The World's Most Beautiful Voyage in the World - the Hurtiguten Coastal Voyage Part 3

Day 5

The morning was spent relaxing and admiring the beautiful views of snowy mountains as they passed by, I love the relaxed way of life of the ship that by now we were well into.  In the afternoon I went to a lecture about Norwegian explorers of the Arctic and Antarctic. It was dark by time the ship docked in Tromsø. Tromsø is a place I have always wanted to visit, the setting is so beautiful. But unfortunately as it was dark I couldn't see that.

Kitted up for Whale Watching

Marian and I were booked on a whale watching trip in nearby Vestfjord - yes I know that sounds weird to do at night, but the boats are fitted with spotlights so you can see the whales if they are around. We got a bus to a small village and went into a small place where we changed into survival suits all ready for the trip. We got on the small boat and off we went. There were drinks provided plus lovely cinnamon cakes and biscuits.

After a while I went to join some others who had gone onto the viewing deck. To do so I had to squeeze up a steep flights of steps and onto the deck which didn't really have anything to hold onto! The rails were very low and there were no seats, scary! Like a few others in order to feel stable and safe, I leaned back on a window and stayed there as the boat flew along the fjord at quite a pace, I hoped that I wouldn't need the survival suit lol!. Unfortunately there were no shoals of herring showing on the radar which meant there were no whales. But while we were on deck we saw a beautiful aurora. It was vivid green and was directly overhead and stretched like a ribbon above the fjord and snow covered mountain tops, twisting and twirling along itself.  For me it made up for not seeing the whales. I was relieved to squeeze down the steep steps and back into the warmth and safety of the cabin.

Later as the Nordnorge left Tromsø I stood on deck, the city swith it's sparkling light looked beautiful.  Snow started to fall as the lights slipped away and I thought how lucky I was to be able to come on a trip like this.

Day 6

Ever north we go, I loved seeing all the new places we stopped at, and watching locals getting on and off.  Supplies were loaded and unloaded. Cars waiting in tiny Arctic villages to pick up a loved one, I wondered what their stories were. 

Near the North Cape

The Hurtigruten ships are especially vital to this part of the country, where roads are not a viable transport system in the winter. Even small places have airports, again vital for these areas, but they too can fall prey to the Arctic winter. There are 12 Hurtigruten ships that sail up and down the coast 365 days of the year.

Today our main stop was Honningsvåg on the island of Magerøya which is almost the most northerly point Europe. Marian had opted to go on a trip to the northernmost place in Europe, the North Cape while I went on a trip to two fishing villages. It was very cold here but it was bright and sunny. 

The Winter and Christmas House

We drove for about 20 minutes along narrow icy roads, hairpin bends and over a mountain before arriving at a small village called Skarsvåg where we visited the Winter and Christmas House. The small shop and cafe is run by a lady called Heidi who was born and raised in Skarsvåg. First we sat in the cafe area where she had traditional Norwegian Christmas fayre, mulled wine, coffee, waffles, Christmas cake and cinnamon biscuits, it was very snug and cosy. She talked about the changing fortunes of the area, a lot of the young are leaving. Her husband is a king crab fisherman and you can make a good living doing that. She and a few other ladies from the village get together once a week and knit various items in the traditional style which she sells in her shop. She was very passionate about her village and its traditions.  The sun will not rise above the horizon here from November 21st to January 21st, but there is a winter blue light for a while each day. She also said that you have to have plenty of firewood in stock for when the electricity goes off in the winter.

The East of the Sun Gallery

You also need to be well stocked up on food as they are often snowed in as well. I bought some mittens knitted by the ladies and she thanked me for supporting their work.

We left the snug Christmas House and the Arctic cold hit me, onto the bus and off to the next visit which is the village of Kamoyvaer where we visited the East of the Sun Gallery. This is the gallery of Eva Schmutterer from Germany who came to Kamoyvaer many years ago after meeting and marrying a Norwegian from the area. She was inspired by the amazing landscape and wildlife of the region and produces amazing paper collages. I loved her work and it was very reasonably priced so I bought three prints. I had a little wander around the village afterwards, it was very isolated and it felt really Arctic. Places like Tromso didn't feel really Arctic to me but here it did, as fascinating as I found it I couldn't live here.

