Andalsnes

We slipped quietly into Andalsnes first thing this morning. It seems to be a beautiful little port with the protective arms of the mountains wrapping round the town. We wandered up to breakfast on the Sky Deck, there was no hurry because though we had an excursion booked, it wasn’t until 11:00.

We disembarked and gathered by the coach. The first part of this excursion would be on the coach. We slid out of Andalsnes and stopped after about 10-15 minutes at Trollsveggen (The Troll Wall), where we had stopped the other day. I hadn’t realised how close it was to Andalsnes. In today’s light - sunshine and light cloud - it looked completely different from the view the other day. A suitable batch of photos recorded the stop and we headed onwards.

The next stop was at Slattenfossen. This was a gorge where the waters of the Rauma river were forced into a furious torrent as the banks narrowed and rocks interrupted the flow. It was a super spot for some more photos and videos. There was one viewpoint I would like to have accessed but felt that my knee wouldn’t allow a safe climb down. It’s a shame as I would have done it a few months back.

The coach continued onwards and gently upwards through bucolic scenes of farmland and ski resorts until we reached Dombas, some 600m above sea level (where we had started). We left the coach and now joined a train. This would take us on the return journey through essentially the same route. It would descend 600m and deposit us back at the ship after about 90 minutes. Some interesting points on the route included a a tunnel in which the train turned a full 180 degrees, and a bridge that had been featured (and blown up) in one of the Mission Impossible films. We finally slid back into Andalsnes just after 14:00. What a trip that had been.

After a brief walk around the shops we headed back to the ship. We hadn’t stopped for any lunch or coffee while out and about, so we made our way to The Belvedere for some tea and a snack. While there, we were again accosted by Tracy (Dawn French lookalike). We had a long chat with her before heading back to the suite to prepare for dinner

The evening’s entertainment was “The Era Boys”. This trio of West End singers provided a show comprising popular hits from the 50s and 60s. They were very good and had a virtually full house. We stopped for a drink on the way back to our suites. We had hoped to go out on deck and see if the Northern Lights were visible, but by this time we were sailing into the teeth of another Force 8 gale and the decks were off-limits.