Alesund and the Alnes lighthouse

Early morning for Pam and I (5am), went to the laundry and did a load of washing then up to the top deck to watch the ship dock for a 15 minute mail drop at Maloy.  Got a cup of tea and read for a while on the open deck.  It’s about 8 degrees but there is no wind, it’s overcast and every now and then there is a mist that descends on the ship which doesn’t really wet you unless you stand in it for an hour or so.  The sunrise is at about 8.20am and the sunset about 4.30 so the days are short and beer o’clock seems to come around very quickly!!!

It is a time to relax after our very busy couple of days in Bergen, just a little leg weary, I’m sure we’ll recover to fight on another day.  The doctor has prescribed me a glass of red a day to help my recovery, and I always do what the doctor says!

We did enjoy Bergen, such a beautiful city, the quintessential landscape of everything we imagined Norway to be, very neat and tidy, the locals seem to take great pride in their houses and streets. The colours of the houses are so diverse and subtle and just about all of them seem to have been painted in the last couple of years they look so fresh.  There is lots of building works going on, it appears to be mostly renovations of large city centre buildings being restored.  It seems to be a wealthy city with a huge diversity of nationalities working in all different occupations.

So many of the people seem a little ‘standoffish’, maybe they know winter is descending and the wet and cold weather will take all the enjoyment out of life.  Very few smiles from staff at the hotel and shop assistants and it’s very hard to engage any of the locals in conversation.  We can’t believe the number of smokers in the place.  When walking through public areas there is always the smell of smoke in the air.  The ship has a large smoking area in the only covered area on the top deck which always smells of smoke even when no one is actually smoking.  Because the ship has no balconies it should be a good place to go to enjoy the fresh air, not so much some times though. 

Full steam ahead overnight, we had a quick stop at Floro overnight, then a 10 minute stop at Torvik and Maloy at 5am and 7am before heading for our full day stop at Alesund, arriving at 9am.  Pam and I were up early and did a load of washing which was good to get all those flight clothes and Bergen clothes washed.

We had a tour booked today - to the Ales Lighthouse.  To get there we had to skip across 4 islands, 3 of the 'crossings' were tunnels of a bout 4 kilometres each under the fjord and then a bridge.  On the way we called into a church built in the 1100s' of marble from Norway and Italy.

Then to the lighthouse with little, squashy and steep stairs/ladder up to the top.  After that we went up to the lookout on a hill overlooking the town and harbours, had a very late smoko and took a few photos and headed back through town to the ship.  Had a short walk around the city centre before getting back to the ship just a little weary.  We wore our best winter gear and by the time we left the sun was out and it turned into a glorious day, so we all got a bit hot under the collar during the bus trip....it's really hard to predict temperatures and wind factors on this trip, consequently we all play it safe and then end up a bit too warm, better than freezing to death though I suppose?

The approach to Torvik (wharf to the left of the photo)

Left of the wharf

Weaving our way through islands - small and large

Seeing the sunrise was a real possibility this morning

Sunrise over Alesund

That's where we will dock

Giske Kirke church at Alesund

One of the fishing sheds behind the church - it may need a little restoration?

Little harbour behind the church

More fishing sheds

The beach next to the harbour

Last photo before we leave the church behind us.

Ales Lighthouse

View from the top with our bus in the foreground

From the top of the lighthouse

Another from the top

View from the lookout behind the town.  You can just see the top of our ship at the wharf

Town Centre - Alesund

Harbour on the other side of town with a much bigger cruise ship at the wharf.  This photo was taken at 12.30, just about lunch time and this is as far up as the sun gets at this time of year!!!

The walk around the small harbour in the centre of town

Dinner?

Cured fish

Sunset and it's only 4.15, looks like a long night ahead?