CRUISE DAY 4 - Seyðisfjörður, Iceland

Today we again awoke to cruising through a fjord, this time toward the town of Seyðisfjörður in Iceland. 

As we approached land from out at sea, this was my first glimpse of Iceland.

As we sat upstairs eating breakfast, this was our view as we entered the fjord. The view is again majestic with slowly eroding mountains reaching from water up to the sky.

We eventually reached the end of the fjord, where we dropped anchor in the harbour, with our ship too large to tie up at the wharf. We did however have a lovely view of the town.

Here we noticed that we learned are avalance protection for the town. These are incredibly high.

When we were ready to go ashore, we had to do so using tenders (small boats) which I actually find quite fun to do despite taking longer.

Helen and I had different shore excursions booked, so this is my version of today's events.

I was booked on a visit to Skálanes Nature Reserve. This was a trip taken on a "road to nowhere", in a specialised 4WD bus.

Our route was actually back the way we had come, along the fjord and out to open sea. The road was rocky, not sealed, and technically very challenging. Our driver did an amazing job but the ride was very slow and bumpy.

Our first stop was ruins from 11th century vikings. Not much left to see, but it was in a harsh and dramatic landscape.

We then continued along our private road, past a locked gate for which the drive had the key. The road only got rougher as we continued, and we had to cross some small bridges and even some rivers where the fords were deep and challenging. Photo opportunities were few.

We eventually reached the field research station which is remote but with amazing views back up the fjord. This photo was taken from a point of view where our ship is further up the fjord, around the next bend.

From here we went on foot, about 20 minutes to a viewing platform on a cliff, looking out to see. Here the cliff was covered in birds nesting. Fascinating to see and hear. It was bitterly cold with a strong sea breeze

Although was not a puffin colony, we were lucky enough to see a puffin nesting here. 

Eventually it was time for the return walk. By now the weather was getting a big drizzly and even colder.

We then retraced our route back to our ship. Once dropped off, I went for a walk into town. It was freezing cold, and very windy, which made the walk less enjoyable.

The local fire service had their vehicle out on display to attract donations. It was like no fire appliance I've seen before.

I also found the iconic town church.

Soon enough I walked back to the ship, returning via tender, before grabbing some pizza for a late lunch.

CRUISE DAY 3 - Whisky Tasting in Egersund, Norway

Today we stopped at the port of Sandness in Norway. This is an industrial area, close to the town of Stavanger. We could not berth in Stavanger because there was another cruise ship there.

We visited Stavanger in 2017 and had a wonderful day that would be difficult to top. So for today, we booked a tour to a whisky distillery.

The drive initially was through brand new roads with special cycle and bus lanes, all very new and well thought out. Public transport buses even have priority lanes that go straight through the middle of roundabouts!

We firstly visited Sverd I Fjell (meaning Swords in Mountain) which represents peace because once the swords are in rock they cannot be removed. This is on the shore of the fjord, where the brass swords stand 10 metres tall.

Next our tour took us through gentle roads in farming areas. The farms all look so well kept, we are told the government subsidises farmers to keep unused land mowed so the countryside all looks nice. Not sure how true this is, but based on what we’ve seen, easy to believe.

The landscape then turned to rocky hills and countryside, with small amounts of green among the rocks. People even build houses on thee rock formations!

We eventually arrived at Berenstens Distillery in the town of Egersund. This was alongside a river, attached to a fjord that curiously has no tide. There are rows of boat houses here that always have the water level at the same point.

At the distillery visitor centre we initially were given beer to refresh ourselves. This is historically a soda drink factory, who now have branched into RTD (ready to drink), Gin, Whisky and other beverages. While most products are ready to drink as soon as manufactured, their whisky is still within the first 10 years of production, so even their oldest barrels remain to see how well they do. Therefore unlike many other distillery tours we have done, here we learned a very different story, not of heritage but of new products and the risk they are carrying on this journey.

After seeing the small distillery, which was very hot inside, we learned all about the business model behind starting a brewery and marketing a new product, and how the alcohol laws work in Norway.

We were all seated and provided multiple tastings from the early barrels, each matched with fudge or chocolate, a novel way of presenting the samples.

