baggage carts - a little askew.  There were throngs of people waiting in the departure lobby when we finally got down to level 3. We just managed to squeeze into the crowd as we stepped of the lift.  The people in the next left to go back upstairs to wait.

There were a range of tours on offer today - bus visit to the Russian border, fishing for King Crabs, boat tour to the Russian border, quad bike drive and a town walk.  

We had chosen the bus visit to the Russian border because supposedly there was still an opportunity to see brown bears, but nope not one to be seen.  The only animal we saw was the lone souvenir seller's Malamute dog - very cute but I think he is somewhat bore with the tourists!

When I had looked at Kirkenes on Google Earth, it appeared to be an industrial city that was not too well developed. So it was kind of surprising to see very good infrastructure here including all streets paved with gutters.  This used to be a iron ore mining town, although this industry has now folded, as has the local timber industry.  There is a 8 km railway still visible that connected the mine and the town. doesn't go anywhere now other than to lead your eyes to the huge slag heap.  

In their place there is now power generation - seven power plants in all on the Pis River - four owned by the Russians and three by Norway; communications and King Crab fishing.  This is the largest area of processing of this delicacy and the local port has a number of impressive sized trawlers and a million large crab cages - way too big to be called pots!

We see lots of new commercial buildings - fire station,shopping centres, a school and the new hospital that was purchased in pre-fab form from Germany and constructed with all equipment etc  installed ready for patients and staff to walk into in a total of two weeks.

We learn of the loss of Sami names when the government mapped the local area and could not be bothered to retain the names and re-named the three local lakes, First Lake,Second Lake and Third Lake.
The vegetation is interesting - there are plenty of trees and abundant flower beds in some houses.  On the ship until here, the landscapes had been very barren - mosses, lichens and stones on rocks!
We are told that Kirkenes is as south as Tromso, so we are just north of the Arctic Circle.

Our guide, fluent in Norwegian, German and English explains that the local climate is a topic of debate here.  Some of the locals insist that there are four seasons here - a winter of seven months, a spring of two days - 16 and 17 May with May 17 being Norway Day, an indeterminate summer and then autumn before you rush back into winter; while others describe it as seven months of white winter and five months of green winter.  Today has been warm and I did not even put a jacket on.

The Russian border was the biggest anti-climax. A road, a brick fence and a gate and signage that announces the end of the Schengen area, and a 'no walking '(across the border) sign.  It was explained that over the past couple of years, there have been an increasing number of Russians wanting to come and live in Norway.  The Russian government made it particularly difficult. Even though many could afford cars, they were refused the paperwork,you are not allowed to walk across the border and buses were refused to these 'refugees' also.  They got clever - all road pushbikes across!  Yes, necessity is the mother of invention.

We make a quick stop for souvenirs at a little shack run by a lone Norwegian man and his dog. He lives here in what looks like a hovel and refers to all the tourists who enter his shop as his new friends.  Very personable and spoke English very well.  I bought a little fur purse, thinking it was bear, only to be told it was seal! And then there was the Russian man with his bicycle that only wanted me to take a photo of the Norwegian house on the hill on the opposite side of the river!
Hurtigruten has invested in a small lakeside restaurant near here where we are served samples of borscht and a wildflower tea.  Donna enjoyed the soup, I liked the tea!

Coming back into the town of Kirkenes we are told that in the summer of 1941 North-Eastern Norway became the staging area for the German assault on the Soviet

Union. The target for the German Wehrmacht was the harbour city of Murmansk, just 200 km from the border. However, at Litsaelva – halfway between Kirkenes and Murmansk – the offensive ground to a halt and hardly made any further progress during almost three years of hostilities.  Kirkenes found itself in a very exposed position, and was subjected to constant bombing attacks from the hard-pressed Soviet forces. The air raid sirens sounded more than 1,000 times in Kirkenes, and the town was actually bombed over 320 times, making it one of the most frequently bombed towns in Europe. As such,there are few

buildings more than 80 years old and the houses all have a uniformity about them, just different colours.

Tonight we are in the Frokosthotell in a room about the same size as the ship's cabin that we recently left with the exception that the bathroom is tiny - think we might get wet and then need to step out of the room to soap up before rinsing off!  But it right in the centre of town and easy to get to.  It is Sunday and nothing is open here, so we went up to the Arctic Restaurant at the (international) Scandic Hotel for dinner.

