Between our visit to Kamoyvaer fishing village and our return to Honningsvåg the weather cleared up unexpectedly, there was no fog and no wind.  It was the perfect day to visit North Cape.  North Cape (or Nord Cap) is branded as the northernmost point in Europe.  It’s not on the mainland of Europe but on the offshore island of Mageroya.  The island is connected to the mainland by a tunnel so you can drive to North Cape from the mainland.  When we first visited in 1968 you could not.  We drove a rented Opel Cadet from Bergen to North Cape.  We kept meeting the same folks each night in campgrounds and developed a kind of nomadic hippie community.  One VW microbus had, written in black electrical tape, “Nord Cap or Bust” along the side. We camped on the mainland and took a boat to Mageroya.  From there we made our way to North Cape on, what I remember to be, a gravel road.  It was overcast and windy, but our impromptu band of travelers were happy.

Then there was just the globe monument and an earlier obelisk further west commemorating the 1873 visit by King Oscar, the joint monarch of Sweden and Norway.  Now there is a visitors’ center, IMEX type film, coffee shop, gift shop, museum, and the furthest north chapel in Europe.  You reach it on a fine paved highway.  It’s on its way to becoming a geological Disneyland.

North Cape is not the northernmost point in Europe,  Knivskjellodden is.  It is 1,452 meters north of North Cape at 71⁰ 11’ 08” N while North Cape is 71’10’21” N.  That is almost one and a half kilometers (1,452 meters to be exact) north of North Cape.  Knivskjellodden looks like a knife cutting into the Arctic Ocean.  It is difficult to get to so North Cape wins the branding war.  I am glad that in 1968 we didn’t know this.  We were young and adventurous enough to try to reach it.  

(For reference, Point Barrow, the northernmost point in Alaska, is at 71^o38’75’ N, just a little north of North Cape. The associated town of Utqiagvik is at 71^o 29’ 95” N.  When we sailed around North Cape my GPS registered the ship at 71^o 13’ 09” N.)

The drive and views were worth the trip, especially on such a fine day.

On the way we stopped at the summer home/gift shop of a Sami (Sami is the preferred name for a group of people, who in Norse languages have been referred to as Laplanders) reindeer herder.  He has transferred his herd from the mainland to Mageroya island because there are no natural predators for reindeer here and the mosquitos and flies are less bothersome, driven away by the winds.  His herd winters near Karasjok on the mainland.  The reindeer do swim across the channel, but many herders use landing craft vessels to transport their herds.  The reindeer give birth on the island.  It is safer for the calves.  One thing to note, male reindeer lose their antlers in the winter after mating and regrow them in the summer.  Females keep their antlers.  Santa’s reindeer must be female.  Rudolph is most likely Rudolphia.   Along the route we saw other evidence of Sami life, including a sod hut, a tent, and reindeer tracks in the snow.  While we saw herds of reindeer they were on the other side of the bus, both up to and back from North Cape so we didn’t get to see them.

After sail out, between 9:30 and 10:30 PM the ship hosted a party on the aft deck as we sailed by North Cape.  The party included fondue and glühwein, the mulled hot wine that warms the spirt of European Christmas Markets.  It was cold enough to warrant it.  While the sun does not set here on May 14, it scoots along the horizon and reflects off the cliff giving the hint of Alpen glow to accompany the glow of the wine.