Kay and Sylvia's Norwegian Adventure 2015: Trollfjorden and Lofoten Islands

Wednesday, July 8, 2015 (Day 9)

We shared breakfast with Gunilla and Louise; then another couple from Germany, Gisela and Hans, sat down next to us on the other side. They told us about the excursion they were taking on Friday to the "Atlantic Road.' (They joined the trip in Kirkenes.) Gisela is quite fluent in English and stayed to talk over coffee/tea. She and her husband had just downsized from a large home with a garden to a two-bedroom apartment. She said it was difficult in some ways, however, they are enjoying the freedom that comes with less responsibility with owning and caring for a large home. She said she loved to watch the water flow by while on the ship - like the water of life. Both Ludmilla and Louise had recently downsized. They said it was time-consuming to go through everything; every item brought back so many memories. But all of them love having less 'stuff.'

We docked at Harstad from 8:00 to 8:30 am. All cities have some sign with the name of the city, in some places, the coat of arms for the city, and in other places, something special. At Harstad, someone painted a large 'sign' on the top of a building with the first line of "Yellow Submarine" ("In the town where I was born lived a man who sailed to sea..." The words were written in a variety of colors with psychedelic-like lettering and drawings underneath of the Beatles and a yellow submarine. We passed the cities of Risoyrenna , Risoyhamn and Sortland before lunch. Later in the morning we met a group of five from Tasmania who were in a community band and participated in competitions in Germany. About 30 in the group returned home, 15 toured elsewhere in Europe, and the five we met joined the voyage in Kirkenes; they will travel to Bergen and Iceland after the trip before returning home.

At lunch, we met Bjorg and Lila from Sunfjord near Oslo. Bjorg has been on the voyage five times since 1998. She shared how things had changed over the years. Mother and I have missed not having water with each meal, especially for the dinner. And, we are 'too cheap' to spend about $3.50 for a bottle of water for each meal or even just for dinner. (The only exception so far was the bottle of wine for Mother's birthday celebration.) Knowing that water would not be provided at meals, we purchased the tea-coffee package, which meant we could fill our small red metal mug (with the Hurtigruten logo - ours to keep) with tea throughout the day. Bjorg said that her last time on the ship was two years ago and that water was provided with each meal. We talked about the financial challenges we have heard about with the Hurtigruten company. The cruise director told us it had been purchased by British investors who are now offering more varied trips - to the Antarctic, Spitsbergen, and Greenland.

After lunch, we arrived at Stokmarknes for one hour, just enough time to visit the Hurtigruten Museum, which included one of the former ships in the Hurtigruten line. It was fun to see a film with clips from the early days of the voyages and see some of the deck furniture - like seeing scenes from Titanic. Several other retired Hurtigruten ships have been purchased by other countries and continue as floating museums elsewhere.

Svolvear is the largest city in the Lofoten Islands with 4000 people; there are about 24,000 people in the collection of 80 islands. We traveled through three of the islands and viewed art as well as the unique landscape. One of the most interesting things I saw was a contemporary sculpture by the American artist Den Graham. He constructed what looked like a box from the road. The bus stopped and we went in for a closer look. On the side facing the water, it was a curved mirror, which reflected the beautiful view. The art work cost something like $120,000 and many locals were not happy! But, it has attracted tourists!

Between Stokmarnes and Svolvaer is the special Trollfjorden, which we viewed on the journey north as well. Today we had much better weather to see the dramatic entrance into the small fjord and the amazing turn-around to get out of the fjord. When we arrived in Svolvaer we boarded a bus for a tour of the Lofoten Islands. (Typical for this voyage, we had two buses for French and one bus for English and German!) It was nice to see the area 'up close and personal.' Mother said that some of our ancestors, who were fishermen along the Hardanger fjord area, like Ole Donhaug/Donhowe, probably went up to the Lofoten Islands for the short three-month season of cod fishing in the winter. Our guide told us that she still eats lutefisk for Christmas. But, in the Lofotens, people eat it with bacon on top, smashed peas, and potatoes. No lefse!

"Yellow Submarine" wall art at Harstad port, 8:00-8:30 am

"In the land where I was born lived a man who sailed to sea..."

bridges or tunnels through mountains or under the fjord are necessary for travel in Norway

Stokmarknes is the home for Hurtigruten

retired ship in the Hurtigruten Museum in Stokmarknes

model ships

Mother was the only passenger I saw using a walker on excursions

the retired ship had better and safer gang planks

Richard With was the founder of Hurtigruten

we saw people waving Norwegian flags all along the trip

more Norwegian flags!

another lighthouse

line-up of cameras on deck 5 means something is coming!

entering Trollfjorden; we had much better weather than our trip going north

inside Trollfjorden

inside Trollfjorden; we are prepared for the cold weather

leaving Trollfjorden along with a small ship

The end of the ship on Deck 5 was closed during our trip into Trollfjorden, which was the best place to take photos! Why did the deck have to be varnished at this time?????