Wednesday – Eidfjord, Norway
This morning, we were up early to see our first Norwegian Fjord. As the ship sailed quietly in, we marvelled at the slopes rising up on either side of us; so impossibly steep in places, and so beautifully shrouded in mist, clinging to their upper slopes…
It was early (not yet 8am), and the sun hadn’t properly risen. Not that we were expecting to see much of the sun through the clouds, but its pink glow infused one portion of the sky to heightened dramatic effect. Breaks in the clouds clinging to the tops gave us some stirring views of snow fields and craggy surfaces. As the eye travelled downwards, those slopes became clothed in trees, now losing their foliage to the onset of Winter, but still holding on to many of their pale autumnal colours. It was all rather stunning!
Many early-birds were up on deck, braving the cold, to witness it all, cameras clicking and videos whirring (well; not really whirring – video cameras make no noise at all, but you get where I’m coming from… artistic licence n’ all that…).
After breakfast, we headed for the quayside ready to embark upon our tour escorting duties. Today, coaches were lined up, ready to take us high, through the pretty little town of Eidfjord, through the sparsely-populated Mabodul Valley (lots of little wooden dwellings mostly used during the summer months for hiking and in the winter months for skiing) to the Hardangavidda, the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe (apparently). Here, we stopped by Sysen Dam, the highest point, and largest section, of a complex water system, the Sima Powerplant, powering hydro-electric turbines hidden deep in the surrounding Kjeason Mountains (one of the largest Hydro-electric powerplants in Europe – apparently). Needless to say; as everyone climbed off the coach, the cold hit us. As we’d left the portside, the sun had been shining, and the day had looked promising, weatherwise, but as we increased our altitude, cutting through long tunnels and following the River Eide, the weather changed… now we were walking through a snowy landscape, high above the treeline, with only the loftiest of surrounding peaks rising higher still. It was a great photo opportunity, which lasted about a half an hour, before we had to reboard the coaches ready for our second stop.
Our second stop was the Fossle Hotel, a little lower in altitude than the dam, but still cold, and situated right at the head of a deep valley sporting the impressive Voringsfoss Waterfall. From the viewing area adjacent to the hotel buidlings, we could gaze over the edge, and down upon what was, indeed, a thoroughly impressive sight; the waterfall cut its way down through the high rocks before dropping 600ft into the Mabo valley. Complementary tea and coffee was laid on in the hotel for us, and after a 45-minute stop (and wee-break), we were off, back towards the ship.
We were hoping that, once back at the port, we’d be able to spend an hour looking around the village of Eidfjord and take some shots of the river, which looked particularly impressive on our journey out. Unfortunately, by the time we’d returned, the weather had turned into an almighty deluge, raining much harder than we’d seen in either Copenhagen or Tallinn, and the only sensible option appeared to head back to the ship for lunch.
It was a short stop today, with the ship sailing away, back down the fjord towards our next destination at 2:30pm. Because Tracey’s sniffle got worse over the course of the morning, we’ve spent the rest of the afternoon reading, writing and sleeping in our cabin, in the hope that we can go along to watch our new guest act, Bruce Thompson, billed as ‘The Original One-Man Band’ in the Show Lounge tonight, without coughing and sneezing down someone’s earhole…
