Day 16 Saturday, March 14th Bergen

We learnt on our arrival back at the hotel yesterday that Norway was about to go into lockdown due to the coronavirus.  No restaurants, museums, galleries or other tourist attractions will be open.  We thought about it in the evening and decided our best course would be to get home as soon as possible.  We were due to travel to Oslo today for a 3 night stay but decided to abandon that part of our holiday.




Historic Bergen harbour

So today we have spent a 

ferries come and go

lot of time rearranging our travel.  The hotel here kindly allowed us to stay at least one extra night.  Through Hurtigruten we managed to transfer our flight so that we are now travelling from Bergen to Gatwick tomorrow evening.  We have 

Bergen at dusk

rearranged our train from London to Penzance for Sunday night - well done Llandrindod Wells station as usual impeccable service.  Our flight to Scilly from Lands End is now Monday morning and hopefully we will home safely early afternoon.  We managed to take a few pictures from our hotel room which has a view over Bergen harbour.

We have had a wonderful holiday with exceptional experiences, it is a pity we have not been able to go to Oslo but there seems little point.  Perhaps we will make it another year.  Unless something untoward happens this will be the last blog for this holiday.  Thank you very much for reading and God Bless. 
 

Day 15 Friday, March13th "Norway in a nutshell"



agricultural area

For the complete whole day we
 had in Bergen we decided to do the "Norway in a nutshell" tour which has been given some decent reviews.  Our tickets were all purchased in advance and were up ready to catch the 0839 train from Bergen station - hence the recce yesterday afternoon to find the best route.  We had already had our first surprise in the morning when we went for breakfast.  We were just given a bag as we entered the dining room and were told this was due to new coronavirus regulations being enforced.  OK so we had a cold breakfast with some coffee and life did not seem too bad. 




waterfalls everywhere

from the train

We got on our train, settled down and we were underway to the town of Voss.  The surrounding countryside soon progressed from being snow free with evidence of agricultural activity to one of being a complete white out.  Both scenarios provided good photo opportunities.  We were soon at Voss (just over an hour) and we had to alight and find a bus to take us on the next leg of our 5 legged journey.

We found the bus in the coach park outside the station and we were soon motoring again.  Having climbed quite high on the first leg, this next trip was to take us back down to sea level to the head of a fjord.  It took us 55 minutes to drive carefully down from the heights to the port of Gudvangen.  We had to wait for nearly an hour before the fjord boat came in but that went very quickly as we had a quick look round at the stunning scenery and there was a coffee shop where we enjoyed a nice hot chocolate.  Outside the weather was below freezing and so we glad of thick coats, hats, furry trousers  and gloves.  Having warmed up it was time now to go out and join our smart looking boat which had just arrived.




route of boat trip

It had room for 400 passengers but

At Gudvangen

there was probably only a fifth of that for our journey.  The remarkable thing about the boat was that it was electric powered. It takes about 25 minutes to receive enough power to cruise 2 hours.  They are very much green conscious in Norway and have plenty of hydroelectric power.  We boarded and it had plenty of 

two good looking chaps

comfortable seats in two lounges and plenty of rail space outside (including on top) for people to view and photograph. Our 

snowy mountains all around us

voyage started and there was no motor noise and the drive had been designed so that there minimum bank erosion.  Our photos explain the views and give a bit of an idea of the 

Christine with a danger sign!

scenery but in the flesh one enjoys a much better 

another mountain with snow blowing

picture.  We were able to 

some narrow channels

dramatic gorge

have a cup of tea from the well stocked cafeteria.  Our two hourjourney passed very quickly and we passed from the Naeroyfjord to the Aurlandfjord before very long.   We were surprised where people would choose to live in this 

isolated community

even more isolated!

isolated, hostile climate.   We carried on in amazing landscapes as before and eventually arrived at Flam where the next stage of our adventure began.


