Stavanger = Lysefjord and the pulpit (it rocks!)

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At around 03:15, after two nights in port, the Oriana finally left the ‘apex’ of our trip. With two days at these inhuman temperatures, the ship was well and truly broken!! As the Oriana had experienced -25°C, this had caused pipes to freeze and crack. Chaplin’s Cinema was under several feet of water on deck 8. As there is nowhere for the water to go except down, Lord’s Tavern, on deck 7, directly below, also suffered and became out of bounds. There were leaks all over the ship with some toilets out of operation. Aircon also suffered as the pipes in the fan coils had frozen and some had cracked so the cabins remained stuffy and warm. The captain stated that he checked the ship’s previous log for this destination and it turned out that the Oriana had only experienced a low of -10 last year. It was as if he was trying to justify the damage (s’not my fault, guv!!) An announcement was made during the early afternoon to advise all passengers that most of the damage has now been repaired.

The doors to the promenade decks were open to all but it was an ordeal to venture outside. It took three men to push the door open against a mighty strong headwind. However, once on the deck, there was hardly any wind. The sun was shining despite a current temperature of -6°C. Compared with what we have experienced, absolutely tropical!!

We now had two days at sea. Time to relax and win more ‘gold’ stars’ (or bottles of wine) for trivia victories!! Up to now I have made a conscious decision not to write too much about our trivia pursuits (or should that be trivial pursuits?!) However, Roisin and I won this particular trivia by default. The team was just the two of us. It was an Intros trivia. Music is the worst subject for both of us, especially if it is naming the artist. There were the usual 20 questions. The Music was an assorted mix from the 50s up to the 90s and the answer was either name the artist, song title or the year it was released. We swapped papers with the eventual winners scoring an unassailable 18/20. Their team consisted of two young ladies (late twenties) and a young man no older than early thirties. We scored 15/20. One particular intro happened to be Tiger Feet by Mud: The question was: Name the year of release? We put 1973. It was, in fact, 1974. The young guns got it right. Their prize, a bottle of red wine. I went over and asked them how they knew the year of Tiger Feet. I bought the single the first time around and I got it wrong!! After explaining what a ‘single’ was, it turns out that they are ‘working passengers’ who set up the onboard theatre shows. He is a lighting and sound engineer, one of the ladies specialises in wardrobe and the other is a choreographer. The shows have, in the past included all these kinds of songs. (they also knew the Police; the artiste who sang La Bamba and the year Honky Tonk Woman was a hit. We should have guessed something was afoot with their team name: ‘#notcrew’. As we got talking we also learned that they’re not really allowed to win trivia and they were impressed with our answers. We were only off the mark on some by one year. We also missed out on other answers by millimetres (the intro to Spice up your Life was played – we put Spice it up.) After they were presented with their prize, they turned to us. They felt that our answers were impressive (although we got five wrong!!) and as no one else seems to have got more than fifteen (except them), they donated the bottle of red wine to the Hodgson foundation. I have since donated the empty bottle to the on-board bottle bank!! So, win/win!!

After the trivia, with a bottle of wine in one hand and glass of wine in the other (I must have looked like a right plonky walking around the ship like this!!) We headed to the Pacific lounge to watch the show: ‘It’s a kind of Magic’ by the P & O singers and dancers. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the vocal group, 4tunes nailed Queens Bohemian Rhapsody. On closing your eyes, whilst not quite imagining Freddie in the same room, he was at least in the same street. The latest tribute wasn’t in the same room, street, county or even continent as Freddie!! The singers and dancers were made up of eight girls and five lads. As Roisin observed, the girls would have looked more at home dancing around poles or providing lap dances. The lads, whilst they had the harmonies, look like the kind who would frequent said lap dancing clubs!! I’m sorry for these negative comments but I can only compare what I witnessed to previous Queen tributes I have seen on other cruise lines.