Fishing Boats at Kamoyvaer

The trip back to the Nordnorge was in the dark and once again it was lovely to feel the warmth of the ship again. 

Later that day we had a talk on the Sami culture which was enlightening. Many of the Sami people live a nomadic life across the northern areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia and at this time of year are in the east so we wouldn't be seeing any Sami or reindeer. We had the usual talk from Bjorn and David and learned that gulls drink seawater and filter the salt out through glands in the head and the salt is excreted through their noses - nature is amazing!

That evening we relaxed in the lounge on deck seven, my favourite place on the ship. It was quite stormy, after all we were now well into the Arctic on the Barents Sea, 742 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The easy going life on a ship is deceptive, you are travelling in wild waters and further than you realise.

The World's Most Beautiful Voyage, the Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Voyage

For many years I had wanted to go on this trip and when I saw it at a bargain price I jumped at the chance to go on what is advertised as the world's most beautiful voyage - and I wasn't disappointed.

Day 1.

We flew to Bergen and from there were transported to the Hurtigruten Terminal where we did a smooth and well organised check-in. Afterwards we were free to go on board the ship, we couldn't yet go to our cabins so we explored. Hurtigruten ships are not cruise ships, they are a vital part of daily routine up and down the coast of Norway. They deliver and take on supplies, post and local passengers during the 34 stops going north and 33 south, they are working ships. But having said that the seven decks were beautifully fitted out with a lovely restaurant, two small cafes and a bar in the panorama deck which has the most comfortable seats in the world! There was also a shop, reception, expedition desk where trips are booked and information given. There is also a small gym, sauna and a jacuzzi on deck.

At 6pm we were able to go into the cabin which was small with a square porthole, very clean and had all we needed.  We then went to the Torget restaurant for the evening buffet which had everything under the sun and was absolutely amazing!

Later there was a meeting with the friendly expedition team, Bjorn, David and Natasa who gave us all the basic information for our trip and what to expect on the voyage. They also told us that if you walk round deck five four times you have walked a kilometre, so I decided I would do that at least once a day as I knew I would have to walk off some of the wonderful food we would be having!

Day 2

Ålesund

I had a lie-in and skipped breakfast as I didn't sleep well due to the motion and engine hum of the ship. Today the major stop was at Ålesund. Marian decided to go on a hike up 400 steps to Mount Aksla which overlooks the city. I went out to explore the city by myself rather than go on the organised tour as the ship was docked right near the centre and it was not a large area to explore. Plus the tours are quite expensive!

Art Nouveau Building in Ålesund

The city had been almost totally destroyed by a fire in 1904 (the fate of many Norwegian towns/cities due to them being mainly built of wood in the past.) When it was rebuilt much of the architecture was in the Art Nouveau style which is one of the things the city is renowned for nowadays. It was a mild and sunny day as I explored the cobbled streets of Ålesund which indeed had some beautiful buildings often painted in bright colours in typical Scandinavian style. 

The city is built on islands and there are lots of bridges and waterways, it is very picturesque, laid back and I really liked the place and it would be a place I would love to return to and explore some more one day.

I returned to the ship and Marian returned not long afterwards having enjoyed her hike with its amazing views over Ålesund.

Leaving Ålesund

We later went to the Norwegian Way of Life talk by Bjorn and David which was very informative and entertaining covering such subjects as elk, language,music and art of Norway.

During dinner it came over the ship's intercom that the northern lights were visible. There was a mass exodus from the restaurant as people headed out to see the.  The lights were light green and formed a semi-circle in the sky  at the front of the ship. They were gorgeous and magical and it was also surprisingly mild out on deck five. What a brilliant start to the trip!

Northern lights from the ship's deck

New Year Travels 3 - Iceland, Exploring Reykjavik, the City of Lights

3rd January

We were up at 03:30, grunted at each other, skipped breakfast and then caught a taxi to the airport for our flight to Manchester at 06:30.  We had to fly to Reykjavik via Manchester as there were no flights there from Dublin.  The weather was awful, very cold and windy and it was disconcerting to sit in the plane on the runway feeling it getting buffeted by the wind!  But we soon flew up out of the bad weather heading for the land of ice and fire - Iceland.

