[Willie writes]

Saturday 11th July 1970

The ship left promptly at 1600 hrs. Our cabin was an inside one with two bunks, a dressing table, a double wardrobe complete with half a dozen coat-hangers, and a “smallest room” with wash-hand basin and lavatory. Bedding consisted of a mattress & pillow, a blanket & the Norwegian down quilt affair. We both slept very well without needing the blanket.

Although the ship was very well appointed, we were disappointed with the food and the service in the cafeteria. We thought the prices very high, e.g. two cups of tea, a grapefruit, a roll with butter and marmalade cost 7/-.

The weather all day was windy & cloudy with occasional showers but it was not cold. We went to bed about 2300 hrs.

Sunday 12th July

Woke to a continuation of yesterday’s weather. Called at Stavanger on time – small & scattered but clean. Arrived at Bergen also on time. First impressions were, as at Stavanger, of cleanliness and of rather haphazard building. We had passport examination on board – thanks to a lucky position we were fifth in the queue – then went into the customs shed where there were no customs & out to the taxi stance. Queue jumping seemed to be a common occupation but we got our taxi in our turn & a short run took us to our hotel at the other side of the harbour.

We got our room then went out to find the church, calculating the traffic carefully as we went. Following a map we found the church without any trouble by following two main roads. Coming back I decided to try the diagonal through the side streets & was very soon and very successfully lost. However it was easy to find the water – you just walk straight forward in the direction you are facing – & from there we got our bearings and made a fresh start & a successful finish, to get back to the hotel – the Hordaheimen Hotel – about five. We went into the cafeteria attached to it for tea and a bun. When we said “Two cups of tea please”, the man pointed out the cups, milk, sugar, teabags & water. Needless to say, the tea was rotten.

In due course, we went off to 7pm Mass, following the main roads. Mass was in Latin / Norwegian said by a wee fat priest in collar & tie. There were about 50 in the church & about 20 communions, received standing & one girl at least took the host in her hand. The church is old and much in need of renovation. The organ is on the third floor.

On the way back, I bought a Sunday Express - 2/-. We had dinner – a poor effort and then went out to find the quay for the Sognefjord boat. We found it about 1 minute from the hotel. On either side of it were the quays for Hardangerfjord and Nordfjord which we need later in the week. We had another stroll round & after leaving an early call – 0645, we got to bed about 2330.

[Queenie writes]

When we asked for bread with the soup we got a packet with what looked like 2 wafers in it. One of the roads in Bergen goes

.

Monday

Called at 6.45am. Got up at 7. Took cases down and had breakfast – everything on one table – help yourself. Very nice and plenty of variety for a good meal. Tea or coffee. Then made our way to the ship – ‘Sognefjord’ to find a big queue for tickets – on the boat. Decided this was daft so explored the boat while queue diminished. Got Cabin 16 – very comfortable, 2 berth and a settee, w/h basin but no toilet. But toilet next door – handy! Boat very full, weather showery – rain becoming heavy later.

Scenery not as perpendicular as expected, fjord wide with many arms small and long. Sun not shining. (0.800) Called at Lavik 12.45, Vanheim 14.30, Høylander 15.30. Nearly broke my neck running down to get money to buy strawberries from children selling them on the jetty, 3.50 Kr. Just delicious. Pinched sugar & cream from afternoon tea – even more delicious. Vik 1715, lovely view in spite of cloud. Balestrand 1815. More strawberries on sale, didn’t buy any. Hermanswerk 1900 – just started dinner – didn’t see it. The meal was lovely – cod and potatoes served – then help yourself from the cold table. Has a taste of goats cheese, W. said it was like fudge.

Snap 1 taken at mouth of fjord (see end), 2, 3, & 4 at Vik. No. 3 with Q.

At 2045 m/s Gubvanden met us and we stopped. She came alongside and there was a transfer of passengers and goods in mid-fjord. Very interesting and exciting. Passengers were going to Fløm at the head of a long arm of the fjord. Now on our way at full speed and next port of call 21.10.

[Willie writes]

At Laerdal, it was very quiet and in due course we set off for our terminal Andalstangen. There seemed to be no navigation lights and we moved quietly through the gathering darkness till quite a blaze of lights appeared & we docked about 2315 hrs. Nearly everybody & everything went off & we went to bed about 0045 hrs.

Tuesday 14th

Woke about 0700 hrs. under way. Got up about 0730 just before arriving at Laerdal. Four cars and a few people came aboard. Had breakfast at 0830 and was amused to see children doing their homework on the way to school. We stopped just as we finished breakfast and this time had a double transfer in mid fjord. At 0900 we linked with m/s Sandoy & took on a lot of children, some adults & lots of mail & parcels. She left & we waited. Along came (0915) m/s Innvik & some of our new arrivals & a lot of our new found mail transferred to her. Then off we both went, us to Hermanswerk and she to ?

