The call came at 12.25am to say the Northern Lights were visible again on the Left hand side of the ship. I was better prepared tonight and grabbed my jumper and trackies, camera and phone and raced out the door.
They were visible but feint to start and then there was a splash of green smeared across the sky. It seemed to just float. I attempted photos but they didn't work so all I have is my memory?
Back to bed very content. Awake early by the sunrise over the mountains and thr view out the window is different to yesterday as we are back into steep mountains, ice caps and glaciers.
We will be crossing the Arctic Circle this morning, so the announcement comes through for those that wish to be on deck when that occurs. Although it is obviously an imaginary line there is a monument on the small islet of Vikingen to mark the spot. They are selling champagne to mark the occasion and it's surprising the number of people that take it up at 7.15am.
It's another perfect weather day. Blue skies, sunny and warm.
Lucky the sun is shining as at 10.30 we have the Polar circle ceremony where each of us is baptized with ice water. It's very funny and you do get a shot of schnapps to ease the shock.
At 12.30pm we dock at Bodø and we walk into the town. It's big but not too much going on.
Back on the ship we have an information session about the Vikings ( a bit of history) followed later by our Norwegian way of life tutorial which today is run by the 2 girls from the expedition team, Svenja and Vera. Very entertaining and finished with a Norwegian song from Peter.
After dinner we dock at Svolvær for an hour so we get off to wander around this pretty town in the Lofoten Islands.
Just after 10pm we are given a talk about the Trollfjord and also a story about the battle which occurred in 1890 between the first industrial steam driven fishing ships and the traditional open boat fishers over access to the Fjord. We are going to be sailing into Trollfjord tonight at 11.30pm.
Trollfjord is a 2 km long side stream to the Raftsund between the archipelagos of Lofoten and Vesterålen. It has a very narrow entry surrounded by mountains 600 - 1100m high and in the dark of night, conditions need to be very calm for us to go in.
It is a very calm night. It's cold but there is no wind and a few clouds but we can see the stars and the almost full moon peeks out from the cloud now and again. It's perfect and the captain puts on the big spotlights from the bridge to show our way into the Fjord. The lights don't help for taking photos but it's a great sight. As we are concentrating on the huge cliffs and beautiful night sky, the Northern Lights appear! We are so lucky to be right here right now to witness this natural phenomenon. The sky is ever changing with the floating bands of brilliant green fading in and out.
What an amazing finish to another beautiful day.