Hallgrímskirkja at Dusk

If was dusk at 15:30 when we landed in Keflavik, and we soon got our Flybus tickets and were on the road for the 45 km journey through the lava fields to Reykjavik.  The dusk was still there when we arrived, twilight lasts a long time at this time of year in Iceland.

We were dropped off beside Hallgrímskirkja which looked stunning silhouetted against the deep blue dusk sky. We walked the short distance to our apartment in The Red House on Skolavordustigur.  The street was all lit up with Christmas lights as were the houses, it looked wonderful, Icelanders love their lights and candles at any time but at Christmas they have them everywhere.

The apartment was lovely, large, airy, very Nordic with lots of decor from IKEA :) The owner had left some lights on so it was very welcoming and we immediately felt at home.  The first thing we did was to go to the nearby supermarket to get some basic supplies in. We'd bought wine at Manchester Airport though as we knew how expensive alcohol was in Iceland!

After this we went out for a meal as it was Dan's birthday. I suggested we go to the Italia restaurant on nearby Laugavegur as I'd been there before and found it to be very good and reasonably priced. It turned out to be a good choice, everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals.  I'm going to do a separate full review of the restaurant soon.

January 4th

Mount Esja

I woke up and it was still dark, checked my watch, it was 10:00! It doesn't really get light until around 11:00 this time of year in Iceland, yet darkness falls a similar time to here in the UK in the afternoon, I didn't expect that. Also they have a very long dusk.

We walked down to the ocean front and took photos with the beautiful Mount Esja in the background, it looked especially beautiful covered in snow. It was a cold and very windy day and we didn't linger too long, we took refuge from the elements in the nearby Harpa concert and conference centre, an amazing building made of glass panes. One night we were returning to our apartment and there were blue lights rippling over the glass so it looked like waves, a very beautiful effect.

We pottered around the shop for a while, you could taste some of the sweets on sale and fell in love with some cocoa coated chocolate with liquorice centres.  They were very expensive, but hey, we were on holiday so we got a jar each. Now I'm home I'm rationing them to one a day lol!

We went into the city centre and bought tickets for the South Shore Tour before heading Volcano House. We'd forgotten to bring a map and though the centre of Reykjavik is very small we couldn't find it. After asking three people we eventually found it and again were relieved to get out of that icy wind.

Icelandic Lamb Stew

Volcano House is four things in one, a geology exhibition, cinema, shop and cafe. We were ready for something to eat so we tried the cafe out first.  It was a cosy place with comfy chairs and there was even a man playing a piano, very relaxing.

We had the Icelandic lamb soup, feeding and warming, just what we needed. We also had Icelandic sandwiches of Smoked lamb, smoked salmon and lamb pate. Brave Dan ordered some fermented shark, which came in a tiny portion 1cm cubes accompanied by a tot of Icelandic Schnapps.  I had a smell of the shark and it was like ammonia, not as awful as I expected. There was so little I didn't try it (that was my excuse anyway lol!) and those who did try it said it wasn't as bad as they expected. We got a mini Lava Bar with our coffees, that started an obsession with them during our stay, they were so lovely we bought a boxful lol!

We then pottered around the geology exhibition which gave a lot of information about volcanos etc. You could even buy pieces of lava, I was surprised at how many different types there were. We went into the little cinema and watched two films. The first was about the eruption on Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) in 1973 and the other was about the imfamous Eyjafjallajökull eruption. Both films were informative and had brilliant footage.

All Kitted Up for the Northern Lights lol!

We spent about three hours in Volcano House in all, a brilliant place to relax and also get a bit of education. I'd recommend it to any visitor to Reykjavik.

We went home for a while and got all our layers of clothes on ready for our Northern Lights trip.  The bus picked us up and we headed south to where the sky would be clear.  Our destination turned out to be a restaurant, lit only by candles, this was our base.  I was pleasantly surprised as last time we ended up in the middle of nowhere, here we had toilets, drinks and food!  We decided to avail ourselves of the facilities and had a drink and an Icelandic pastry much like a doughnut called kleina, delicious!

