Olden

It was very grey and misty when we woke up. The sun had still not penetrated to the fjord, but soon the mountain tops, poking above the mist, were bathed in the early morning sunshine. Overnight we had cruise up the west coast , through quite a swell, and the along Nordfjord for 106km to Olden. Olden looks exactly how I imagined a small Norwegian village with picturesque little farms perched on the mountain sides.

We went down to breakfast and found the Jane and Trevor were just finishing theirs. They were heading off on an excursion to the Briksdal Glacier and had to leave earlier than us. Not knowing what we would get to eat during the day, we both had a good breakfast (kedgeree in my case).

We left the ship and joined coach number 12 for our excursion. (There were not 12 buses, only a couple, but each had an identifying number). Our guide counted up the souls and we set off through Loen, Stryn, and past the deepest inland lake in Europe (514m deep) Hornindalsvat and on to Geirangerfjord. It was about 90 minutes each way with an interesting running commentary. Parking up near the dock we walked to the boat and set out on a stunning mini-cruise along the 15km of the fjord and back.

I had been worried that the boat would be crowded, but there was plenty of choice where to sit and plenty of room to move around and take photos. The steep cliffs that demarcated the fjord plunged vertiginously to the water and were punctuated by spectacular waterfalls, little homestead/farms, snow capped peaks, and amazing geological formations poking though the blanket of pine trees that dressed the mountains. On a day, such as today, with a cloudless sky and bright autumn sunshine  it was a magical experience that truly made the heart soar and provided pictures that will line the gallery of my mind for the rest of my days.

We climbed aboard the bus to return to the ship. Again the guide provided a running commentary. He had a wonderful lilting (and soporific) voice and I confess that I may have missed some of the commentary. When we arrived back at Olden we had time to go across to the little shops and peruse their offerings before returning to the ship and grabbing a nice long drink!

Jane and Trevor were on their way back from the glacier and reported that they had had a challenging and stiff climb and we both knackered. We’ll catch up with them later.

We caught up with Jane and Trevor for a drink in their suite as we sailed away from Olden. The dockside played Rod Stewart’s “Sailing” and some of the villagers waved us off. (Including one house with huge waving hands on their front verandah. We watched as the scenery seemed to drift by and then made our way to the Meridian Restaurant for dinner. While waiting for the dessert course Diane and I managed to sneak out an have a video call with Ellie.

After dinner we all made our way to The Palladium Theatre for “Headliners” latest presentation “Mr Tickerton’s Clockwork Circus”.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the mix of dance, acrobatics, and song. As this finished, we filtered up to the Crow’s Nest - where the Arcadia Orchestra put on a New Orleans style Bourbon Street jazz show. They were very good and had a good audience but unfortunately the Crow’s Nest was quite cool (not jazz cool, cold cool) so as soon as the set was finished we headed back to our suite.

Early start tomorrow.