Nordfjord Panorama – Olden, Norway
Today, we arrived in Olden, Norway. As it was a late arrival (lunchtime), and we were slightly delayed due to an earlier delay leaving Amsterdam, I was able to give two classes in the morning (Briksdal Glacier Tonal Study), both of which were full again.
When the second class had finished, we packed stuff away as swiftly as possible and headed upstairs for a quick lunch; both Tracey and I were on tour escorting duty, and had to be on the quayside for 1:15pm.
Our tour was billed as ‘Nordfjord Panorama’, which roughly translates into a four and a half hour coach ride with photo stops. Coach rides always send me to sleep, so this was an ideal opportunity to doze, as well as take in some of the most spectacular scenery Norway has to offer.
Nordfjord is one of the many twisty turny inlets that make up the crinkly edge of Norway (check a map of Norway out, and you’ll see exacty what I mean); Olden is located roughly 65 miles inland. The coach tour was a great way to see the fjord. Not only was it an interesting ride along narrow winding roads and through small tunnels, but at two of its highest points, we were able to stop and get out to take photographs.
This was the view from our first photo stop…
And this was from our second stop (known as Nos Viewpoint)… A viewing platform allowed us to look almost directly down into the valley…
In this next photograph, you can just make out the Jostedalspreen Glacier (I think I spelt it correctly), one of the largest glaciers in Norway, just visible above the clouds hugging the mountains…
After climbing as high as we could, the road slowly descended to Nordfjordeid village, where we were treated to tea, coffe and cakes in a hotel there (the chocolate brownies were rather excellent!). After that, our tour continued through the village and back towards Olden, via the Hornindalsvatnet Lake, which is, reputed to be Northern Europe’s deepest lake.
As you can see from the photograph, the sun had set only minutes before our brief photo stop, and the rest of the journey was completed in darkness (the sun sets early in these parts at this time of the year, and that sunset time is going to get even earlier as we travel further north).
In the evening, after dinner in the bistro, we went to watch Andy Leach, the comedian, do his stuff in the show lounge (he was on good form, and Derek the Ferret is a star…). Later, we donned our heavy-duty outdoor clothes to spend some time out on deck, Aurora hunting. Sadly, the sky was very overcast, with hardly any beaks at all, and the only illumination was coming from the moon, skulking behind said clouds. It was also extremely windy and perishingly cold. Needless to say, we didn’t see any Northern Lights, but it’s still relatively early in the voyage; the forecast for the next few nights, as we head further north, is quite favourable, so we remain optimistic.