Outside it was cold and very windy, there were quite a few people there but not as many as on our last northern lights trip which was good, it was quieter.  The sky was crystal clear, perfect conditions, but the Aurora was stayed away, there was not a flicker.  At midnight we headed back to Reykjavik, it was disappointing, not seeing the lights, but you can't make nature play game and I know one day I'll see a full blown display!

The Sun Voyager

January 5th

The other three went on The Golden Circle tour today, I stayed home for a lazy day as I had already been on that trip on a previous visit. I got up late and after breakfast walked the short distance to the beautiful Sun Voyager sculpture on Saebraut.  In the 1980s there was a competition for a sculpture to commemorate Reykjavik's 200th anniversary, Jón Gunnar Árnason's design won. It was unveiled 
on 18th August 1990,  sadly Arnason  never saw his creation in place as he died in 1989.  It is an incredibly stunning sculpture, and on this bright, clear day I could see it at its best

Tjornin

There was no icy wind so I walked along Saebraut towards the city. I enjoyed wandering around and ended up at Tjornin, a small lake in the city centre. Lots of people were feeding the birds, there were lots of very noisy whooper swans making their presence known. Most of the lake was iced over and people were skating on it or using it as a short cut.  The sun was setting it was lovely, how wonderful to have something like this so close to a city centre.  I sat on a seat admiring the beautiful sunset that bathed everything in that milky white wintery hue. Eventually, I started to get a bit cold so I headed home.  

I had dinner ready for the others when they arrived home, they had thoroughly enjoyed the tour, I''d lit the numerous candles in the apartment and along with the fairylights the place looked lovely. What we thought was quiche (we couldn't read the label) turned out to be a kind of potato flan with vegetables, but it was very good.  The rest of that evening we just stayed in and drank wine, chilled and chatted.

Iceland 3 - No Whales, a Reykjavik Tour and Pizza

24th March 2012
Luckily we could lie in a little today as our whale watching trip did not leave until 12.30pm.  Last night we got back to the hotel at 2am and I was so excited I didn't get to sleep until after 3am!  I was just lying in bed coming round when I got a text.  It was from Elding, the firm that was running our trip today, saying that due to predicted bad weather the trip was cancelled.  I looked out of the window, the weather was the best I'd seen it on this trip to Iceland, but that country is a bit like the UK, the weather can change in minutes.

Hallgrímskirkja

Glen and I met up and discussed what to do this afternoon instead.  We decided to do another trip, and went for the Reykjavik tour.  So at 1pm we were heading into the city on the bus, our guide was Julia, was half English.  Our first stop was Hallgrímskirkja, the gorgeous main church of the city, you see it's graceful steeple from many places.  We'd visited it before nut it was good to go again, it is such a beautiful building, said to be inspired by the volcanic though it is light coloured as are many of the buildings in Iceland.  By now there was a vicious, icy wind blowing - now I realised why the boat tour was cancelled!

We visited the harbour and saw our Elding boat in dock.  On the opposite quay were two whaling boats, it turned my stomach to see them, and sad to think that some of the whales the tour company sees at sea may end up on those killing boats.  It was interesting to hear that there is also a lot of opposition to whaling in Iceland itself which was good to hear.

We went to another seashore and the Presidents home across the bay was pointed out to us.  Last time we visited it, but on a day like this we would have been blown off our feet as it is a very exposed area.  We then went up a wooded hill called Öskjuhlíð to Perlan - The Pearl.  Our guide for some reason did not like the pine trees, but I liked them, there are few trees in Iceland and a patch of green was good to see.  This where the geo-thermal water is stored in large tanks before being pumped around Reykjavik.  Above the tanks was a big dome that housed a museum, cafe, restaurant and shop.  It also has a 360 degree walkway around the dome that gives stunning views over the city and countryside.  Again we had visited Perlan before but it is always a lovely place to visit and we had lunch there. Not many people went outside and those that did came in looking very windswept to say the least!  We didn't go out, we got fantastic photos last time.

We continued our tour, which was turning out to be very different from the last city tour we took here, I suppose each guide has their own routes and places on the agenda.  Julia's trip was nice because it was very personal and she told us how Reykjavik has changed since she was a child here in the 50's and 60's. She told us the story of the washerwomen from the city who would walk miles to a hot spring in the valley to do their washing, at least they had hot water! It struck me once more what a spread out place Reykjavik is, the centre is relatively small and there are lots of large open areas and sprawling suburbs.


