John Edward Cooper’s Notes
Sunday 29 April 2012
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[2012] [Saturday 28 April 2012]
 05:38:20 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:38:39 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:39:00 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik Movie clip — 05:40:00  05:42:54 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:44:06 Sunrise has reached this mountaintop.  05:47:08 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:47:34 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:49:20 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:49:52 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:50:22 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:50:42 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:52:00 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:52:40 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:55:38 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:56:32 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:57:48 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:58:20 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  05:59:14 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:01:04 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:01:40 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:17:14 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:19:34 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:21:08 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:25:34 Already cleaning the rails and swabbing the decks  06:31:12 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:31:44 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:36:16 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik  06:40:00 In Hardangerfjord, heading for Ulvik “At 8.30am we headed for the Kensington for breakfast and sat with a couple who lived in Hull,” Janet wrote. “He had been very ill yesterday but was much better today.… We then left: [John] to take more photos and me to our cabin. It was 9.30am [just before 09:18, judging by the times on the photos].”  09:18:03 At anchor, Ulvik  09:18:40 At anchor, Ulvik  09:19:15 At anchor, Ulvik  09:19:36 At anchor, Ulvik  09:19:58 At anchor, Ulvik Movie clip — 09:22:00 “Once back,” Janet wrote, “I ‘organised my bits’ and updated this. [John] had a shower.” I also offloaded the photos and ran them through Photoshop (09:25–09:28, i.e. 10:25–10:28 local time). I missed seeing the lowering of the tender and the transfer of passengers ashore for the “Overland to Eidfjord” excursion, although from the cabin I could hear various mechanical sounds. Janet continued: “At 11.00am [a little earlier than that, judging from the photos below] I suggested we should go and find seats in the Boat House with a view, instead of sitting in our cabin — so we did. We had a COLD Diet Coke [Coca-Cola Light] each (it was my first fizzy drink since Friday). Very sunny — and clear.” I went off, though, and took the photos below.  10:47:37 Suspension bridge?  10:48:47 Cruising Hardangerfjord  10:50:52 Cruising Hardangerfjord  11:13:21 Cruising Hardangerfjord Janet wrote: “We then decamped to the Pool Bar ‘at the sharp end’ and found seats there. At 12.00 we went to the Boat House. We sat with another elderly couple (nice people) and at 12.30pm [John] had some lunch. I was SO full I only had a coffee. At 1.45pm we returned to our cabin.” According to the “date modified” timings on the above photos, though, I offloaded them and ran them through Photoshop, 11:52–11:55, i.e. 12:52–12:55 local time. There was a choice for disembarkation, either from Reception Deck (Deck 5) or from Deck 3. There seemed to be a lot of people milling around on Deck 5 (the same deck that our cabin was on), so we went down to Deck 3, hoping to avoid the crowd — no such luck: there were queues there. Janet wrote: “At 2.00pm [just after 2.20pm, judging by the photo immediately below] we set off, on a coach, from Eidfjord. It was still gloriously sunny.”  14:20:44 Excursion from Eidfjord Janet wrote: “At one point the sheer awesomeness of the height and proximity of the mountains unexpectedly made me weep.” There was a profound gorge with vertical, black sides that towered above; but I couldn’t get a suitable framing of it quickly enough in my camera.  14:29:56 Excursion from Eidfjord Janet wrote: “We drove to the Fossli Hotel and had a cup of coffee….”  14:48:20First stop…  14:53:34 …Fossli Hotel for coffee  14:54:53  14:59:38  15:00:40 Troll terrorising townspeople  15:05:45 Chris White (left), “Cruise Services Host”; Vøringfoss Waterfall (centre) The “Cruise Services Host” on our coach, №6, was Chris White…. The arrangement was that when we were to gather back at the coach he would hold up a thing shaped a bit like a table tennis bat with a “6” on it.…  15:19:07 Our “buss” — Norwegian is often just English with an extra consonant.  15:19:38 “hotell” Janet wrote: “We wandered outside… with 10 minutes to spare when I realised we were at the Vøringfoss Waterfall. Phew!” So we quickly made our way down the path to the vantage point.  15:20:36 To Vøringfoss  15:22:28 Vøringfoss I  15:22:50 Vøringfoss II  15:23:02 Vøringfoss I, different viewpoint Movie clip — 15:24:06  15:24:24 Surviving “bridge” of snow  15:25:06 Back towards Fossli Hotel “We returned to the coach,” Janet continued, “and went to the Sysen Dam. It was quite cold up there…” I ventured out to the dam, but Janet didn’t. The snow mostly seemed firm, but would give way unexpectedly sometimes. One woman’s leg sank into the snow up to her knee as the party made its way back.  15:39:52 Sysen Dam  15:40:02 Sysen Dam  15:43:46  15:46:48 Sysen Dam  15:47:04 Sysen Dam  15:49:22 Sysen Dam  15:50:12 Sysen Dam  15:50:40 Danger on the frozen lake!  15:53:06 Danger of sinking to your knee in the deep snow on the path  15:56:06 “After that we returned to Eidfjord…”  16:00:26 View of dam and frozen lake from the bus  16:16:26 Return journey  16:17:26 About to enter one of the tunnels  16:21:38  16:23:22  16:28:16  16:28:22  16:35:16 Old church pointed out by Jay, our guide  16:40:28 “After that we returned to Eidfjord,” Janet wrote, “and were back on the boat at 4.45pm. A very beautiful and interesting excursion. The ‘bus guide’ Jay was excellent: very informative and interesting. We returned to our cabin.” I went up on deck, though, and took two photographs of Eidfjord “town” itself.  16:49:36 Eidfjord “town”  16:49:58 Eidfjord “town” Janet wrote: “[John] worked on his computer and I updated this.” I offloaded the photos and ran them through Photoshop (16:04–16:35, i.e. 17:04–17:35 local time). “At 5.30pm I headed off to the Boat House to find us a table in a warm spot. Bloody air conditioner! [John] joined me at 5.45pm. I ended up having my dinner with my coat zipped up to the neck to keep me warm. The meal wasn’t overly hot, and the plates weren’t either.… We returned to our cabin at 7pm and decided not to go out again.…”  20:52:37 The suspension bridge, seen earlier, is still under construction. The ship passed under the structure that I photographed from afar earlier. I had queried then whether it was a suspension bridge, for I couldn’t see a carriageway. Now I snapped it through the cabin window, and it was evident that the lack of carriageway was because the bridge was still under construction. In the photo above a tunnel-mouth and initial short section of carriageway can be seen, but the rest is still to be put in place. I tweaked this photo with Photoshop also (19:56, i.e. 20:56 local time). [Monday 30 April 2012] |
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