At 4am we left Narvik for our final stop, before arriving we had a whole day at sea and would dock the next day at 8am. By the time I awoke having left Narvik the sun was rising and we were mostly out of the fjords. We were aware that the weather was going to be bad today due to Storm Amy that was, at the time, hitting the UK so we prepared by eating the right things at the right time, sitting and laying down and doing as few walks along the ship as possible. By 9am we were level with Bodø when I had predicted we would start to feel it. Sure enough we entered the stormy waters. All the outer decks were closed except the smoking area at the bow (front) of the ship. I ventured up and watched as we crashed through the waves, all the furniture was tied down and no one else was mad enough to go there, in fact even the smokers had retreated to the cigar lounge and the staff seemed to agree this was the best plan. At its worst the ship was listing constantly to starboard (right), being hit by the winds on the port (left) side. The listing meant the ship was constantly at a 3 – 4 degree tilt, strangely making walking the decks slightly easier! The swell was up around 30 foot but the intrepid Queen Anne continued forward to its destination. Needless to say some of the passengers were feeling worse for wear this day, though the wife and I felt good – in fact I was rather enjoying the excitement! The day ended and we slept knowing our cruise was coming to an end as we were to dock in Stavanger early morning.
We woke at 7am to find the seas much calmer making it clear we had entered the fjord. After some food and coffee we watched as we docked on to the shore at 8am. As usual we immediately jumped ship and began to explore the town, which had also been hit by the storm. The downed trees were a give away and we later found out it was thought to be the worst storm in 25 years in Norway! We headed over to the cathedral first then round a park adjacent to it. As a Tolkien lover I am always on the look out for copies of his books in different languages so we popped round the town and to a few book shops to see if we could find it. Strangely enough, we found them! Though they were all in English! Undeterred we looped back round to the ship and the souvenir shops that were on the dock. Picking up our last few treats for ourselves and family we then went into the old town area. After a long jaunt it was back to the ship for some food before our fjord cruise that would take us to Pulpit Rock.
Soon we were off again, the weather to this point had been reasonable but sadly the clouds and rain were once again coming in. I was not too keen on abandoning our rather large ship for a little cruiser if the weather was going to turn on us as it had the day before but we naturally braved it. There were plenty of seats inside or you could head out onto the top deck and I saw little point in experiencing the fjords through a window despite the weather. Finding a good spot we settled down and soon we were off. With the weather currently holding but closing in we were in a race against time to get to our scenic destination as Pulpit rock would be just under 2000 feet high and not visible in the rough weather!
Naturally being in a race against time, we stopped for waffles! Now I like food as much as the next guy and I’ll say it now, the waffles were good, sour cream and jam is an interesting mix but it did work. However, Northern Lights interrupted by cake, Polar Park cut short for some cinnamon sweet treat and now the possibility of not seeing Pulpit Rock due to a 30 minute waffle stop was somewhat grating on me. I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise to the wife for my frustration at the time.
Full of waffles, we sailed on! Now the weather had begun to close in and the guide’s constant reminder on the speaker, ‘If you want the recipe for the waffles, come and speak to me’, was doing nothing to improve my stoic mood. However, we arrived at our first stop, a small patch of grass with three goats on it. Due to the lack of arable land every tiny patch, even if it is right on the side of a mountain in a fjord, is utilised. Sadly for the goats, they mistook us for their lift back and tried to get on the cruise ship only to be denied. Soon we were approaching the rock and somehow the weather was holding. Delighted, I prepared to take photos and soak it in, sadly all the people who had been content to view the fjord through their window, now decided to all pile onto the top deck in there rather large coats, hats and other over the top clothes. This would not have been an issue except one or two of the passengers kept pushing and shoving to get to the front, in fact I was directly elbowed in my back as I was trying to take some photos. Fueled with waffle rage, I took a deep breath, turned to my elbowing fellow passenger and calmly moved out of the way, hitting them in the face only in my mind’s eye.
We continued to a waterfall just a bit further past the rock and once again passengers came up to see it. I resolved to sit back and out of the way and thanks to my telescopic lens I was able to still get fantastic pictures without being 2 inches from the waterfall. After a quick about turn we sped off back to Stavager just as the weather really came in on us. Despite the stops and the elbows we had managed to see what we came for and my mood immediately brightened as I let out a sigh of relief.
Soon we were back to the dock and we left Norwegian soil for the last time on the cruise. A bittersweet moment that was lightened by the fact we still has a day at sea to enjoy all of the fun on the Queen Anne. That night, and the day after we, naturally, did quizzes and enjoyed some great food and company with friends we had made along the cruise. Then all too quickly we found ourselves in the familiar dock of Southampton. Our cruise was at an end, the Arctic Adventure was over.
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