This morning, from sunrise, we spend hours on deck watching the whales swimming along beside us. We have proof of this with photos of the many spouts. The buggers didn’t breach until we had just put our cameras down in order to defrost our hands in our pockets. Someone must have invented phone camera friendly gloves, but we have not yet found them and it is impossible not to regularly place our blue hands in the relative warmth of our pockets, such is the biting, but mightily invigorating, cold wind.
Below, anyone who spots the breach, and spots the tale wins a bagful of salted cod
We find that we are sometime distracted by the passing scenery
We dock at Alta, town of the northern lights, at 2pm. We’re now well and truly in the land of the midday sun. Between 6 December and 6 January there is no sun north of here at all. It is said that on 6 January you can see the sun rise and within 5 minutes turn around and see it set.
Each day at 5.30pm we choose to attend an on board briefing about what we will see tomorrow. Last night we learned about the Sami culture. The Sami’s are the First Nations people of Norway, Finland and Russia and have been here for 7,000 years. That’s 53,000 fewer years than Australia’s First Nations people. The Sami’s are recognised by the three countries they inhabit and even have their own parliament. There are no reports of the Sami claiming anyone’s back garden or even their snowmen.
Alta is famous not only for the northern lights but for their recreational salmon fishing. Two fish per angler.
Many of the towns we have been to in the past couple of days were burnt to the ground by the Nazis in 1944 when the Russians were en route to liberate. All inhabitants were forcibly evacuated to the south by the Germans and then the entire villages succumbed to the burnt earth policy of the Nazi regime. Only a few churches survived. So almost everything we see is a rebuild.
We visited the Northern Lights Cathedral, the design of which is the result of a competition, and it opened in 2013. The interior is raw cement with lights intended to mimic the borealis.
Perhaps not surprisingly Jesus was there and rather wonderfully is looking up, rather than down or to the side
The exterior cladding consists of 25,000 titanium tiles which change colour according to the sun throughout the year.
We visited a museum where there is lots of Sami rock art. Again many thousands of years younger than that found in Australia.
Back on board the Norwegian Kitchen today was salted reindeer, and it was absolutely delicious.
Oh dear, tonight’s menu includes roasted reindeer in the restaurant too, and it is tender, lean and delectable. Can’t wait for Christmas.
To top off another wonderful day the northern lights came to visit again.
We are perhaps not as impressive as you might think, since the sun rises later up here! It’s at approximately 8.41am. However, what is impressive is the reflection of the sunrise on the other side of the fjord
And behind us
Last night we crossed the Arctic Circle. There was an onboard competition as to what time we would cross, the prize being a Hurtigruten flag signed by the Captain (a woman). Clearly we were immensely disappointed not to have to erect a flagpole in the front garden. For those curious amongst our readers, we crossed at 02.05.01
The tradition is to be welcomed into the Arctic Circle by a god of some sort – I think his name was Hdkldjfalkdsfidkdn. He was a short woman with slendewrists and a Longines gold watch, dressed in hessian and long boots,with a rubber face mask and crepe hair beard. Very convincing indeed.
He had a very deep voice, for a soprano. But the god then leads the traditional baptism. This involves each and every passenger being subjected to a ladle of ice cubes down their back – under their clothes – on the outside deck where this morning at 10am it is minus 5 degrees. It is possible that we might have been able to slip away unbaptised, but Motor Neurone NSW had an ice bucket challenge fund raiser a few years ago, which of course we did in memory of Cherrie’s mother who succumbed to the dreadful disease, so this one was for Sue.
We dropped ice blocks all the way to the cabin, where we had to shower (to war up) and to change into dry clothes. Was it really worth crossing the arctic circle for this? Of course it was. The scenery and the light is second to none.
We dock in Lodingen at 2pm. It’s a tiny town with bugger all to see. The ship used to stop here regularly but today is the first stop in some years. Both shopkeepers are thrilled to see us. It’s a bit icy walking around so I sit while Cherrie explores.
Meanwhile, I wracked my brain for the answer to this question, but it just won’t come
Our Norwegian Kitchen experience on deck this afternoon is Salted Cod.
It’s a true local speciality and it’s absolutely revolting
We have been spoilt with wonderful weather, cold, snowy and sunny, together with smooth seas. I can auction my sea sickness meds when I get home.
