Starting north after the first hour of driving, the mileage sign indicated 80 miles. Probably took us 2.5 hours with couple of quick stops to drive the 80 miles. One stop we made was at a small village where the convenience store was on a dirt road off highway, sitting on a lake. Must say number of lakes in this region makes a thousand appear an insignificant number. The store was the post office and mail drop. Mailboxes lined the front of the store. Appeared that the store expected us as they had warm jelly donuts and plenty of coffee ready.
We stopped at the Norway border crossing, but is an open border with only a grate to try and keep wildlife in the right country.
Kirkennes is a large town with a regional size airport and a large harbor for shipping and crab fishing. The ship we boarded makes a round trip from Bergen, Norway to Kirkennes and back. I would say the ship cabins are close to the size of those on river trips we have taken. We were surprised to have been upgraded I suspect because of the problem I had with air tickets as no one else in our group did and the ship is far from full.
The ships operate year round as they carry people, autos and supplies between all the towns in fjords on the coast. When the ship stops in some ports, passengers are allowed off to explore. In some instances the ship company arranges events foe passengers in addition to our tour company.
For example, Wednesday, the ship has arranged for a 45 minute midnight concert at a church at one of the stops and our group from Michigan will attend.
Have already experienced the cost of living. I checked the prices of beer at the bar on board the ship-$10+ for a pint, up $2+ from Finland. Friend and I did buy an 8 pack of Finnish beer back in Ivalo for $20. Now we need something to put beer and ice in as ship does not have ice buckets in room, nor a public supply of ice. I was not to be held back-obtained a small garbage bag from housekeeping cart and dumped ice bucket on cafe counter into it on top couple cans. Set on shower floor and managed to have cool beer couple hours later. Tomorrow may bring new challenges. We are not allowed to drink our liquor in public places on board, so all 10 of us gathered in one small cabin with door open to have our happy hour before dinner. Sorry, but beer is important.
We saw a small whale behind the boat today. We did disembark at the first fjord to visit a lonely town that had an old fortress dating back to the 1700's. The town was the only arctic town in Norway. No trees, a pretty said scene as depicted in third pic below.
Dinner tonight was more reindeer. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style, but include many choices, some interesting such as caviar, ox, crab claws, etc. and way too many dessert choices.
About the only thing different than a cruise ship is the lack of entertainment.
The first pic is of a reindeer, the biggest rack we've seen by far. He and some others were just standing at side of road.
Other picks are of fortress and radar installation, the latter operated by Norway and US to eaves drop on Russia.
Weather seems to be changing as tomorrow promises a bit colder and chance for rain.
Happy Birthday to granddaughter Mya in LA.
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