A week in Norway...

Hello again from Norway!

Wow – what a busy week this has been.

We’re in the middle of a one week cruise to Norway (Stavanger, Olden, Flåm and Bergen), and I think this is the first 7 day cruise I’ve done for over two years. I’d forgotten how different it was. We had one day at sea and then we’ve had four lovely big ports of call in a row. As busy and tiring as it’s been though, we’ve been having a fabulous time!

Stavanger started off warm and dry and clouded over for a few hours at lunch time, Olden saw a day full of glorious sunshine (to the point where Aurora’s open decks were full of sunbathers), and Flåm saw a mix of baking heat and pouring rain (although the only people who actually seemed to know that it had poured with rain were the people who decided to cycle through the valley with me – I’ll tell you about this hilarious situation in just a second!).

The atmosphere on the ship is lovely at the moment. There’s a real mix of ages, tastes, likes and dislikes, brand new cruisers and Portunus members, and Aurora always caters well to every type of passenger profile. Unfortunately I’ve been working quite a lot this week, preparing for next cruise as well as joining the excursions running and helping to make sure that everyone is in the right place at the right time for their tours, but there’s been a lot of great entertainment on board this week.

Apparently there was a Crew ‘x-factor’ type stage show last night and it was a huge success. Some of our passengers were telling me about how entertaining it was, as we were chatting ashore today in Flåm. I think they were surprised at how amazing some of the talent is that we have on board at the moment (not specifically in the Entertainments team, but right across the entire spectrum of officers and crew). I’ve definitely been convinced to go along and watch it if happens to be on again next cruise (I certainly won’t be competing. In the shower and in my car I’m a brilliant singer, however when I’m in public it apparently sounds a little bit different to how everybody else seems to hear it….!!).

So let me tell you about the rain story…..

I decided to join an activity tour today, taking the Flamsbanen railway up to the top of the mountain, and then picking up bicycles and cycling back down through the valley. The Flamsbanen railway is without a doubt the big highlight from Flåm. It’s one of the most famous railways in the world, and one of the most breathtaking railway journeys. People travel from far and wide just to be able to say that they’ve experienced it.

What makes this 20 kilometre track really special is the height difference between the starting point down in the valley and the end point (up on the mountain plateau). There’s an impressive 864 meters or 2,835 feet difference (So it’s safe to say that it’s pretty steep!).

Opened in 1942, the railway is predominantly used as a tourist attraction (rather than as a method of commuter travel), but there are 9 stops along the route which seem to pick up the odd local inhabitant, cyclist and backpacker.

The whole journey is just a plethora of photo opportunities. The track winds right up through the valley on the edge of the mountain, passes thundering waterfalls and tranquil lakes, and disappears into 20 tunnels (18 of which were dug by hand!!). Have a look at some of the pictures I took from my window seat today….

The route all the way up was glorious. The sun was shining on the valley which made everything look really green, and rainbows filled the sky above the waterfalls. Absolutely stunning! Until we left the train at the top and picked up our bikes..............!

A huge truck was waiting at the station for us with 30 mountain bikes and helmets all primed and ready, and a safety briefing was given to us all about what sort of route we’d be following and how we could change the gears on the bikes to suit our riding styles. The skies quickly clouded over and it went a little bit dark.
Our guide started the group off, over the railway line and onto the cycling route, and I stayed at the back to make sure that we all managed to stick together as a group. The safety truck followed closely behind.
Just as I put my foot on the pedal and began to move off, the heavens opened and before I could even reach for the waterproof trousers in my rucksack, I was soaked through to the skin. I always carry a trusty poncho in the bottom of my bag in case of ever getting caught out in a rain storm and what a relief that was. I pulled over to the side of the road and put the bright pink poncho over my clothes and rucksack to at least keep my bag dry (my mum always said: “it doesn’t matter what you look like as long as you’re dry” and today I couldn’t have uttered a truer word!). I looked like a blancmange and quite frankly the thin plastic poncho didn’t do a great deal to keep the water out, but psychologically I felt better for having it on.

If I’m honest with you, I thought the tour might have been a bit of a disappointment with so much rain falling on us, but as soon as I turned the first corner and looked down into the valley that we were going to be following, I suddenly forgot that I was even wet. I just can’t describe how incredible the scenery was. The valley was silent, apart from the sound of the rain, the running of waterfalls in the distance, and the river right down on the valley floor. We all stopped to reach for cameras and then continued on, downhill, towards the ship, anchored 11km away from our starting point.

About half way down the route, I found one of our group stationary on the side of the road, watching the river. Like me, she was soaking wet with mascara running down her face and she said “I can’t quite take it all in. You can’t describe how incredible it is can you? This is my first time to Norway and it’s totally surpassed any of my expectations”. I had to agree. The rain had made all of the surrounding vegetation send the most incredible scents into the air, and it didn’t matter one bit that we were wet. Everywhere we looked was all just so beautiful!

We cycled together down towards the end point of our journey (passing through the historical part of Flåm village) and all of a sudden the rain stopped and sun burst through. Within minutes I could feel myself starting to bake in my plastic covering and I stopped to remove a few of my layers. By the time I struggled off of my bike at the end of our tour (I’d been sat on a 2 inch wide hard plastic saddle for over an hour so there was absolutely no elegant way of disembarking my trusty 2 wheeled transport) it was absolutely boiling sunshine.
Passengers returning from other tours couldn’t understand why we were all so wet. They hadn’t even noticed a drop of water falling from the skies. Over a thousand people were on tour today, venturing off into all manner of various wonderful realms, and yet the small group of 30 people who’d decided to really get into the heart of nature by doing something a little bit different were the only ones to get soaking wet. We looked like we’d done a triathlon and had just climbed out of the fjord after a lengthy swim!

Oh well, it’s days like these that really create some wonderful cruise memories I think, and let’s be honest, that’s why we keep coming back isn’t it?

Norway is renowned for having temperamental weather, because the mountains are so high and mico-climates form all over the landscape. The scenery is so breathtaking though, you don’t even notice the odd rain shower. I think that Norway cruising totally epitomises the nature of the holiday. Sailing through the fjords just to get to our remote destinations is an experience in itself, and you get to see incredible places that many of us have never before even heard of, let alone thought of visiting.

If you’ve never done a cruise before and are wondering whether it’s something that you might enjoy, consider a cruise to Norway as a taster. I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

In response to some of your comments:

Jacqueline – I’m so glad that you loved the Greenland cruise as much as we did. And yes, we couldn’t have asked for a better ship during the rough seas, and a more informative captain. More reasons why Aurora is so loved by so many.

Karen – I’m so sorry to read that you couldn’t join us for the Greenland cruise. I’m not sure when the next visit will be, but I’ll certainly look into it for you. Our Future Cruise Sales Managers, Natalie and Richard seem to know everything there is to know, so I’ll have a little chat with them and find out what I can for you.

Jo