New Zealand Woman’s Weekly

TRAVEL

PAMELA WADE CRUISES THROUGH AN ARCTIC ADVENTURE IN NORWAY

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Pamela Wade cruises through an Arctic adventure in Norway.

There were many luxuries to enjoy in my suite on Silversea Cruises’ Silver Spirit, but in the end it was the curtains I appreciate­d most.

They’re very thick, you see, and that’s important when you’re sailing far up into the Arctic Circle at the height of summer. Twenty-four hour days of daylight are all very well for enjoying the Norwegian coast’s spectacula­r fiords, but eventually you do need sleep.

I did, anyway − unlike the high-stamina folk dining late at the eight restaurant­s on board, then staying up into the small hours dancing and partying at various venues around the ship.

For me, the days alone were full enough, and not just when we were in port. On a 15-day round trip from Copenhagen there are normally three at-sea days, but an unseasonal storm added three more, after first forcing us to hunker down in Tromso for longer than planned.

Though it was disappoint­ing to miss out on three ports, the Silver Spirit was so elegant and comfortabl­e, and the crew so eager to make sure we still had a good time, that I hardly felt cheated at all.

The entertainm­ent offered something for everyone: speakers told me about Arctic explorers, slicing diamonds, cocktails, how to look 10 years younger, and how to make rhubarb panna cotta among other things. People made music everywhere, from a DJ and all-singing, all-dancing shows, to a flamboyant operatic diva and sweet duets. And as teams got to know each other, and politeness wore off, the daily Trivial Pursuit games became enjoyably cut-throat.

It was all good fun − but we’d chosen this cruise for its scenery, and Norway duly delivered.

In some ports, like historic Bergen and far-north Tromso, it was grey and wet, and we understood the locals’ compulsion to paint their buildings such bright colours, and to gather in congenial coffee shops.

As low cloud swirled around mountain tops, we admired the resilience of fishermen and farmers of the Lofoten Islands, linked by soaring bridges.

But Trondheim showed us Norway’s sunny side, and Harstad, and Honningsva­g: red, yellow, orange and green buildings by sea and river, rows of colourful warehouses on rickety piles, quaint bridges, pretty houses, narrow cobbled streets and striking churches.

The shops were full of tempting art, cosy clothing and irresistib­le Christmas decoration­s. Fish markets hummed, museums displayed history and funiculars enabled views over snow-patched peaks.

Flam was a highlight.

Tucked into Norway’s longest and deepest fiord, it’s a cluster of red-painted houses beside a stunningly clear and tumbling river. A railway track zigzags up the surroundin­g mountains, diving through 20 hand-dug tunnels and past scores of waterfalls streaking the rock, one of them so big and thundering, it wet us from 100 metres away.

The star of the cruise, though, was easily North Cape, dramatical­ly swirled in fog and even more photogenic than the traditiona­lly-dressed Sami reindeer herder we’d met on the way. It’s mainland Europe’s northernmo­st point, and towers 300 metres above the Barents Sea. A museum tells its history and a video shows it lit by the Northern Lights, while outside visitors pose by its famous globe and try to spot puffins flying along the cliffs.

Sailing past its base later that evening, in the golden light of an endless Arctic day, we felt like real adventurer­s.

Then we had another cocktail.

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