June 2005  Author: Toni   On a rainy windy 31st of May we departed Ega Marina as planned. Our sail plan is unchanged and we are sailing north towards Norway. The wind is in our favour. Gry and Lars are getting their first sailing experiences on Little Swan. Luckily for us a southerly change from the prevailing westerly lets us sail across Skagerak at good speed arriving in Kristiansand in the middle of the night. “God dag Norge”. The southerlies did not last very long and the westerly winds were back at 15 to 25 knots. We struggle on under engine power, seeking shelter in Mandal, Faresund, and Egersund. All lovely places for a stopover. It is supposed to be summer but wintry condition makes us feel cold and we had to wear full arctic gear. In Stavanger we pick up Ben and set off to explore the famous Lysefjord. This Fjord is one of the most spectacular ones in Norway and we stayed there for 3 days. We hiked to Prekeistolen, a rock formation which rises 604 meters up from sea level and overhanging bit on the top, if you dare to look down makes your toes curl. The scenery on this sunny day was just spectacular and made our 25 km hike worth it. Even better, the sun was shining. A couple of days later we arrived in Bergen, the capital on the west coast of Norway. Luckily we were able to berth along the quay right in the middle of town. There were large square riggers, cruise ships, ferries and lots of private vessels. The town was humming with festivities and tourists enjoying them selves. Little Swans Australian flag attracted the attention of many and we patiently answered the standard question: “Have you really sailed all the way from Australia?” or “You’re a long way from home”. We too joined the tourists in viewing Museums, take the cable car up the steep mountain, window shopping, eating multicoloured, multiflavoured Ice creams. Listening to the Bands playing in the street. The fish market was another temptation with Salmons on offer. The smoked and spiced Salmon our favoured. We decided to do one more Fjord and that will be enough for us to last a lifetime. A hundred miles north of Bergen is Sognefjord wich is supposed to be the longest fjord in Norway. It certainly felt that way as we had to motor against a strong wind for 40 miles and were only half way up the fjord. We rested in the town of Vik and the attraction there was the over 1000 year old wooden church. A few miles further on was the township of Mundal and the Glacier not too far away. We prepared our trip up the mountain and looked forward walking on the Glacier. The reality however looked quit different. Not even half way up the track signs were removed, the fog (or was it the clouds) moved in and the possibility of getting lost was real. We returned to Mundal safely and enjoyed the midnight light as it was the 21st of June. Alan our 5th crew member had arrived in Bergen and we better go back and pick him up for our next leg to the Faroe’s and Iceland. Norway was a great country to see and experience and we surely could have spend a lot more cruising time there.