Day 19 – 28 July 2023 – Ulvik, Norway

Another early wake up as we watched the mountains of the Haradangerfjord slip past the windows & we had breakfast as the ship made its final approach to Eidfjord. The Captain spun the ship around & did another great job of inching alongside the dock at Eidfjord. Our tour this morning is to Ulvik & we drive along the shores of the Eidfjord then entered the tunnel to drive over the Hardanger bridge There is a roundabout inside this tunnel & we turn around & off towards Ulvik & exit the tunnel straight onto the Hardanger bridge, it is a single span suspension bridge 4,528 feet long with a clearance to sea level of 55 metres. The views of the fjord from the bridge are exceptional.

Lush green farms surround us on either side with farmers mowing their hay as we make the scenic drive along the Osafjord then the Ulfjord to the tiny town of Ulvik overlooking the picturesque bay at the end of the Ulfjord. Our destination is the Hardanger Cider farm & factory for some cider tasting. The buildings have an amazing view over the Ulfjord & the town of Ulvik. Two busloads from the ship have the place to ourselves with tables & chairs all setup inside with a glass of apple juice on the table plus three tasting glasses for each of us, a lot of glasses. The owner, Nils, explains the farm & the process of making cider. All of the apples are grown on-site from his orchards on the hillside & he uses all of the apples in making apple juice & apple cider.  There are no additives in the process, everything is natural, not even added sugar to ferment, the natural sugars in the apples are enough.

Our first taste is the apple juice, it is very cloudy & deliciously fresh. The first apple cider we taste is around 4% alcohol & is very nice. The next is a sweet apple cider, made using a sweeter apple, this is also around 4% & is also very nice. Our next is apple cider infused with elderberry flower, a slightly different flavour, also 4% & also very nice. The next apple cider is infused with raspberry & you can smell & taste the flavour, also 4%. The ice apple cider is next & is 10% alcohol. With this cider Nils explains that the apple juice is first frozen, then as it melts the top 10% of the liquid is used to make the apple cider. This 10% has more of the natural sugar of the apple so makes for a higher alcohol content. It is also very nice.  Our final taste is of apple brandy, this has been distilled by Nils then stored in oak barrels for 3 years to mature, improve the flavour & reduce the alcohol content. This is 34% & is very strong, but with a nice apple taste. Tasting over, Nils takes us out to show us the sheds & the rest of the process. There are hundreds of glasses to collect & clean.

The factory is spotlessly clean with stainless steel machines for crushing the apple, stainless steel tanks for fermenting the juices & stainless steel pumps for moving the juice. A stainless steel bottling machine finishes off the cider making process, all very impressive. We are shown the still for making the brandy next, again all very clean, with racks of Spanish oak barrels stacked neatly next door in various states of aging. The shop has a full range of cider & some of the tour group purchase bottles to take home. We are tempted to buy a bottle or two but common sense prevails, we have about 8 weeks of travel before returning home. The views from the farm over the orchard are fabulous.

As we drive back along the Ulfjord a man is swimming, I can’t imagine doing that, the water must be freezing. We pass the old Ulvik village church surrounded by lonely gravestones before turning off & driving up the mountain road above Ulvik to see some of the mountain lake scenery. The road is very narrow & fortunately we don’t encounter many vehicles. The scenery is stunning as we pass mountain streams running through the forests & the many still mountain lakes, some of the views are breathtakingly beautiful with amazing reflections in the still lakes.

All too soon we are back into the tunnel that takes us back across the tall Hardanger bridge. Along the fjord we stop at the old ferry port, it was used before the bridge was built, for some photos of the bridge. The scenery up, down & across the fjord are stunning, snow on the tops of the mountains making it just that little bit more special. Back on the ship, a late lunch & the ship casts off at 3pm.  We make our way back up the fjord.

The bow of the ship is open & we take advantage of that to watch as we sail back under the Hardanger bridge.  We take in the beautiful views as we cruise back out towards the sea. We chat to a few people then head off to dinner & watch some more beautiful scenery. The dance show on the World Stage is an incredible combination of great choreography & an amazing light show with music to match. It was thoroughly enjoyable & after the show we sat & chatted with a couple we met, then watched the same dance show all over again, it was very good. A late night & another great day.