Maelstrom

We crossed into the Arctic Circle at 7.54 this morning.  It is marked in the sea by a small dome on a tiny island.   There was a ceremony later in the morning when willing passengers had cubes of ice put down their necks by, I think Thor.   It seemed popular with the German passengers. 

We stopped at Ornes and then went on to Bode where we had a longer stop.  We’d booked a trip on a RIB to go and look at the maelstrom but that was cancelled because of incoming weather, which actually arrived later.  
So we booked a taxi and went up to the spot.  There was an immensely high bridge over it which our driver suggested we visit.  It was windy up there and so not much fun and in any case the view was better at ground level.  So hard to capture in photos but it was the event of the day so I’ve made it the blip.  It is a series of whirling whirlpools and rushing water and peaks every six hours, the result of clashing tides in a small channel.   Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about it which made it famous but standing at the edge of  the boiling water I kept thinking of Rosmersholm and Little Eyolf and understood why Ibsen was so fascinated by the danger of the river and the sea.  Actually all round this trip is giving me a lot more insight into Ibsen. 

We went across a rare bit of open water, unprotected by island or fjord and it got choppy and made us all a bit queasy.  My wristbands kept the worst at bay and it had largely calmed by dinner time.  We sat watching snow swirling past the windows and when at 1030pm we stopped at Svolvaer the capital of the Lofoten Islands, we went ashore for a wander.  Sadly the bit round the boat was really touristy and we didn’t have time to find the old town but we saw a lovely church standing white on a hill with dark leafless poplars silhouetted against it.  They suffered badly in the war apparently as I think the Nazis largely took over the islands. 

In the bar we were served a Norwegian speciality which seemed to be warmed cream flavoured with cinnamon accompanied by mulled spicy apple liqueur.  Slept well as a result!