Hunting
THE LIGHT On board with Hurtigruten, the view is constantly changing, which means you will never see the exact same scenery twice.
The Northern Lights. The midnight sun. The dark winter nights and the never-ending summer days. Along the coast of Norway, it is all about the light, or the absence of it. Nothing remains the same for long, as the light is forever changing – that is the one thing we can confidently say is constant. The light colours the landscape and villages in a thousand different shades, it wraps them in darkness or it lights them up; it makes them glow in the sunset or it throws long, dark shadows towards the shore. From our ships you have a great opportunity to experience all of this. In the northernmost parts of Norway, the polar nights last from the beginning of December until the middle of January. During this time the sun completely disappears below the horizon, and only a vague light separates the day from the night. When the captains on our ships talk about “the blue light”, they mean the short period of time in these winter afternoons when the whole landscape seems to be bathed in a deep blue colour. Some people think this is even more magical than the aurora borealis.
Because the light changes, the scenery changes too: The ocean, the mountains, the sky, and the landscape. Thus one mountain is many different mountains, and the sky has a thousand colours. The blue light has its counterpoint in the late summer nights’ soothing pastel glow, which is so soft it looks as if someone has dusted the world with powdered sugar. This is the opposite phenomenon to the polar nights, when the sun stays above the horizon 24 hours a day, an orange glowing fireball that never dips into the ocean, even at midnight. And then there are the Northern Lights. They do not adhere to seasons, but appear when they see fit. They are easier to spot in the winter months, but can be seen from our ships throughout autumn as well. We are constantly in search of all these lights, and you can experience them right here along our beloved coast.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said: “You cannot step into the same river twice”. We say: “You cannot see exactly the same coast twice.”