We hadn’t had lunch, and by now were tipsy from all the beer and whisky. Time to head back to our coach, where most of us snoozed on the return trip.

We were stopped by authorities at a vehicle checkpoint, even though full of passengers!

This was our last stop in Norway, tomorrow we have a day at sea as we steam towards Iceland.

CRUISE DAY 2 - Eidfjord, Norway

Today we woke to sailing through Hardangerfjorden, a fjord which is 160km long!  It reminded me of a cross between our Tory Channel and Marlborough sounds initially, but got more mountainous and majestic reminding me more of our Milford Sound although so much longer. We were deep inside Norway here. There were low clouds and slight drizzle as I watched from the bow of the ship.

We passed under an impressive suspension bridge which looked high until we passed under, then it looked for a moment like our ship would be too high and hit it!

We docked at the small town of Eidfjord. Our cabin is 11 decks high, higher than it sounds, even higher than the ship's bridge, and today was wharf side giving us an incredible view of the town. There is a lovely hotel right on the waterfront and I felt sorry for people staying there who might have lost their view of the fjord for the day from there rooms.

We were booked for an excursion to the city of Voss, an hours drive away. We boarded the bus at 10:30 and headed off. We actually drove back along the fjord the way the ship had come. I was hoping to cross the bridge but we drove straight past it. 

Surprisingly, we entered a tunnel under the fjord's rock edge that actually had a roundabout inside it connecting to other tunnels. Incredible! This turned us around, and then we popped out of the tunnel and over the bridge. This bright is actually a wider span than the Golden Gate Bridge.

We then passed through beautiful green countrysides, with incredible mountains,  and lots with lots of tunnels and bridges making the drive as direct as can be.

We arrived at Voss which is an extreme adventure playground like our Queenstown. We were taken to a Gondola to be taken up the mountain. This Gondola had the largest capacity I’ve ever seen, with room for bikes and some had seating for around 30 people.

The view from the top was limited, also much colder. We were invited inside for waffles with jam and cream. After that I want for a short walk outside, before we returned down the gondola to our coach.

For the return trip, we took a detour to see a roadside waterfall. Interestingly this was down an incredibly deep canyon, with almost vertical rock on each side, and tight switchbacks down the side cut into the rock. The bus driver did an amazing job. There wasn’t much parking space but he allowed us a short stop to take photos before continuing down.

With no turning around possible, we followed a different route for a while before taking the same trip back to the ship. 

From here, we had a short walk around the town, before returning to the ship where we had a late lunch and a swim.

The and investment in infrastructure we see in Norway never ceases to amaze me. Sailing away, we passed under the bridge again for one last glimpse of this engineering masterpiece.

CRUISE DAY 1 - Village Hopping from Kristiansand, Norway

We awoke to find ourselves sailing into Kristiansand, passing through its archipelago of small, rocky islands. Sitting outside, we could not hear a single sound from the ship, so peaceful.

We have visited Kristiansand on a previous cruise, so rather than looking around down, we opted for a “village hopping” excursion for 5 hours. 

The first stop was the tiny seaside town of Lillisand. We had a perfect day with sun and no wind, and a pleasant 18 degrees temperature. We had a free hour to walk around, enough to soak in the peace down by the water, do some people watching, and indulge in a morning ice cream. We spoke with a local man who came and left via a small boat with his dog on board, his dog likes ice cream too!

Next we continued our seaside journey and arrived in the slightly larger settlement of Arandel where we had another hour work walk around. Here is a large old town, which is a collection of shops and cafes, so easy to spend an hour. We walked back to the ship a different way and while I would not say we got list, we ended up walking further than expected, but we did make it back to the coach on time.

Finally we visited the (small) city of Grimsand. They have an amazing elevator, where you enter via a tunnel, and it goes up through the rock before breaking out into a glass elevator looking over the town square.

The view from up here was beautiful and we had plenty of time to soak it up.

From here Helen and I did a little bit of shopping, before returning to the coach where I think almost everyone had a snooze while we drove back to our ship.

A nice relaxing way to spend the day, and not too strenuous for me while I recover from my food poisoning.