Northbound to the Top of the World

After a rather pleasant sailout from Copenhagen and into the North Sea, Tuesday dawned cloudy and v-e-r-y windy with waves to match! At his 9:00AM update Captain Glenn advised us that we would be in for a day of wind and waves and that most of the outer decks would be a rather uncomfortable place to be. He wasn’t kidding! By Noon we were sailing into the teeth of a 35MPH wind, which when combined with our forward speed of near 20 knots, made for winds across the deck of almost 50MPH! And ALL the outer decks closed to the public for safety’s sake! Add to that waves that topped out at 27 FEET and it made for a very quiet day around the ship, with many people staying in their cabins. Didn’t bother us, and some like-minded souls, and we made all the lectures and even had time for lunch. In our case, it was snacks at the Bistro while watching the whitecaps roar by out the window. And in our coffee cups!!!

The view from our cabin. The seas looked even higher from Deck 5

As usual, the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party was that evening in the Palm Court, the highest point on the ship. By that time the winds had calmed slightly and the waves were “only” 18 – 20 feet high. Even though the ship was bouncing pretty good, there was a good turnout, once again proving the power of those two words that are magic to any cruise passenger’s ears, “free drinks”!! After the party we headed to dinner to meet our new table companions, and a mixed group it is; two New Zealanders, two Aussies, two Americans and us. And since it was also a Formal night, and a hosted table, the Assistant Chief Engineer. As the Dining Room was both full and noisy, we really were not able to get to know one another that night, so we will see how things work out.

The next morning, Serenity entered the Geiranger Fjord at around 4:00. Not that any of us were up to see it. Our tour, all day from Hellesylt to Geiranger, met at 7:15 for us to take the tender to shore. According to Rick, there were 97 people on the tour, so the logistics took a little while. After all, herding cruise ship passengers is still like herding cats, except, as Larry says, cats are more cooperative.



Our first photo in Geiranger Fjord - spectacular, huh?

 Once we boarded the buses, we had a first photo stop not far away at the waterfall in Hellesylt, while we watched Crystal Serenity sail away. She was headed back down the arm to the main fjord to anchor at Geiranger to wait for us, and to let off the other tours.

The tour was nicely paced, with enough photo stops for everyone to have a chance to experience Norway’s fjordland: mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Here are some photos taken at our planned stops, and a couple when we had to slow down for four-legged traffic.

A very old bridge at Hornindal

One of our photo stops.  That's Larry chatting with Lori, our tour escort and wife of Bruce Murray, the onboard golf pro.  Bruce should remember him, too.

A very isolated farm on the top of a hill

These guys were running up the road ahead of the bus...

Yes, these ARE reindeer.  All the herds run wherever, but are owned by the native Sami people of Norway.

And our favourite ‘This is Norway’ photo:

A fjord view taken near the town of Fosnes

We had a lunch stop in a town called Stryn. It is located at the end o a fjord arm that is fed by the Stryn River, well known for the size and abundance of salmon that are fished from it every year. Our lunch consisted of a delicious vegetable soup, good sized salmon fillet, boiled potato and salad, with ice cream and raspberry sauce for dessert. The fish was wonderful and proved to us that local fishing in a pristine environment really does result in the best tasting food. All the other food was apparently local, too, including the potatoes and the lettuce. Not sure about the ice cream!

Town square

The Stryn River

After lunch, we headed off to visit the Stryn Summer Ski slope. This is pretty much the only place in western Norway that has skiing at this time of year, and you can see why. The elevation is about 1,100 meters or 3,400 feet. The road up to the ski area isn’t even opened until June 1, and as you can see, the snow on the side of the road (not plowed up in piles, but cut through by the plows) is over 6 feet high. Our guide mentioned that last year the first snow fell in the lower fjord valleys in late October, and they even had 80 cm fall in one night! For you metrically challenged folks, that’s over 31 inches. Hope you like to shovel!!

The snow ledge at the side of the road.  And this in the middle of June!

Our final stops on the tour were overlooks of the Geiranger Fjord. The first was at the highest observation point, Dalsnibba, at 1,500 meters. Of course, there was a lot of low fog (or low clouds) throughout our drive in the heights, so it was no surprise that we got off the bus and could hardly see anything. Fortunately, though, the cloud cleared off enough to let us get a couple of fairly clear photos.

Our last stop was at a lower point where we could actually see the ship. This observation area is the one where ALL of the famous photos of cruise ships in Geiranger are taken. It wasn’t a sunny day, but it was still clear and beautiful enough to get our own great shots.

Then it was back to the ship, with hardly any time before the last tender was scheduled to leave. So if we want to explore beautiful downtown Geiranger, we’ll have to come back again. This is an absolutely gorgeous part of the world, and we were both glad that we had changed our kayaking tour from here to Helsinki. The kayaking was apparently very good too, according to Ron and Cynthia, our tablemates who did that tour.

On the way out, we passed the Seven Sisters waterfalls and their counterpart on the other side, known as The Suitor. Our tour guide told us that there was a story about the seven sisters, none of whom were married. There was a man who wanted to marry one of them, but was rejected. Then he asked for another’s hand, and was rejected again. Eventually, after each one of them had said ‘No’, he finally turned to the bottle…which is why you can see the shape in the lower part of the falls.

The Seven Sisters

The Suitor

It was an absolutely fantastic day. Tomorrow is another sea day, and the captain has promised better weather than yesterday. We’ll see…