Sailing in and out of Norway's fjords, bays around islands and the mainland kept us extremely busy over the next three days, culminating in a party to celebrate crossing the Arctic Circle. It involved five zodiac landings and departures, which mostly all work like clockwork.

The night before these three busy days, having definitely gained our sea legs in the quiet mirror like fjords and then further smooth coastal cruising north, we had enjoyed our first wine of the trip (well quite a few wines!). We stayed up late at the Polar Bar on the ship listening to music provided by a band comprised of the ship's staff. The band is very interestingly named "Monkey Eating Eagles". Of course it was still light when we went to bed. The Arctic Circle passing at the end of this story puts us into the land of the midnight sun.

Shall we say, slightly the worse for wear, would best describe us as we got our 6.30 wake up call? It had been a great night, but the touring must go on and by 7.45 am we were on a bus doing a city tour of Trondheim. This included an open air cultural village where house styles and way of life through all the ages of Norway had been recreated. Quite interesting, and we learned along the way that the word "Skol" referred to a bowl of shared beer which was called for by revelers sitting at a communal table. Norwegian beds depicted in this folk village are very short but wider. One explanation we were given by a guide was that they believed that if they slept lying down they were likely to die in their sleep. Further research though tells me that another plausible explanation is that because it is so cold in Norway,(and no under floor heating in those days) people slept curled up tight to keep themselves warmer and the extra width was because there were often four to a bed! 

The Nidaros Cathedral was a stunning Trondheim sight. Built over the burial site of Saint Olav, the King of Norway in the 11th Century, it was completed in 1300 after a 250 year building project. After the Protestant reformation it was taken from the Roman Catholics by the Government authorised Lutheran Church in 1537. It is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world. We had an entertaining guide who expounded on the tales, myths and truths. Inside are two massive pipe organs. The oldest dates back to 1738, a most amazing old Baroque organ built by noted German organ builder Johann Joachim Wagner.

Back to the ship for lunch and as we ate, the Captain sailed us to our next destination, the island of Austratt. Here we visited a manor house which had been occupied by noblemen and noblewomen since the 10th century. 

Our second site to visit on the island gave us our first insight into Norwegian World War Two history. Under five years of German occupation, a massive gun turret was built to face out to the fjord and contained triple cannons, taken from a German warship. We got a close look at the complicated machinery, including massive generators which have all been kept in working order. We crawled and climbed through many levels on a guided tour. Our quite young guide amused us when he earnestly said "its amazing that all this engineering was done without computers"! He was particularly referring to the perfectly round iron ball bearings.

The second of these busy days saw us up very early and taken by zodiac to the island of Torgat and our first "wet landing" i.e. needing rubber boots and waterproof pants as we had to wade a little way through the icy waters. A quick change back to hiking boots and we were off to climb up to the geographical marvel of a hole in a mountain that is Torghatten. The opening is huge at 35 metres high, 160 metres long and 20 metres wide. There is a very steep climb to reach the hole.  

 According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful girl Lekamøya. As the troll realized he would not get the girl, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king threw his hat into the arrow's path to save her. The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.

We elected to descend down the long way, right through the hole and down a rocky path that lead us through a forest, carpets of wildflowers and a coastal walk. Back on the boat for lunch again and as the previous day the captain moved the ship while we ate, to the afternoon's landing site.

The village of Alstahag told us a story of an icon of Norwegian Cultural History, through a very new and modern museum and a very old and well preserved church. Petter Dass (1647 - 1707) was a Lutheran Pastor and writer of poetry, hymns and folk songs. He was dearly loved by all parishioners but, especially the cod fishermen for whom is hymns mentioned. Most of his work however was not officially recognized until after his death. He was deeply mourned and many fishing vessels of Northern Norway carried a black cloth in their sail for 100 years after his death to signify their respect. We had lovely guides who sang Petter Dass hymns to us beautifully and without any accompaniment.

This visit also gave us an insight into the strength of the Lutheran Church and traditions still in evidence especially in rural Norway. Confirmation at 15 is a "coming of age" for all Norwegian children. In today's more secular society, confirmation can be if wanted, a non-religious service but for the most part it is confirmation into the Lutheran Church.     

The girls are given a traditional style dress (a Bunard) by their parents as a confirmation gift, This is a heavily embroidered outfit to be used for celebrations such as folk dances, weddings, baptisms, confirmations and especially National Day celebrations. This Bunard is to last a lifetime and will need discreet letting out of seams for pregnancy and middle age spreads! We were lucky to see women and girls in Bunards as a confirmation service had taken place that day.

Our third day of this group of landings took us to the very beautiful Svartisen Glacier at the end of Enga Glacier, for an extremely strenuous hike around a lake and then over boulders to reach the glacier's foot. As we headed back to the ship again in our zodiacs, heavy clouds rolled in and the beautiful weather we had been experiencing was now obviously at an end.

The very exciting last part of this blog is our reaching the Arctic Circle. We all went on deck for a picture and to drink mulled red wine provided by the ship. It was freezing cold but a great moment to remember, as we anchored for a short while at the Vikingen Island Marker.

Note: The open air Cultural Village at Trondheim contains relocated buildings from the UNESCO World Heritage listed Roros Mining Town and Circumference.