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Day 9 Tromso to Stamsund - a huge day in Vesteralen and the Lofoten islands

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 What a day this was! After only 4 hours of very sound sleep, it was time to rise and shine for a very full, but magnificent day in one of the undoubtedly most spectacular areas of Norway, and possibly the World My first tour was entitled 'A taste of Vesteralen'. It started in the little fishing town of Harstad, which is growing very rapidly as Vesteralen grows to meet the needs of the rapidly growing tourist industry, which has now overtaken fishing as the prime industry.The Lofoten Islands are struggling to cope with tourist numbers, and so the very beautiful, and much less visited Vesteralen will be the next destination!  We had an excellent, multi-lingual guide on tour. He was very knowledgeable and funny, speaking German and English fluently, French too. Our first port of call was the Harstadt church, medieval farm and museum. All very interesting.  T farm was just outside Harstad, with gorgeous views over the hills Their cat reminded me of my lovely Big Mike, who so...
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Day 8 heading home! Mehamn to Skjervoy

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 Our first slightly miserable weather day, but still lucky to have virtually no rain, and good visibility until late afternoon. A chance to catch up on my poor neglected blog before going to a midnight concert in Tromso! There’s a big polar bear society here in Hammerfest. First and main stop was Hammerfest which beat Honningsvag to be the northernmost town in northern Norway Many people charged up the zigzag route to a lookout, whilst  I took a road to a lookout point all on my own, not as high but very pleasant. There was plenty of evidence of reindeer having been there.  There was a pretty little church. Once again, as in other towns we’d visited, it had not been torched like the rest of the city. Luckily, I followed a small path to the coast. I wish I had spent more time there. After that we had a beautiful journey through fiords to our next destination of the day Skjervoy. And then to Skjervoy with views over the majestic Lynden Alps, with some of the highest peaks i...
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Day 7 half way! Batsfjord/ Kirkenes to Berlevag

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Day 6 Oksfjord to Berlevag - Honningvag

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 Wow, the temperature has certainly dropped and we finally feel we are above the Arctic Circle. 10 degrees maximum today, so time to get the merino back out! We have still been lucky enough to see most of the stunning scenery,  despite some low cloud and occasional sea mist. Our main stop today was Honningsvag, where about 100 of the 350 guests took a trip to Nordkap. As I had been there many decades ago when tourism was in its infancy, I opted not to spoil the wonderful memories of camping there virtually alone. Instead, I enjoyed several hours around the town. And a walk up in the hills above it I made a stop at the little church. This lovely little church was used after the Nazis burned all of the town as they withdrew in 1945. The church was spared and used for returning residents to live in and bake whilst the town was rebuilt. Loved this poster - Northern Norway, where winter takes a holiday! There was a pretty Christmas shop by the harbor  And also an excellent mu...
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