Friday 14th April - Eidfjord, Norway

First view of Eidfjord

We have had an absolutely brilliant day.  It didn't start off that bright, literally, because the porthole had been battened down and it was pitch black in the cabin when we woke.  But once we'd dressed and got out on deck, the sight of the fjord was enough to more than make up for it.

Glorious sunshine and glorious scenery. What more could you ask for?

With no escorting duties, and all this beauty to explore at our leisure, we were in our element. We wandered around the little town.  It wasn't that cold, although this little Norwegian Sparrow seemed to think it was.

We soon found a track leading out of the town, and we followed it.

We'd stumbled across a lovely circular walk, with plants, flowers and funghi we'd not seen before.

We were walking alongside the river Eio, it's sparkling crystal clear waters rushing the opposite way.  Signs told us that the Eio was the best river in Norway for salmon fishing.  I dunno about that, I just know that it was stunning.

On our right the river, and on our left the mountains.  I loved the green of the moss here.  We were tempted to follow the path uphill in the picture below.  Luckily we stuck to the main track.

Because it led to this beautiful lake, Eidfjordvatnet.

 With a lovely sandy beach and the warm sun, all we needed was a picnic.

We met a couple who explained that the track we were on was a circular route, and that if we carried on we would climb uphill for some glorious views before being returned to the port.  So that is exactly what we did.

I think Heidi lives here, or at least her Norwegian cousin.

And then the viewing point over Eidfjord, that ths Astoria berthed at the little quay.

And then back to the ship, but not before we'd popped into the tourist information to find out if there any more walks in the area that we might take advantage of, after all, we are coming back in October.

Back on board, everyone was out on deck as the ship pulled away from the little quay.  It was cold in the shade, or at the front of the ship, but lovely and warm on the sheltered rear deck under the sun. Somebody said "You just can't take enough photographs".  I know what he meant, cameras clicked away madly as we all tried to keep the views with us forever.

It takes a good eight hours to sail all the way from Eidfjord back to the sea.  We stayed on deck for the rest of the afternoon, soaking up the views.  As Peter said, it felt a privilege to be here.

It's now 9 o'clock, and we are sitting in Sirens Bar listening to the very, very excellent Allegro duo (and I mean that, they really do make an awesome sound together).  It's not quite dark, and we are able to watch the last lower hills and islands go past the windows.  We are on are way out to sea, but we'll be back in to the fjords and Flam tomorrow.  Could we have as nice a day as we've had today I wonder.  It will be hard to beat.