Norway (part 2) and Sweden

Last time we posted a blog was from half way down the Hurtigruten route. The remainder of the trip was just as beautiful and the weather was kind. Kind of hot! Trondheim is Norway's third largest city and enjoys a major role in Norwegian history. We took a fast paced walk into town early before breakfast (so as to justify the excess calories to follow). A former capital in Viking times it has lovely parks and gardens, old buildings along canals and is home to the Nidaros Cathedral, described by some as the "symbol of Norway". In the city square is a statue of King Olaf Tryggvason who enjoyed a short but turbulent reign and goes down in posterity as the King who booted out the pagan gods and paved way for the Christians.

Pleased to meet you Peter Dass: a poet from a bygone era

bikes are a great way to get around if you don't have much time in port

The best of both worlds?

More typical scenery from the southern half of the Norwegian coast

typical street scene in a coastal town. This is a coffee shop

Torghatten: the mountain with the hole in it. Of course there's a viking legend to account for the hole, but it's a long story involving seven sisters frolicking naked in a fjord and being pursued by a lecherous viking...

and finally a sunset (albeit at 11 pm)

Trondheim's Nidaros Cathedral (the tradesmen's entrance)

and the imposing gothic facade

Beautiful old wooden buildings line both sides of the River Nid in Trondheim

Lots of colour on an otherwise grey day

And so we finally made it to Bergen and then end of the Hurtigruten cruise. A beautiful old town with lovely historic, rickety but colourful trading houses along the quay. A reminder of Bergen's past trading heyday during the Hanseatic era. Last time we were here in 2008 it was relatively easy to get around but this time the joint was really jumping. Thousands of people were in town for the annual Tall Ships racing week. Seventy three tall ships of various sizes from large sloops to 4 masted big boys (the correct nautical nomenclature escapes me at the moment). Thank goodness we booked well ahead as beds were in short supply. Anyway, we enjoyed walking around the quay late at night (especially for the colourful sunset) and again early in the morning when it was less crowded. Another breakfast feast and it was time to head for Sweden and catch up with Don and Sigrid. A lot of kilometres since we said goodbye to them in St. Petersburg - pedalling for them and public transport for us.

Sailing into Bergen

Just one of many beautiful tall ships here for the races

Bergen harbour and a few of the tall ships.

Did I say the place was packed? Standing room only.

A real festival atmosphere, complete with Oompah bands

A few too many tourists in the way (of these lovely old buildings) and they weren't movin' for nobody

Bus stop busking

A bit of colour and a bit of a crowd

Big and small

The morning after: not so busy

Don and Sigrid met us at Gothenberg airport and whisked us down to Kullavik where we enjoyed catching up over wine and dinner at Bjorn and Maria's lovely home. (Bjorn being Sigrid's brother). The next few days were spent totally relaxing aboard Bjorn and Maria's yacht as we cruised around the archipelago of the west coast of Sweden.

The sparsely vegetated archipelago of Sweden's west coast provides thousands of calm anchorages (as long as you are careful getting in there)

Bjorn at the helm

and bringing home the bacon for dinner. Careful mate, those rocks are slippery

No, it's not a dunny. It's an old lighthouse. Every three days someone would bill an oil lamp which would burn continuously. The broken window has red, clear and green panels allowing sailors to see whether they are left of right of course.

Swedish crayfish. Yum

Don and Siggy enjoy the late evening glow

'Titanic' moment or just another bad hair day? 

 And on that note we leave you. Just the flight home and a short stay in WA before we catch up with everyone in person again. Looking forward to seeing you all and we hope you enjoyed seeing some of our travels.

Bruce and Sue

Norway

Norway

And so the Icelandic trip came to an end. Sixteen days of amazing sights. We took in a free photographic exhibition at the Reykjavik library (where, incidentally they have special play areas for kids including wardrobes of dress-up costumes and free coffee for the mums) by a guy called Ragnar Axelsson. Beautiful pictorial documentary of a disappearing way of life amongst hunters in Greenland plus volcanic and other nature scenes in Iceland. On top of the Annie Liebowitz exhibition in Singapore and the Sebastian Salgado one in Stockholm we have been well and truly lucky to see such great photographic artists.

Anyway, the flight to Norway was a 2x2 affair - 2 hours at the airport, 2 hour flight, 2 hour time difference, 2 hour stopover, another 2 hour flight and suddenly it was 8:30 pm and we were in Kirkenes, northern Norway. Pretty much barren and rocky landscape. Down to the harbour next morning and onto the MS Midnatsol, Hurtigruten’s latest ship, for a week of post-camping relative luxury. Soft beds, dark cabin, free flowing hot water and electricity. Unlimited, fabulous food and wine from all corners of the globe. 

