Fishy Bodø
Trip Start
Jan 27, 2009
1
8
10
Trip End
Feb 23, 2009
Bodø,
North Norway,
Norway
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Boarding and check-in for us port-to-port passengers was an unceremonious but friendly experience. Not sure what to expect and with no office at the port, we walked aboard the ship with our bags and were directed to the reception desk to the side of the entrance hall. Here our booking was retrieved and we were issued with personalised plastic room cards that showed our cabin number as well as which meals we had pre-booked (lunch, dinner and breakfast)
Departing Trondheim
.It was immediately apparent that Hurtigruten's MS Trollfjord was a nicer, newer ship than the Pearl of Scandinavia, operated by DFDS Seaways, which we had taken from Copenhagen to Oslo. It was smaller, yet still a large cruise-type vessel, its public spaces were filled with artwork and were decorated in a sophisticated yet not pretentious manner and it was not crawling with people, especially those from the younger end of the spectrum.
Our cabin was easy to access on deck 3, just a deck below the main entrance hall. Deck 3 is the ship's lowest accessible deck, with the aft dedicated to car and freight storage and the forward areas housing the cabins. We had selected the cheapest exterior cabins and despite the discounted price, the offering was not disappointing. Up near the bow, the cabin was spacious enough with 2 portholes, a private bathroom, clothes rack and 2 beds (1 of which folded up as a sofa). With all its features cabin 308 did not come across as cheap in anyway, except for what is generally perceived of the location within the ship.
We were settled in by 10:30am, leaving us with 1.5 hours to freely move about the ship and on land prior to the scheduled departure at noon
On Deck
. Initial explorations were positive; all public areas of the ship were nice, most of which were on decks 5, 8 and 9. All the important locations were sussed out - restaurant, cafe, shop, laundry, bar, outdoor jaccuzis (no, we didn't use them!) and panorama lounge. With the ship seeming about half full in terms of cabins (~350 people can travel without a cabin) there was plenty of free space to sit and enjoying the upcoming views, including in the double storey panorama lounge.I was in the sunshine on the outside part of deck 9 (all of the deck to the aft of the panorama lounge) for departure, which began with the freight hatches being closed. I noted that the ship only has passenger, freight and vehicle access on the port side, sometimes necessitating a 180 degree turn to dock successfully. An announcement was made (in Norwegian, English and German) just prior to departure, increasing the number of guests on the deck, all crunching noisily on the refrozen remnants of snow. We powered slowly out of the dock and turned sharply into the Trondheim Fjord to begin the journey. Just as we headed off it began to snow - the first of many sudden weather changes for the voyage. On my way back down to the cabin I stopped in at the information/tours area to pick up a myriad of brochures, maps and guide books to keep informed with what was planned for each day, what to look out for, learn about the boats, the art on them, the food that would be served etc
Lighthouse
.Shortly after departure it was time for lunch so I coaxed Steve out of the cabin and we headed up to deck 5. We managed to snag ourselves a table, which we guarded well, in the full restaurant and began to load up plates. We were joined by an older couple from near London (our table seated 4) before the staff realised that they needed to open the entire dining area to provide more space. They couple stayed with us throughout lunch, providing entertaining and interesting British conversation. It was revealed that they were engaging in the full 2 week cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes (near Russian border) and return. They told us stories of their home (most recently London being snowed in) and also made very British comments about the food on board. The advice was to fill up on lunch because dinner portions were supposedly not on the generous side and breakfast wasn't the best - "they have things with labels saying 'jam' but it isn't jam in them!". It was all good fun and I appreciated talking to someone else from a different background. Heeding our table partners' advice we did load up at lunch, taking advantage of the many dessert offerings on the lengthy buffet bench.
The afternoon was spent lounging around the ship and exploring some areas in more detail
Cabin 308
. Deck 6 provided an opportunity to circumnavigate the ship although there was no large open deck space here. At the suggestion of another announcement many guests went to see a heritage-listed isolated light house although precipitation ruined the view. Steve and I were initially out in the elements at the bow on deck 6, being assaulted by the weather until we quit when it became harder to see the lighthouse even though we were getting closer to it! A highlight of the bow time was seeing a few orca (killer whales) passing the ship on their journey south, something we hadn't even thought about seeeing.I killed the time in the lead up to dinner enjoying the remaining daylight from the panorama lounge listening to MP3s on my phone (with headphones). Other passengers here were reading and many had binoculars, not that they used them because they were looking at their books and not at the view! The view of the jagged and snowy coast came and went with the weather but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Perhaps its my lack of exposure to it, perhaps I'm strange but the wild, cold and snowy weather was something interesting in of itself. Steve stayed in the cabin except for a few short outings, at least the portholes offered the coastal view because the cabin was on the starboard side of the ship.
