In the wee early morning the Caledonian Star entered the longest, most scenic of the Norwegian fjords, Geiranger. The word is old Norse and means the bent spear - as if the Vikings had pictured it from an eagles perspective. Right after breakfast we had the Seven Sisters' waterfalls to port, and on the opposite side the Suitor flushes down in eternal courtship of the sisters. Added to these flowing veils, low clouds sailed between the steep mountainsides, capping the highest summits. But the sun was out, the wind was resting, and we kayaked beneath the falls and along the shores, where the green of birch trees, mountain ashes and willow trees stressed the beauty of the late Norwegian summer. On the slopes under the trees we could make out the blue bells, the Queen Ann's lace, the campions and some fireweed, the last of the summer flowers. And once we went ashore in the little settlement at the head of the fjord, there were wild raspberries to pick and eat, bringing at least me back to my sweet childhood summers.
It was just such a wonderful way of following up on last night, when we had a clear sunset to the west highlighting the clouds hovering above the mountains of the coast line to the east. Rarely have we seen a more serene span of hues and shapes of clouds: all the different blues, the pink and reddish, the yellow turning into gold!
In all our last few days along the coast of Norway has topped off the Norwegian leg of our expedition cruise. Now we will cross the North Sea, to make landfall in the Shetland Islands, Great Britain. Tomorrow morning already we hope to dock in the pretty capital town of Lerwick.
