The Purple Penguin

So dinner tonight was early – 17:30 – and we were due on the walking tour of the fishing village at 18:40. So we were a bit stressed as dinner stretched out. We’re sitting in a group of eight, us and three other couples (well, two couples and a pair of women who are travelling together). Two of us were going on the tour and the other two tables were not. We were suppose to be getting our food quickly so we could make the tour, so the two tables were eating while the others were making comments about being hungry. Then one of the people not going said ‘well, I’m going to enjoy my dinner nice and slow. And take my time over pudding’. Ha! We docked at Svolvær while we were having dinner.

After quickly eating, frantic back to the room to put on outwear and dash back down to deck 3 (we’re on deck 5) to disembark and find the minibus. We all made it and headed out, just over the bridge. Our guide pointed out the mayor’s house and then talked about the growth of Svolvær as a fishing town. We got a lot of information in our tour. Got to see the drying racks up close, the inside of an old fishing hut (kept as it was as a museum), Joe tried dried stock fish, and we saw the old shop which is now a reception area for renting out the fishing huts which have been done up as holiday lets. We also were in the art gallery for the grandson of the man who founded the fishing industry – Gunnar Berg. The family have build the gallery and it holds about 15% of his work (if I’m remembering correctly!) Lots of interesting information about the town and people and lots of stories. The tour was well worth it.

It’s been interesting, as we’re out of season we’re pretty much getting private tours. This tour, the guide was unlocking the museum buildings and turning on the lights just for us. With the lack of sunlight here, I’ve completely lost any sense of time; so I keep feeling like we’re being allowed to tour late at night! But it’s been really nice.

We actually made it back to the ship a bit early! So went and got out of our wet clothes (it was snowing off and on while we were out) and headed for the bar on deck 7 where Joe had a whisky and I had hot chocolate. The entertainment tonight was ‘Hurtigruten Lucky Numbers!’ With the tour organiser and hotel manager dressed in their night clothes. Hmmm. Well the tour organiser also had a bright red wig with horns, so probably a troll. Tomorrow morning around 9:30 we cross the arctic circle back into daylight!