As the daylight faded I set myself to task doing my final clothes wash for the trip
MS Nordkapp
. To my surprise, the use of the washing machine for 2 hours was not expensive and the dryers were free! I did a full load and appreciated that washing powder was free and unlimited. If I were feeling really stingy I could've done another DIY wash in the sink and used the dryers to be sorted by disembarkation the following day.From dusk the ship entered a relatively unprotected strip of ocean as we steamed north, resulting in quite a bit of onboard movement. The swell and waves hit the ship on the port bow, causing heavy pitching of the vessel, which was felt with force in our cabin at the front extremity of the ship. The air time was fun although seeing the water go above our cabin windows when we crashed back down was a little disconcerting but helped to justify why our windows could not be opened. The rough seas added to the awesome-ness of the weather, with howling winds and driving snow creating a dramatic scene. A fond memory of mine is standing outside on the down wind side of deck 6 watch the snow furl over the roof of the ship and down the side, captured in the floodlights as the ship powered uneasily through the dark and stormy night. I had a Tuborg in my cabin (due to licensing non-purchased alcohol could not be consumed in public areas).
Soon enough it was time for dinner and we stood out because we had to be shown our table (seating was reserved) while all the full cruise passengers already knew where to sit
Norwegian Coast
. Steve had a large "NO FISH" sign on his place as he had requested this as we left the restaurant after lunch. Dinner came out in good time and there were not unnecessary lags between courses. Despite temptation all we drank was tap water to save money.The cauliflower soup, eaten hesitantly by Steve, proved to be a winner, as was the Szechuan pepper baked trout that I enjoyed for mains. The mocha fromage for desert wasn't bad but it was somewhat of a letdown after lunch. We were seated alone for this meal, missing out on the possibility of another mealtime conversation. Considering the demographics of the passengers this may not have been easy; some were the living dead, most were long retired, a few were middle-aged, there were about 10 others within 10 years of Steve and I and something like 2 children, then there is the question of which language they spoke!
After dinner I dried my now clean clothes in the laundry, entered the "what time in the morning will we pass the Arctic Circle?" competition and chilled in the nicely-done bar lounge, enjoying what little I could see out of the large window. The final event of the evening was the docking at Rørvik, where we met sister ship MS Vesterålen that was also docked, making the journey south. With the washing completed it was time to call it a night and get rest as I planned to be up relatively early to enjoy the final morning on the ship
Stern Wake
.Awaking for the last part of the roughly 24 hour Hurtigruten was like the start of the last week of school holidays. You know that you still get to enjoy the situation but the end is in sight and you are aware that good things like this just don't last. Prior to waking Steve for breakfast I headed up to deck 9 to see us pass another sister ship, MS Nordkapp, complete with 3 long horns from both vessels as we passed. Sadly the older sister vessel had the better horn; a much deeper and richer tone than ours.
Breakfast was enjoyed with the passing craggy coastline that seemed to becoming more wintry the further north we traveled. A quick pass of the British couple we had dined with the day before prompted an exchange of words, some of which included news that "real" jam had been found on the breakfast buffet! The biggest flaw with the breakfast would have to be the absence of pastry items although it was still substantial, offering anything from cold fish salad to bacon and cereal.
The last few hours onboard were spent enjoying the view from a few of the public areas, again with musical accompaniment courtesy of my phone. I'm going to miss that snowy and mountainous coastal scenery. Eventually I had to descend to the cabin to ensure that all the items I had purchased from the onboard shop would fit in my already crowded bag and getting ready to leave. Docking in Bodø was unnoticeable but on time so we knew when to head up 1 deck with our bags to roll off the ship. The snow plough bag drag technique once again proved useful as we made our way to the train station, which is adjacent the port
Deck Shot
.An initial thought of Bodø was that it smelt of fish. Later in an SMS from Thomas in Oslo I would learn that there is a fish processing plant on the outskirts of town and when the breeze blows the wrong way this causes the town to reek. We didn't have enough cash in coins to pay for lockers for our luggage so further dragging from the station was required. We made it to the centre of town, slipping and sliding on the icy pavement, to use an ATM and supermarket to get money and change it to coins. We then had to return, in much the same manner that we had arrived, to deposit our bags in the station's large lockers. For future reference I'm thinking that Hamar Station's lockers would be a similar set-up.
