Unexpected Hammerfest

Leaving Honningsvag this morning after another good night in the pub. Got chatting to a giant of man who had had a few vodkas and claimed to be the strongest man in town. I didn't doubt at all. However, he did show me a picture of his poodle and before the end of the football his wife was unhappy with him and dragged him home! Ha ha.

So this morning, we headed south and decided rather spontaneously to divert to Hammerfest and see the polar bear centre. It was worth it. See this picture with my helmet....big man-eating chaps these are!

At a coffee stop today, I got chatting to guy who had just missed hitting the cafe with his car! He explained that he had lost an eye recently and still had trouble judging distances.( You can't make this up!) His brain was damaged too and so he tried to do cross words every day to sharpen him up. He was very nice and very friendly but it just under-lined how you have to ride defensively all the time. Incidentally, the previous night in the Nord pub, we got chatting to a guy a shell suit. His English was good although some expressions were rather juicy - if you get my drift. He said he had learnt his English from Hull and Grimsby trawlermen who had called in here regularly in the 70's!

Hammerfest was a pretty cool town after Honningsvag and we strolled around until we found a place to watch the footie. We sat outside in the sunshine even though it was cold and I think the last few days caught up with us. I fell sound asleep for 30 minutes and I think Tim had a nap too.

It didn't help much as I still felt tired. Anyway, we wandered over to the pub which was opening especially for the Argentina v Germany game and as we were pretty much first there we had the pick of the seats - leather Chesterfields in front of the biggest TV you have ever seen! Fantastic. We ordered three pizzas but the chap assured us one was enough unless we hadn't eaten for a month! Boy, was he right. It was enormous and delicous. The three of us couldn't manage it all!! So we watched a great game, sitting in comfort, eating great pizza. (Didn't Germany play well?! Must be favourites now)

Look at the size of the pizza. Its about16 inches across and 0.5 inches thick! No need for dinner tonight!


The picture below is Hammerfest. Nice town. Claims to be the town (city?) which is the furthest north in the world. Quite a claim but presumably true. Certainly at 70 degrees north, its a long way up! The last picture is me outside the Nordkapp centre in Honningsvag posted because I like it! ha ha. Note the obligatory Nordkapp cap and another new friend in the backgound. Those guys are everywhere!. Right, time for a beer. Cheers