Nordfjord, Lovunda
This morning, we crossed the Arctic Circle and navigated our way through Melfjord into an even narrower, steeper fjord called Nordfjord. As we dropped anchor at the very back end of this passage, clouds rolled in overhead and welcomed us with a light sprinkle. The steep, glaciated walls to our north and south climbed right up into these clouds, and waterfalls cascaded down the glacier-smoothed slopes of rock walls and grassy ledges. Here, some of the group joined our naturalists for some adventurous bushwhacking through the dense foliage up the valley, while others hopped in the sea kayaks to paddle along the cliffs and watch the waterfalls.
Lunch back on board was a welcome reward for our busy morning as we pulled anchor and headed back down across the Arctic Circle to the isolated fishing island of Lovund. This island is dominated by a large mountain populated by hundreds of thousands of sea birds, including puffins. Eider ducks and various gulls greeted us as we came ashore into the small fishing village on the protected east side of the island. We walked around this village of some 450 inhabitants, and we could smell cod fish drying outside of the small, red huts and homes. Some of our group opted to go looking for birds and wildlife in the Zodiacs, while others wandered through the town and visited the local shops.
We came back aboard for a delicious dinner, and then to celebrate our crossing of the Arctic Circle into the midnight sun, we returned ashore on Lovund for a late evening hike up to the base of some puffin nests on the grassy, scree-covered mountainside. When we reached our high point on the steep slopes, the puffins swarmed overhead in the quiet, evening air as they returned from their day spent out at sea. The atmosphere up there was seemingly enchanted as the clouds misted around the distant, jagged islands visible to our northwest and the shadowy fjords to our east. The skerries out on the water sprawled out on the sea below us like stepping stones, and the lights of the village faintly glowed by the little harbor dotted with fishing boats. As midnight drew nigh, we meandered back to our Zodiacs moored at the pier for a tasty hot chocolate treat and a final, twilit return on the glassy, silver water to the National Geographic Endeavour and at last to bed.
This morning, we crossed the Arctic Circle and navigated our way through Melfjord into an even narrower, steeper fjord called Nordfjord. As we dropped anchor at the very back end of this passage, clouds rolled in overhead and welcomed us with a light sprinkle. The steep, glaciated walls to our north and south climbed right up into these clouds, and waterfalls cascaded down the glacier-smoothed slopes of rock walls and grassy ledges. Here, some of the group joined our naturalists for some adventurous bushwhacking through the dense foliage up the valley, while others hopped in the sea kayaks to paddle along the cliffs and watch the waterfalls.
Lunch back on board was a welcome reward for our busy morning as we pulled anchor and headed back down across the Arctic Circle to the isolated fishing island of Lovund. This island is dominated by a large mountain populated by hundreds of thousands of sea birds, including puffins. Eider ducks and various gulls greeted us as we came ashore into the small fishing village on the protected east side of the island. We walked around this village of some 450 inhabitants, and we could smell cod fish drying outside of the small, red huts and homes. Some of our group opted to go looking for birds and wildlife in the Zodiacs, while others wandered through the town and visited the local shops.
We came back aboard for a delicious dinner, and then to celebrate our crossing of the Arctic Circle into the midnight sun, we returned ashore on Lovund for a late evening hike up to the base of some puffin nests on the grassy, scree-covered mountainside. When we reached our high point on the steep slopes, the puffins swarmed overhead in the quiet, evening air as they returned from their day spent out at sea. The atmosphere up there was seemingly enchanted as the clouds misted around the distant, jagged islands visible to our northwest and the shadowy fjords to our east. The skerries out on the water sprawled out on the sea below us like stepping stones, and the lights of the village faintly glowed by the little harbor dotted with fishing boats. As midnight drew nigh, we meandered back to our Zodiacs moored at the pier for a tasty hot chocolate treat and a final, twilit return on the glassy, silver water to the National Geographic Endeavour and at last to bed.