The Hurtigruten means ‘fast route’ and refers to the early days when shipping was the primary means of transporting people and goods from the south to the north. Road travel hardly existed and the sea travel was largely weather dependent. Before 1893 voyages were infrequent - at best once a week in summer and not at all in winter. Tenders were called for someone to sail weekly throughout the year - with no takers but one, a plucky little seaman from the Vesterålen (Lofoten) by the name of Richard With who maintained that, given his years of experience sailing the northern regions he could meet the demand. And so he did, moving people, goods and mail from Trondheim in the south to Hammerfest in the north in just three days, as opposed to the three weeks (or three months in the worst case) by road. Hence the 'fast route'. Immediately it became popular with Norwegians wanting to travel purely for enjoyment - to see their beautiful coastline and the rest is history. Today it’s a slick operation with a large, continually updated fleet and departures every day from Bergen in the south and Kirkenes in the north.

Enjoying a dip in the spa and a bit of welcome sunshine

Our ship, the MS Midnatsol, about to be enveloped by fog

Self explanatory really. A nice spot for a pre-dinner drink.

Admiring the view in Svolvær.

Going for a stroll in Vardø

Fog quickly rolls in over the town

A fine morning at one of the many ports along the route

executing a U-turn in the Trollfjord, scene of a famous battle between oar-powered and steam-powered Norwegian fishing boats

It’s almost surreal to be sitting in one of many quiet little areas just watching the islands with their quaint little villages glide by. Towering cliffs here, snow capped peaks there and colourful little fishing boats of red, yellow and blue. It’s hard to take your eyes from the scenery in case you miss something grander than before and just to confirm we are actually moving, so calm are the waters. Just like a millpond. 

delicious locally grown strawberries 

Midnatsol entering Trollfjord. We were ahead in a smaller vessel on the lookout for sea-eagles.

Svolvær harbour

The weather is unseasonally warm with temperatures reaching 22 C in the Arctic circle. Not that it’s always this way. The northbound route, before we embarked had seven days of travelling in a fog where hardly anything was visible. We experienced this first hand also when, one minute there is bright sunshine and the next is impenetrably thick fog cutting visibility.

No fog in this lovely fjord near North Cape

Sue testing the waters of the Arctic Sea (5 degrees C) and still no fog.

Just a little bit of fog. Now you see it...

Now you don't.

A bright sunny morning just above the Arctic Circle. Glassy seas.

We have interrupted this tranquil state of affairs to go ashore on occasion, either to visit monuments or museums or just ramble among the villages. The North Cape was a must-do for us and at 71 plus degrees North it’s a long way from home - a 5:30 am start with breakfast in the cafe at the cape. Apart from the monument and restaurant there was an Imax theatre which played a short film showing the area throughout all four seasons. So now we’ve seen it and don’t have to come back in winter! Along the way we saw lots of reindeer which, although appearing to be wild are not. They all belong to the indigenous Sami. (Don’t call them Lapplanders which in their tongue means dishcloth)! Reindeer was on the menu that night. I tried (unsuccessfully) to send an email warning the children that Santa may not find them this year because we had just eaten Rudolf but fortunately we hadn’t because we saw him alive and well the next day. If you don’t believe that then check out the picture. The camera doesn’t lie!

Looks like rain dear!

Bus drivers must remain alert. These reindeer have no road sense at all. Amazingly we haven't seen any road kill

The Globe monument at North Cape.

North Cape - 71 degrees north

Mother and child and children's peace monuments at North Cape

The Sami traditionally live in teepee like shelters and live across four borders (Norway, northern Sweden, Finland and Russia) as they move their herds about

Rudolph! Is that really you Rudolph?

Next was a midnight concert in the Arctic cathedral in Tromsø. An enchanting hour of lovely Norwegian music by Norwegian composers, most notably Grieg and played/sung by a trio (pianist, cellist and baritone). Definitely needed a sleep in after that to get our strength back for an afternoon sea-eagle safari.

Sadly, no sea-eagles! The story goes like this. The eagles could not be lured to the boat by tiny morsels of rotting mackerel when they were so overfed on whole fresh ones brought to the surface for a spot of sun basking by the exceedingly warm and sunny weather. The gulls on the other hand - well it was bit like the Venetian gondolas in the Monty Python travel documentary.

On Tuesday 22nd July we crossed the Arctic circle heading south. To mark occasion we took part in a special ceremony, involving (an excessively large) teaspoon of cod liver oil accompanied by some cock and bull story about lack of sun and ipso facto Vitamin D. Pity about the taste. Needless to say we bolted for the cabin and the secret stash of Glenfiddich. 

Passing the Arctic Circle globe heading southwards.

Moments before the look of shock and horror occasioned by downing the teaspoon of cod liver oil

South of the arctic circle we entered the beginnings of the agriculture. The islands are still mountainous and rocky, but cloaked with dark green with fir trees and a surrounded by a belt of light green around the perimeter like a hat band. Secret sandy beaches which may never have known footprints appear from time to time.

The further south we go the warmer it gets and last night we witnessed the sun setting for the first time in weeks, albeit at 11pm. The countryside is changing. More farms and bigger towns. Trondheim dates back to the tenth century and was an original seat of power for King Olav. Leif Ericsson sailed from there to Vinland ( as North America was then called) long before it was 'discovered' by Christopher Columbus. 

One more night aboard then dock in Bergen where we will overnight before flying out to Gothenberg and joining Don and Sigrid for a few days.