My cruise along the coast of Norway from Bergen to the North Cape.

Well here we are, my friend Lynne and myself, setting off from Gatwick Airport on our adventure cruise up the eastern coast and fjords of Norway. We arrived in Bergen around 10.30 in the evening. It was raining and to our dismay there was no one at the airport to meet us. The local bus which would take us to the hotel had stopped running at 7.30pm, so we had to get a taxi which cost us 60 pounds sterling. Not a good start!!

The hotel was very nice, you know the usual for a mid price range hotel anywhere. We did have a lovely view out of the window mind you and I did manage to get a hand held night shot of the harbour from the open window in our bedroom by leaning against the window frame and keeping out of the rain. As you can see the lights in the harbour gave lovely reflections on the water and you can also see the lights of the cable car going up to the observation point high above the city.
It seemed to be a lovely city with an busy harbour

and lots of interesting shops and sights to see, however the rain became heavier which really curtailed what we could see and photograph. I did manage one or two photo`s as you can see before we decided to stop for lunch in a lovely and bustling local cafe.

The next morning, after a fabulous breakfast of a variety of meats and locally caught seafood, we decided to explore the city before catching our bus to our cruise ship MS Midnatsol in the afternoon.

We then returned to our hotel and eventually caught the bus to the cruise ship. We signed in and settled in our cabin, had a really nice buffet before retiring for a well earned good nights sleep.

We set off in the late evening and as you can see a lone photographer was recording our departure as set       off on our adventure. The second picture shows us leaving the harbour.

This is the beginning of the journey we took over the 8 days of the cruise. Over the period of the next 2 weeks I will continue to describe our journey and adventures with words and pictures. I will attempt to give you some idea of the Norwegian experience from the southern coastal city of Bergen to the hostile climate of the North Cape.

So, there we are, off on our way the next morning after another a great breakfast. Now you have to remember that the cruise ship is also a working ferry taking on passengers and cargo making a number of stops at lots of small ports. These stops of course are the lifeline of these small islands on the way up the coast.

So we made short stop in the harbour of Torvic. This tiny scattered village is part of the Haeroy municipality with cow pastures stretching right up into the little quay.









After a short stop we set on our way towards Alesund, passing the bird island of Runde and some lovely views of the islands which are showing more snow as we work our way north.

We are now approaching Alesund and after such a bleak first look we enter the lovely harbour and its picturesque town centre.





















Watch : THIS SPACE for more.