Norge Post

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Written by Scott K Marshall

Norge Post

So Mandy and I have returned safely after rounding the North Cape and parking the ship right up on the border with Russia. We choose this trip primarily to see the Lofoten Islands and hopefully see the Northern Lights. Hurtigruten are so confident you will see the Aurora on these trips – that they offer a free weeks cruise if you fail to view the lights with them. Rather than post a whole gallery of shots, I thought I would post a few individual images to give you a feel for Norway and wrap it all up with a gallery post. Hurtigruten are the Postal and freight boats which steam the Norwegian coast daily some 13 boats in total. In other words it is not run as a cruise more like a working ferry dropping mail and freight as they go – this first shot is to give you a feel for the kind of 2 dimensional scenery you get sailing beyond the Arctic Circle (around 6 days of the trip is within the Arctic Circle). This first shot Norge Post is taken during the Polar Night (where the sun does not rise above the horizon during a 24 hour period) polar nights create a very ethereal light, also note how calm the water is (it was not always this calm) but that is a story for another day.

22 Comments

  1. I like the light and the almost monochrome colours in this image, feels like a refreshing breeze. Though standing behind the camera it was probably a bit more than refreshing lol, I think I am quite happy just making do with your pictures.

  2. So glad you had a great trip. We are longing to find an opportunity to go with Hurtigruten. With Nordic roots (and even surname) it’s high time to go back! RH

    1. As I said to Jo I felt it was an adventure rather than a holiday. Hurtigruten were superb, No kids – the boat was at it’s quietest due to the time of year. 60 pax instead of 600. The midnight sun cruise would generate lots more photos due to the extended operating window. However when the light appeared it was pretty amazing and the Aurora which of course is coming 🙂 Blew my mind. I was unaware of the Nordic connection.

    1. Jo I think you have hit on the nail it was an adventure rather than a holiday – he only thing we would have done differently would have been more time on land, maybe next time.

  5. This is surprising to me, because the Polar Night looks like a very cloudy, overcast day…..and not really “night” at all as I would understand it. So there is some daylight during the Polar Night then?

    1. Yes Mark the sun rises for a very narrow 3-5 hour window but just not above the horizon so if it is cloud free you get a blueish light if its cloudy it is just like a steady late twilight once the sun is set it is pitch black very quickly. In Trondheim which is below the Arctic Circle the sun didnt get above the roof tops till 1030 AM the was dropping by 1400 – making day shooting without a tripod ISO1600 country.

    1. Now that is very interesting – I have looked at what you have published and I am well impressed and feeling a little pressure lol – I felt sure no one would have done anything similar – how wrong was I. Food was excellent but I haven’t had smoked salmon since returning ha ha

  12. What an exquisite adventure. Can’t wait to learn more about this fascinating trip and to see more of your wonderful images.

    1. Thanks Gunta it was an amazing trip but it had its challenges – very low polar light once above the Arctic Circle and trying to shoot Aurora from a moving boat proved nigh on impossible. But I did get some intriguing images – keep watching.

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