Now from the sublime to the ridiculous. Twenty-four hours after leaving Alta The Captain’s voice was heard over the public-address system. He explained that he had to gradually heat the ship up (not personally) so as not to overload the systems and ensure everything was back on line. I think he just kept on going and forgot to stop. The aircon was not working last night but this morning I thought we’d woken up in a sauna!! All the public places were too hot. We both had to go outside on deck to cool down. There was a very gentle breeze. The thermometer on deck now read -2°C. Pure bliss!!

This is the third time we have been in Stavanger. The first time we strolled around the old town; last time we had planned to visit Sverd I Fjell (Swords in Rock). This commemorative monument sounds Arthurian but the three bronze swords standing a gargantuan 10 metres tall planted into the rock of a small hill next to the fjord, commemorates the historic Battle of Hafrsfjord in the year 872, when King Harald Fairhair gathered all of Norway under one crown. The largest sword represents the victorious Harald, and the two smaller swords represent the defeated petty kings. The monument also represents peace, since the swords are planted into solid rock, so they may never be removed. However, it was pissing down with rain so we didn’t bother getting off the ship!!

Today it is dry as we arrived in Stavanger. No sign of snow. The temperature was actually on the plus side (but only just!) We arranged to visit Lysefjord and the world-famous pulpit rock on an official trip. Stavanger harbour is in the heart of the city. This is where all cruise ships dock. Our excursion began with a short walk down the gang way and along the quay to a couple of guides wearing red jackets and holding clip boards. We were kept in line for ten minutes or so but no one was complaining. The temperature was a very pleasant 4°C. We were about eighth in line yet when we were allowed on board the boat, a basic but modern twin hulled catamaran, the cabin was practically full with a few single seats dotted around. We headed for the door at the rear of the boat that opened on to the small aft deck. From there, an external stairway led to the open upper deck. This was very agreeable. Only six of us were sat up top whilst almost two hundred passengers sat cramped inside the cabin below. Now I know why. The boat reversed out of its berth and crawled out of the port at a steady five knots. As soon as it was clear, throttle down and we were away. Heading west, the boat picked up speed and with that the wind. It was biting. As the ground temperature was +°C, we had left our arctic coats back on the Oriana in favour of lighter jackets. We hadn’t considered the ‘the standing on an open deck of a catamaran at thirty knots’ factor!! Roisin and I headed back down the stairs to the aft deck and took respite in a sheltered niche until we realised we were standing in front of the entrance to the engine room much to the annoyance of the crewman who was just trying to do his job. After about forty minutes we entered the high sided Lysefjord. There are a few remote settlements on the south side of the fjord but other than that it looked pretty desolate, or I should say pretty AND desolate!! Twenty minutes in to the fjord and the boat headed for a small jetty where we were advised that this is a comfort stop for forty minutes where we could enjoy coffee and waffles. Scandinavian waffles can only be described as an experience in indulgence. The waffles were thin, latticed and round, about nine inches in diameter. However, the waffles can be easily split into smaller palm sized pieces. They were served with strawberry jam and sour cream. There were ample waffles and coffee to serve an army. Two tables of goodies were set up. One outside and one inside. A Viking was there to greet us. Many people saw this as a photo opportunity but as a frequent visitor to Scandinavia, I knew what was waiting for us up ahead so I by passed our Norseman and headed straight for the main course!!

Back on board, the boat continued to hug the sheer walls of the North side of the Fjord. All the time, our guide, an English lady who moved to Norway about twenty years ago kept us informed with stories of smugglers and Viking long boats.

The engines from our catamaran cut off and we were told we are now below the world renowned Preikestolen, more commonly known as ‘pulpit rock’. As if the whole of the passengers were hypnotised and a trigger word had just been uttered, we all darted to the upper deck to get a closer view. Pulpit Rock is an overhang of a steep cliff that rises just over six hundred metres above the fjord. The overhang is practically flat and with an area of twenty-five metres squared, attracts between 150,000 and 200,000 brave visitors per year. There are a brave few who have dared to sit on the edge of the rock and dangle their feet over the side. Some people will go to extreme measures just to impress their Facebook friends!!

