Meandering south

We humans are funny creatures. When I am in a challenging place, like cruising in Patagonia or South Georgia, I long to be somewhere where the cruising is easy. Well, this area of Norway is definitely that and I find myself longing for a little bit of adventure, an adrenalin rush. We motor (no wind or on the nose) from one stunning anchorage to another, drop the anchor and have a good walk. Our last anchorage had the highest seacliffs in Europe as the backdrop. There was the option of climbing that but luckily it was a grey, wet day when we motored past. With my fear of heights that would have given me more of a rush than I'll ever need. Phil was disappointed to miss out on the climb though. Only last week a woman fell to her death up there.

He did get up Mt Saksa which is about 1000m above sea level for a stunning view of the fiord we were anchored at the head of.

While we were tied up to a public dock at the island of Veoeya Phil was able to fix the anchor windlass which needed the brushes in the motor replaced. Luckily he carried spares as we anchor in most places. It has done a lot of work over the past few years and it would have been hard work pulling up our heavy chain by hand, not really an option. This island used to have a large Viking village at one stage but now just has a church, homestead and a few outbuildings.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Somewhere along the way this mess  got wrapped around the prop so Phil had to drag out his old wetsuit and dive down to cut it off. Took a while and the water wasn't exactly tropical but a hot shower soon had him warmed up again.

Bridges and ferries connect a lot of the islands so when we are planning our route we need to check the bridge heights carefully. We did sqeak under a 17m one at low tide leaving the town of Alesund but wouldn't make a habit of it. Our mast is about 17.5m so we go for the 18m + bridges.

While we had a few hours in Alesund a cruise ship with loads of Aussies onboard was in. We really enjoyed chatting to people from our side of the world. People here are quite reserved. At first we thought it was the language but it just seems to be how they are. We have met some lovely people here so it's not a complaint.

Just lately we have been visiting anchorages that are not in the two cruising guides that we use and that has been a good move. People get such a surprise when we drop anchor in their tiny harbours and it is easier to get talking with them.

Autumn has definitely set in and the leaves are turning along with the weather. We seem to be getting a lot of grey days and plenty of rain as we slowly meander south to Bergen. It will soon be time to start lighting the heater and adding another layer of clothing. At least we now have some darkness at night so falling asleep at a reasonable hour is no longer a problem!

An unexpected stay in beautiful Kristiansund

Those of you following us on www.marinetraffic.com will have noticed that we haven't moved much for almost a month. We have been tied up at the wooden boat museum here in Kristiansund, hanging out with a bunch of men who love their wooden boats. It is funny to watch them chase away any cruisers who try to tie up with a steel or plastic boat.

Phil developed chest pains walking up hills so had it checked out at the hospital. They did a few tests, put him on some medication and then were able to give him a stress test 3 weeks later. We had already booked our tickets to fly home early November so are pleased that he should be okay in the meantime as long as he doesn't try running up any mountains.

This is a great place to be stuck as Kristiansund is made up of four islands connected with bridges with loads of nature walks everywhere. We get out walking most days and Phil rows around the harbor a lot. We have crossed a few boat jobs off the list but it has basically been a pretty lazy month. It's a bit late to go north now so we will spend the next few months mucking about between here and Bergen. It's a mere 200 miles away as the crow flies but there are some great fiords to explore and a lot of sheltered cruising. We were feeling a need to slow down anyway and spend more time in places instead of being constantly on the move but could have done without the heart issue!

I got my backpack stolen in the library. Hard to believe especially here in Norway which feels so safe. The police asked for a description, showed us a photo and a few hours later we had most of our stuff back. What a relief as our passports and wallet were in the backpack! I felt sick in the stomach at the thought of having to go through the process of getting them replaced so we were pretty impressed with the fast work by the police department.

We leave here tomorrow and start working our way very slowly south. Looking forward to the fiords and being out of town for a while. The blueberries and raspberries are in season and it's nice to pick some for our breakfasts as we go on our daily walks.

What else does one do at midnight but hang out on the boat next door eating shrimps and drinking beer????

