Snow-capped mountain peaks on both sides of the ship are what we woke up seeing this morning. We sure did not expect that, but with a temperature of 39 degrees, today will be the coldest port yet. It was overcast and cloudy, and the winds were rather calm. The village of Eidfjord is located off of the Hardangerfjord, the third longest fjord in the world. We had traveled the Hardangerfjord during the night and missed seeing the snow-laden mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and hundreds of thousands of fruit trees along the way. Lining the hillsides and shoreline are small villages and homes with a killer view. Hotels and camping grounds are here and there for the summer crowd of thrill seekers.
It is also an area of many lakes and dams and hydro-electric power plants that feed the surrounding communities. This industry employs many of the folks that live in these small villages. In fact Eidfjord has been described as one of the wealthiest communities due to the production of hydro-electric power. A full size water wheel used in one of these powerplants is on display in the center of town. The town itself is quite unusual as it contains a little of this and that. There are a few hotels, the nicest being Voringfloss Hotel built in 2001 with 81 rooms, a tourist info center, a coop food store, one gas station and an electric vehicle re-charging station. There was a post office, bakery, cafes, sculpture park, art gallery and library. A church and a doctor's office and a pharmacy were there as well. Bus tours and a small train ride are available when a ship is in port. Camping and summer outdoor sports bring the rest of the vacationing Norwegians and tourists here.
Speaking of tours there were some available from the ship. Waterfalls and waffles for $150 for 4 hours sounded tasty, and ultimate Eidfjord and Norwegian lunch with the Food & Wine group was $270 for 5 hours. Eidfjord cruise and Voringfossen waterfall was $130 for 2 ½ hours. There was a seaplane flight for $450 for 1 hour, but not sure if there were any takers on that one. The little train ride lasted an hour and the fare was 180 kroner or under $20 USD per person.
As for us, we left the ship around 11am and headed into town with a stop at the Tourist Information shop. We were able to pick up some maps and more local information. Then we began to walk towards a bridge over the river. That's when we ran into couple we did not know, but suggested a trail to follow, since they seemed to know we liked to hike. Their advise was to follow the yellow route, which we did find on the local map. We hiked along the river bank where trout and salmon run upstream, passing many homes and possible camping grounds. That's when we ran into Greg who was on his way back already. The guys had left the ship, gone shopping, and were off for some exercise. Greg had already made a purchase of a Norwegian wool sweater and was happy to have found it. Heo continued on for the rest of the 5K hike. Then shortly after leaving Greg, Christel came up and said hi. She had already done this hike and was out for her second attempt. That's what being younger does for you, reminding us that was the two of us 20 years ago. According to the map, this hike was estimated to take 90 minutes. For us taking photos along the way, it was double that time.
We reached the lake that even had a small patch of sandy beach. It is called Lake Eidfjord vatnet. This is the point where the switch-back trail ascends the hillsides to the top of a ridge, 100 meters above sea level. Halfway up this steep incline, we ran into Shiv, who was turning around from the top to go back the way he had come. Christel had told us this trail would lead back to town, even though Shiv was afraid he might get lost. He suggested we might want to go back the way we came, but we had gotten this far, so we decided to forge ahead. Glad we did as we came upon a farmhouse with pastures and fencing. The gravel road became wider and eventually led to the Haereid Iron Age Burial Site from the Viking Age. This was dated from 400 to 1000 AD. Wow. Originally 400 mounds were discovered to have remains, but to this day, they know more graves exist even deeper below this cemetery. The mystery surrounding the "where and why" these graves are here is still unexplained and will probably never be known.
Several farms lined this now paved road, and at one point, the little tourist train passed us on their way to the ancient gravesite. Among the riders were Gene and Luisa, our travel hosts, who waved going and coming back. And here we thought we were in the middle of nowhere. Even a postal worker drove to the very end ranch to deliver mail. We had reached civilization after all.
Following the road and passing what appeared to be a lone pony, we turned left and found Hodna, a scenic viewpoint straight up above Eidfjord. It overlooked the village below and also the soaring cliffs across the canyon. A chilling signpost was there describing the frequency of avalanches across the way. As lately as 2002, a huge avalanche occurred on these steep hillsides, that took a bus over the road and into the icy water, killing two people. These events are something they cannot predict and made one of us very uncomfortable being on this cliffside so far up from town. As much beauty as we witnessed today, you also know that this part of Norway is still wild and untamed. And it sure takes a special breed of hearty folks to survive year after year, especially during the darkest days of winter. Our hats are off to them.
Zigzagging our way downhill, we passed by some pretty nice new homes built over-looking the sound. It seemed that each one of them had their own tractor, why, we don't know. Maybe they just look cool parked in their driveways. It was great to be back on level ground, and we decided not to even try to look for a lunch place today. Room service lunch with hot soup, salad, and quesadillas would work just fine for us. We were back on the ship before 3pm, and hoped to do some work online. However, nothing was working……no internet and no TV. Strange, it had been working before we left the ship, and yes, we do know we are buried between the steep cliffs of a fjord, but it was off. Calling the front desk folks, they said it was being serviced. That meant shut off and might not return until after we left the town of Eidfjord. As it turned out, the connection was spotty and working poorly if at all for the rest of the scenic cruising of Hardangerfjord.
Despite the biting cold winds, we did enjoy the sailing out of the fjord and going under the Hardanger Bridge. There is a lot of info we missed because Ian's talk did not come through on our new veranda speaker. However, today was our veranda-cleaning day and the glass balcony was clean as a whistle. The scenery was fabulous with all of the snow still on the mountaintops. And as luck would have it, the sun even peeked out before sunset, which was after well after 9am. The Captain had said during his PM talk that we would be coming out of this fjord by 1am, and might hit some rough seas. He expected to be in Bergen on time and docked portside by 9am. And it appears that the weather tomorrow will be fine, with little or no rain.
Greg and Heo arrived to dinner wearing their new purchases – Greg in his classic Norwegian sweater with the pewter hooks and Heo in a more modern pullover sweater. They will appreciate them during the cooler months of Sydney's winter. We learned from Woody that his wife Susie will finally be flying back home with a medical escort tomorrow after a lengthy stay in the Lisbon hospital. We're all praying for a smooth flight and a great homecoming from the family.
More Norwegian specialties were on the menu, but we all decided our waiters needed to do something with the dinner rolls. They were hard as rocks and we suspect the bread had been in the warmer since 5pm. Barb challenged our head waiter, Oscar, to cut one in half, which he could not. Heo showed Oscar the carrots which half of them were spoiled. Oh well, guess we will all have a bread stick which was OK this evening. Lentil soup really warmed most of us up, along with prime rib and Bolognaise spaghetti. As a special surprise treat, Oscar brought two plates of Reistafel rice and chicken and pork to the table, however, with the generous portions of our entrees, we could not do it justice. Dessert for us was rocky road ice cream, which we have only seen a few times served at dinner.
Today was also Anzac Day, a memorial to those that lost their lives in Australia and New Zealand during WW I. This special day to honor veterans is similar to our Memorial Day and also Veterans Day. Most times this holiday is celebrated onboard, but with so many port days in a row, many things such as this are dropped from the daily itinerary.
Looking forward to our visit in Bergen tomorrow as it will be our final port in Norway. Expect to sleep likes babies tonight.
Bill & Mary Ann
