Polar night and polar bear island - a Norwegian winter adventure

[Justinf]

I found the Norwegians quite reserved. Having just come from Iceland, it was very noticeable. They weren't rude, just not very friendly.

It’s like you walk into a shop and it pains the staff to say hello. You can feel it in their voice

 

[Justinf]

Got onboard the vessel about 10.35am for the 11am departure.
Eventually there might have been 40 or 50 passengers.
Having done Milford Sound only last November, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
We were cruising to Mostraumen fjord.
I did a bit of research just before I left and it wasn’t even ranked in the top 15 in most ‘experts’ views, so clearly this was a tour of convenience rather than one of the best.
It was toasty onboard and the windows were filthy.

 

[Justinf]

Now, I’m the last one to judge given that I have airport beers at any time of the morning but there were a group of middle-aged couples who were into the beers before the vessel even departed.
Each to their own I guess.
There was some commentary while leaving the harbour, but no chance of pics given the state of the windows.
After about 30 minutes a few, including me, ventured outside to snap some pics and get a better view.

 

[Justinf]

Although it was clear and sunny, it was quite cold by Bergen standards. About -3 for a top temperature and out on deck it was absolutely frigid with the wind coming off the water.
Like, uncomfortably and numbingly cold. I’d prepared. I had my longjohns, merino socks which I bought in Longyearbyen for $15, some glove liners and gloves and it was still cold.

 

[Justinf]

More cruising and a lot of us went back inside because there wasn’t a heap to see and there was danger of hypothermia.

 

[Justinf]

The structure in the penultimate pic of the last post is of a fishing lookout hut.
Thankfully the views picked up a lot and the frozen waterfalls were pretty cool.

 

[Justinf]

When we got to the end of the line, we were told we couldn’t go any further, because, as you can see in following pics, ice had started to form, and although it only looked a few centimetres deep at most,.
This was the most interesting part. We stopped and took it in for quite a while. The pics don’t do it justice, but it was very beautiful.

 

[Justinf]

A few sheets of ice floating on by.

 

[Justinf]

We had turned around and were going the exact same way we came from so there was little need to stay outside. Everyone retreated to the warmth of the cabin.
The beer drinkers I reckon had four 500ml cans each although they stopped when the action required outside participantion.
Nearly everyone bought a beer for the trip back, so I thought what the hell.

 

[Justinf]

So was it worth it?
Yeah.
If I hadn’t done Milford Sound so recently I’d say it was terrific.
But Milford you are much closer and it feels like an amphitheatre.
This one was very open.
At $125 it wasn’t horribly expensive either.
If you have a car, then I’d bypass this one and head to the more remote and spectacular fiords. But if you are time sensitive and need to do this one for convenience, then I’d say do it.

 

[Justinf]

After that it was a very short to the funicular station to go up to Fløien.
The return trip was a very reasonable $22.
It’s interesting, or at least I found it interesting, is that the intermediate stops along the way are mainly used by commuters who live up above town and use it to go down into town and back up home again.

 

[Justinf]

The summit is only about 320 metres.
Pretty much exactly the same as the You Yangs if you are familiar with greater Geelong.
But it still offers some wonderful views.

 

[Justinf]

AI told me this is an Eurasian magpie.
I love its blue-green tail.

 

[Justinf]

After that I had a walk around.

 

[Justinf]

I know heaps of places probably have these. I’ve only seen the bikes, but the pick up and leave it e-scooters were doing a roaring trade.

 

[Justinf]

It was around 5pm now and I decided to head back to the apartment to recuperate. It had been a big day.
I was quite happy to stay in tonight, but had nothing here for dinner so around 7pm, I headed out and of course had to have some liquid first.
There was a bar very close to where I am staying called Folk & Røvere.
It was cosy and quite busy.

 

[Justinf]

Quite a few were sitting outside.
I loved how they provided blankets.
And of you can handle the chill, then why not nurse a drink and read a book when it’s -5 degrees.

 

[Justinf]

After a couple of pints, I went to the gyros shop and called it quits.

 

[AuSammy]

The structure in the penultimate pic of the last post is of a fishing lookout hut.
Thankfully the views picked up a lot and the frozen waterfalls were pretty cool.
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LOL i was just about to ask if it was a Scandinavian version of a “long drop” with a view