Fjords at last

Day 19 - Stravanger
Still quite a few bumps during the night, not that they worried us but we have heard that quite a few passengers were sea-sick.  Don't know how they'd cope with the Tasman Sea!   Still dull and chilly when we arrived in Stavenger, which is a small town "famous" for fishing and more recently oil.  From our side of the ship there was little to see, mainly industrial.  We berthed quite promptly, which as a surprise as I had thought we were traversing a bit more of a fjord.

A little later for breakfast as we are just doing our own thing here.  So it was after 9.00 before we hit the waterfront and headed toward the church at the end of the harbour.  We did not go in, but headed through some nice shopping areas and through the new library complex.  We were looking for the Art Gallery and it turned out that there was an exhibition of a famous local painter in his 80s.  Unfortunately the gallery was closed, BUT the librarian felt sorry for us and led us in through the back door to the gallery for a private showing.

A watery sun poked through as we headed back towards the church (as a reference point) but then the heavens opened.  We waited a bit under the shelter of the old information centre and headed off in the drizzle in search of the Archeological Museum. Circled the lake, climbed a bit of a hill, crossed under a motorway, went around the University and found ....... it was closed on Monday's!  

So back to town and along the opposite shore to the ship and it was just before midday and this one restaurant/ bar was advertising coffee & cheesecake for 85 Norwegian Kroner  each.  When we got back to the ship I found out that the total cost was NZD27.80.  The coffee was quite good as we'd asked for a double shot latte.

On our way back to the ship we diverted to the Old Town, which I had thought would be an original village but it turned out to be the quaint little houses on the hill, directly outside our stateroom, which I had previously described as 1950s state houses.  Walked back to the ship and warmed ourselves with lunch in the MDR, followed by a rest.  Wouldn't you know it, the clouds rolled away and the sun shone brightly!!  Still a chilly wind and the sea outdide the harbour looks choppy.

All aboard was 4.00 and at 5 past there were still stragglers coming along, I must say that I was impressed with the Officer in charge as he sternly berated each and every one of them, so I don't think that they will be late again.  A small crowd (if a dozen is a crowd) gathered to wave us off, so out came the NZ flag.  A pleasant visit and very nice people.  In general the town was clean and we were surprised at the amount of restoration work going on (including the 12th century church).

Just a quick update, we have had dinner, been to the show (Aussie tenor we've seen before) and back in our stateroom where the sun is still shining brightly and the sea is a *little* calmer.   Tomorrow we are due in Flamm, which is quite a way up the fjord and in mountainous terrain, so apparently we are likely to be out of internet connectivity for a time.