July 14th/15th
After the second night of partying in Trondheim I spent a slow morning in the park by the cathedral. After lunch I decided to take the ferry to the island of Munkholmen. This was the site of a monastery until the Reformation, and was later the site of a fortress and a prison. The guide told us about a particular count who was a prisoner there who took his servant to jail with him for about 18 years. The gunpowder room in the fortress was dome shaped to channel any explosion upwards - this room has particularly bizarre acoustics.
After a stroll around and a sit on the beach there I took the second ferry back as the first one was full. I had enough time to grab some food before heading off to catch the Spiderman movie at the excellent cinema with DTS sound and THX certification. The movie, incidentally, was most enjoyable!
I then returned to the hostel to grab my bags and headed for the train station, to catch the night train to Bodø. I briefly considered using one of the free bicycles that are scattered around the city centre, but decided that I was carrying too many bags for it to be practical.
The night train was an interesting experience. I had the top of three bunks in a cabin with two Norwegians. They weren't very talkative, but they did tell me where the restaurant car was, so I sat in there until midnight drinking a beer, before climbing to the top of my very high bunk - it was quite a climb! Sleeping on a train is rather nice, in case you were wondering. The rocking and bouncing motion is rather soothing. It is rather noisy though, so not for light sleepers. Thankfully I am the type of sleeper who could sleep through an air raid.
I almost slept through the arrival in Bodø, being woken up only by the five minute PA announcement. I went first to the tourist information office. I was hoping to head for Tromsų, even further North. But, alas, none of the connections worked out. I would end up reversing my journey so far completely - having to spend another night in Bodø, and Trondheim, and I would get back to Geiranger a day too late. Not wanting to face this, I had to change my plans. So I instead bought a ticket for the ferry to Svolvær, the biggest town on the most Northern of the Lofoten islands.
I still had the day in Bod&oring;, though, and went to the main attraction in town, the aviation museum. Bod&oring; itself wasn't my favourite place. It was the least cosmopolitan of the cities I have been to so far, and much of it was a building site. I am sure I am being unfair - the new buildings will become improvements to the town, but I didn't feel like spending much time there. The aviation museum, though, despite being a two Km walk away, was very worthwhile. The building is shaped like a propeller. The two blades are huge halls containing aircraft and displays, and the centre is a control tower offering a good view over the town. I particularly enjoyed the section on Little Norway, the WWII training camp in Canada, including one officer's cartoons about the people on the camp. It gave a good feel for what life must have been like as a trainee in the Norwegian air force.
I took the four hour ferry trip to Svolvær, arriving at 9pm. The scenery was becoming quite harsh, with jagged rocks jutting hundreds of metres out of the water. The ferry stopped several times along the way, sometimes in places that looked so remote I couldn't imagine staying one day there, never mind living there. Fortunately, Svolvær is quite a sizeable, attractive town. I had a slight panic at first, when every hotel in the guidebook I rang was full. I don't know what I would have done - the ferry didn't leave until the next day - if I hadn't found the tourist information place still open. I think I managed to get the last bed in town, in a private guest house 15 minute's walk from the town centre.