I had no excursions planned for that day. At breakfast I got a message from Virgil that he would be waiting at the quay in Ørnes. Unfortunately, there was only a 10min stop there, but it should be enough for a “hello”. As always, I enjoyed the scenery all the way to Ørnes and was happy to see Virgil again, even if only briefly.
As so often on the voyage, I watched the mooring process. For me as a “landlubber” it was always interesting. This time, the tailboard remained closed in Ørnes. No cargo was taken on board. Only a few passengers got on.
The friendly lady at the reception explained to me that we only have a very short stay here. I explained that I just wanted to give a belated Christmas present and pointed downwards to Virgil. While the gangway was still descending, she took a quick look down at Virgil and at my gift and said, “Okay. But stay down by the gangway. When the last passenger is on board you must reboard immediately.”
I thanked him and beamed all over. It so happened that I had only seen Virgil very briefly in Ørnes. It was enough to say, “Good day. I wish you a Happy New Year”, then gifts were exchanged and then it was goodbye again.
Virgil waited and waved until we no longer saw each other.
Virgil sent me some more nice photos of the Richard With.
Before I went to the polar circle baptism, I brought my gift to the cabin, because I wanted to unwrap it later at my leisure.
I joined in and afterwards some from my table decided to join in too. It was very funny. After the baptism we had a schnapps.
Afterwards we went to put on some dry clothes so that we wouldn’t catch a cold. I also used the time until Bodø to unwrap my present. It was a nice surprise. I was very pleased. Of course I thanked Virgil by whatsapp video before we arrived in Bodø.
Shortly before Bodø, I got a message from Sven (a friend from Berlin) telling me to walk to the back. He would make a video of the arrival with the help of Bodø’s harbour camera. On his command, I waved as well as I could until he wrote: “You can stop, I’ve got you on it. He edited the video and sent it to me in the evening. You can see me waving in a light blue jacket. Thank you very much Sven.
In Bodø, I had no excursions planned, but took a walk through Bodø on my own. It was very slippery and so progress was slow. Next time I should maybe take spike (chains for shoes) with me.
After supper, I waited for the northern lights, but no luck today. So, after packing my suitcase and travel bag, I went to bed.