Wednesday 7 August 2013. We arrive safely down the mountainside and end up by the fjord in Geiranger. The fjord is called Geirangerfjord - makes it nice and easy to remember!
It was a nice sunny day, but here by the fjord the mountains are shading us from the sunshine! We catch the tender boat back to the ship and, after climbing up to the Promenade Deck, we see the last tender boat depart from the jetty and return to the ship to be winched aboard.
There's time for a nice cup of coffee on the Lido Deck before the ship is ready to sail. As the three loud blasts on the ship's horn sound, we drink up and climb up one deck to the Promenade Deck again.
We are just in time to see the last of the Vikings leave to plunder western Europe. They may face more resistance than their counterparts of 1000 years ago, but they have the advantage of a diesel engine...
The sides of the deck - the waist - have a few people taking their ease to watch the fjord go by but we join the crowd at the bow. This affords a view to either side but is a far more windy place to be! We don't realise in a car behind that windscreen, but once you move forward you press against the air in front of you which feels like a wind. At sea when the ship is going at its normal speed that wind can make you bend over double to walk towards it and makes you walk away from it faster than you mean to!
A ferry comes past us heading towards Geiranger. A few brave people in one-man kayaks look like small dots against the cliff that dwarfs not just them but our ship also.
The first turn in the fjord comes into view ahead and our first view of one the the two waterfalls that Geiranger is famous for.
On our port side is The Friar, falling from the very top of the mountain in stages. We can see a few of them and the the bottom two are shown here. This waterfall is also known as The Suitor.
This is because it is said to be wooing the waterfalls that tumble down the opposite side of the fjord. They are collectively known as The Seven Sisters. We watch them go by on either side and then hastily beat a retreat into the cabin to clean up for dinner. It's blowing a gale out there! Once again there are so many miles of fjord to negotiate before we reach the North Sea that we will be tucked up in bed by the time we get there. We will know when though, because the ship starts to rock gently from side to side - you slide down the bunk and then as it tips the other way, you feel the pillow pressing harder against your head!
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