Mid-fjord transfer - Sognefjord

The weather cleared up a bit & was quite bright when we reached Her... about 1015. I enjoy the manoeuvring involved in loading and unloading. They work wonders in the confined space of the car deck in getting the cars in place. At H., a car came aboard – a big Opel – with a flitting on it. Inside was packed to the limit, armchairs and all, so that the goods were pressing against the windows all round, & on top were a divan bed, a tricycle, an armchair and several other items. The driver was very confident of his steering & judgement. When he was being ushered into place, he threw the wheel around, moving fast, and stopping inches from other cars and from the ship’s side. 1145 Balestrand.

[Queenie writes]

At Balestrand I bought 2 punnets of strawberries, 3 Kr. per punnet, they looked so good and they were good! Best we’ve seen in years. I decided to take a walk off the boat and look in the shops. I was in one shop, bought 4 cards and as I walked round I heard a ship’s hooter and ran – to find the ship on its way and Willie stopping it. They brought it back 2 ft. and I got on. Won’t do that again! Went down and ate strawberries. Lunch 12.30. Soup with egg, meat balls – more carrots and peas – strawberries and cream. Very nice. Am now sitting in the sun on deck writing this – the first time we have been able to sit on deck. Weather now much pleasanter.

[Willie writes]

We concluded the Sognefjord trip in excellent style. No Med. cruise could have been better – sun blazing, ship cruising along as steadily as a not quite perfectly laid flagstone and everybody happy. The usual tea – the stewardess has been very obliging. We booked in at the hotel and then went out for a walk in the twilight

[Queenie writes]

in Old Bergen. Pot of tea in café beside the hotel and finished off in a hurry while attendant stood by with key to lock the door.

Went to bed and slept till we wakened. Breakfast as usual in hotel, busier because we were later – then we went shopping in town. Back to hotel to pack – what a struggle to get it all in. Left luggage at hotel to be taken down to Hardangerfjord at 6, and set off to find the Aquarium which had been well praised by everyone who saw it. Praise was well deserved.

[Willie writes]

From sharks to piranha and cod to plaice with mudfish & minnows & sea urchins – we could even see the tube fish. Ducks from underneath & seals through underwater windows made it well worth the 5 Kr. it cost us each. Queenie had ice cream with chocolate and nuts. We walked about some more then went to the “lock-in” café of the previous night and asked for two cups of tea. The woman explained that if we got two cups of tea it would cost 2.40 Kr., but if we got a pot (which held three cups) it was 1.75 Kr. & we could get more hot water from the counter. We had a pot, Queenie had a cake – & in due course went on to the m/s Hardangerfjord.

There were very few passengers. We had an upper deck cabin & there was plenty of room in the saloon, unlike the Sognefjord which was crowded all the time.

We left very quietly on time (1900 hrs.) & as the weather was very windy had a bit of tossing while turning round the corner from Bergen into the maze of islands. From then on it was calm. We cut through the islands on to the Bjornfjord & along it for a while then through a very narrow channel – not as wide as the Kyles – into Hardangerfjord. Our first call was at Rosendal at 2230 hrs. & we were so interested in the unloading that we were too late to get tea. I don’t know how many other stops we made during the night but when I got up about (Thursday 16/7) 0730 we were standing by what appeared to be a stone crushing plant unloading. After a wee while we moved up about 100m to what seemed to be an engineering plant and unloaded some more, mostly pipes. Then further up and into Odda itself, about two hours late.

[Queenie writes]

After breakfast we visited the office on the harbour and found the listed tours started at 9 or 9.30 so as this was now about 09.40 we decided on a bus run at 10.10 to Solfon and back. The bus climbed all the way to Solfon passing a small lake on the way. As we could only guess where we were, Willie at one time was in doubt whether we had passed it. Solfon is a centre for skiing with a big hotel and chairlift etc. We had about 35 mins there. The bus we went up on was on its way to Oslo but we came back in the local bus – much faster as we were going downhill all the way. We saw some wonderful falls among them Latefoss which is 2 falls side by side. On the other side between two solid rock sides I saw a wonderful rainbow in a smaller fall. We had tea in the an open air café. The post cards in the hotel were all snowy ones and about the skiing. The soil was peat and soggy.

possibly the small lake	Solfonn near Odda	Solfonn near Odda

Latefoss near Odda	Latefoss near Odda

We arrived back in time to have a look at the shops and then dinner at 13.00. In the afternoon we could have taken a taxi to the Folgefonn Glacier but as we had seen it on the way to Solfon we didn’t bother and spent the time exploring the town. It was spoiled on one side by a foundry which sent up a lot of smoke all the time.

