We’ve spent four days on the Havila Pollux, and Pat and I are in agreement that the voyage has exceeded our expectations. We have loved looking at the Norwegian coastline and experiencing the changing landscape.

We also continued to be blessed with extraordinarily mild temperatures. I wore shorts every day except the last when we finally crossed the 71st parallel.

As I write this we have rounded the North Cape of Norway. It’s the northernmost point of land in Europe, roughly 2,000 KM/1,200 miles south of the North Pole. There’s a reason these Norwegians were big into polar exploration around the turn of the 20th Century.

The biggest change for us is that we are now at the start of the two-month period in which the sun doesn’t set. It’s something we Americans living in the lower 48 states don’t experience. Alaskans are familiar with it, but having sunlight at midnight, and for the remainder of the night, is strange to me. Hello night shades!

We made four other port calls after Trondheim (see our prior post, Northern Exposure) that were lengthy enough for us to get off of the boat and stretch our legs: Bodo, Stamsund, Tromso and Honningsvag. We end in Kirkenes. There are people who will remain on the boat for the six-day return journey to Bergen.

Bodo has been designated as the European Capital of Culture for 024, so of course the main museum in town was closed for renovations and we could see nothing of it. Bodo lacked the kind of old-town feel we’ve seen elsewhere, but to be fair, we only had a couple hours in town so there is likely more happening than we encountered. We did find an interesting art gallery, and a shop that featured handicrafts made from salmon skin tanned into leather.

Stamsund is the port of call if you want to visit the Lofoten Islands, which is a very popular destination in the summer season. It is dotted with AirBnBs and other short-term rentals. The island is probably best covered on a bicycle, motorbike or other means of transport during the season.

We did a bus tour arranged by Havila. It allowed us to see about half of the island. The tour included a brief stop at a fishing museum and another dedicated to a Norwegian artist by the name of Espilon Johnson. He was largely an illustrator. He also focused on local culture like fishing. Neither of us had heard of him, but we found his work intriguing.

Fun fact. The Lofoten Islands also are home to an 18-hole golf course that took 14 years to build — remember, it’s a long winter in these parts. But you could book a 3 a.m. tee time if you wished thanks to the midnight sun!

Our next stop, Tromso, was in some respects the nicest surprise. It’s a very popular spot in the winter for skiers and an attractive little town. Pat spotted an interesting shop on the Main Street that’s home to the Rein Love clothing line. It’s hipsterish, but we each picked up a couple of tee shirts. We also enjoyed chatting with the proprietor.

Tromso is home as well to the Mack Brewery, founded in 1877. It claims to be the northernmost brewer in the world. (There’s a lot of “northernmost” stuff in this country.) It now has a nice brewpub, so we of course had to sample. Had a brief chat with a local who said it’s becoming a summer cruise stop. We are glad we got to see it before it’s overwhelmed with the cruise crowd.

Our final port, Honningsvag, is the closest town of any size to the North Cape. There was a bus tour to the North Cape, but basically it was just to go for a photo-op at a marker so you can say you were there. We passed.

Instead we opted for one more boat tour in Norway, this time out to an area that is a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife. It’s the first time we had to dig out some of the cold weather gear we brought with us. Considering how far north we are the conditions were still good. It had rained the previous day, but while the skies were cloudy the temperatures as noted above were mild for the region.

We would highly recommend Havila’s coastal ferry boats for anyone looking to enjoy the scenery in summer, or possibly the Northern Lights in winter. The boats are modern, comfortable and best of all you aren’t with 3,000 or so other people as might be the case on a traditional cruise. The food is quite good and varied. We’ve enjoyed this part of the trip and can honestly say we kind of regret having to leave the boat.