Gorgeous Flam

Monday 25 June 2012

Woke up early as we had left the stateroom (cabin) curtains open and its light almost around the clock. I kept peeking out at the amazing scenery passing the porthole. Finally gave in and got up at 5am and went up on deck as we entered the Sognefjord.  The sun was shining, the water was like velvet, only 5 others on deck all silently observing the incredible nature around us. Breath takingly beautiful .. the fjord goes inland 115 miles and is 3,700feet at its deepest but is quite narrow so the sides of the fjord are really close. The mountains that line the fjord are 6000feet high at the entrance to the fjord. There was snow up high and amazing waterfalls everywhere.

Pics to follow.

Stavengar

Sunday 24 June 2012

After a day and a half at sea we arrived at the port of Stavengar. The time at sea was filled with gym, swimming, tennis, table tennis, research on Norway in the amazing library, going to a show in the Grand theatre, yes it even has opera boxes......incredible and eating. Eating is a big activity on board.....breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper....its all amazingly fresh, such variety and you can dress up fully formal or elegant casual.

Savengar was a sleeply little town and not  much open in the Sunday. We explored the old town, walked 5k out to a sculpture of three swords that represent the ancient viking battles of King Harald and visited the cathedral. Everything is very expensive....equivalent Newtown to Wellington cityncnetre bus ride is NZ$30

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Setting sail for Norway

Friday 22 June 2012

Got the train from Christchurch to Southampton to meet the ship for our cruise adventure to Norway. Raining in Southampton and we wondered why a lot of people were wearing wellies and walking about looking grungy....they were off to the Isle of Wight festival. When we went to walk up to the Queen Victoria to check in the chap at the dock said 'Isle of Wight', thinking perhaps a couple of backpackers were about to hop on the wrong boat. Not sure the Queen Victoria gets many backpacks checked in.

The ship/boat is amazing....a floating shopping mall, luxury hotel, spa, gymnasium...all there for you.

Loving Christchurch

We have found the ideal spot....its got a beautiful river and estuary with amazing marsh life,  great beaches and beach walks, lovely wee ferry boats that you take out to the headland, great fishing and boating, ancient ruins and more history than you can shake a stick at, just the right size village and shops, a Marks & Spencer, great transport links........we love it!

Weymouth

Lots of sunshine today but still a really cold wind off the sea. Hardy souls were braving the water but not me. Kids looked like they were loving the donkey rides and there was even a Punch & Judy show on the beach.

Got the scenic local bus to Portland and had a look at the Olympic sailing village and then on the bus to the Portland Bill......a lighthouse at the end of the headland.
Enjoyed a wander around the working port of Weymouth with lots of little lanes and busy fishing boats coming and going.

Best bus ride on the south coast

From Exeter we took the local bus along the south coast to Weymouth. This is a great bus ride through all the small seaside towns, across lovely countryside and we met some great locals who gave us tips for our onward travels. The journey took about 4hrs but it was lovely. We loved Beer, Seaton, Lyme Regis, West Bay and Abbotsbury. Lots of thatched cottages and great views along the coast and  Chesil beach.

Lovely Exeter

A sunny morning after the torrential rain of yesterday. Train to Exeter. Loved the old town and the relaxed feel. One shop sign summed up the locals frustration with the weather. Found some old Alms houses being restored, really interesting place to visit.

Torquay

No pictures, torrential rain, cold cold wind off the ocean. We saw signage saying 'Riviera of the South Coast' .....yesterday was much more 'river' than Riviera. Walked into town in our raincoats but the weather was so bad we got a taxi back.  Dont go to the Bull & Bush in Belgrade road.....dirty tables that needed a good wipe down and filthy upholstry on the chairs.  Not much more to say about Torquay.

More pics from Dartmoor and Plymouth

Plymouth and Dartmoor

They say fish and family go off after three days so time to move south west to Plymouth.  Caught the national express bus from Bristol to Plymouth and were met by Gaham's cousin and husband. We had a whisle stop tour of the port and old town area and whilst it was raining and getting late it looked like a great wee town/waterfront to explore the next day.

Yay, the next morning the rain had stopped and our new intrepid guide took is up to Dartmoor via Yelverton.  We had a wonderful walk on high moore and explored the standing stones, the tors and the majestc scenery.

Very, very beautiful, would be gorgeous on a hot sunny day. We had a bit of rain and wind but  it just reminded us of some of our walks back home.  We were really impressed by the engineering of the leats, the ancient water channels all across Dartmoor.

Castle Combe

But wait,  there's more. Our wonderful host and intrepid guide took us to Castle Combe, a small English village. Its been voted 'the pettiest village in England' and you can see why, its delightful. They used this village as the village in the War Horse movie.  All sorts of rules I imagine about keeping it lovely, not hanging your washing in the front garden or having a ding dong with the neighbours. Very peacful.

Thornbury Castle

After Bath the sun was still shining and we visited a local castle that is now an hotel and has a small vineyard. Having asked first, we wandered about the gardens. Amazing to see this gorgeous property just tucked down a lane behind the church. Beautiful gardens, strong high double rowed castle walls. Such wonderful history and so accessable.  King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed here.