Days 15, 16 & 17. 30 April - 2 May - Eidfjord, Bergen & Kirkwall Orkney Islands Scotland

 Day 15- Eidfjord

This morning was a spectacular view as we came through the first fjords into Eidfjord. There was a little snow on the peaks of the mountains and lots of thin waterfalls running down from the top through the crevices and into the water. We passed under a massive span bridge, reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco a little! They took a while docking as it was in a very small harbour– I could see rocks in the shallow water very close to the ship so obviously it drops off deeply very quickly off the dock. It was cold but clear and after a continental breakfast to our room, we were off the ship for a walk around the small town.

We have been surprised after sailing on Royal Caribbean a few times before, that on this ship and it being the largest of the Holland America ships (2700 pax) there no long lines or problems getting on and off at any of the ports. It runs really well and people are pretty polite.

We walked through town and out the other side along the waterfront – it’s so pretty and the houses are all built into the rock. We came across two concrete curved lounging chairs on the rocks that you could sit on and look out over the vista of the water, the ship and the mountains. We sat there for some time – a lady came along and asked us if we wanted her to take a photo as they had a metal frame set up the with the name of the town on it, that you could take the photo through. Funny- not funny, she almost fell over about 3 times on the uneven surface – I was getting ready to go grab her ha ha!

After a nice sit there for awhile we had a nosy into the community sauna which was behind the chairs – it is only small but anyone in the community could use it and it had glass windows floor to ceiling looking out over the water – it would be bliss. We watched some kayaks on a ship excursion go past- man you would not have wanted to fall in the water because there was even a sign saying how cold it is!

We walked on further for a good way until we came to a road like in Forrest Gump where he had been running forever and then stopped, looked along the road and then said it was time to go home! 

We wandered back and then went through some of the shops. There was a shop that sold local made chocolates– I’ve got some caramel licorice squares there are six in a box. That was about $18, and Graeme got some orange and almond dark chocolate in a bar that was $27! Just as well you don’t know how much it is when you get it in Norwegian krone! My ones were absolutely delicious though, soft buttery caramel with just a tiny hint of licorice.

We walked around a couple of the other shops– Did over 11,000 steps today – we are averaging about that each day which I think is about 8 1/2 km, so pretty good and just as well with all the food they give you on board ha ha.

Back on board as it was starting to rain, We went and had some lunch, We got some nice cocktails and then mooched around before going to the dining room for dinner later. Stopped in at the B.B. King’s bar for the usual Q&A session about the day ahead – that’s quite good as the tour director does it and you find out all the things like how far it is from the port to where you’re going or any other specifics that are really handy to know.

Loved Eidfjord💓

Day 16 - Bergen

We docked this morning a bit ahead of time, Into the very pretty city of Bergen. Graeme wasn’t feeling very well and was all blocked up so he did a Covid test that was very positive – Bummer, this is his cruise gift from someone on board the river cruise we think! Explains why he is feeling so underpar.Got him some pain relief and luckily I always bring cold and flu tablets so I gave him one to dry him up a bit. Had a read of the information on the cruise and there is absolutely no mention of covid or safety precautions anywhere so obviously it is just another respiratory bug now. There are a lot of older people coughing on board and there were some on the river cruise as well.There were a couple of Australian ladies on the river cruise that have been away for a month that I wondered about, as one had lost her voice but she was coughing a wet cough the whole time and seemed to be getting worse as we cruised. But what can you do- that is life now.

Anyway we got off the ship and walked through the beautiful streets with the colourful houses. We stopped at a pharmacy to buy some more Panadol – can’t get the Panadol osteo in any countries in Europe unfortunately, it is good for my nerve pain in my neck, But will just have to make do with the normal panadol. We walked around the waterfront looking in the shops and then went to the Rosenkrantz fort, which was pretty impressive and well worth the $26 entry fee. Walked around inside for over an hour –every room you went in and out of had a stone staircase  to go to another floor  or room- it was amazing. Then we went next door to the separate great hall. This was built in the 1200’s, so much older than the tower fort. The banquet room was stunning, It actually was rebuilt after a ship in the nearby port caught fire in 1944 after the explosives onboard, caught fire. There was a loss of over 150 lives and 4000 children had to be evacuated. This was when they were under German occupation still. So It has all been rebuilt beautifully.

