Norway Cruise - May 19 to June 2, 2012

I was away with Sandra, my wife, on a P & O Cruise to Norway’s Fjords and the North Cape.  We left Southampton on the cruise ship Aurora on the afternoon of May 19^th and arrived at Stavanger or first port of call on the 21^st.  Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway but the town has plenty of character and the Old Town is particularly interesting.  From Stavanger we sailed to Flamm, which was probably my favourite destination with some super scenery in some very pleasant weather.  We took the Flamm Railway as far as Vatnahalsen where there was plenty of snow but it was very warm.  It was rather strange hearing Cuckoo, Willow Warbler and Restart at this height and particularly alongside Fieldfare and Mealy Redpoll.  We then called at Alesund on the 23^rd and Trondheim on the 24^th.  We left Trondheim in bright sunny and calm conditions and headed for the North Cape where we would not arrive until the 26^th.

Sognesforden

Sognesforden

Sognesforden

Sognesforden

Flamm

Vatnahalsen Station

Vatnahalsen

Flamm Valley

Sunset

We crossed the Arctic Circle around 06:00 on the 25^th and when I awoke the weather had changed quite dramatically.  The sky was overcast and the sea was a lot more choppy in the force five to six southwest wind, which veered to the northwest and increased to seven during the day and may have reached, force nine overnight.  We arrived at Honningsvag to find it still quite windy and very cold with the odd shower.  We were now in the land of the midnight sun but the skies remained overcast until we had retuned over the Arctic Circle on the 28^th.  There was organised trips to the North Cape, which was some forty minutes away and on arrival it was bitterly cold and miserable with very little to see.  However this is the most northerly part of accessible Europe and was therefore worth the trip.  Most of the freshwater on the journey to the cape was still frozen, although there was less snow.  I did see four Willow Grouse, two Arctic Skua and about thirty Snow Buntings from the coach.  We called at Tromso on our journey south where the weather was again pretty miserable, particularly during the afternoon with a fresh westerly wind and driving rain.

Aurora at Honningsvag

View from the North Cape

North Cape from the sea

The weather by the time we reached Molde had improved considerably, although it still felt a little cool.  Sandra and I walked up to the viewpoint from the quayside, which was pretty tough going but were rewarded with some excellent views across the fjord.  Apparently over 200 mountain peaks can be seen on a clear day and the views were quite impressive during our visit.  I also had superb views of a Three-toed Woodpecker excavating a nest hole as we walked back down from the viewpoint.  The following day we were in Olden, which came a very close second to Flamm.  We visited the Briskdal Glacire, which is apparently not has impressive as it was some thirty years ago as it has receded considerably.  However the walk from the cap park, whilst mainly uphill provided some stunning scenery.  The lakeside stop we made during the journey was also quite impressive and it was a lovely sunny day providing some excellent photo opportunities.

Kvalsundert

Approach to Tromso

Molde Viewpoint

Sunrise on the Nordfjord

Idefjord

Idefjord

Olden Lake

Steam from the Briskda Glacier

View from the footpath to the Briskdal Glacier

Briskdal Glacier

Sadly due to industrial action by the pilots we were unable to reach Bergen, which was to be our final destination and we therefore had an extra day at sea arriving back in Southampton in the early hours of June 2^nd.

This was our first cruise but I doubt it will be the last, the service onboard the ship was excellent.  On the 26^th at Honningsvag we had to go ashore by tender, which meant that a number of crew were outside for most of the day.  They still kept smiling it were pretty cold and damp conditions and probably deserved a medal for their dedication, the Captain even gave them a special mention during her daily update.

Whist this was not a birding trip and birds were pretty thin on the ground most of the time I did see all four species of skua, five White-tailed Eagles and of course the Three-toed Woodpecker.