We were due a 40 minute stop at 

one of the engines

Flam but after a time it became evident that 


the Flam railway route

there was a delay and we were told it would be 40 minutes late.  We wandered around the visitor centre and had a look at some rolling stock which was on different platforms.  We then found a museum which contained the history of building and development of the railway.  Several 

adjacent river to railway line

tunnels were dug in the 1930s/40s period and it was completed in 1944.  It rises 2800 feet in 12.5 miles by electric traction - some 

we like icicles

continuous gradient.  Goods could then be easily transported from sea level to the main cross Norway railway.  Our train arrived and we were on our way, again good views then at one stop for photographing

waterfall on route

a frozen waterfall some American youngsters enjoyed struggling in thigh deep snow which they were not used to.  When we got to the top at Myrdal there was train waiting to go to Bergen.


Getting to the train was easier said than done.  It was on a platform where we had to cross a train line to get to it. So 

plenty of snow

we had to climb down onto the track (with some help) and climb up into the carriage - again with some help.  I 

fjord near the end of journey

have never been encouraged to go onto a railway line ever before.   They had held this train up for us and we were soon off. The train home was a longer journey than the initial train ride but we were able to miss some stations and arrived at Bergen about 1/2 hour behind schedule.  It was now 1830 and we had had a really exhilarating day which we would recommend to anyone.  It almost rivalled seeing the northern lights!

Day 14 Thursday, March 12th From cruise to a Bergen hotel



a grey, murky morning

The last night of our cruise 

still some significant swell

was rather windy and the boat had to slow down.   Between 0300 and 0500 it was the worst and things started to move in our cabin and we did not get much sleep.  Such is the way when we take a holiday on a boat which is sometimes exposed to the 

the rocky coast

full Atlantic.  We were not ill and in the morning we

from the bow of the boat

 finished packing as we had to pack our cases by 0900.  We then went to breakfast before vacating the cabin by 1000.  The day again at the start was wet and windy and we ensconced ourselves in a lounge for most of the morning.   

the sea level rising may cause problems!

Because of slowing down during the night we were late arriving 

some properties ripe for conversion

at the last port, Floro, which we were then able to enjoy.  Some of the coastal communities were very attractive and some of the channels we had to go through were quite 

through a narrow channel

narrow.  We slowly made our along the coast, had some lunch, read for a time and gradually made 

community near Bergen

our way to Bergen.  We  arrived an hour later than the scheduled 1430 but soon the disembarkation process was in action and we agreed this went far more smoothly than our arrival with its procedure for getting on the boat.  We soon transferred by coach to our hotel in Bergen where we will stay for 2 nights.

We settled in, obtained a street map and then went for a walk through the town to find the railway station which we will use for a tour tomorrow morning.  On the way we bought food from a supermarket for a snack this evening and a picnic four trip tomorrow.  It is incredible to us how well most Norwegians speak English and we don't understand a word of Norwegian.

Day 13 Wednesday, March 11th Trondheim to Kristiansund

Our last full day on board the Richard With.  We decided to spend the day largely relaxing on board and watch the scenery as we pass it.  We were docked in Trondheim when we awoke (we were here from 0630 until 0945) but we decided not to go ashore as it is a 

a passing freighter

complicated walk into town and our last visit when we were northbound did not give us completely happy memories.  We had a leisurely breakfast and then Christine visited the 
laundry and I sat in a observation lounge sorting out photos and doing the blog.  The day started very grey and murky but gradually improved as time passed.  One highlight was the sight of some pods? of pilot whales swimming alongside the boat.  Being quite small and the fact that they do not leap like dolphins (or this crowd didn't) meant that it was impossible to get a good picture. 




approaching Kristiansund

Christine was struggling 

Kristiansund

bravely with the laundry but all was not going to plan with the tumble dryer.  We  were passing through rain showers and the occasional sunny period.  We lunched, did some reading and enjoyed the scenery.  The weather improved as we 

another of Kristiansund

approached our only port of call for today, Kristiansund. 

Kristiansund bridge

It was quite a large town with colourful houses and made quite a cheerful impression.  We saw an old style fishing boat and an even older passenger ferry making its way round the harbour.  We stayed for 30 minutes and we were on 

traditional fishing boat

our way again.  We went up to the café and enjoyed our first holiday ice cream in 

old passenger ferry

the sun partly to celebrate the completion of the laundry!

