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.
No comments:
Post a Comment