Every night we sleep in our socks and undies, with our outer clothes pre set for a quick dash up to the deck for the lights. But not tonight Josephine
What will/did you do on your 74th birthday? Cherrie and I boarded the MS Trollfjord in Bergen for an 11 day cruise up to the very most northern point of mainland Norway, and back again to Oslo.
This morning we caught up at breakfast with two newish but very dear friends from the UK who are joining us on the voyage. It was lovely to see Jeremy and Pat again – we had last caught up in Sydney just over a year ago.
It takes all of the morning in queues at the hotel to check out, check in to the ship, board a bus to the port, and receive the safety briefing. But we finally board at 12.30 and knock back a welcome bubbly.
Buffet lunch (utterly delicious) with Pat and Jeremy, a French Chardonnay (utterly delicious) and we have access to our cabin at 2pm. It’s roomier than we feared and there’s even somewhere to put clothes. This’ll do for the next 10 days.
We set sail at 2.30 and explore the ship. It’s a small one, in cruising terms, sleeping 500 passengers but we suspect it’s not full. It certainly doesn’t feel so anyway and is very comfortable. Neither of us has done a cruise before and we think we’re going to enjoy this one very much.
Dinner with Pat and Jeremy and lots of laughs. It’s delightful to travel with a couple of like minds and get to know them better. The on board briefing had filled us in with everything Trollfjord, including the public address system which ceases at 10pm, except in the case of a sighting of the northern lights. This will be announced at any time of night, directly to each cabin. We’re happy about that, because the lights are one of the main reasons we are doing this cruise.
We’re all tired so an early night, to our small but comfortable cabins. At 1.37am we are awoken by an announcement that the aurora borealis can be seen from deck 4. We scramble into clothes, beanies, boots, scarfs, puffas and race up – well one of us races, the other lumbers behind – and there it is.
It can’t be seen well at all through the naked eye, but through the lens of even a phone camera it’s is wonderful. Not bad for night one and so far south.
Back to bed, and a good sleep. I don’t feel any movement from the ship, so the very large bag full of seasickness medications has not yet been touched.
Saturday 21 October
We docked in Molde at 8am
The city of jazz and roses. Although the roses last longer than the jazz. There is an annual week long jazz festival every year and is one of the largest in Europe.
But the roses are still out in force. From horn to thorn perhaps?
We set off at 8.30am on a bus tour of the Atlantic Road. Who’s ever heard of that? But just look at it
It connects the mainland to a series of small islands over 8.2kms. And it’s a spectacular drive…a sort of mini Great Ocean Rd
We made it to the end of the road, unlike the looks of this car
And walked, climbed, a semi circular boardwalk which gave us more spectacular views
The vegetation around the walkway attracted the eye of our photo editor
The views are pretty good from the bus too.
She climbed a hill and took these shots while I remained anchored down
We return to town and wander around.
The sailing boats are out
We saw these and just quacked up
Back at the ship, we attend a Norwegian Kitchen. This is where those of us who care gather around the Head Chef and observe him filleting a whole halibut. It’s so easy. Why have I never done that?
That evening we celebrated my birthday (a day late, but hey….) in the fine dining restaurant on board with Patricia and Jeremy. It was a 7 course degustation meal of local delicacies but cleverly made palatable. Accompanied by 7 white wines. I was itching for a red but manner prevailed.
Sunday 22 October
We docked at Rorvik at 10am. A little town, but everything around here is so pretty. It may be the Aussie eye absorbing Norway perhaps, but we’re thoroughly enjoying everything we see and do.
Time for a comfort break
And then on to here.
You’ll never guess what this beautiful building houses. Go on, have a go.
A concert hall? No. A library? No. An Opera House? No. OK, I’ll spill the beans. It’s the Salmon Museum. Full of old fish. And stuff.
And so the sun sets on another great day
Tonight as we were returning to our cabin after a most enjoyable (and informative) post dinner game of Whist (it’s a card game for those of you who, like us, did not know it) with Pat and Jeremy we collided with another passenger who announced that the northern lights were visible once again. So up to deck 9 and blimey, she was right. This is a pretty cool cruise – in every sense of the word.
I have to try to keep up with the blog because we keep forgetting what we have done. These Nords are keeping us busy, but wow, what a way to busy oneself.
