DAY 4 HELLESYLT TO GEIRANGER

Well, after very little sleep, I woke to find us hemmed in by mountains as we passed through Storfjorden and Suunylvsfjorden to reach Hellesylt where the ship hove to without anchoring to tender off passengers doing the overland to Geriranger. The ship then proceeded to Geiranger.

(Note – we had no Internet for 24 hours that is why y our comments did not appear until last night after we entered the North Sea again.)

Today’s, tour lasted 9 hours and our destination was the Briksdal
Glacier in the Jostelsbreen, Europe’s largest icecap at 200 square miles. Our route took us through Hornindal, Grodas, past Hoornindalsvatn Lake to Stryn and the on to Olden through Loen. At Olden we followed Lake Oldenvatn to the Briksdal Glacier. The walk of 45 minutes uphill through beautiful alpine scenery with stunning wildflowers and a rushing river was wonderful. 45 minutes back down and a delicious lunch of cream of leek soup and wild salmon awaited us, all washed down with local bitter (yum) beer. I met a nice couple from Nottingham – Jenny grew up in Heswall, Jill, small world – and spent the day with them.

After lunch, we made our way back to Stryn, followed the lake to Flosnes and Hjelle, and then took the winter road to Videseter, Dvupvasshytter and Dalsnibba. We briefly passed into Eastern Norway where the glaciers and fjords gave way to alpine lakes with ice still breaking up and snow-lined roads. We looked for reindeer, but none appeared. We’ll have to wait until Nordkap. Summer skiing is popular in this area. It was all breathtaking, especially when we took a one-track unpaved road up a series of hair-raising hairpin bends up to a viewpoint. We could look back at the alpine lakes and down to Geiranger fjord. Words fail! (I’ll let the photos speak!!) We then dropped down to Geiranger where the Victoria awaited. A picture postcard-view the one used in all the brochures for this cruise. On our way down, we made a photo-op stop where a ewe and her two lambs awaited their daily dose of sugar. Mother was quite aggressive, even climbing halfway up the steps of our bus. The minute another bus arrived, she was off again. It was very funny.

Now for some details. All the places named above are tiny villages or towns. There are some factories – buses and furniture (mobel in Norwegian – like meuble in French)- and dairy farming. The haying has just been completed and the white plastic bales are visible le in all the fields – toilet rolls for
Trolls as the guide said. Hahahaha. Most of the old isolated settlements are now abandoned – though at one point, the farmers were not allowed to leave- government wanted to maintain local populations. Along the fjords, we saw abandoned farms perched on a few square meters of grass, virtually inaccessible. One can only wonder why people settled there rather than in the valleys. Inaccessible….and yet the children went to school!!! They rowed for an hour across the fjord, then walked...stayed at the school for 3 days, then back to work the farm for 4 days. There are old one-room schoolhouses everywhere. The old farmhouses are tiny – and people had large families then! Many old houses have grass roofs. Kiwis will appreciate this – invasive lupines everywhere. An import gone amok!

Guide was wonderful and explained the meaning of all the names. Hornindal means mountain (horn – like Matterhorn) in the valley (like dale). Hellesylt means holy moor (moor as in Yorkshire moors not Arabs, hahahahah/.

Norway prides itself on good environmental management. The word for environment, incidentally, is milieu!!! Hydroelectric power is controlled; all rivers run free and may not be dammed or diverted. The proceeds from local hydroelectric power paws for school and homes for the elderly. With the advent of tourism in this area, especially Geiranger, agriculture has become a hobby. The last cow left Geiranger a few years ago. Geirangerfjord is listed as a UNESO World heritage site.

Little factoid - the ship was “Mediterranean moored” in Geiranger – using anchor and mooring lines.

Arrived back at the ship too late for my early dinner seating. Had Indian food in the Lido then went outside to take photos of the Geirangerfjord as we made our way back to the North Sea. We passed many beautiful waterfalls, each with its own little legend…Seven Sisters facing the Suitor, for example…and the ubiquitous “Bridal Veil” falls. Met up with the Cruise Critic gang and we stayed on deck until 11:29 waiting for the sunset---but the sun did not completely dip down – it just hovered at the horizon. The colors of the sky were stunning.

No sunsets for 7 days. The weather is supposed to be wonderful throughout the cruise. It was 85 degrees today – HOT!!! Needed a fleece later ion the evening.
Sleep is well night impossible, even with blackout curtains and a mask. My biorhythms are completely off. I should have been exhausted after all the walking and fresh air, and I was when I got back to the ship…but then I felt more and more awake. I had been warned about this.