Pest to some, but still King of the Sea

Description

We are getting so full. If ever anyone is told that they need to eat more, may we recommend taking a cruise.  All you seem to do is eat!  We opted not to have breakfast, but to have an early lunch. Same offerings as other days - there is variety in the hot dishes but we are skipping them for salads and cold salmons and meats, cheeses and crackers, fruit and dessert.
Today there is no cider available - sacré bleu!  So we tried a Mack Ginger Beer - nice enough, but not a patch on the cider for lunch.

Tromsø is the Arctic Capital.  We begin our shore excursion here with a trip high above Tromsø in the cable car to a mountain ledge at Storsteinen, 471 metres above sea level.  It is from here that most of the trips to see the northern lights depart.  No chance of us seeing them as we are coming out of the time of the midnight sun, with the sun setting just in time for the moon to shine for a few hours.  Last night, just before we travelled through the Trollsfjord, Donna managed to get a lovely photo.

As we are travelling further north towards the North Pole, there is more and more permanent snow visible on the mountain caps.  Doesn't matter that the altitude is low, the latitude is higher and higher.


Tromsø's old town is characterised by old timber buildings while its recent (1965) Arctic Cathedral dominates the low skyline. Tromsø sits on the island of the same name and until the 1960's almost all development was contained on the island. Across a small channel, on the mainland, there was farming. By the 1960's the population was swelling and as the island is sea-locked, development had begun on the adjacent mainland areas, although access was not practical for work, school or shopping. By then, there were sufficient numbers on the mainland and demand for more development and so a bridge was built.
Even today, Tromsø struggles for land for development and down near the harbour there is active land reclamation going on. Our guide explains that half of the land on which the port is sited was not even there two years ago.

We leave the boat and catch a bus through the centre of town, detouring because of a major music festival that starts tonight, and dodging roadworks before entering a tunnel that OMG has roundabouts in it!  Sarah (guide) explains that much of Tromsø's road network is underground to ensure access in the winter months and that the network runs north-south and east-west, hence the need for the roundabouts.  She also explains that it takes much of the traffic off the inner city streets. Up through narrow residential streets the bus travels to the cable car station.  A number of times, cars need to reverse to allow the bus access - must annoy the locals during the tourist season.

The actual cable car ride is only short.  The views from the top looking down on Tromsø, its ski jumps and other sporting fields, the long fjords and waterways where cargo ships are miniaturised and the mountain chains under snow and cloud stretch as far as the eye can see.  It is postcard perfect and one of the views that often grace Norway tourist pitches.

On the way back into the city, we stop at the Arctic Cathedral, a Lutheran Cathedral - very sparse and sombre on the inside without the stunning stained glass window behind the altar - and this was only put in because the sun was blinding worshippers!

Our final stop is at Polaris - an aquarium plus educational centre that is attached to and benefits from the adjoining multi-national Arctic Research facility. Kind of twee, although they showed a panoramic movie of the areas of the northern Arctic that are almost impossible to visit.  More Oh. My. God. scenery and I wish that I could be looking at it with my own eyes in nature.
The other attraction here is the seal feeding pool where they have two small leopard-spotted Harbour Seals and two Arctic Fur Seals that are about four times the size. Like all these feeding operations, the seals do tricks for their dinner and these were no different. Cheeky and a bit of fun. 

We arrive back on the ship just before 6pm and tonight have a booking in the Kysten A La Carte Restaurant for a King Crab Meal.
Prosecco on arrival, 500 g of red King Crab with hot melted brown butter, charred lemon halves, a dill mayonnaise and a chilli aoili.  Served with bread and butter and a pineapple and melon salad.  SUBLIME.  We washed it all down with a French Chablis.  Ended the night with a Cheese Board - Camembert, Hard Goat Cheese, and a delectable Norwegian Blue paired with Cloudberry syrup, Carrot marmalade, fig relish, toffeed nuts, strawberries and raspberries.  We finished with Coffee and Cognac.  Wonder what the poor people are eating tonight?!

Died and gone to heaven!  
Talk about King of the Sea!!

Where the mountains are high and the fjords plunge deep

As we left Bergen last night, the Captain explained in laboured English that during the night we would be calling in to the Port of Florø at 03:30 departing again at 03:40 at which time the ship's horn would sound three times. We were not to be alarmed and this would not be the emergency horn.

