All go in Andenes.

There was no midnight sun last night, all we saw was a wee slither of sun through a hole in the clouds. 

The alarm was set for 7am this morning as it had potential to be a very busy day, we are well aware that our days are now more limited, We have decided to allow 3 weeks to get home, so from wherever we are a week on Thursday one way or the other we will be pointing Bessies nose south. The last few days weather have been bad but the dice was rolled on something better today, the YR forecasts have been unreliable but Accuweather has been better and it looked things were on the up. When we arrived in Andesnes yesterday we had phoned and then gone to the Whalesafari booking office, we made a reservation for Monday at 11am as that was the earliest we could get a definite booking, but we had also put our names down as 1st reserves for any cancelations on Sundays 4pm trip. If there was one thing I really wanted to do in this area of Norway this was it, I had spotted it in my atlas that I had bought and would have regretted forever had we not taken the chance. So, fingers crossed the weather would play ball for us eventually.

We had also passed a walk that goes to a peak called Matind above some sea cliffs and that was on thew radar too. Theres a polar circle museum and the Andoya space centre so no shortage of things to do up here. But how best to fit some of them in?

The weather was a bit better this morning, no rain and there were some breaks in the clouds, I had made up some sandwiches last night on the off chance the weather was good for our walk to save a little time. So after breakfast we headed back south a little to walk up Matind which was supposed to be a 3 or 4 hour round trip. We got parked and set off up through he little birch trees, the path was very muddy after all the last few days rain, then it rises up quite steeply for a bit, around this point we were passed by a nice older man who stopped to blether on hearing our accent, he was marching up at a fast but unstressed looking pace, he lived at the bottom of the hill and said he did this walk and the hills on the other side of the valley every Sunday-he was 73 years old and he left us all for dead!! After the short steep section the path settled out onto a sort of rolling plateau and really easy walking. Short grass and few bouldery area’s were made short work of by the boys, we were into the wind and hats and gloves were soon on but it was no problem. W heard some faint calls from a family of birds and eventually spotted them , they were Golden Plovers, these are birds of high moorland area's and tundra, I have seen them in Scotland on mountain tops but never this close. We also saw another sea eagle soaring about around the cliffs.

There were some ominous looking clouds around and except for a few spots it remained dry for us. The views were superb to the north over Bleik and its craggy headland beyond, and south over Stave and all the mountainous areas in that direction. After a couple of ups and down the summit of Matind was in sight and was only 1km away. Soon we were on the top taking in the views with the blue sky’s finally winning over the clouds. We spent some time here taking pictures and chatting to a couple of lads flying a drone, one was from Comer on the Norfolk coast and the other was German, but they both were living in Stavanger temporarily on some NATO exercise. Soon we headed back down and Callum had a fair old strop on as I insisted he took my hand at the top section, it has seriously big cliff areas and he wanted Mums hand, but of course so did Logan so Callums hand was forcibly taken to his disgruntlement. He will understand one day.

We were down by 2.30pm and checked our phones, we had a missed call from the Whale booking office so called them back, there had been a cancellation so we were on the 4pm trip today if we wanted it…….the sky’s were almost clear, the wind had calmed so as long as we could be there on time we would go. We were back in the Bobil parking area and had half an our to get ready, so it was a bit of a quick turn round, some food was hastily put together and clothing resorted and camera’s readied, a new memory card and fresh battery all packed just in case. We were there onetime, got our tickets and then were told the boat was 45 minutes lates so we need not have rushed, lol. A beer for me, a coffee for Joyce and an ice cream for the boys would kill the time no problem. Soon we were getting on  the boat, and I have no idea why it happens but at the point that its too late, that is when you realise a potentially monumental foxes paw……..I had forgotten the binoculars……..what a flipping donkey!!! My head was down, there was no way we could get them in time and we were embarking upon a trip where they could be essential……talk about kicking myself. We got a space on the boat and I was sure the trip had been wasted by our haste and my mindfulness.

The boat cast off and was soon heading out the harbour and then immediately the rolling started, the big seas that had been whipped up by the previous few days weather hadn’t yet settled down, the waves have gone but the big swell is definitely still there, to be honest it maybe never totally goes up here… the next stop is is Svalbard or Greenland depending which way you go. The boys were fitted with life jackets and we were given safety instructions and shown how to put on lifejackets in an emergency. It was very difficult to move about the boat, hard enough for an adult far less a 3 or 4 year old, our boys were not the youngest on this trip however. I made my way up to the raised deck on the boat and about 30 minutes after we left the harbour we spotted our first whales. Killer whales were in the distance and we were heading towards them. I got a few distant snaps and eventually went down to see how Joyce and the boys were doing they were fine. People were being sick all over the place, not team Easson though, stomachs of steel. The whales were now a bit closer which was good as Joyce and the boys could see them so I helped them to the side for a closer look, they were all around us a big pod of about 20, a few big males, some females and babies. The binoculars were not required to my relief, they were so close to the boat swimming about and checking us out. Some tail slapping and plenty playing, and to top it all directly behind where they were swimming was the the hill, Matind that we had climbed earlier in the day. Life could not be better. The boat continued to very slowly cruise about keeping close by the whales. It was still heaving quite a lot with the swell but I managed to take both boys one at a time to the higher deck, though this was hardly needed. Joyce who was feeling a bit ropey stayed put, surrounded by people looking very grey indeed and holding their bags to their faces. This was very amusing to see particularly when in the middle of this was Callum and Logan tucking into a bowl of soup and a roll provided by the boat.

 All too soon, the captain announced we were heading back into Andenes and we said goodbye to the group of whales. We think there were about 20, and this caused a bit excitement amounts the guides, more of whom than normal were on the boat, Orca’s aren’t too common in these numbers in this area. They did however (most likely) keep the sperm whale away, apparently the 2 species don’t get on too well together so keep apart. This is a big whale watching area, Killer whales, sperm whales and humpbacks can all be seen and there is a deep trench just beyond where we were, that is why items a popular whale watching areas, it is east to access their feeding grounds. On the way back in all the mountains south and east of us were looking great with snow patches on them shining in the sun. Senja looks quite close and all going well we should be over there tomorrow at some point.

We finished off the day with a beer and a huge pizza and chips in the restaurant, which went down a treat. After a wee wander around the harbour and lighthouse area it was time to get back and get the boys bedded. There has not been a sound from them since. I am almost finished the blog, (it may not be published tonight as we have had some data issues) and there is not a cloud in the sky, we will see the midnight sun for the first time, I shan’t wake the boys up!! What and end to a superb day!!