[Willie writes]

We left Odda at 1800 so the part we slept through on the way up we were able to see on the way down. Strawberries seemed to be the principle item of “export” to Bergen. When Queenie went to bed I padded about the deck & was invited on to the bridge by the captain who spoke English with a rather thick accent. However, we got along fairly well, discussing gravely the ease of navigation on the fjords – the Hardanger is 3000 ft. deep – with the difficulty on the Clyde with all its sandbanks. I went to bed before we reached Rosendal.

When I woke in the morning we were just approaching Bergen about an hour late. We stayed on board of course as we were to have breakfast before landing. After breakfast we landed with luggage but I had arranged to leave it in the Hordaheimen hotel till we were due to go on the Nordfjord. We then had several hours to spare – till 1400 so we walked & walked & sat & sat & looked in all the shop windows. Queenie bought one or two things – a habit of hers which I can’t break. We had a smorgasbord in a café and then went round the open air market. She bought some more – good value when we priced the same things in the shops where she bought some more.

However we went on board after that & found we had a forward facing cabin. The boat itself was less satisfactory than the other two in that the passenger space was much more restricted, though there could be no complaint about the comfort of the cabins & lounge. They seem to have a habit of labelling most of the saloon accommodation “Damen”, & then ignoring the labels. We had a much longer journey in the more or less open sea this time before entering the fjord. In fact, leaving Bergen at 1800 hrs. we went to bed just after calling at Floro about 2300 hrs. & we were still not at the entrance to the Nordfjord.

We slept well and woke next morning just before reaching Stryn. I had known nothing during the night but Queenie had been wakened a couple of times by the siren as the ship called at various places. The siren was just outside our cabin window but, as it always sounded just after the engines changed to half speed, you could get your fingers in your ears in time if you were paying attention. (Sat) At Stryn we went ashore for a short stroll. The jetty was in fact a mile or so from the town so we didn’t go right into it but we did find a shop with the customary result.

Stryn Nordfjord

We then went a little way further up the fjord to our next call then turned & came down again, calling at some of the places we had called at on the way up & missing others. The weather was not good & in any case the restricted space made it awkward sometimes to move about so we spent most of the day in the saloon. When we came out of the fjord we went to our cabin to pack. The sea was not smooth, most definitely not, & eventually the Kwells came into action & we went to bed and to sleep. Halfway down the fjord at ______ there was quite an influx of people & our saloon compartment was invaded by a Norwegian lady who spoke no English and three Englishwomen who spoke no Norwegian. One of them, nearly 80 from Cockington Village, near Bournemouth, was a really powerful personality who gave us her life story & assumed my watch cost £30 or £40 like hers because they both showed the date. She persisted in bringing the Norwegian girl in & succeeded quite well.

(Sun)

We woke about 7 and finished our packing. I left the two cases on the baggage racks & we went to the Neptune hotel nearby for breakfast. I reminded the receptionist that our luggage had to be collected & we went up & had breakfast which was quite good. Afterwards we sat in the lounge for a wee while & then went out. I reminded the receptionist again before we left. The day was very grey but we went out with some six hours to pass before getting aboard the Venus. We had only gone about a hundred yards when it started to rain & we sheltered in shop doorways for about half an hour till it went off.

Then we wandered along the quays – the Briggate – and back again & made out way through the city to the church for 11am Mass. Supposed to be a High Mass, it was just the same as the 7pm the previous Sunday. The sermon sounded quite interesting. A pity it was in Norwegian.

After Mass, we wandered back to the quays & went into the Hanseatic Museum, a reproduction of the house & office of a German merchant during the time of the Hanseatic League. After that, a café for some tea & then to the bus station for a bus to Paradis. A fifteen minute walk – all uphill – brought us to the Stavkirk, some 800 years old. You could have said Mass in it straight away.

Back then to Bergen & a last stroll along the quays to join a great long queue going through passport control. It took us about an hour to get through and we went on board. Our cabin this time had no private lavatory & was right down in the depths but it was very comfortable, with ample cupboard & drawer space – but nothing to put in it. Our luggage wasn’t there. I went up again but having passed passport control, I couldn’t get off. However, after a message by one of the luggage carriers, a man came on from baggage control – the hotel had omitted to collect it from the Nordfjord, which was now away from Bergen. We could only accept that it would be forwarded next day on the Jupiter, so we sailed off in what we wore, plus Queenie’s handbag.

The passage was not as nice as the outward one. We needed more Kwells, but slept well & arrived in Newcastle on Monday just about on time to find Brian waiting for us.