Troll Fjord in the Lofoten Islands

The fjord is so narrow that the Hurtigruten and other tour boats nearly scrape the sides when they venture inside. It is a fjord which implies a dead end, so the only reason to go there on one of the big boats is to show off to the passengers. Our trip was on a much smaller boat with room enough for only 30 or so passengers.

Our regular style worked here again. After breakfast we walked over to the embarkation point, paid our money and walked on board the boat almost as it was leaving the dock. The weather was cloudy with rain in the forecast, but we chose to forgo the rainsuits. That turned out to be a mistake as we were sitting outside and it did rain. After getting wet, we decided to put on the rainsuits. Linda had no problem, but the large size barely made it over my shoulders. At least it kept me dry. 

The ride to Troll Fjord was uneventful. We did drop off a group of cyclists who were planning to ride back to Svolvaer. We had quite a bit more room without the group and their cycles, something we would appreciate later. 

We arrived at Troll Fjord in fog, barely able to see the power plant in the distance. Norway has many of these type of power plants which send the water down tubes to the generators. This avoids the scars caused by damming rivers, but still leaves room for controversy about the ugliness of the huge pipes running down many Norwegian hillsides and the resultant loss of waterfalls.  

One of the few disappointments of the Norway trip was the lack of birds. But we did see two special birds on this trip. The first were the black guillemots playing in the fjord. Swimming, flying and sitting on the edge of the cliffs, they did a good job of showing themselves off.  

We even saw some trolls.  

 The excitement was yet to come. On the way back to Svolvaer, we stopped to do some fishing, if you can call it fishing. The tools consisted of one pole and four hooks with some bait. The mate dropped the line and immediately pulled it out. First case brought up two fish, the next only one, but it was a big one that went home with someone. Five fish later we were again underway. 

When we got to within a half hour of Svolvaer we again slowed and the mate began to feed the gulls with treats, not fish. We actually thought that was the point, but shortly the real star appeared on the horizon.  

When the eagle approached, the mate threw a fish out and the eagle swooped down to scoop it out of the water. I got a couple of good pictures, but not the great one. In the process, I did learn more about the camera and proper preparation. Next time will be better.

Oh yes, the Hurtigruten is a fleet of ferries that ply the route from Bergen to the very top of Norway. They have twelve boats on the six-day route stopping at each place the same time each day both directions.