We arrived into Oslo quite late last night and so straight to bed. Breakfast at 6.30am today and off to the Central Railway Station for an 8am train. This is the first leg of a 3 day rail journey to Bergen. The initial 3 hours in the train are pretty dull, as are most journeys out of a big city. Even the cat in the seat in front of us wanted out.
But then we hit the views
More snow than we imagined
5 hours after leaving Oslo we arrive at Myrdal, where we have to disembark onto an ice covered platform. Nerve wracking for me
We struggle to get the bags off the train but succeed with the help of a saviour in Nord form
who then crosses the icy platform with us and heaves the bags into the carriage of the famed Flam Railway
I know I have previously advised that this is the steepest railway in the world, but I can tell you the Scenic in Katoomba trumps it. Although the Flam Railway actually goes somewhere, which is more helpful. The train makes one stop at a waterfall bearing a Norwegian name which goes something like Wadfklkdfjaldofjafljfodk. The trick is to pronounce it phonetically. Cherrie had her photo taken with the Michelin Man
And one without
The truly spectacular views just keep coming
If you prefer not to take the train or boat to Flam, you could chose to drive!
An hour later we arrive in Flam and it is 3pm. We are now in south western Norway and Flam is a charming, if intensely tourist, village. Time for a stroll
To meet the local kids
A very ordinary dinner at the local Inn, chewing on what might well have been a Viking, well done.
Tuesday 17 October The morning in Flam it’s drizzling but we brave the elements (note the nifty gollasher)
and more walking and breathing in the views
The green philosophy is not lost on the Norwegians
We chose not to do the Fjord Safari Adventure
Mostly, but not exclusively, because it looks like it is obligatory to enter Chernobyl
At 3pm we board a boat which takes us through the fjords to Gudvangen, a 2 hour journey. It’s cold outside, the wind chill factor really, but Cherrie is a diehard photo journalist and she braves it all for these photos
This fjord, maybe called Rhkdfasdoifhdklafnl, is on the world heritage list. This is why
Meanwhile it’s a bit slippery out there for me so I sit inside this very comfortable ferry and soak up the views in comfort.
We get into Gudvangen, a tiny landing post amongst this World Heritage listed fjord, where the green roofs are the go
and board a bus for a one hour journey into Voss. Still, the views take our breath away. Will we have any lungs left after 2 weeks of this?
The bus pulls into the Voss Railway Station and the Nazi trained driver opens the doors, unlocks the luggage bins and wanders off. We manage to extract our cases from the bin and look around for a hotel. Is there one in sight? No. Fortunately another Aussie couple, Jeanette and Arthur, are at the same hotel so Arthur goes off on a private expedition to ascertain its whereabouts. He eventually returns triumphant and we heave our cases up hill and down dale, which includes a walk along a train platform, until we get to our hotel.
As you can see, it’s a curious, olde worlde place, called Fleishers and run by the family Fleisher. Since 1865. Most of the original founders have gone but it wouldn’t surprise us to find a few still plotting in one of the many attics around the place.
What do they do with the kids who check in?
This place has so many living/sitting/music/library rooms that it could take a long time to explore, something we prefer not to do for fear of never returning.
Note the score on this piano, one of three we have sighted, is for the tenor sax
Oh, and please feel free to look but for heaven’s sake, don’t sit
We unlock the door to our broom cupboard, squash in the luggage and head straight to the bar, where we find Jeanette and Arthur had the same idea. A drink and dinner with them and squeeze back into the cupboard for the night
Wednesday 18 October
We head to breakfast early-ish in order to stretch our legs, something our room does not cater for. Then a walk around Voss, a city of 15,000 most famous for its bottled water.
If you’re not happy with your bank, it’s always a good idea to have a back up
There’s not a lot that we can walk to, or at least I can walk to, and my friend is a very loyal kinda gal and chooses to stay with me rather than venture out in search of the water bottling factory. We were looking forward to a trip in the famed gondola but it’s on holiday. So we return to Bates Motel and I catch up on this blog and Cherrie takes over her photo editor duties.
At 5pm we are to catch the train to Bergen but shades of France here
The bus arrives at Bergen not long after 7. Check in and Cherrie and I feel the need for a walk, so that’s what we do. Bergen is a beautiful seaside city and we find a fresh fish wharf with a few little eateries. A good serve of Norwegian fish and salad and so to bed.
