Sunday 5th November. Alta

Today the ship sailed into Alta.  We were a little later than expected, and arrived at 10.30.  Fine by us, cos we got to see the scenery as we sailed along the fjord. 

It’s cold though!  Beautiful.  And very, very cold.

A free shuttle bus had been laid on to take the passengers from the ship into the town centre.  Unfortunately, being Sunday, most of the shops were shut although the cathedral is definitely worth a visit.

An enterprising Norwegian has set up this little souvenir shop on the quayside.  And why not? There wasn't anywhere else to spend our Norwegian Krona 

Peter and I had no intentions of going into town.  Once we found out that we didn’t have any escorting duties, we decided to have a look to see if there was anywhere in the area suitable for a walk.  There’s an app that we can’t recommend highly enough.  It’s called Maps.Me, it’s free, and once you have the app installed on your phone (or any device), and all you have to do is download the map(s) of where you are going when you have wi-fi.  (I downloaded the whole of Norway.) 

Then, when you’ve got to wherever you’re going, you’ve got a really detailed map of the area, it includes all the streets as usual, but it also includes all the walking paths, landmarks, places of interest etc.  With a gps signal it’ll locate you and then help you plan routes, find places, all sorts.   It’s awesome. 

View from the ridge on our walk.

And we used it today to work out that there was a little hill, Losvarkollen,  a few miles away that we could walk to.  A fair amount of walking was through town, but we were able to make it a little more interesting, walking up a small but steep hill to follow the local paths through the woods, over the river Altaelva, through the suburbs of Kronstad, and finally, up our little hill.   It was a lovely day.  Cold, but clear skies meant that we had good views in all directions. 

The Altaelva

And we had another brilliant little something with us.  MIcrospikes!  Basically metal spikes on chains that fit to the bottom of your boots.  We bought them a couple of years ago, and have never used them in the UK.  Today they have been perfect, helping us stay upright through the slippy suburbs and on our climbs up the icy hills. 

Looking over to Alta from the top of our little hill.  That's Alta Cathedral with the spire. 

The walk was around 7 miles all in.  We set off about 11 o’clock, our only concern being that we shouldn’t be up a hill in the dark and not be sure of our way down, especially with sunset due a little after 2pm.   We managed it easily and were back downhill and walking through town just as it started to get dark, having really enjoyed the walk. 

Views across the fjord.  Our ship is hidden behind the little hill on the left edge of the picture.

We got back for afternoon tea, and then turned our attention to the next project of the day; the Northern Lights.  It had been so clear all day, chances of seeing them tonight should bereally good.  We’re in Alta after all, one of the best places in the world to see them.

But the clouds came over and blocked out the sky.  And they stayed.  People sat around the lounges of the ship, coats, hats, gloves and most importantly, cameras at the ready.  Waiting and hoping and waiting.  In the Bistro, people sat in groups, drinking copious amounts of tea, chatting and waiting.   It got later and later.  People wandered out onto the decks, (us included), checking the sky for any sign that the clouds were clearing.

Nothing.

Eventually, we’d had enough, and went to bed.   And so did everybody else.  For the passengers, it must be quite a disappointment.  For many, the Northern Lights are the reason for the cruise and we feel for them.  Maybe tomorrow night