Well, best laid plans!
The Norwegian Coastal Authority, plans to build a ship tunnel through (under?) the peninsula of Stad (apparently named by the Vikings - it means stop), because, exposed as it is to the weather from the west, the route round via the open sea is often rough and shipping is disrupted. However, Hurtigruten has opted not to use it, presumably the grounds of cost, because its schedule is so rarely disrupted by weather - EXCEPT TODAY!
They have barely started building it so don't know why I am getting agitated about it, but really Hurtigruten?
So at 11:59 this morning I was still in Bergen! The sky was blue (mostly) and the sea was calm. But apparently around the Stad peninsula there is a force 9 gale howling and an 8 metre swell! Gulp. So the 13 hour delay was probably justified!! - and I forgot my seasickness tablets. They don't sell them on board so I have invested in a pair of sea bands - pressure points or placebo? Who knows, if I avoid hoyin' up in a force 9 I will be happy enough.
The storm is due to dissipate this afternoon so we finally left at noon. I'm attracting further strange looks for being the only idiot in a pair of shorts and a down jacket! But its warm inside I claim! And as anyone who knows me will know - I don’t feel cold on my legs! We’ll see if that still holds true inside the Arctic Circle. And I wore jeans to dinner last night! Practically black tie for me.
15 minutes into the voyage and its already beautiful. We steam past island after island, some inhabited and some not. Some beautiful homes with exquisite views over the water, although presumably battered often by the weather at this latitude in the North Sea.
Doesn’t take long to see the first oil rig being built on the outskirts (can you call it outskirts if it is on the sea?) of Bergen. Huge reminder of what has made this country so rich. And I wonder how other oil rich nations could have enriched their own people had they had the stable democracy and a social conscience that typifies Norway. At either end of the scale countries (eg in the middle east) have simply enriched a few at the expense of the many, or (eg Venezuela), so catastrophically mismanaged the revenue that they have impoverished the entire country. Setting the price of petrol lower than it costs to get out of the ground - a 7 year old could tell you that is not sustainable! And we can’t hold ourselves up as good examples since we squandered it on tax cuts largely - oh, sorry, I have been there already haven’t I.
But since I am on politics, this is perhaps a good time to thank all of those who took part in the march today - all one million plus of you. A moment to be proud of who we are and remember that our democracy is not yet broken despite the best efforts our our useless prime minister. My spirit was there today, even if I could not be in person. What I could do from a distance, like more than 4 million others, was sign the petition to revoke article 50. If you haven’t already and are reading this, are proud to call yourself European, and wish to register your dismay at the place our politicians have got us to, please sign the petition at
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584
Although still in the southern fjords and only a few hours out of port I can already feel the relaxation I was hoping for on this trip. I’ve been on the boat for 24 hours now and, other than a few polite exchanges of pleasantries, I haven’t really spoken to anyone. I’m loving it - time to simply reflect and watch and daydream.
A couple of hours out of Bergen, and we are in just about open sea for a while. It gets a bit choppy! But either the sea bands work or I’ve grown out of sea sickness. Mustn’t speak too soon - we haven’t reached the West Cape yet and the aptly named STOP peninsula.
But soon we are back in between the islands and in the fjords - the scenery is just beautiful. The delay means we are missing out Trondheim, which is disappointing, but we are stopping for longer in Kristiansund, so time for a wander tomorrow morning, through the home town of a long lost friend, Geir, with whom I shared a house in Perth, Australia, many years ago. Don’t suppose I will meet him!
I can see snow on the mountains now, but we are in the middle of a hailstorm so photos of snow capped mountains can wait for another day. I'm just chillin'.
That's all my words for today; till tomorrow…