Horn?? what horn? Both Donna and I slept right through it as I suspect almost all the other passengers did also. We are marvelling at the lack of noise transference into the cabins - they are all well noise-insulated.

We went up for breakfast at about 8:30 am as our excursion is not until 14:00 this afternoon. A full smorgasbord is available - cereals, breads, hot food, cold food, fruits, juices, teas and coffees.  We noticed yesterday that it can become a little like pigs at the trough, so we were happy to have a later breakfast today and went up about 9 am.  Breakfast is served until 10 am.

Today is a bucket list day.  You know the photo that is iconic Norwegian fjordland on all the postcards and travel blogs that you see?  Well, today that is where we are going. 

The cruise ships cruises the length of the Geirangerfjord.  The scenery is magical - towering cliffs that plunge into the water below.  Moraine slopes, saddles, faulted and folded mountains, ice and snow caps, single farms and tiny settlements clinging to small areas of grasslands.  We ask ourselves how you could get there with all your belongings, and what would make people want to live in such isolation - it is amazing!  We pass the famous Seven Sisters Falls, but today only four are at home (falling).  We can only imagine this cascade in full flow!

We dock in Geiranger just before 2pm.  This is a village in western Norway, at the head of the beautiful Geirangerfjord with 240 permanent residents. In the summer months, up to 6 cruise liners dock here bring up to 10,000 PER DAY to visit.
We leave the ship at at 2pm. Buses are waiting to collect us - too bad that they didn't warn us that it is a mad 400 metre dash in the drizzle. There are three buses waiting - one for the English/Norwegian, one for the German/French and the last for French language groups - goes to show you how many french people are on this cruise.
 

We are exploring the Geirangerfjord and Trollstigen Route - 'the Trolls Route' one of Norway's national tourist routes and on to Molde where we again join the ship at 11:15 pm.  For those who followed our blog in Romania, this is the equivalent of the Transfagarasan Pass. There are 11 switchback hairpin bends. More about that later. We drive up out of Geiranger and look back over the village to see our ship already sailing out and two of the other three docked in view at the head of the fjord.  While the views from down within the fjord are stunning, You really can't appreciate it fully until you are above it, looking down the length.

The scenery is stunning, wondrous even. None of these photos can really do it justice. We travel for a hour and can count 7 or 8 ranges in the distance, towering over us, big sky sort of scenery.  Each time there is a photo opportunity, this is what you see!

Then we turn a bend and we are near the top of the peak, above the treeline and with lakes and tumbling streams with water so clear we can see the stones at the bottom.  Walking trails abound, little cabins where I guess people shelter in bad weather.  Many of the cabins have grassed roofs, some planted, most wild! 
The snow poles can be as high as 8 metres - thats what you call snowfall!

We see more of the same, not same scenery.  I think that the blog would crash if I tried to load too many more photos!  There was four hours of driving through this scenery and we never bored of the changing views. One minute we were in drizzle, then sunshine and again into rain. This region is also a big cropping area for Norway, growing apples and pears, the best strawberries and raspberries (supposedly) as well as heaps of other berries.  There was evidence of recent grass cutting for winter hay also.


There is a ferry crossing at a quaint little village - and another to come later tonight as we near Molde. Finally we reach Trollstigen, 'the Trolls Road', the only permanent road in to Geiranger. 
There is another road but it is closed from November to May each year.  Even this road can be treacherous! 

There is a lookout above the road and we pulled in to the rest/tourist area at Stigrøra, 858 metres above sea level, to allow people off to take photos.  The road twists through eleven hairpin bends and an impressive bridge carries the road across the Stigfossen waterfall. The road is carved into the mountain and supported by stone walls. The walk out to the lookout is made of steel for the first 150m or so, and is quite slippery, so I don't venture out, but Donna did and she brought back some stunning

photos.  From here, we drive down those 11 hairpins. There is a woman sitting, window side who is terrified of the steep turns and the precipitous drops. Her 'friends' kept making comments about it.  Really?  Grow up (and these were Aussies). Still, if she had any sense, she would have moved to an inside seat and given up the window - there were plenty of seats free, so it wasn't like there was a reason to hog the window.

