
The first thing that hits you is the smell of the herring. Rotten and stinking, drifting in the breeze that meanders over the still, deep waters of the fjord.

This particular body of water is known as Kaldfjorden, and you don't need to be fluent in Norwegian to know how it got its name. At eight in the morning, there's an ethereal half-light from the weak winter sun, and the temperature doesn't get much beyond minus double digits.

The smell means that we're closing in on the whales. Before we set sail, Ivar, the captain, recommends that I don a thick jumpsuit.

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Winter wonderland: It is hard to find a more spectacular sunset than against the snowcapped peaks of Kaldfjorden, Norway

Icy welcome: Although the exterior of the Snow Hotel in Kirkenes is freezing, there are sleeping bags in the rooms to warm up inside

Open road: Spend your time snowmobiling through the white landscape, with dramatic skies illuminating the way

They come pretty close to the boat sometimes, he warns, and if they spout and it hits you then you'll reek of dead fish for days.

I, of course, ignore him.

A cry goes up from Ivar and a confirming shout from first mate Anya; I rush to the side of the catamaran and Ivar stalls the engine.

My quarry is humpback whales, which follow the herring along the coast, and are regular visitors to Tromso – so-called 'Gateway to the Arctic'.

Stealthily, the boat drifts closer to the spot where Anya sighted a whale-spout. Humpbacks are by nature friendly and often very inquisitive, so it's not long before I spy the familiar ridged back gliding over the surface of the water, followed by the elegant fluked tail curving into the air before slipping silently down into the inky waters.

Up close, they are simply magnificent. I marvel at just how huge they are; the largest of the family group could easily be the length of the boat.

From five metres away, the unique white markings on their pectoral fins flash beneath the surface as they gambol and play.

A hotel with a difference: The walkways on the inside of the Snow Hotel are carved into interesting designs (left), with plenty of activities to entertain outside (right)

Lunch aboard the boat is a hearty fish stew called bacalao, consisting of salted dried cod (a regional specialty). It does just about enough to fend off the cold, which seeps into your bones as the day goes on.

Cold though, is forgotten in the afternoon, which is when these magnificent creatures really put on a display. I'm startled by just how boisterous they are, one curious whale actually surfacing head-first only a few feet from me.

Our eyes lock for a few brief seconds. It's a cliché, yes, but for a moment I'm unsure as to who's actually watching who. Perhaps we're as fascinating to them as they are to us?

What is certain is that the expression 'having a whale of a time' is gloriously well-founded.

Our trip back to shore is punctuated by unexpected guests - orca racing us to shore, chasing our wake - and humpbacks energetically pounding the surface of the fjord with their pectoral fins and tails.

Whether this behaviour is merely sport, or if they are stunning their prey before feeding, I'm not sure.

What does seem a certainty though is that as I watch one breach almost fully out of the water, the setting sun behind him, this is surely for the sheer joy of being alive.

Tromso is just my starting point; halfway up the Norwegian coastline and one of the many harbours for the Hurtigruten ships that ferry cargo and passengers to remote and isolated communities that would be otherwise unreachable.

Paul managed to get a close-up shot of a reindeer outside of the Snow Hotel, where he spent one of his nights

Feeling like Bond: Paul tried his hand at snowmobiling through the snowy terrain - after first wrapping up warm for the trip

One of the greatest wonders in Norway are the colours witnessed at sunset, as Paul found when he sailed into Kirkenes

Let it go: The rooms at the Snow Hotel are carved into imaginative displays which seek to entertain the whole family. Paul stayed in a Frozen themed hotel which featured the Disney characters Anna, Kristoff and Sven (pictured)

The good ship 'Richard With' is my home for the next few days. I've worked on ships before, so being back aboard seems comforting and familiar, though in all the months I was at sea I can scarcely recall waves like these.

Not wholly passenger ships, yet not entirely working vessels, the Hurtigruten fleet offers a fantastic service for tourists who wish to use the boat like a ferry, and take advantage of all that Northern Norway has to offer.

The cabins are perfunctory and quite small, but clean, cosy and very warm (unless, like me, you only work out the thermostat on your final day...).

I, like many of my co-passengers, spend most of my time on board in the cafe or bars, in between rushing excitedly out on deck to peer up at the sky as the Northern Lights teasingly reveal themselves.

After calling in at Honningsvag, a tiny city on the North Cape, and witnessing the very tip of mainland Europe, the ship sails on to its easterly-most destination, Kirkenes. Here, the sun has not risen for over two months.

Kirkenes, (pronounce it 'Shirkenes' to blend in with the locals) is actually on the same line of longitude as Istanbul, and shares a border (along with languages on road signs) with Russia.

The chill factor: Paul explored a Fjord cabin in its snowy surroundings in Kirkenes during his trip to Northern Norway

As the snowmobile eats up the miles between the harbour and the snow hotel, the sun floods the valley for the first time this year with a dizzying array of purples and golds.

It's difficult to overstate just how stunningly beautiful is the light in this part of the world, just as winter turns the corner into spring.

Every year, around November, blocks of ice are sawed from the frozen fjords. Teams of Chinese artists then set about carving these into intricate sculptures, and they take pride of place in the snow hotel that is my final destination.

This being my second foray into the world of sleeping in a freezer compartment, I know what to expect.

Inside the compacted snow construction the temperature is higher than the bone-numbing minus 20 outside, but at minus five it's still cold enough to freeze your eyelashes.

Each room is themed, with my bedroom for the night being adorned with cartoonish reindeer and snowmen whom I am assured are quite well-known to children (if the words 'Let It Go' fill you with dread, you may have an idea who I'm talking about).

Outside the rooms, at the end of a tunnel of snow, is a magnificent ice bar, where you can relax after a piping hot meal in the adjacent restaurant.

Only alcoholic beverages can be served, given that anything non-alcoholic would freeze solid. The glasses you see, as well as the chairs, tables, walls and floor, are carved from solid ice.

Paul took full advantage of the activities in the Snow Hotel, which is constructed every year, around November from blocks of ice sawed from the frozen fjords

Not your usual day: Paul took part in a king crab fishing safari, which cost £137 for four hours (left) but the Northern Lights (right) were a free spectacle in the evening

Explore the surrounding areas in Kirkenes to see wooden fjord cabins that stand out against their white backdrop and the dramatic skies

Paul took a boat trip around Kaldfjorden which looks particularly stunning in the morning when there's an ethereal half-light from the weak winter sun

The snow hotel offers an array of activities, such as king crab fishing, snowmobile excursions, or the noisy, smelly and exhilarating option of taking the huskies out for their daily exercise.

Before I wrap myself in an enormous sleeping bag and venture into my Frozen-themed snow cave though, there's just enough time to take the air, and I slip outside. The whining of the dogs in their kennels abates, and in the silent stillness my eyes scan the skies.

Slowly at first, and almost indistinguishable from cloud, a finger of green extends into the blackness, spreading and shimmering.

I haven't really seen the Northern Lights during my trip until now. But they couldn't let me go without reminding me what a thrill it is to see them dance.