Sidenote – it’s funny. We were walking along the street and a guy stepped out of a store coming towards us and I noticed him straight away as he looked so much like our friend Warren Tosse, It was an uncanny resemblance. So much so that I wrote to them to say about it and it turns out that he has lots of relatives in the area as his father was from a town 45 minutes from Bergen! Wish I had known or I would’ve actually stopped this guy to ask him, the resemblance was so similar!

We headed back to the ship after that as Graeme was not feeling well and just took it easy the rest of the afternoon. He fell asleep for a couple of hours and is very hot to the touch. Through the night he was burning up so obviously fighting The covid bug. We are wishing about them that he hadn’t decided, not to get the vaccine booster I had booked – The side-effects from the boosters were getting worse each time we had one so we had a flu jab instead ha ha!

We just grabbed some pasta in the Lifo deck diner for dinner so he could get back and have a shower and lie down as he’s been spinning out a lot. Hopefully a good sleep and he will feel a bit better tomorrow.

Day 17 Kirkwall, Scotland

Today we were all ready to go- we had the new ETA Visa (that’s the same as the ESTA Visa you need to get to enter the states – basically just another $20 per person charge!). We now require this and immigration comes onto the ship and you have to get your passport checked by immigration officers, as you are now in the UK. The lines were fairly quick and it was all very painless – much better organised than Royal Caribbean on other cruises. Graeme is feeling a little better although still not great but he was keen to get out and see Kirkwall .

It’s really well set up here as they have courtesy buses that take you into town, which There’s about 10 minutes away. You’d think with 2700 people on board, there would be huge queues for the buses but they’re weren’t and they just flowed.  We were dropped in town and wandered through the really picturesque town. There are lots of people in high-vis jackets there to give people information if they want it and everyone is so friendly – especially considering we flood their town in one hit when a ship comes in! Might be hard for the locals but they all seem really good.  

We walked up to the large graveyard outside Saint Magnus Church. There are so many beautiful headstones and all old. If I lived here, I would love to volunteer to scrub them so that a lot of the words that are disappearing are saved.  But especially nice was the juxtaposition of the graveyard on one side and you could hear children playing in the kindergarten right next door!

Inside, the church was amazing – I would say it almost rivalled cologne. and very surprising for a small town. There were crypt stones on the walls with the names of members of the church beside them – the ones I saw dated back to The 1500s in some cases.We spent ages in there. There was so much to see including the monument for a local who was an Antarctic Explorer, who went there four times in the late 1800s. Now they would have been intrepid  

Outside, we wandered around the town. Surprisingly, there are three pharmacies in this one road.I went into two of them as I was trying to get some of the Panadol osteo – but the UK is the same as Norway apparently- you can’t get it so had to settle for the normal sort. It’s interesting as I also bought some in Bergen and it was probably 20 times the price of Panadol in the UK – 49p for 16 tablets! So cheap:-).

Then we wandered a bit more and bought a big wedge of fudge each from a store where they make it - it looked better than it tasted, but oh well! Then we wandered back down to the bus after looking in the various shops.

All the volunteers were down at the bus area waiting t to assist. One of the guys started talking to us telling us about his visit to Dunedin as his mum lived there, next thing the doors closed and he was like oh well I’m coming to the port with you! You could see there was such good camaraderie with all of the locals – not sure if they volunteer or are paid but they were also very friendly! 

Out and back onto the boat – the wind was really starting to pick and Graeme was running out of steam so grabbed something to eat and then into our room.

Later in the afternoon the captain came on the loudspeaker and said they were suspending the gangway as the wind had reached 90 km an hour equivalent and he was calling in a tug to keep us at the port. Obviously, it was too much strain on the ropes and next thing there is a tug, virtually outside our window which sat there pushing us against the dock for 4 hours until we set sail. Had dinner in the dining room then an early night as we walked and walked and walked today!