NO13 - Day 4 - Paul's View - Jondal

Arrived Jondal early morning. Awakened to the loud noise of machinery as we anchored in the fjord off the town.

Good job as we may have overslept!! 

The mountains towering in the background are snow capped. Out of the bright sun it is very chilly.

After breakfast we had a more leisurely start as we were part of the second wave of people on the Folgefonna Glacier trip. In wave two we were coach 5! So possibly the most popular of the trips to date.

Firstly as the roads are very narrow we had a short trip some ten miles further up the fjord to a small village, Herand, with a harbour.

Our guide today is a young guy studying in England at Warwick, but who is back home know. Very knowledgeable about the area and Norwegian history. His name is impossible to write from the sound but is something like Chirtle!!

Then we set off up the mountain. Waiting occasionally for cars and campers. Plus a long wait for coach 1. Eventually we are at a height where the trees have disappeared and where the glacial melt has formed rivers and lakes. Still so cold that the ice was blue and lakes still frozen over.

This part of the glacier is merely one arm, and has a ski centre and small parking area. Overall the glacier is over 225km in area.

We made the return trip even more slowly arriving at the dock in Jondal in time to catch the last passenger shuttle tender back to the ship at anchor in the bay.

I'm sure they wouldn't leave without us.

They held lunch for us and about 3pm we set sail for Olden.

It will take us three hours to get down the Hardanger Fjord and then we turn north towards the open sea and pass Bergen on the right of us.

Dinner was again excellent and the cabaret very good. I'll always remember Tamsin's buttocks!

At 2315 we turned in. Still daylight outside. I took some pix of the sunset although it doesn't actually get fully dark.