Thursday 19 October
It’s a beautiful sunny day, the first without rain for several days. How lucky we are. We take a bus tour this morning, which is part of our cruise booking. We learn that Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, after Oslo of course, and has a population of 300,000. It’s very hilly and very pretty
We leave the bus tour when it stops for the participants to take a walk (we are not the types to follow someone holding an umbrella over his head and speaking too softly) and walk ourselves by the harbour. Good gord, Halloween has found it’s way to Bergen
Bergen is the birthplace of Edvard Grieg
and it feels like a cultured city. We had wanted to go to the Grieg Museum, where concerts are held, but it’s closed for winter. We visit the national theatre
And find Henrik Ibsen. He spent a lot of time in Bergen. Curious eyes
But wait, is that a dagger I see before me? Did he have it in for the critics?
We visit the Opus XVI hotel, named for Mr Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, and the totally underwhelming exhibition in the basement. Not even recorded music playing. Here he is though, through the decades (like you care!)
We continue to walk and marvel at another old and beautiful seaside city
They actually can’t spell very well, these Nords
But at least they have more compassion than many Australians
It’s getting cold, even the tomatoes are feeling it
This below is a shot of the view from our Bergen hotel room, the evening we arrived and the morning we departed
We struggle into our hi- fashion compression socks
before departing Sydney at 4pm, Copenhagen bound, with a 3.5 hr stopover in Singapore.
I have booked wheelchair assistance
at every airport and it has already proven to be a wise decision. An overweight, ageing woman with a leg in a (rather smart, I’m sure you agree) toe to knee boot receives priority treatment. We sail (as it were) through customs etc and are wheeled into the lounge. Collected some time later and transferred to the plane. This mobility lark is a good thing.
The Singapore stopover is heightened by the glorious orchids in the lounge.
It’s 3.30am Sydney time when we take off from Singapore and we go to sleep immediately. No snacks, no grog. Yes, I know, that’s a first for me but not to be taken as a precedent. I reckon we got 6 hrs sleep and that’s not bad!
Friday 13 October
WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL COPENHAGEN
(Anyone else remember Danny Kaye?)
What a welcome the sun offers us as we come in to land at 7am
The wheelchair protocol here is somewhat more efficient, perhaps, than elsewhere. Any abandoned wheelchair is collected and transported along with the passengers.
As we exit the terminal the Danish birds also form a welcome
We check into the hotel by 8.30am but the room won’t be ready until 3pm. So, it’s the red hop on hop off bus for us. We always find this a good way to meet a city, and what a city this is. City of canals
City of spires
It’s raining, so the bus is quite the best place to be. Today this is a city of umbrellas
And a city of bicycles (the well informed, terribly British voice over on the bus informs us that there are two bicycles for every resident)
Denmark has committed to carbon neutral by 2025, Most of the cars are electric, as are the buses
It’s curious, perhaps, that a jet fighter plane is in the centre of town. No explanation I’m afraid but you get to see it anyway
The architecture is breathtaking. The seamless merge of old and new pays great respect to all styles. These Danes sure know how to do it. It’s just we Aussies who don’t know how to treat Danish architects.
BORGEN
Having done the 90 minute round, we stay on until we get back to where we want to be. We fancy a bit of lunch and spot a brasserie
But on closer inspection, it’s the French Embassy. It’s also Breast Cancer month
We muscle our way to a cafe by the canal
and Cherrie has fish and chips. The cod and alarmingly resembles the fish fingers we had as kids, but don’t taste as good. The chips are great though. In deference to our manner of approaching the cafe, I have a bowl of mussels. They are tiny. Minuscule. Not the big, juicy ones we get at home.
But lunch hits the spot and we head off on a walk. This is my first decent walk in six months and obligingly Copenhagen has given me a smooth path amongst the rough cobblestones.
Even though it’s autumn there are still heaps of tourists in town. Can’t imagine what Copenhagen would be like in the height of the season
This little house is where the Royal Family wait for their boat. It’s got the crown on top
And this one, sans crown, is where their guests wait. We declined their kind invitation as we felt that our puffer jackets were perhaps not up to royal standard
We check in at 3pm, freshen up and then what do you think we do? Well, there’s a roof top bar. It seems it would be imprudent not to check it out.
