Norway with Hurtigruten - Journey's end and Oslo

The next day was thankfully much calmer and late morning we got the first glimpse of sunlight for five days, and what a relief that was too. 

I don't think we'd appreciated how much we'd missed the colour in the sky until it was there again:

Hats off to people who spend extended periods of time in locations with no daylight, i don't think i could do it.

The latitude made the 'day' a short one and we were soon enjoying sunset:

Just after sunset in the quickly fading light, we drew into Sandnessjoen:

A lone house was lit-up as we passed by:

It was our last night aboard, the ship docked in Trondheim early the next morning, we'd packed, ate and then dragged our bags the shortish distance to the train station.   While waiting for the train we found the voucher for the bus transfer.   Whoops!

The original train trip was booked for a 1pm departure, probably to give people a chance to spend more time in the city, however we'd explored sufficiently for us on the Northward journey so managed to get the train time changed to the 08:18.   This meant the majority of the trip would be in daylight.   We were back under partial or no cloud, the temperature had dropped and the landscape proved stunning.   All of the following images are taken through the glass of the train door while moving at between 30 and 80mph:

I was chuffed with the results of my experimentation though i do think the other passengers thought me mad and i did land on my backside a few times when the train went quickly round a bend.

We arrived in a very chilly Oslo at sunset, quickly checked our bags in and then headed out to watch the fading light across the harbour:

The next day, the last of the trip proper, we planned on seeing the key, for us anyway, sights of the city.   First up we took the metro across town to visit the Vigeland Sculpture Park.   It's an amazing place with the pinnacle being this monument which represents the human struggle:

And behind that stairs climb to another sculpture, the circle of life:

As well as the sculptures the park has formal gardens.   It looks like some late flowering roses were caught by the hard frost, i think it was about -8c when i took this:

Helen spotted these shades frozen on a bench next to the gardens:

From the sculpture park we then headed back across town to the Botanic gardens, Helen had read-up and it's supposed to be a good spot for Hawfinches.

Once in the gardens we located the centre of avian activity, a few trees still covered in berries, being rapidly devoured by Blackbirds:

Fieldfares:

And yes Hawfinches:

As well as the birds a couple of squirrels were chasing each other around and through the trees.   I crept up and was about to photograph one when it spotted me.  It looked down while trying to work out my intentions, before scuttling off and away:

After lunch we headed to Akershus Fortress back down on Oslo Harbour to take in the sunset.   It's free to explore, which we took advantage of picking a spot on the high battlements to watch the sun go down.  We were joined by a Herring Gull hoping for some food I suspect:

A few clouds would have lifted the sunset but it was still spectacular:

After the sun had set we headed back to our hotel for a ludicrously expensive dinner (think £100 for 2 veggie burger and chips and a couple of drinks each), however on the way the last of the light reflected off the water, but not the ice we'd been listening to creaking away from the Fortress:

Norway appears a very efficient and well run country, it was no surprise when the lighting illuminated to guide us back:

We really enjoyed our Norway trip.  We did get to see the aurora, we spent time in the Arctic Circle, we were buffeted by Hurricane-force winds, saw some interesting wildlife including a new bird species, Ross's Gull, met some interesting fellow travellers and enjoyed a proper winter wonderland.   Time to get ourselves ready then for our next adventure...

Norway with Hurtigruten - The Storm

The next day was cloud-covered with rising winds and a little precipitation changing how we saw the landscape:

The big stop of the day was at Tromso, we arrived just before dark at 2:15pm, visiting the city shopping area and the Polaria aquarium (where we watched a panoramic film about Svalbard), before heading back to the ship.  I took some snaps of the cityscape in the dark, including Tromso cathedral, visible on the left:

Another day, the first on the voyage with no daylight, just various shades of twilight, and the stop at Honninsvag. This was a hard sell location as there are various excursions to the North Cap, though we opted out and decided to have a wander, find a hill, that kind of thing:

The weather was getting worse, no breaks in the cloud and by now the open sea stretches of water involved quite notable sound and motion.   Helen had to skip dinner that night as it got too rough for her, though the restaurant helped me load a plate to take to the cabin.

The next day was the end of the outward trip, with a longish break at Kirkenes close to both the Finnish and Russian borders. 

A number of passengers left at this point to fly out and a smaller number joined for the southward journey.   We did our 'find a hill' thing and walked up, finally reaching the crest when a very helpful lady invited us to use her driveway and back garden to get there.

Up top there was a frozen body of water and you can see the limited height of the trees where they grew:

We visited the town church and made sure we found the memorial to the Russian liberators, which was surrounded by floral tributes left i expect on November 11th:

So this time when we departed it was to start the return journey, the winds were by now getting very strong and we were headed right for them.   An early afternoon stop was made at Vardo:

That night was rough however the ship's Officers sailed her in the lee of land wherever possible and Helen was able to make dinner.

The following day we were relieved to dock at Hammerfest, a lovely little town.  We started climbing the hill at the back of the town, reaching about three-quarters of the way up before the snow and hail in our faces persuaded us we'd gone far enough.   The city looked very wintery:

From Hammerfest the sailing wasn't too bad, however the conditions were getting worse and some ships basically held their position between Hammerfest and  the island of Soroya:

After Soroya and the docking at Oksfjord there's an unavoidable stretch of open water.  It was rough. 

The next morning we docked at Harstad, the worst of it now thankfully behind us or so we thought.   As you can see more snow had fallen on the mountains behind the town:

Another day of twilight as we headed further south however the presence of more snow as clearly visible now:

As we headed further South another longer stretch of open water lay ahead of us and by this time the storm had built beyond what we'd experienced so far.  

