July 16th
Breakfast was at 9, taken with some of the other guests at the house, next to a window overlooking the fjord with mountains beyond. Anne Gerd, the owner of the house, showed me a hiking route on the map which wouldn't be too hard (as I didn't have the proper boots and am not fit enough...). The route would nonetheless take me to the top of a mountain. This was a very useful service that no hotel would have been able to provide! I set off just after ten. I took the road out of town, and then followed a gravel path that led up the base of the mountain to a communications mast. There was already a good view over the town from here. I didn't stick around too long in case there was some of the equipment that I work with in the adjoining hut that needed fixing...
There was a rocky path that led away from the road and up the mountain. At times it was very steep and I had to rest, but by midday I was at the top and had signed my name in the book that was up there. I hung around for about an hour, deciding to send some email from up a mountain and take in the view.
I went back down into town in time to get some lunch and take a tourist boat trip on the fjord. The views were spectacular, every imaginable contortion of rock was represented. Quite how these formations,er, formed is beyond me. I shall have to find out! One side trip into a small bay revealed a cascading waterfall with several forks of milky water splitting off to form seperate waterfalls. It was a scene that would not look out of place on a tropical island.
After returning on the ferry at 6pm I grabbed some dinner and went for a walk in the other direction out of town where I was reliably informed there was a small sandy beach. I sat on the beach and read my book for a while. A swim wouldn't have been out of the question - there were others swimming - but I hadn't brought a towel and it was too chilly to dry off, not because there was no sun (it is daylight even now at 22.30) but because the beach faced east and there were high rocks behind casting a shadow. I made my way back the the guesthouse and relaxed in the comfortable lounge overlooking - you guessed it - the fjord and the mountains.