Sailing the length of Norway with Hurtigruten

stig

Patron saint of bore-cutters
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That was a very fine trip.
We had clear, sunny weather the whole way, according to one of the officers on the ship, that happens once every 10 years.

It was still chilly, especially once we got up into the arctic sea.
The ship was big enough that I didn't feel too crowded and the food was terrific, which was a surprice.
Norway is not normally a vegetarian paradise, which is the one thing that has kept me from moving up there permanently.

It was interesting to see how the vegetation and landscape changed as we progressed the 2500 km toward the subarctic.

The best part for me was when we sailed through Trollfjord in Lofoten at night.
It is so narrow that at night it seems like there is only maybe 20 meters to the cliffs on each side of the ship.
The water was dead calm, like a mirror, and the Aurora borealis was really cranked up.
So we had northern lights above and they were mirrored in the water, totally magical.
I've seen Northern lights several times before, but nothing like this.
The crew served hot tea with a shot of rum, to help keep the cold at bay.

I had brought my SOTC t-shirt as usual, got my picture taken at Nordkapp, the northernmost point of the continent.
That is getting to be quite a well travelled t-shirt:)

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Two intrepid travelers!!! Cool that you got back to the same place (from the 70's?)

Fine pictures. I assume that is some very old glacial activity that carved all that out?

SOTC t-shirt rules!!
 
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  • #5
-78, Gary.
We had quite a few laughs over the difference of hitchhiking on a $2 a day budget and doing it this way.
Yep, all the fjords and valleys/canyons in Norway were glacier made, which is why they have that rounded shape.
Only exception is Lofoten.
The Ice wasn't thick enough to reach the tops of the mountains, so they are ragged and full of pointy tops.
The word used by geologists to describe that phanomenon comes from the Greenland inuit ( They have them, too) Nunataks.
 
That is soo cool Stig, I was trying to cath up a bit and get your shirt up neat Mt.McLaughlin!
 
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  • #11
If those two t-shirts ever meet again, they'll have some stories to tell each other:lol:
 
Thanks for the photos Stig.
A cruise in the Norwegian fiords is on our bucket list, Bob's had one stop in Norway in 1980 tall ships race and has always wanted to return.
 
I love those pictures of you with the SOTC shirt on.

I wore a Montana DNRC shirt to New Zealand....similar fashion. First time over seas and first time on a beach.


Very glad you were able to find some good food. Country looks kind of harsh.....lovely.
 
Beautiful pictures Stig,

The North is a truly wonderful place. Even more so when the weather is kind.

We had biblical rain here in Oslo Monday and a bit Tuesday.

I took a picture on the way to work the other day, but OsloFjord isn't a patch on those snaps of yours.
 

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Great photos, Stig. Just wonderful to see. Viking envy till I'm nearly dead of heartsickness. (Norwegian/Danish, mom)
 
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Did she speak to you in her mother tongue Jed when you were a nipper? Or did she not speak Scandwegian?

I was amazed how fast my Norwegian came back from the dusty corner of my brain, where it has been vegetating for the last 35 years.
3-4 days and I was conversing with the waiters and crew in Norwegian.

I would look at a nice little boat-house and my brain would go : "Naust", look at a stable and :" Fjøs" would come up and after a while it just all came back.
Very strange feeling.


There are lots of similarities between Danish and Norwegian, but the tone of the language is completely different, they sing and we speak as if we were chewing on a boiled potato.

And Boat-house and stable are : "Bådehus" and "Stald" in Danish.
 
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  • #24
I was on the boat.
7 days with nothing to do but eat and drink, watch the landscape passing by and.........................:D
 
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