When we reach the bottom of the Trollstigen,we have a coffee break and served lovely fresh open rolls with cheese, tomato and cucumber or cheese and meat and cream filled folded waffles that are soooo good. One of those people near us on the bus is complaining about this dinner and is horrified to be told that this is a coffee break (it is after 6 pm by now) and that dinner will be served in Molde at 9:30 pm. I think that they are normally in bed by then!  We ate quickly so we could escape outside and get some photos of the plentiful trolls. Donna even found a friend!!

From here, we are back on the bus and headed toward Molde. We are now in hunting lands and there could be no doubt given the deer heads on one of the local buildings - I only managed to get half of them in the shot as we drove by.

Another ferry crossing (cheaper than bridges) and a few more hours of jaw breaking scenery and we reach the end of our day tour in Molde, Norway's town of roses.

We are booked in for a cod dinner served on a bed of mashed potato with julienned vegetables and a sweet apple, cream and cinnamon crumble for dessert. It was a delicious way to end a stunning day.  The Kong Harald pulls in at 10:45 pm and departs at 11:15. It was too late to blog last night!

Big things

The rain  had set in over Dunedin late last night. It was thunder and lighting kind of rain and this Allie commented this morning that as we were leaving, we could take our weather back with us - they are not used to this 'tropical climate'.  Lol - if only she knew that this was really nothing like we get at home!

It's been an enjoyable stay at The Brothers and Allie now predominantly runs the boutique hotel on her own.  Her father spent 14 years restoring and renovating the building and establishing the business.  These days he only comes down when she really needs a hand - like tomorrow when she has to do breakfasts for 28 people!

We head out of the hotel and down the steep one way street into the Dunedin centre and then turn north towards Oamaru and the beach at Moeraki.  We are travelling through rain and mist for the length of the journey.  Inconvenient but not at all cold.  As we are on the Highway 1 heading in the general direction of Christchurch, the traffic is much heavier with everyday commuters and delivery trucks than travellers.  And they are all in a hurry - as though their work cannot wait.  Oh, and the occasional pedestrian on a very long walk, a strange sight on a day like today.

Ooh, a cheese factory - we dart into a small side street to visit the Evansdale Cheese Factory - a small independent operation and come away with two cheeses - smoked brie and sage cheddar.

We are travelling back through the mountains as they come down to meet the sea, which is broiling angrily today - passing through Palmerston (funny, I always thought it as a bigger town), then Bushy and then Shag Point before turning off to the beach at Moeraki.  At this beach, we (well Michael, while I looked from the car-park, because it is still raining lightly) visit the Moeraki Boulders.  These siltstone rocks are unique in their weathering.  The closest thing that I can compare them to are huge thunder eggs.

They vary in size from a rockmelon through to ones larger than a man - Michael's hat gives some perspective and his video really demonstrates their location well.  I love the ones that have been weathered by the constant forces of water and wind until they have broken apart.  Some of them are covered in tiny razor-sharp barnacles.

Then we are back on the road heading north to Oamaru.  Although the town only has a population of 13,900, its CBD is much larger than Maryborough's and along the entire length the main street is lined with flower filled hanging baskets - they provide colour and made the town feel very inviting and cheerful.  There are some impressive neo-classical buildings, but as we still have a way to go, we decide to have a quick look as we drive through.  

As we head north through town - ooh - another cheese factory!  This is the Whitestone Cheese Factory - much larger and with an established export market.  we try a sampler plate and they have some really delicious cheeses including a very smooth blue cheese that I can try as there are bands without the 'blue bits' in it - yum yum yum.

Allie has told us of a wonderful restaurant to pop in to for lunch.  
Riverstone Kitchen is about 15 kms north of the town.  In fact, it sits out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farmlands.  Their gardens are filled with everything BIG. Big cosmos, big zucchini (and the zucchini flowers), big (HUGE) mushrooms the size of a dinner plate, big melons and some of the biggest pumpkin I have seen.  "It's the cow shit" explains the farmer laconically who is trimming stalks the size of bananas from the mushrooms!