Saturday 14 October
What a difference a day makes. Beautiful sunny day, and so we head to the canal for a one hour boat tour. From here we see the true beauty of the architecture
These are the royal palaces, and the dome in the middle is a church built by one of the Danish kings a long time ago. But they ran out of money (or something) and eventually every resident of the city donated a copper pot for the dome. I think the pots were melted down before application. But, back to the palaces, the flags are flying which indicates that the Queen (R), the Crown Prince (L) and the Queen’s Sister (R back) are in residence. Well, of course they are because today is the 18th birthday of Prince Christian, Mary and Frederik’s first born. All of European royalty is in town for the celebrations. Well, all except Charles and Camilla.
The glorious Opera House and the national Theatre are perfectly placed on the canal
The tourists are out in force and even the Little Mermaid is overwhelmed.
It might be autumn, and the temperature might be 4 degrees, but that doesn’t deter the locals from having a dip in the canal
This is such a beautiful city to walk through
We have a coffee at the theatre cafe and I use their wifi to search the referendum result. I am appalled and actually weep. We feel ashamed to be Australian. Later that day I find the perfect place for Peter Dutton and his band of nay sayers
Tonight we dine out at a restaurant which Cherrie read about in the Fin Review. Pleasant enough, although somewhat pretentious, we are left agreeing that financial writers should not review food.
Our resident room moose greets us when we return to the hotel
Sunday 15 October
It’s drizzling again, so we decide to venture into the back blocks of Copenhagen to experience the interactive Salvatore Dali exhibition.
I didn’t realise what an interesting, if eccentric, man Dali was. A would-be scientist, astronaut, quantum physicist and computer programmer, as well as a visual artist. But the best part of the exhibition for us was the virtual reality experience. Dali had a fascination for such things and I’m not even sure how he knew about them. My Danish is still somewhat lacking, even after two days. Neither Cherrie nor I have ever experienced virtual reality such as this, in helmet and all. It was weirdly wonderful, with pieces of Dali’s artwork and imagination floating all around us and no sense of where we were at all. A carefully curated room full of people, similarly fitted out, all clutching a handrail which can’t be seen, moving at a slow pace in a world of unreality. This for us was the end of the exhibition and we decided to check out the opera house. A helpful Dali devotee, sans moustache, phoned a taxi for us and amazingly it found it’s way to our wasteland.
Cherrie assures me I am in that photo. A chocolate moose for anyone who can find me
We told the driver where we wanted to go and he looked at us and shook his head. I sang him an aria (of my own composition) and he looked like a reindeer in the headlights. I showed him a photo of the opera house and he shook his head again and lifted his shoulders this time. I wondered if he should be driving with this physical affliction. The meter was running and we were going nowhere. So Cherrie opened Google maps on her phone and got the directions to the opera house. Driver took the phone and followed the directions, which lead us down narrow streets, some not even through roads, and we executed a number of U turns. Eventually we arrived at the rear of the house, right by the skip bins. We paid handsomely for the experience and retrieved the phone. An explanation of the route taken was immediately clear to us. Directions were for walking.
Once inside the beautiful foyer of the opera house
It was evident that a performance for children was about to start. I toyed with the notion of introducing myself as the past producer of the Sydney Opera House Babies Proms, but decided against it given the international headlines about Australia’s rejection of its First Nations people. I preferred to be thought of as anything but Australian.
An atmosphere of joy and excitement abounded from the audience, who carried posters and little cardboard boxes which I assume was full of carbon free lollies. The ushers wore bright blue tee shirts with huge red spotted bow ties
The cantilevered roof of the house is very very high and Cherrie has snapped me standing under it for scale. I rather like this shot as is makes me look small which is a rare thing indeed.
We walk on. Right behind the opera house is the rubbish incinerator for Copenhagen’s waste. But being Denmark and even their rubbish dumps are architect designed
Right behind the incinerator is what is reputed to be the world finest, and most expensive, restaurant
We resisted the temptation to make a dinner booking here since we have not been in our house for long and were loathed to sell it to cover the cost of a meal, even at Noma.
But we did look at the famed garden, from where many of the ingredients are sourced
Walking on, we are very content to explore this beautiful city
We resist the temptation for a sweet snack
We variously hobble and walk our way back to the hotel, collect baggage and off to the airport. Norway tonight.
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