We were told that there is a crack in the overhang that is growing in size each year. Every winter as the snow falls, the crack is covered and as the snow freezes, it expands and is gradually making the crack wider. Eventually, it maybe a hundred years, it could be a thousand years, the rock will plummet in to the deep fjord below and when it does, it will cause a mini tsunami that will completely devastate nearby Stavanger..and on that happy note, it was time to turn around and head back to base.

At 17:30, we were about to weigh anchor and break our moorings. The captain then made an announcement wishing everyone had had a pleasant stay in Stavanger. He continued: ‘We were brought in this morning by the 2^nd Officer Jordon Brown who I’m sure you’ll agree turned this ship on a sixpence in bringing us alongside. We will shortly be taken out of Stavanger by Cadet Matt Kenney. That’s why I’m making this announcement from Lifeboat number 2!!!’

We were now on our last legs (er? I think you mean final leg – Roisin) (er, I know what I mean – Chris!!) We thought the ship’s problems were behind us but whilst in our cabin, Roisin came out of the bathroom. Having flushed the toilet, the water was filthy black. This left a horrid black stain around the toilet bowl. I felt like leaving a note for the cabin steward simply saying ‘It wasn’t me!!’ The fault wasn’t just confined to the loo. The water from the sink was affected too. At first it was running as expected then a gurgle and a splutter and turned not a very nice shade of black!! Luckily the following morning, after our penultimate night on board, everything seemed to be back to normal. Although other passengers had experienced a similar issue in their bathrooms, we never got to the bottom of the cause but to be honest, I not sure we wanted to!!

As I’ve already mentioned several times in this blog I have purposely not mentioned our trivia exploits. I can now reveal that after twelve days of varying degrees of trivia, we won two individual trivia’s, one music trivia, one cryptic bands/groups trivia (for example: clue: Rotten Etiquette, answer: Bad Manners), a team general knowledge trivia outright and also one on a tie break (we also lost one on a tie break). The most impressive win, however, was the Champions League of trivias, the progressive trivia. This occurred every sea day and the scores accumulated. Each day would be in two parts. Part one contained twenty plus visual questions (Flags, logos, dingbats even obscure jazz/swing songs) followed by ten general knowledge questions. We were not told the scores until the final round so were kept in suspense for eight sea days. We amassed a score of 152 (and two thirds??!) The next best was 146. We won a certificate, a bottle of red ‘cheap ship’ wine and more importantly two gold stickers each. On P & O, prizes are not now given for each trivia event but instead, gold stickers. These could now be exchanged for prizes on this, the final day. For example, a pen and key ring set cost two gold stickers, a travel alarm cost four gold stickers and so on. Like the British Winter Olympic team who have given themselves a target of five medals, Team Hodgson had given themselves a target of ten gold stickers. I can now happily announce that we surpassed this amount achieving a total of eighteen stickers!! Whoo-hoo!!)

All throughout this cruise, one of the entertainment team, the youngest, little Georgie had been giving tap lessons. For his last lesson, I thought I’d attend. You never know, I could pick up some tricks of the trade. I entered Harlequins lounge armed with my wrench and washer extractor only to find out this had nothing to do with improving my plumbing skills!! Although with all the issues surrounding burst and cracked pipes due to the extreme weather, lessons on plumbing would not have been as daft as it sounded!!

Whether summer or winter, the Norwegian fjords never fail to deliver such awe and beauty. I would almost go as far as to say the scenery is enough to take your breath away but I think that had something to do with the gale force winds we encountered.

So, that’s another cruise in the bag and another bucket list item ticked off. The Gods were favourable and switched the lights on to perform for us so we were privileged to witness one of the world’s most mesmerising phenomenons. I leave you with the following quote from Nigel Tisdall: ‘The aurora borealis is a fickle phenomenon. A week can pass without a flicker ... then bang! The Northern Lights come on like a celestial lava lamp.’

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Photos

Pulpit Rock - ffrom the top
With thanks to www.visitstavanger.com