When in this part of Norway I know from past cruises that Olsen’s like to treat guests to an astounding sail into and out of the smallest Fjord that a ship of the size of Braemar can safely navigate and turn the ship around with metres to spare. The Trollfjord is a 2 km long sidearm of the Raftsund between the Norwegian archipelagos of Lofoten and Vesterålen. It has a narrow entrance (Only a couple of metres on either side of the vessel) and steep-sided mountains. The name is derived from supernatural beings in Norse mythology that dwell in isolated rocks, mountains, or caves and are rarely helpful to human beings. It is said that trolls are only visible at night since they turn to stone upon being exposed to sunlight. As the Captain commented on exiting the Troll Fjord having executed a masterly about turn of the ship “This explains why there are so many stones around here!”
Our entry and exit from the Trollfjord today was perhaps made a shade more interesting by watching a pair of White Tailed Eagles who vacated their territory as we entered and then returned to reclaim their home as we left. Just a rather sad sight to see them flying through a fog of filthy exhaust from the ship’s funnel.
On a more optimistic note future cruise ships are likely to be powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) – see the posting on Hammerfest – and as from the end of 2014 strict environmental restrictions on marine pollution will mean that ships powered by heavy fuel oil will not be able to visit Spitsbergen and other core areas in the Arctic and Antarctic.
The first photo is mine. The 2nd & 3rd (Which I notice has a Sea Eagle) photos are courtesy of the on-board photographers.
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