Crab and prawn soup - tomato and Paprika based - a little heavy or the crab flavour and prawns that at home wouldn't even make bait.

King crab - you can check ours out at http://www.nkc.no/track/?id=1381832

Mud Hill Sav Blanc from NZ

Finished with a coffee and a Frangelico and a waddle back to our hotel.

Donna is now in a can't move - crab coma! 

Pest to some, but still King of the Sea

Description

We are getting so full. If ever anyone is told that they need to eat more, may we recommend taking a cruise.  All you seem to do is eat!  We opted not to have breakfast, but to have an early lunch. Same offerings as other days - there is variety in the hot dishes but we are skipping them for salads and cold salmons and meats, cheeses and crackers, fruit and dessert.
Today there is no cider available - sacré bleu!  So we tried a Mack Ginger Beer - nice enough, but not a patch on the cider for lunch.

Tromsø is the Arctic Capital.  We begin our shore excursion here with a trip high above Tromsø in the cable car to a mountain ledge at Storsteinen, 471 metres above sea level.  It is from here that most of the trips to see the northern lights depart.  No chance of us seeing them as we are coming out of the time of the midnight sun, with the sun setting just in time for the moon to shine for a few hours.  Last night, just before we travelled through the Trollsfjord, Donna managed to get a lovely photo.

As we are travelling further north towards the North Pole, there is more and more permanent snow visible on the mountain caps.  Doesn't matter that the altitude is low, the latitude is higher and higher.


Tromsø's old town is characterised by old timber buildings while its recent (1965) Arctic Cathedral dominates the low skyline. Tromsø sits on the island of the same name and until the 1960's almost all development was contained on the island. Across a small channel, on the mainland, there was farming. By the 1960's the population was swelling and as the island is sea-locked, development had begun on the adjacent mainland areas, although access was not practical for work, school or shopping. By then, there were sufficient numbers on the mainland and demand for more development and so a bridge was built.
Even today, Tromsø struggles for land for development and down near the harbour there is active land reclamation going on. Our guide explains that half of the land on which the port is sited was not even there two years ago.

We leave the boat and catch a bus through the centre of town, detouring because of a major music festival that starts tonight, and dodging roadworks before entering a tunnel that OMG has roundabouts in it!  Sarah (guide) explains that much of Tromsø's road network is underground to ensure access in the winter months and that the network runs north-south and east-west, hence the need for the roundabouts.  She also explains that it takes much of the traffic off the inner city streets. Up through narrow residential streets the bus travels to the cable car station.  A number of times, cars need to reverse to allow the bus access - must annoy the locals during the tourist season.

The actual cable car ride is only short.  The views from the top looking down on Tromsø, its ski jumps and other sporting fields, the long fjords and waterways where cargo ships are miniaturised and the mountain chains under snow and cloud stretch as far as the eye can see.  It is postcard perfect and one of the views that often grace Norway tourist pitches.

On the way back into the city, we stop at the Arctic Cathedral, a Lutheran Cathedral - very sparse and sombre on the inside without the stunning stained glass window behind the altar - and this was only put in because the sun was blinding worshippers!

Our final stop is at Polaris - an aquarium plus educational centre that is attached to and benefits from the adjoining multi-national Arctic Research facility. Kind of twee, although they showed a panoramic movie of the areas of the northern Arctic that are almost impossible to visit.  More Oh. My. God. scenery and I wish that I could be looking at it with my own eyes in nature.
The other attraction here is the seal feeding pool where they have two small leopard-spotted Harbour Seals and two Arctic Fur Seals that are about four times the size. Like all these feeding operations, the seals do tricks for their dinner and these were no different. Cheeky and a bit of fun. 

We arrive back on the ship just before 6pm and tonight have a booking in the Kysten A La Carte Restaurant for a King Crab Meal.
Prosecco on arrival, 500 g of red King Crab with hot melted brown butter, charred lemon halves, a dill mayonnaise and a chilli aoili.  Served with bread and butter and a pineapple and melon salad.  SUBLIME.  We washed it all down with a French Chablis.  Ended the night with a Cheese Board - Camembert, Hard Goat Cheese, and a delectable Norwegian Blue paired with Cloudberry syrup, Carrot marmalade, fig relish, toffeed nuts, strawberries and raspberries.  We finished with Coffee and Cognac.  Wonder what the poor people are eating tonight?!

Died and gone to heaven!  
Talk about King of the Sea!!