Our last stop was the Ásmundur Sveinsson Sculpture Museum in the Laugardallur Valley, a residential area of the city. Sveinsson (1893-1982) was a native of Reykjavik and the building the museum is housed in was both his home and studio.  We didn't have time to go into the museum but we walked around the garden around it which had numerous sculptures on view.  Some were very abstract others more realistic, I found I really liked his work, there was something very moving about them.  He had a sculpture there of the washerwomen Julia had told us about earlier.  Some sculptures were large others quite small and various materials were used. Shame we didn't have time to go inside.


We were dropped off in the city centre as we wanted to do a bit of shopping and have a meal.  We pottered about some souvenir shops, we both bought a Frostroses candle holder which a very pretty and I've never seen anything like them anywhere else.


We  wandered along looking for a restaurant we could afford and picked an Italian (can't remember its name) that was reasonably priced.  It wasn't a fancy place but the pizza we had was absolutely delicious and huge.  We even treated ourselves to a glass of wine each, (having wine in a restaurant in Reykjavik is a treat!) well it was the last night of our holiday and we actually had a little money left.

Polar Bears on the Streets of Reykjavik!

We left the restaurant and found the weather was getting really bad, the strong, icy wind was still there along with rain now.  We decided to get a taxi back to the hotel seeing the weather was so horrible.  


Once back at The Cabin we had the last of the wine that we had brought with us before going to bed really early as we had to be up at the ungodly hour of 4am the next morning!  Night owl me was surprised that I managed to get to sleep by 10pm, must have been all the fresh sea air.


So our little holiday in Iceland was over.  I still feel Iceland is the most amazing place to visit, and the people are friendly and helpful (and speak excellent English).  The Blue Lagoon was like stepping into another world and what a wonderful day of chilling! It was disappointing not to get out on the whale watching trip, but that's the way with tours that require nature to play ball.  Seeing the Northern Lights made up for missing the whales though, the magic of that time on the snowy mountain pass watching the Aurora will stay with me forever.

Iceland 2 - In Search of the Northern Lights

After our exquisite day of chilling at the Blue Lagoon we went back to our hotel and had a meal, then we checked at reception whether the Northern Lights trip later that night was going ahead - the tour company cancels by 7pm if it is not happening and you can try again the next night.  As it was raining and cloudy outside we fully expected a cancellation, but much to our surprise the trip was on.


The bus picked us up at 9.30pm and sure enough the clouds had lifted and the stars twinkled above us. We headed through the suburbs of Reykjavik, I noticed that most people in the city did not close their curtains/blinds at night when their lights are on, rather strange...  We drove on into the blackness of Iceland's interior, we were heading Þingvellir, the site of Iceland's parliament from 930 to 1789.  It is also the area where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet causing a major fault line, fractured rocks and regular earthquakes. It's a fascinating place to visit (Glen and I went there in 2010 on our last visit to Iceland) in daylight, but of course on this night we could see none of this.


The northern lights or Aurora Borealis (this term was first coined by Galileo, Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn and Boreas was Greek for the north wind) are seen around the north and south magnetic poles of the earth.  They are caused by the collision of charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. The charged particles originate when solar wind (caused by solar flares) hits the earth's magnetosphere. The differing colours are the result of both the height of the phenomenon and whether the particles collide with oxygen or nitrogen.  


At Þingvellir there were loads of people, and it took some of the special atmosphere away somewhat.  We got off the bus and joined the throng with eyes raised to the heavens.  There were a few lights scattered around the valley but not many and the sky was very dark, so many stars were visible, it was especially clear because there was no moon, it looked beautiful. The plough constellation was overhead, much higher in the sky than in the UK. It wasn't too cold so the wait was not uncomfortable - then again I was well wrapped up in long-sleeved vest, long johns, thick socks, wool lined boots, thick trousers, velour top, down coat with hood, ski gloves and a wool scarf wrapped round my head!!    


