Today we visited a beautiful fjord halfway up the coast of Norway called Nordfjord. At the end of the fjord is a beautiful example of a glacially formed U-shaped valley. The head of the fjord afforded a perfect setting for our morning activities, which included a walk through the birch woodlands as well as a scramble up a talus slope, photo walks on a small beach, and kayaking in the calm waters of the fjord. We also took Zodiac cruises down the fjord to get a closer look at the magnificent banded gneiss of the nearly vertical walls of the fjord. These rocks represent the roots of a gigantic mountain range formed 420 million years ago when Greenland collided with Western Europe. This mountain range was probably similar in height and majesty to the Himalayas today, but most of it has now been removed by erosion exposing the roots. As we made our way out of the fjord we passed a beautiful waterfall and the captain stopped the ship to give us a close-up view.
We continued out of the fjord and into the islands of the coast and, in the evening, we stopped at a lovely small fishing village called Træna, which sits exactly on the Arctic Circle. We had a very nice stroll after dinner to visit the local church and the Arctic Circle monument, so we are now in the Arctic and will be for the remainder of the voyage.
