Day 20 – 29 July 2023 – Geiranger, Norway

Geirangerfjord is another amazing Norwegian fjord, this fjord is surrounded by lots of steep mountains that plunge into the depths of the fjord (1,600 metres deep), with waterfalls running down everywhere. We wake to low cloud half-way up the mountainsides but as we continue sailing the clouds lift & we eventually get treated to a beautiful sunny day. Having breakfast whilst gliding past the fjord mountains is magical, the walls of the fjord close in on the ship. As we reach the small town of Geiranger at the end of the Geirangerfjord we need to manoeuvre around a Ponant cruise ship at anchor. The captain skilfully manoeuvres & turns the boat 180 degrees as he reverses into the port area. The ship is tied up to two stern anchor mooring buoys & one bow mooring buoy, then the magic happens. The port has what is called a “Sea Walk”, a large floating pontoon that extends out & forms a floating mobile pier for the ship, a very clever invention. As soon as the Captain gives the all clear swarms of passengers disembark to enjoy the beautiful day ashore. The normal population of Geiranger is 280 people, it now swells in size by another 2,500 from our ship plus the passengers from the other ship plus all the other tourists. There are lots of people in town today.

Tereza & I take our time hoping that the swarm of people disembarking slows down a bit, no luck, it is busy. We walk along the foreshore & cross the bridge over the Geirangelva River where it discharges into the fjord. There is a campground here, right on the water, packed with campervans. The walk upstream is beautiful with the river rushing downhill over many large rocks. This walk must be very popular as there are lots of tourists also walking, it is busy. As the path gets steeper the water is roaring down & we see the waterfalls ahead. The stairs start & I leave Tereza at the base of the stairs & walk right to the top, it is a long way with lots of flights of stairs. People are constantly stopping to take photos & slowing everyone down. The falls are beautiful & I take lots of photos & a video before heading back down to a patient Tereza. The walk back to the ship is just as pretty & we take our time & enjoy the scenery. The ship looks small in the background floating on the fjord.

After lunch it is time for our tour to Mount Dalsnibba, we wait a fair while for our bus to arrive, it is bringing back people from the previous tour & has been delayed. The other ship in port has put more bus traffic in the town & it is also the last day of the Norwegian school holidays so all the Norwegians are out & about as well. The drive out of town is on a very narrow road full of steep & tight hairpin turns, our bus has to stop & wait at times, other times vehicles stop & wait for us. Often another bus meets us, amazingly closely they just squeeze past us. These bus drivers are amazingly skilful. The scenery is stunning as we slowly climb the mountain, everything is so green, the farm pastures are so lush &  really rich verdant green, we are told it rains a lot here. Our first stop at a lookout is a real pain for the bus driver, someone has decided to unhitch & park a caravan in the carpark where the buses would normally park. The views are stunning from the clifftop viewpoint, the ship looks small in the distance. The trees disappear as we climb above the snowline with lots more tight hairpin bends & lots more buses, motorhomes & cars. The surrounding mountains all have patches of snow & as we climb the last part of Mount Dalsnibba, we see the nearby glaciers with their thick ice.

Mount Dalsnibba views are amazing, today is 24C, sunny with no wind, amazing for being nearly 5,000 feet above sea level. There is a viewing platform built out over the edge of the cliff at the highest point on the mountain, we can see forever in any direction. Plus looking down through the patchwork of holes in the foot grates, it is a very long way straight down, also slightly scary. There are snow patches on all the high mountains as well as below us on this mountain. The nearby glaciers are extraordinary with their thick blue ice. Down in the far distance our large ship is just a tiny speck on the fjord. The ship is about a 16 story high building & nearly 1,000 feet long, hard to believe how these enormous mountains dwarf it. The road below is a tiny thread laying in a zig-zag jumble down the mountain valleys.

Our descent back to Geiranger is just as stunningly beautiful, then we drive through the tiny town & out the other side up another steep narrow zig-zag road with more sharp hairpins. This is called the Eagle Road & we stop at the Eagle Bend lookout. The views over the Geirangerfjord are stunningly beautiful, it is unbelievable any scenery could be this good. Next to the lookout is a small waterfall dropping off the mountainside, a number of people step under it to cool off. All too soon we are back on the bus & down the steep mountainside with the many hairpin bends of the Eagle Road. We board the ship, we are one of the last bus tours to get back & not long afterwards the Sea Walk pier is contracted, mooring lines let go & we start motoring back up the fjord admiring the steep mountains & waterfalls from an outside top deck. We go up to the running track on deck 11 (midship) (having the same idea as a lot of the other passengers) just to see one more time these majestic mountains & waterfalls as we are leaving.

The ship slows to a standstill as we reach the Seven Sisters waterfall & the Suitor waterfall, directly opposite each other around 15 minutes sail from Geiranger. The waterfalls are beautiful & Tereza & I pick out from the rugged cliffs, faces in the rock, there are a number that we see close to the waterfalls. The meaning of the waterfall names & how they came to be are explained to us by commentary. From here are two of the oldest farms on the Geirangerfjord, now abandoned. One farm is about 500 metres up next to the Seven Sisters falls & the other is the same distance up near the Suitor waterfall. Absolutely no idea how anybody can walk up the Cliffside to get to these farms, there are no roads & the mountains are amazingly steep. It must have been a very hard life living on these farms. The Captain then did a party trick, he spun this massive ship 360 degrees across the fjord between the two waterfalls, so that the bow was nearly touching one waterfall & the stern another. Absolutely amazing that such a large ship could fit (I did say nearly 1,000 feet long) across the fjord & very impressive boat handling skills. We feel so privileged to be here to see nature at its best.

We were late for dinner so were scrambling to find something to eat, but we managed.  We went & watched an Irish male singer on the World Stage, he had a great voice. Amazing day.