After a good night's sleep and breakfast we sat and watched the scenery glide past. We stopped at Risoyhamn then continued on through the Lofoten Islands.
After lunch we stopped in Sortland and visited the Hurtigruten museum and learnt the coastal steamer has been running since 1884, only interrupted for a short while by WWII. The reliability of the service is probably one reason that the north of Norway is so well populated. We later learnt that the government also offer tax advantages to those who live in the north.
Between Stokmarknes and Svolvaer we passed through the narrowest of the Lofoten fjords with some of the best scenery of the trip.
The captain took the boat on a short detour into the Trollfjord, a narrow (100m) very steep sided fjord. Our boat turned round in the small space, with it's bows nearly into the waterfall on the side, before resuming it's normal course.
After a quick glass of wine with Bjarne and Tove admiring their cabin upgrade, the boat stopped at Svolvaer and we all got off for a beer. We had driven past the outskirts of the town a few days earlier, but it appeared much bigger when approached from the seaward side, another indication of how important the sea trade is to these northern towns.
After dinner and a few drinks in the bar we finally saw a true midnight sun. There were virtually no clouds in the sky whilst we were in the bar, but, sadly, more arrived later. Everybody (nearly) gathered on the rear deck of the boat at midnight for drinks and photographs and we all took many pictures before retiring to bed.
Good day all round, more of the same for tomorrow.
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