We returned to the cabin and did a little packing before dinner where we were well looked after.  We had coffee and returned to the cabin to finish packing most things and retired quite early as we were due to be up earlier to be fully packed by 0900. 

Day 12 Tuesday, March 10th The Seven Sisters and Bronnoysund



MS Nordlys

The day began a bit overcast

Another snowy mountain

with low cloud but later on the skies cleared to a large extent and we eventually had a decent sunset.  Our day started with passing another Hurtigruten ship, the Nordlys, with the usual acknowledgements.  We breakfasted and had a walk round the deck.  It is getting 

Dramatic landscape!

warmer as we travel south 

fishing boats going to sea

but there is still plenty of snow not far above the sea level giving stunning mountain views.  The sea is now very calm as we are inside the outer island chain. During the morning we called at two small ports, Nesna and Sandnessjoen, but we did not disembark. 




Seven Sisters just about showing

Towards the end of the morning we came alongside a range of mountains called the Seven Sisters.  A presentation on their history and myths was presented on deck.  Unfortunately the low cloud meant that we could not see the peaks - rather sad.  The Norse mythological story was acted out hilariously on the deck led by some of the crew.  We enjoyed it, took a few cloudy photos and then retired for lunch.


In the afternoon we docked in the small town of 

Brannoysund lake

Brannoysund Church

Brannoysund for over 2 hours and we decided to have a look round.  We walked to the church which was locked but was a good looking building.  It had a war memorial and a memorial to lost fishermen, fishing is obviously more dangerous than war for this community.  We walked 

whalebone arch in harbour

alongside a small lake which had 

Brannoysund harbour

some fantastic homes built along the shore.  The sun was beginning to set and we decided to reboard and get a cup of tea.  Just before dinner we came to the island with a hole through the rock, Torget, with a good view from the boat.  This evening we had the Captain's dinner when 

Torget island

all the officers were present, the staff on the boat have been excellent at helping and serving us.  We had a pleasant meal, had a coffee in 

some of the crew

the observation lounge before reading a bit and then retiring.  

Day 11 Monday, March 9th Lofoten Islands and Stokmarknes

After the excitement and activity of yesterday, we had a more leisurely time today.  We were later down for breakfast and the weather did not look very bright.  We were now alongside the Lofoten Islands and some people had got off at an earlier stop for a tour.  After breakfast we went to a lounge to watch the boat's progress and catch up with the blog and knitting.  

Risoyhamn

We stopped at a pretty little port of Risoyhamn and took some photos.  We were soon underway and the coastline as usual was spectacularly

Church isolated on the coast

beautiful with the odd hamlet along it.  We were soon approaching Sortland with its bridge which eventually connects to the mainland - the Norwegians certainly have exceptional infrastructure.  As we went 

lovely coastal valley

under the bridge coaches from the boats tour timed it so they would go over it and the ship blasted its

under the bridge with coach on top

hooter at the same time as the coaches blasted their horns. 

 



the bridge at Sortland

We docked and picked 

typical coastal church 

the people up and were soon underway.  It was raining a lot and so we stayed indoors and enjoyed lunch.   We were going down some narrow channels with the cliffs near to the boat and we couldn't go down Trollfjord because there was too much wind.  

narrow channel

(We have happy memories and photos from our previous visit)  Eventually we came out of the shelter of the islands and into open sea.  The boat began to move a bit which wasn't too good for some people.  We arrived at Stokmarknes at about 1430.  Stokmarknes is the home of Hurtigruten and there is a museum of the company's history.  Unfortunately we were delayed in getting off the 

exiting on the car ramp!

boat because of problems with the gangway and we had to leave the boat via 

murky, windy weather

the car ramp which was a much slower process.  Eventually we got off but had a much reduced time to visit the museum.  It resulted in a quick tour but I feel we could have benefitted from better timings and a longer visit as there seemed to be quite a lot of nautical interest.  The gangway was fixed when we returned and we were soon leaving the port again.  The weather had not improved, it was murky, raining and windy but we were safe and dry inside.

We did not go outside again but for the rest of the day enjoyed the cosiness and hospitality of the boat.