Honningsvag

Most days on the cruise the Fox was too poorly to accompany me to breakfast. I headed to a table reserved for disabled people. It was our usual evening table & they’d learnt by then to leave one space without a chair as I would be sitting in my wheelchair. I found someone already sat at the table so I asked if he’d mind if I joined him. He was going to turn me away until I pointed out the wheelchair symbol on the table.

It turned out to be a more interesting breakfast than usual. The man turned out to be the custodian of the church at Honningsvåg, our next port of call. He was just returning home. As I've said before, the Hurtigruten ships are ferries as well as  cruise ships.

Once he’d realised I was English, he told me something of the history & significance of the church.

It seems that when the Nazis retreated from Honningsvåg towards the end of the Second World War, they had a policy of destroying the towns as they left. Honningsvåg was one such town. The only building that remained intact after most of the town was burnt down was the church. That was spared for some unknown reason. As a result it became the focal point for the residents of the town. This is where so many found shelter, cooked, were educated, were treated if ill etc. Even today, over 70 years on, it remains at the heart of the community, the place where most communal activities take place.

My fellow breakfaster’s only regret was that he hadn’t got the church key with him. He would have loved to show me around. The church would normally be closed that day as it was Ascension Thursday except for services. It is a pity but I couldn’t have pushed myself that far. The Fox did get up & we had a very short stroll on land. We could see the Nordkapp Museum, my proposed place to visit in Honningsvåg, from the ship, a very short walk away. When we found it was closed as Ascension Thursday is a Bank Holiday in Norway & everything is shut, we quickly returned to the ship, & the Fox to bed.