Convoys and the Long Way Home

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I think everyone was quite pleased when we arrived into Kristiansund on Saturday.The weather was a little overcast but no rain or fog.A great difference to Russia.Docked at 0930 and we were off for a walk around town before 1000.The buildings acroos from the dock actually house a large shopping mall and are not really separate buildings-

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A picturesque port-

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The local Tourist Information rep is ready to board-

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One interesting finding was that each town had distinctive manhole covers-

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Beautiful floral displays-

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And more of the harbour-

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So the fast ferry to Trondheim and the much slower local ferry-

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More of the harbour-

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The last of the port area-

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Statues from the klipfish days and something found floating in the harbour just over 70 years ago-

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Garden shops everywhere overflowing with summer colours-

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In Kristainsund we took the Atlantic highway and Stavnes church trip.Was enjoyable although we chose the wrong side of the bus-the fjord view was always the other side though we did have the Atlantic on our side of the bus.So to the pics-

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Continuing towards the Atlantic road-

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A long used marble quarry-

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Getting close to the Atlantic-

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And the first glimpse of the Atlantic-

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Now scenes from the Atlantic road-several small islands joined by bridges-

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Across the fjord is the marble quarry and then we stop for a walk around a headland-

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Cloudberries.Though not ripe-

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Now to more flora on the walk-

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More from our stroll.The second photo I believe is a ground orchid.Probably Dactylorhiza maculate.Ground orchids are one of the things I am in to.

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The water was so clear-

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I now crossed the road and took some shots the other way-

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So it was back on the bus-

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Another short stop to see if we could get pictures of an historic village.Unfortunately not really-

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Another tour had gone to the village on an island by viking boat.As we left the intrepid travellers were returning.Cant see any oars!

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The last of the Atlantic road.The currents between islands were strong-

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We now headed away from the ocean through beautiful farm lands-

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Even saw Bambi eating-

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Views across the fjord-

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Salmon farms-

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We came to our last stop the Stave church-old wooden churches which can date from the 1500s.Different sources say 28-35 still exist in Norway.As we arrived a wedding service had just finished in the modern church-

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Now the Stave church.The beams were put in place after a severe storm in 1992-

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The inside of the old church-

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Back outside and gorgeous views.Also note the blue skies are appearing-

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Now back on the bus to Kristiansund-

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Close to Kristiansund the landscape changes-

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We went through a 5km tunnel to get to the island the port was on.There was a toll.However once a project has been paid off the toll is removed.So now pics going through the town-

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Back to the ship a little after 4pm.Heard a loud siren.looked behind us and the Hurtigren ferry was hurtling into port-

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Sail away-

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The last of the sail away-

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That night we had dinner with a Dutch couple.A very pleasant evening.Naturally at one stage the talk turned to food.On our first night in Europe we had stayed at a boutique hotel-the Manoir Inter Scaldes and ate at their 2 Michelin starred restaurant.It turned out that this couple had eaten there on several occasions.They agreed with us that it is a great restaurant.
Now after leaving Kristiansund the clouds rolled in.However they began to retreat so I was able to get some evening colours.I do love sunsets at sea-

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We awoke on Sunday steaming through the fjords on our way to Haugesund.Initially the weather was perfect with temp 16C but with a little mist which seemed to enhance the scenery-

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We passed small villages and larny fish farms and that essential mode of transport for Norway the ferry.

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The clouds lessened,visibility improved and for a while we had a very scenic cruise-

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The fog remains in the distance-

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The summer campers are out and another Hydro plant-

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Cars are waiting for the ferry which wont be long-

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The salmon were very active-

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The fog started rolling in again as we came to a big shipbuilding and oil and gas service port.Presumably part of Haugesund though it doesn't compute looking at aerial maps-

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