Day 5 -14 July 2023 –  Eidfjord

Up at 5am, shower & then on deck at the bow of the ship to watch the ship sail under the Hardanger Fjord bridge, the ship only has a clearance of 2 metres from the bridge. In Copenhagen the crew lowered a masthead light so that the ship could fit under. The bridge is 4,528 feet long with the road disappearing straight into tunnels on either end of the bridge. It is the longest suspension bridge in Norway & third longest in the world. The scenery is absolutely amazing with the mountains on either side of the fjord getting higher & closer. There are lots of waterfalls cascading downs & lots of pockets of snow on the peaks, stunningly beautiful, the photos don’t even come close to doing it justice.

We arrive at Eidfjord, a small town of around 1,000 people at the end of the fjord & there is a Viking cruise ship already anchored, with the lifeboats transporting passengers to another small wharf. The tiny wharf seems hardly big enough to tie up to but the captain & crew do an amazing job in nudging this huge ship in & gently bringing it alongside at around 8am. We scurry down from breakfast & head off to the excursion centre as we are on the first land excursion of the day starting at 8.30am. There is a small fleet of buses waiting for us & our guide Gianna from Italy with Christof the bus driver whisk us away.

We follow the Eio River & up past the freshwater lake Eidfjordvatnet, a beautiful body of water famous for its trout fishing.  The Natural History Museum, the Norsk Natursenter, is 3 floors of very interesting exhibitions featuring the wildlife of the Hardanger National Park. The feature was an amazingly impressive very widescreen video of the park, its animals, rivers & waterfalls. There were lots of gasps of wonder from the audience. The gift shop across the road is very interesting because it has a grassed roof & there are 3 goats on the roof keeping the grass down. Lots of people stop to photo the goats on the roof, something we had not seen previously. The bus keeps winding its way up the valley with spectacular mountain scenery on either side & lots of wooden houses scattered around. Some of the houses have turf with grass growing on the roof to provide insulation from the cold.

The spectacular Voringfossen, a magnificent waterfall, is our next stop that sits below the old Fossli Hotel, a favourite holiday spot for the composer Edvard Greig. The falls are absolutely thundering with fine water spray from the falls filling the air, it is a real spectacle for the senses. The sturdy viewing platforms have lots of room & there are paths to lots of other vantage points. We don’t have enough time to wander too far & all too soon we are back on the bus. One person is missing & we wait for a while then leave her. There are lots of other buses from the ship & one of them will take her back.

Our next stop is the Sysenvatnet dam, a water reservoir for one of the big hydro-electric power stations that is sited 700 metres underground in the next valley over. The dam wall is made entirely from rock & is most impressive at nearly a kilometre long. The trip back down to Eidfjord is just as beautiful, the scattered snow drifts on the mountains are really glowing in the sunlight.

Eidfjord is a pretty small town & we go for a short walk, had a look at one of the old impellors from the hydro power station that had a blade broken from it, it is really large. The walk along the river is pleasant & we sit for a while before walking on, one crew woman from the ship is having a swim in the river, it must be so cold coming off the icemelt. The cruise ship really towers over Eidfjord, it is such a big ship. We stay on deck & watch the ship depart & travel under the Hardanger Bridge again before having dinner. The scenery is stunning with no wind, warm sun & a few lingering clouds.

There are lots of small fishing boats & we watch the sun setting over the ocean at 10.50pm, it is really beautiful. Another great day.