Our first week in Viking country

Thirty four hours and 198 miles saw us arrive in Norway, a whole different landscape and culture from the Shetlands. We are also back on the east side of Greenwich for a while (same as NZ). It was an easy overnight sail, the ony action was passing the oilrigs and being asked to change course to give a drilling rig 1 mile clearance. Sailing wing and wing, I did the best I could but got a second call saying it wasn't enough. By then we were well past, so I got back on course and carried on through the night which was as bright as daytime. We had to motor the last 20 miles and anchored in a sheltered harbour south of our intended destination of Alesund. It was just as we imagined it would be!

We have no understanding of the Norwegian language but as we anchored beside a bridge for lunch I thought that the sign "Gjesterbregge" looked like Jester Bridge so that was the name I entered in the log but we later learnt that that meant "visitors berth".

Alesund was our first big town and where we were able to get our passports stamped. It was all very casual and we had to wait until Monday as the police station wasn't open on Sundays. We tied to the wall right amonsgt the action for a few hours and then anchored outside in the cheap seats which was fine except for the wake from the ferries and power boats. It was a stunning town. Having had a

    major fire in the early 1900's it was rebuilt with a lot of character.

Things have changed a lot. Gone are the fishing boats and now yachts and power boats are tied alongside enjoying being in the centre of town.

                        

From there we have been visiting islands on the way to Kristiansund. Navigation is interesting, winding our way between rocks and small islands. Most of the houses are now just used in the summer . People are friendly and we are pleased that English is widely spoken.

The people of Bjornsund were only moved off in the 70's because there was not enough water for the population of 700. It was originally a fishing community. Fishing from rowboats, it made sense to live out there. There was plenty of activity the days we were there with ferries coming and going, people fishing and waterskiing, everyone enjoying the sunshine.

         These two statues were memorials to the fishermen who were lost at sea and their women.

                                   Phil cadged a ride on this tourist boat.

Those two months flew by

These last two months have flown by. I thought I would do a new post at least once a month but internet fixes have been few and far between, and once the emails have been answered the blog gets left.

We have had a great time and met some wonderful people both on and off the water. The landscape has been dramatic and the walking good. This summer has been an especially warm and sunny one so far which always makes a difference....no grey, damp Scotland for us lucky Kiwis!

                                          Tobermory on the Isle of Mull

     We had a night anchored at Lunga Island where we got to hang out with the comical puffins.        Everywhere we have been there has been amazing birdlife, especially up in the Orkneys where birdwatcers come from all over at this time of the year. Other than birds we have seen very little wildlife except for a few dolphins and plenty of rabbits! No whales.

    The Ioana Abbey was closed but it was a lovely island and village to wander about. The anchorage wasn't too good so we were close by in Tinker's Hole with it's stunning rock, great walking.

     This was the big house on Rum Island (of course we had to go there), not the most tasteful architecture. It was interesting looking in the windows to see all the interior slowly decaying.

 Canna Island was a favorite spot for us and we enjoyed a week of walking, getting to know some locals, meeting other yachties (usually we are on our own). While we were there a Gaelic band called Diabh did a gig and about 60 people turned up.

      We had a month in the Outer Hebrides. Anchorages were close so we did a few miles most days, dropped the anchor and had a good walk. Most of the time we had the anchorages to ourselves so it was always nice when another boat turned up.

        The west coast of the Outer Hebrides was beautiful.

 We were lucky enough to be at the Callinish stone circle a day or two before the summer solstice and got to hang out with some people who gather there every year to celebrate with drums, pipes and even a didgeridoo. Windora was anchored just below the site and we watched the sun go down about midnight before we wandered home.

We have rushed through the Orkneys and Shetlands as we will be back this way next year on our way west, but what we have seen has us keen to return. The ancient sites, dating back 5,000 years are everywhere and some in really good condition. Today Phil was at a broch, a double-walled round house like the photo above which was built in the Iron Age. They may have been safe but would have been pretty dismal to live in.

In a day or two we will sail over to Norway and make our way north to the Lofoten Islands. It has been the first time we have been so undecided where to go....Norway or Iceland and west.... We feel like heading towards NZ but at the same time we know we won't be over in this side of the world on Windora again so it makes sense to have another summer here. It is such a beautiful part of the world and the history is our history too. NZ being such a young country, it is not many generations since our ancestors left this side of the world and sailed half way around the world to start a new life.