Its getting harder to find new subject matter for photographs. So I've started to look for human interest as well. This picture is entitled “its a serious business walking around a boat”.
Then I’ve gone off on one again, sorry! Look away now if you need to. It comes a bit later - all about the schedule and daylight saving! There aren’t even that many pics on the Hammerfest page of the Gallery.
Now before I get down to the real business … just for Juanita, I’ve used the Facebook facility to “check-in” and this seems to throw up a location but in the presence of a photo in the link I can’t get it to include an actual map. If anyone can tell me how, please do. So here is a screen shot of google maps of where I am as I post this. The trouble I go to just to have a place to visit in Queensland!!! Is it my fault if Aussies don’t know where Norway is?!
So back to Hammerfest…The stop there was shortened on the grounds that we were behind schedule. But, surprisingly for an outfit this efficient, this was simply not true. The timetable is a universal one, ie every boat leaves Bergen at the same time each day and visits ports on a preset schedule. You can predict where each boat is at any specific time of the day. But the timetable takes no account of the change to daylight saving time, which like in the UK, was last night. So we are not behind schedule - the schedule is wrong; the clocks have gone forward an hour and every boat will effectively have a 23 hour day to undertake a 24 hour schedule. OK, I know you are all bored by now, but it simply surprised me that an outfit as well run as this, seems to have simply ignored this issue, and presumably on every boat they are currently telling the passengers that they are an hour behind schedule and will have one of the stops shortened. Those who had booked excursions (not cheap) are being told the trip will be curtailed and being offered 25% discount - for something that was entirely predictable for any trip that is at sea when the time changes. I suppose they could offer them the opportunity of coming back in October when on the day when daylight saving ends, every boat will presumably be one hour ahead of schedule as the clock go back an hour. So they could get back their extra hour in Hammerfest! Those of you who know me well, will know I am struggling not to go and tell all this to the captain! But you will be relieved to know I am holding myself back! And, you know what, it is good to have something else to rant about for a change.
Right, Hammerfest…
Famous for…
1. Being the most northerly location from which the first accurate measurement of the earth’s size and shape was deduced. (Bet you didn’t know that!)
2. The place from which many polar expeditions were launched - until about 1850 I believe then they switched to Tromso.
3. The most northerly town in the world, or so it claims (on the grounds that in Norway a “town” has to have a population above 5000). Which rather neatly excludes four other places in Norway (all on Svarlbad), and several in Russia & Canada.
Being a bit of nerd I found this site offered some tantalising possibilities for future travel. Apparently Ny-Alesund, population 35, is really the most northerly settlement. Wonder if I should go? And the second furthest north, Pyramiden, population 4-15 (?), owned by a Russian mining company, has a hotel and a museum!! Got to go!
Even I’m bored now. Here’s a few pictures of Hammerfest, definitely the world’s most northerly town. Then I am going for a lie down.