There are plenty of people here and we need to wait for 15 minutes for a table.  There are people at a table adjacent who are having their dessert and it looks fabulous - gooseberry + blackcurrant shortcake with vanilla bean ice cream I am told when I asked.  The menu is simple and uncluttered and there are a couple of additional daily specials.  After forever to consider, we choose (Michael) beer-battered fish (sole) + chips with salad greens, tartare sauce, lemon + fresh herb while I chose Havoc pork with wet polenta, roast baby carrots, wilted greens + oregano oil.

Now, this meal was one of the highlights of our New Zealand food journey.  The polenta must have been cooked slowly, like the pork. And who would have thought to pair it with Oregano - it worked so well.  Michael's fish was delicious - the batter was light and complemented the pure white flesh it enclosed and the tartare sauce was to-die-for.
Normally we would bypass dessert, but not this time! Lemon Meringue with Blackcurrant Ice-cream and Michael had the Toffee-apple Crumble with Caramel Sauce with Zabaglione Ice-cream.  Both were amazing.  We finished with coffee and bought one (and only one) of their savoury scones to have for dinner as we knew that we would not want much.

Truly amazing and I am sending a message to Allie to thank her for the recommendation!

Once replete, we get back in to the car to finish our journey to Fairlie - back into the high mountains and the closest accommodation that we could get to Lake Tepako where Michael is hoping to take a flight over the Glaciers tomorrow.  He received a phone call from the company while we were travelling asking us to phone in about 8:15 am.  The cloud cover is very dense and covers a wide band of the skies today and if it does not clear, the flight just might be in jeopardy - egads!

We have a two bedroom unit at the motel here in Fairlie.  Tiny bathroom, but functional kitchen included.  I have sorted through the brochures that I want to bring home and safely packed the souvenirs.

And as a special treat, I tried to upload a  video Michael took of the Moeraki Boulders - but the file is too big - I'll give it a go on my Facebook page! 

The day that almost wasn't

Last night we came back to our room to book for Doubtful Sound.  Only we can't.  Surely both operators can't be fully booked out? Surely.  And then we are watching the local news and learn that there has been a major slip on the road that goes over the Wilmot Pass after 330 mm of rain in two hours yesterday.  Last night, 400 tourists were airlifted off

the mountain, well into the night!  And another 90 hikers from the Milford walking track when a stream rose 9 m.
Many people had suggested that the Doubtful Sound cruise was better than the Milford Sound one because of the extended trip - by boat from Lake Manapouri, then by coach over Wilmot Pass and on reaching Deep Cove, by catamaran for a three hour cruise that takes in the most dramatic scenery of Doubtful Sound.

However, the next trip is Thursday and even that is not a given and very dependent on the road being able to be cleared. So instead we look to book for Milford Sound.  And many of these tours are fully booked too - crikey! We manage to book a tour with Real Journeys departing at 1:45 pm. Not so bad as it is a three hour drive from Mossburn to Milford.


The hotel does not serve breakfast, and suggests the Dome Cafe around the corner.  We settle in to eggs bennie for Michael and poached eggs for me along with large coffees at 7:45.  We head off from Mossburn having prepared with the Bushmans (midges are well known at the Sound), some fruit and warm jackets.  Despite the weather forecast being for 22 degrees and sunny, it is raining and cool as we leave.  We join the road out of town

behind two coachloads of people - the first of many that we see today.

As we drive down, catching little glimpses of the sun high on the slopes, we wonder again at the forces of nature that can sculpt and create such magical landscapes. This part of the country is heavily grazed. If we thought that we saw a lot of sheep in a paddock yesterday, then it was nothing!  There was at least 1,000 sheep in one hectare. Seriously. And cattle and deer loads are heavy too.  Guess that with great rainfall and supposedly good weather (from time to time) the forage crops grow quickly.  There is certainly plenty of bales of hay around.

The vegetation is really interesting - from red tussocks, to small shrubs, to the occasional eucalypt in the dry sclerophyll forest and forest after forest of firs.  The tree line is really evident as we travel down the slopes into the Fiordland National Park and as the sky gets bigger with the huge stone cliffs, even the grasses and tussocks give up, leaving the rock to mosses, lichens and the odd fern or two.  Turns out that there is even rainforest down in the pockets, complete with ferns and vines and palms. 