Despite the bag-related hold up by the time we had walked back into the central part of town to the bus and local ferry terminal we still had a bit of time before the departure of a regional bus to Saltstraumen. Being a Saturday, regular scheduled services to this location some 38km from Bodø were few and far between and I had planned us a journey using regional, Transwa-esque services. Following European norms this was a non-reservation buy-your-ticket-from-the-driver service (a contrast to home) and, although we paid in cash, one could purchase tickets using credit card
Panorama Lounge
!A few stops were made before we arrived our destination, almost missing it by not figuring out where the stop request button was until the last second. As the bus/coach pulled off over a large bridge I figured we were in the right place, following the bus along the side of the road to venture under this large bridge. On the water's edge a viewing area has been established for visitors to come and appreciate what is the strongest tidal flow in the world. The flow was meant to have peaked shortly before our arrival and seemed to still be going strong. The rushing water created maelstroms, whirlpools and areas where water from deeper areas was churned up to the surface. Mesmerising but continually changing, dynamic.
To gain a better view I convinced Steve to follow me up the unplowed pedestrian path on the bridge to reach the apex, about 400m from the side of the waterway. We were able to literally walk in the footsteps of another person, who had previously stepped through the 20cm thick snow. From the bridge we could see straight down onto the action and were also afforded an impressive view of the snow-shrouded sharp mountains in the background. It was a great spot that would be worth a picnic in the warmer months. It looks like facilities exist in the area to do just that, although they were covered in snow when we visited
Bar Room
.By the time we had walked back down off the bridge it was already only about 15 minutes before our return bus was due to arrive. Being a regional service and the 2nd last one for the day (the last being some 2 hours later) I was eager to be at the stop to avoid being stuck at Saltstraumen for the night. The bus ended up arriving just a few minutes late and picked us up, even though I did begin to doubt that we were possibly at the wrong stop as the regional stop names sometimes differ to those on the physical stops, which are used by the local buses under different names. No, it doesn't make sense.
Back in Bodø Steve and I were faced with the problem of finding what to do to fill our afternoon and evening. We would've appreciated some tourist information but the office was closed on account of it being a weekend and all the English language booklets had run out. It would've been nice to visit the National Aviation Museum in town but with the Saltstraumen taking more than 2 hours we didn't have enough time to get the museum and see what it had to offer. Time killing began with dinner at a surprisingly reasonably priced and decent made to order independent food joint on the main drag at the end of a downhill park.
Jaggered Coastline
Next we returned to the Tourist Information centre at the bus terminal to grab some German and French language tourist books to try and find the town's cinema. The books listed it and just said it was in the "Glasshouse" shopping centre, but not where that centre was. A few messages to Thomas and Linda in Oslo combined with some memory and detective work led us to the shopping centre and associated cinema, only a block away from where we were! Unfortunately all the next few sessions were either Norwegian movies or versions of international movies with Norwegian subtitles.
Our last option was simply to walk slowly through the small town, without freezing, to eventually end at the station and await the departure of our sleeper train at 9:10pm. The town was unusually quiet for Europe; it was almost as if it had "Perth Syndrome" where everything goes dead after dark. At least Bodø has the excuse of being a small town with a population of only 46000 people! When we arrived back at the station the loco-hauled day train from Trondheim had recently arrived so we spent some time on the platform watching the carriages be shunted in pre-preparation for our sleeper service and the diesel locomotive run off to the yards. The line north of Trondheim to Bodø is completely unelectrified, making our service one of the few, if not the only non-electric sleeper trains in Western Europe
Bow Shot
.Minutes melted into hours as we waited in the heated and pleasant waiting room. Outdoor platform visits were made to break the waiting, allowing me to point out some train, station and yard features to Steve and for us to witness our service being compiled. Most of the day train's old sitting carriages were coupled, in a rough manner, to the 2 sleeper cars that had been sitting in the station all day before the train was slowly serviced and made ready for departure. A critical mass of waiting passengers had formed in the station building by about 8:35pm so people began to board. We had to wait in the cafe/reception car for a while for a staff member to arrive and organise our room key.
The NSB sleeper carriages are nice and large enough but I think I've been spoiled by DB's newer product. The ladder was permanently attached to the opposite wall but folded down and out to be used, which was weird. The sink area took the entire width of the cabin below the window, restricting the latter's size. The window was further tarnished by the large hinge for the upper section crossing through its middle, destroying the view. This was particularly annoying since no purpose was served by this as the window was locked closed. At least the heating was not insane like on the DB carriages so the window didn't need to be opened to cool the cabin. No showers were provided anywhere in the car either, which was somewhat annoying as we had a long commute ahead of us.
Despite all these shortcomings the cabin was nice, relatively modern and clean and would be our home for the next 10 or so hours so we settled in for the journey back down south.
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