Unfortunately we did not get a show of Northern Lights, all we saw in an hour and a half was a slight arc of white.  It was very disappointing and the bus was quiet as we headed back towards Reykjavik.  Then after about 15 minutes our guide said that he could see Northern Lights in the sky to our right.  Everyone immediately went to the right and sure enough we could see some lights, suddenly the bus had come alive!  The bus driver pulled off the road onto a side track and we all excitedly piled out of the bus.  We were on a high mountain pass and it was very cold and there was snow all around, and there, above the jagged snow-capped mountain tops, were the Northern Lights.  They were a curtain of white/very light green that covered about a quarter of the sky. There was little light pollution here, only the lights from a ski slope just behind a mountain and the orange glow of the lights of Reykjavik glowed faintly behind other mountains.


The aurora were moving very slowly as if being blown by a very gentle, slow-motion breeze, there weren't many people now and there was a hush as we marvelled at one of the most beautiful natural phenomenons there is. There was something incredibly moving, almost magical and awe-inspiring about it. They would fade only to be reborn in a slightly different form and I felt quite emotional as I watched their graceful dance, one of my dreams had come true, and there was nowhere else I would have rather been at that moment than that cold, Icelandic mountain pass. 


After about half an hour the lights became fainter and we all piled back on the bus.  We had a bit of a scare when the bus wouldn't start!  I had visions of being stuck on that mountain pass all night watching the lights - not a bad thing!  The driver soon got the bus going though and we were soon heading back towards Reykjavik with a now very happy and chatty busload of people!

Disasters and Jobs

I've not had a lot of time over the last couple of weeks for my blog as other things have taken priority.  I've had a few domestic disasters, the worst needing a claim on the insurance.  I won't bore you with the details, but am pleased to say the problems are nearly resolved.

A couple of weeks ago I found out my job with Age UK was finishing at the end of this month.  Social Services have not renewed the contract so the service I was part of will be discontinued.  I feel bad for the old people, they are losing what, for some, is such an important part of their lives.  One lady I visit each week cannot move from her chair due to a stroke and she looks forward to have someone like me coming in to chat and do crosswords with.  It may not sound like much, but to her it means she does not just sit alone in front of the TV for hours on end.  It seems that the elderly always come last on the list when it comes to funding, which I think is a big indictment of our society.

It also means I need another job, which I think I may have found.  A company that provides support workers advertised an open day in our local paper so I went along to it on Monday and ended up getting an interview right away.  All the forms have been filled in, references and Criminal Records Bureau checks are in hand, so it looks like I'm well on my way to getting a new job.  It will be supporting elderly people in their homes after they have left hospital.  Fingers crossed it works out!

Less than two weeks until my cousin Glen and I go to Iceland.  There have been superduper solar storms these last few days that have resulted in fantastic displays of northern lights in the Far North so I hope they continue along with clear skies when we are in Iceland.  It's three months since I was in Dublin and I find that after three months I get antsy and am ready to travel again, so I'm ready that visit the island of ice and fire!

It really was a storm.... !

It really was a storm.... !,
originally uploaded by ツ Kj Photography ツ.

This was taken in Iceland last night, now that's what I call an aurora! We are in Iceland in two months, I hope we get a Northern Lights show like this!  Click on the photo to enlarge.

The Imagine Peace Tower

Yoko Ono relit the Imagine Peace Tower on the Icelandic isle of Viðey on 9th October in memory of John Lennon.  The Tower is lit up every year from October 9, the anniversary of The Beatles singers' birth in 1940, to December 8, the day he was assassinated in New York in 1980.


Yoko was accompanied by their son, Sean and around 850 locals, who joined with them to sing John's song 'Imagine' as the beacon was turned on.  As the tower lit up, it sent a huge beam of light 4,000 metres into the air and projected the words 'Imagine Peace'.


In a statement, Yoko said.


"I hope the Imagine Peace Tower will give light to the strong wishes of World Peace from all corners of the planet and give encouragement, inspiration and a sense of solidarity in a world now filled with fear and confusion.  Let us come together to realise a peaceful world."


Apparently Yoko chose Iceland for the location of the tower as she felt it had a purity that many other countries have long lost. 


Spectacular though it is, nature managed to put on an even grander show than the tower that night with a spectacular display of the Northern Lights!

Photo by Guðmundur Fylkisson