After praying we wouldn't be up for any costs from the car damage, we dropped it off drama free and boarded our Hurtigruten ship, the MS Richard With, for a midday departure.

We were to be on the ship until 9pm the following day, hugging the Norwegian Coast and weaving through the hundreds of islands as we went. The ship docked at small fishing villages along the way, some we even had time to jump off and explore, such as the town of Bodo, a severe casualty of WWII bombing.

Most of the time we just sat on deck with a book trying to take in the spectacular view around us. As we travelled north the islands became sheer mountains just floating on the water. At 7am the following day we crossed the Arctic Circle, now closer to any kind of midnight sun we will witness at this time of year.

The ships facilities were fantastic as we made use of the gym, sauna, huge buffet breakfast, but best of all was the jacuzzi on the outer deck. The only thing better than looking at the amazing scenery before you is to do it in a hotub. Sadly for Ant, the experience was slightly diminished when an old man paraded his senior balls around on deck.

Overall, the Hurtigruten was a unique experience that allowed us to see the coast and its hundreds of sporadic islands in all their beauty but we were very happy we did not book a longer journey as the stereotype of oldies reading their novels to the sound of a man on piano, was lived out to its potential.

We disembarked at the capital of the Lofoten Islands, Svolvaer.