Unusual announcements were made on approach to this part of the journey including the closure of the outer decks and in particular one half hour stretch where everyone was advised to find a chair, sit down and stay put.   The seas were rough, 5 metres and the wind speeds surpassed Hurricane force, more than 85mph.  Helen didn't make dinner but then the service was suspended anyway as it was too dangerous,  Reasonably so.

The journey was extended by taking channels wherever possible to avoid the worst of the weather but certain parts had to be crossed.   Pretty much every planned activity was cancelled as the ship was some hours late to all the ports during this time.

A nice touch was the provision of Storm Certificates to all the passengers.  It was a real relief to dock at Svolvaer that evening:

Norway with Hurtigruten - Heading North

A keenly anticipated trip to Norway was upon us.   We'd booked to fly to Bergen, join the Hurtigruten ferry MS Trollfjord and then journey up to Kirkenes, the final outbound stop on the trip, back to Trondheim to get off the ship onto a train and then down to Oslo.

Neither of us had ever visited Norway and i in particular wanted to see the Northern Lights.   So hi ho, hi ho it's off to Norway we go.

The fleet of vessels used by Hurtigruten for these voyages is very modern, i took this image on the first day of the journey at Alesund, more on that below:

This is the simplified diagram of the voyage, which adorns various spots around the ship:

Now Helen doesn't have sea-legs so her agreeing to join this trip was premised on the fact that a lot of the waters were inland or at least in the lee of the land.   She did feel a little sea-sick though as we set sail after dinner and headed North.

After a rough night's sleep for both of us we woke and had an early breakfast to be ready to watch the landscape glide by as the sun rose.   We weren't disappointed:

The sunrise was spectacular given the broken low cloud, the calm sea and the latitude we were already at:

Some people seemed immune to the cold winds and camped out on the top deck in on the deckchairs:

The seas remained calm and mirror-like for the whole of the first day:

As part of our planning for the trip we'd decided not to go on any of the organised excursions but instead to work around the major stops and sight-see where we could.

The first major stop on day 1 was Alesund, famous for being rebuilt in an Art Deco style after a significant fire in the city.

We climbed a fairly steep hill immediately behind the city (some 412 steps or so) to get this view down:

We then walked a long way round and did some more exploring before re-boarding and heading North again.

At one point we could see smoke, it soon became apparent why:

As the afternoon progressed the sun started to set:

Another smooth night and we woke early in Trondheim.   A little cloud caught the dawn light over the city:

Around sunrise a river of cloud descended into the city, as we left the ship for our walkabout.   In an adjacent harbour this old military vessel was lit-up in the half-light:

Another city, another hill, we had spotted a hill to the North of the city we wanted to explore so we walked through an industrial area, then a residential area and finally scrambled up a muddy path, to find a peace memorial atop the hill:

On the way down from the hill we bumped into a local walking his dog who told us that the site was that of some big German gun battery, overlooking and protecting the U Boat docks in the harbour below.  Fascinating.   It's fair to say everyone we met and talked to in Norway on this trip was friendly, welcoming and helpful.

The light stayed low, we were already close to the Arctic Circle as we descended and headed into the city:

As we reached the centre the clouds had pretty much cleared, good timing on our part as lots of people on the excursions had been sightseeing in a white-out.   The trees in the grounds of Trondheim Cathedral caught the low sunshine, casting their shadows:

The cathedral itself is a magnificent structure that dominates the area:

From there we stopped at a cafe for some top-notch coffee, before exploring a little further along the  River Nidelva,which meanders its way through the city and out to sea.  Alongside a row of buildings sat on wooden stilts reflected in the still water:

The next day main stop was going to be at Bodo.   We'd settled into a pattern by now of having breakfast before the dawn so we could be on deck to watch the landscape go by and enjoy the effects of the low-light thereon:

During the stop at Bodo we decided to make use of the onboard fitness room, it was predictably deserted as most passengers disembarked to explore the town.

After we'd exercised we walked the decks again, enjoying this raft of Common Eiders sheltering in the harbour:

A few of them dived from time-to-time, retrieving something from below and then eating it.  At first we couldn't tell what they were eating until one male dropped his food and was hassled by a gull.   He proceeded them towards the ship biting it a piece at a time.   As he got closer we realised it was a starfish, or what was left of it:

The raft was soon scattered by a fishing vessel headed out to sea:

That afternoon we attended a talk on the Northern Lights and, over dinner, spoke with a lady who was on her third trip.   The information we gleaned was to prove hugely useful.  We didn't know you had to set an 'alarm' on your in-cabin phone.  After a certain hour the ship-wide announcements stop and this is the only way you get notified.   Also we knew to rely on the camera to see the lights properly, rather than the naked eye.

At 2am the phone announcement was made.   I reckon i was on the top deck in less than 5 minutes from the announcement, with my pre-set camera, taking pictures.   I took a load, most of them are somewhat or mostly blurred though as they needed long exposure and this, coupled with the strength of the moonlight and movement of the ship, combined to make capturing the 'dancing maidens' tricky.  I did however get one or two images i am reasonably pleased with, including this one:

So we'd seen the Aurora.  Fantastic.  It wasn't a strong aurora but it was a first, we sailed under clear cold skies north of the Arctic Circle and under the Auroral Oval where these conditions pretty much guarantee activity sometime between 8pm and 6am. 

Looking ahead the aurora forecast was improving, however the weather had other ideas...