Once we are on the southern side of the slopes, the weather magically clears - there is nary a cloud and the sun is beaming down like a real summer day.  Just. Magical.  And the scenery all of a sudden turns even more stupendous - if that is possible. 
There is a heap of traffic both in front of us and coming towards us. And there are many of them who have absolutely no idea how to drive in mountains. The average speed is 70 kph, although there are stretches on the flats that go up to 100 kph.  Corners are advisorily signed between 45 and 75 kph.  But the Asians do 20 kph. At every corner. Without fail. Makes for a frustrating drive.  There are plenty of signs that proclaim 'New Zealand roads are different.  Allow more time.'   From Mossburn to Milford Sound is only 176 kms but we were told by Tracey at the Mossburn Railway Hotel to allow 3 hours.  And it takes 3 hours almost to the minute.  Michael took photos from the car on the forward journey, knowing that there would be time to stop at the various vantage points on the way back.

The Milford Road is claimed to be the most scenic road in New Zealand and we are in no position to argue against that as it sure is a stunning drive.

Yet the whole trip down, behind some very nervous drivers, I cannot but wonder just where it was that Inga and Markus very nearly came to grief on their drive down this road some years ago.

We arrive at Milford Sound exactly as planned.  The literature says to plan for it to take 45 minutes to an hour to park your car, but St Frances continues to sit on my shoulder as a car pulls out in the closest car park as we arrive.  I'll never win the lottery,
but I'll always have a car park!  A 300 m walk to the terminal brings us in just before the 12:15 boat is about to leave, and as it is not fully booked, the staff agree to transfer us to this earlier departure.

There are only about 100 people on the Milford Monarch which is licensed to carry about 450, so there is plenty of space and moving room. We head out under the guidance of Captain Mack who provides just enough commentary to keep you informed without it being overbearing - there is plenty of silence broken only by the sound of the quiet engine, the waves and the birds to sit in awe looking skyward. And the sound of waterfalls.  There are only two permanent waterfalls into the Sound, but after rain like yesterday there can be hundreds of temporary falls.  We are even invited to claim a bit of

immortality by naming one of them today - so please see the M&M Falls!
Milford Sound is wettest place in New Zealand and records a massive 17 metres of rain a year.  Not a real problem until they get 330 mm in 2 hours!  There is quite a bit of debris in the Sound today, courtesy of that rain.  About 9 metres below the fresh water that feeds into the Sound from rain and snow-melts lies the salt water that comes in from the Tasman Sea.  As the fresh water is less dense than the salt water, it just sits atop and the waters never mix -isn't nature wondrous!

At the Bridal Veil Falls you can trace the Pembroke Fault line that runs all the way up the mountain and is responsible for 187 known earthquakes.

The Stirling Falls are very pure and provide the township of Milford with its water supply and also feeds a small hydro-electric power station to provide power.

Milford Sound is one of only two places in the world where in a commercial operation you can easily see a glacier from sea level- here you looking through Harrison Cove through the rainforested Harrison Valley up to Mt Pembroke with the Pembroke Glacier.  The other place is Patagonia in Argentina.

We see lots of birds, juvenile fur seals and very briefly a shy penguin - he was too quick for a photo.  All too soon we are docking back in the harbour and ready to hit the road again.

The trip back is much slower as we stop at almost every one of the many photo opportunities to capture these amazing views.  Can't fit them all here - so come on round when we get home if you want to see more. Our young waitress on the boat, Melissa suggested that we musn't miss the Mirror Pools (too windy for the effect by now) and the Te Anau Glow Worms that Donna also recommended.  Trouble is that they are at the start of the Doubtful Sound and so, there is no way we can get to them today either - maybe next trip!

There is a huge Chinese influence here also,so we opt for an early dinner in Te Anau and stop in at the Ming Garden restaurant conveniently located in Wong Way (true!) for a tasty meal.  Much of the restaurant is devoted to banquet tables - there are least 20 set for up to 20 people and there are a number of Chinese eating here.  Good omen and good food.

Back to the Mossburn Railway Hotel to do some washing and to have a wee dram to warm up while we do the blog.

Off to Mandeville tomorrow - another day that will thrill the boys!!!