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During the night, MS Nordnorge stopped at Florø (02.45 for 15 mins) and Måløy (05.15 again for 15 mins) – we slept through! All the Hurtigruten ships are postal service ships / ferries serving the coast of Norway. Each day, two of the Hurtigruten ships will stop at these ports to drop off mail and pick up supplies. One ship will be heading Northbound, the other heading South.
When I woke up at 8am, Jon was already up and off exploring – nothing else for it but to head out to find him. We were coming into the next port of call, Torvik. It was due to stop at 8.20am for 10 mins so he would want to be up on deck to watch the comings and goings. The sun was just rising and throwing around some lovely colours as it came up behind the mountains.
Torvik port was tiny – a large fishing boat was docked further along. Jon noticed that the ship had just pulled in alongside the dock, no lines secured the ship, just the captain and thrusters keeping the ship next to the dock. The ramps were down with forklifts taking goods on and off.
No sooner than we’d docked, she was pushing back off again, making the short run across to Ålesund. We’d been here twice previously on P&O Cruises and there’s not a huge amount to see although it’s a very pretty town to wander around – especially if you’re interested in Architecture. The one thing I wanted to do on this stop was to go to the view point to look over town.
It was looking to be a lovely day – temperatures just hovering above freezing – much warmer than we were expecting. No snow on the ground in the town either. We watched MS Nordnorge dock then we headed down for breakfast. Hurtigruten dock on the other side of the island to where all the cruise ships dock, very close to the Tourist Information Office.
Breakfast is a buffet – pretty much continental with a Norwegian twist – lots of salmon!! They make the thinnest of fried eggs with very runny yolks, and a piece of bacon over the top. That’s the extent of the fried breakfast. Plenty of cold meats, cheese, yoghurt and grains … oh, and some mini vitamin shots (to keep us all healthy!!). No-one will be going hungry.
After breakfast, we headed out on deck as all the tours were departing. and then headed off ourselves to explore. We walked from the ship around the harbour entrance towards the Information Centre – this was closed of a weekend. The entire town seemed empty – where was everyone?
Right by the tourist info, there’s a small square named after Margit Johnson aka Malta Margit complete with small head sculpture. As I was reading the plaque, a couple of locals were passing and said she is a Norwegian hero from WW2 – they said she was a telegraphist working out of Malta and also spied against the Germans – but info online says she worked on the warships, refusing to leave her post.
Behind the tourist information, facing the harbour is the statue commemorating the 320 Norwegians who lost their lives whilst escaping the German Occupation across the North Sea as well as the 3300 who made it to safety and fought with the allies to give Norway its freedom.
We were incredibly lucky it was a gorgeous, clear day so we decided to head up to the viewpoint. We cheated and got a taxi up to the top rather than tackle the 480 steps up to the top. The views were stunning over the island and there weren’t many people at the top. We did walk back down though – the knees were feeling it by the time we reached the bottom!
We headed back to the ship for lunch and the plan was head off afterwards to explore a little more afterwards.
Lunch was a buffet – choice of hot and cold. The soup of the day was mushroom – it was delicious but really rich. They had pork with crackling on the hot counter so I went for this and some salmon to make a couple of open sandwiches. The pork was incredible and never tasted crackling like it before.
Back ashore and we hoped to find a supermarket to buy a couple of drinks for the cabin. We’d almost given up – we turned the final corner before heading back to the ship before we found it! A couple of bottles of fanta, some grapes and some crisps!!
The ship wasn’t leaving Ålesund until 8pm this evening. The excursion team were running a “Gathering” at 4.45pm. Bits of information about the ports the next day, fascinating facts on Norway, and briefings on the interesting things we’ll sail past tomorrow. Today’s lesson was on the odd characters in the Norwegian Alphabet and how they are pronounced and information about moose.
Dinner for us was at 6pm and we were allocated Table 70 which is right at the back with a view out the back. It was a table for two … but the next table was so closeit may as well been a table for four. Our companions up to Kirkenes are an Aussie couple, Di and Sam, from North Queensland.
Tonight, Jon had the Potato and Spring Onion Soup and the Cod and I had the Cod Carpaccio and the Lamb. Apple Dessert for me and Jon went for cheese & biscuits.
We were up on deck as we left Ålesund to head towards our next stop, Molde. We then realised why the cruise ships don’t come in this way. There was quite a low bridge to get under. It was getting really cold out on deck so once we’d passed under the bridge, we headed back inside to warm up.
At 9.30pm there was a talk or rather a “mingle” in the lecture room on the Coastal Kitchen philosophy championed by Hurtigruten. We were given a glass of Apple Juice from the Hardangerfjord area when we arrived – really nice. Then there were samples of Reindeer Sausages and cheese from the Lofoten Islands to try.
We wanted to be out on deck when we arrived in Molde – Jon was then looking at the Marine Ship Movements and realised that the Richard With (another Hurtigruten ship doing the same route) would be passing us. By the time we’d got layered up ready to go outside, she has passed us by! We’ll try and work out when we pass the next ship tomorrow!
Compared to Torvik, Molde was a very large, sprawling town. There was what looked to be a miniature Spinnaker Tower close by to the dock. We were stood at the front of the ship and watch as the crew prepared the ropes to tie us up (due to be here for 30 minutes) … and then threw the ropes ashore to secure the ship. The vehicle ramps had been lowered as had the passenger gangway. Three people boarded the ship but no car movements, no cargo to bring on, nothing.
The entertainment was an Aussie couple who decided to get off … take a selfie … and get back onboard again. We were all wrapped up for the cold. The Aussie chap was wearing shorts and thongs (flip flips!!).
We were now starting to feel cold, so we called it a night. We’ve a stretch of open water overnight and we’ve been warned it may get a little lumpy. We’ll see if Jon’s luck has turned!
