To the Arctic Circle and beyond: Day 6 - aah, Bjorn lad, that be a ship

Fantoft Stave Church

It was raining again in Bergen on the Saturday morning. Admittedly, that isn't unusual in Bergen, set as it is on the eastern edge of a vast expanse of ocean. And, having spent a bit of time in Bergen already, we didn't have an awful lot left to do.

However, Ros's friend, Svein, was keen to show us one of Norway's finest contributions in the sphere of church architecture, the Fantoft Stave Church. The original was first erected in 1150, before being moved to its current location in 1883, as it was no longer needed.

There is one small catch, in that, actually, it isn't the original. The original was burnt to the ground by a member of the early Norwegian black metal scene in 1992, before being rebuilt. From the outside, it isn't so obvious, but inside, the timbers are yet to season fully, and it does look almost cosy.

We then took a drive out to the country, to one of Svein's favourite spots but, all too soon, it was time to go - a boat was waiting...

When it works, the Hurtigruten works very well indeed. On arrival at the terminal, we were ushered to a desk, our luggage was labelled and taken away, and we were asked to attend a mandatory safety briefing (we passed, I'm happy to note).

Our suite... Yes, that is a bay window...

On to the ship, and up to our suite, where we found our luggage, waiting to be put away. A quick exploration uncovered a walk-in wardrobe, a surprisingly spacious bathroom (walk-in shower and a bathtub), a bedroom with, beyond it, a lounge and, beyond that, a bay window which protruded beyond the ship, providing a vista to look at from the warmth of the suite.

But there wasn't time to enjoy the comforts of our home for the next six nights, as a buffet dinner was waiting for us.

The Hurtigruten isn't a cruise in the classic sense, it's a working mode of transportation, allowing residents of small coastal towns to travel to and from big cities such as Bergen, Trondheim, Bodø and Tromsø. The tourists merely allow it to cover its costs. So, it isn't as chi-chi as a cruise ship, but it is rather good, with locally sourced seafood and fresh salads, meats and cheeses.

We had long finished dinner, but it was still fairly light when, at 10.30, the MS Trollfjord slipped its moorings and set sail, bound for Florø...

To the Arctic Circle and beyond: Day 5 - in which our voyagers retrace their steps...

The Norwegian Air Shuttle flight to Bergen leaves Gatwick at 10.50 a.m., which is all very well if you live in London, especially South London. It isn't so great if you live in Suffolk but, luckily, Ros's term-time flat in London was available to us, so an early, but bearably so, start as we headed back to Norway.

I don't use Gatwick very much, but check-in and security were rather straightforward, and the South Terminal was crowded but not overly so. We grabbed breakfast and headed to the gate for our flight.

Nice, eh? A bit strange, but very Scandinavian...

Norwegian offer free wi-fi throughout the flight (an unfamiliar but welcome facility), so the journey passed relatively easily and we arrived in Bergen on time, grabbing a taxi to our hotel. It was our first reminder as to just how expensive Norway is - you always find yourself mentally exclaiming "how much?" with a slightly panicky air of disbelief - but we arrived at the hotel, checked into our room (with a balcony, no less) and made a reservation for some traditional Norwegian fare - there may have been reindeer and fish involved.

I checked the Hurtigruten website. The MS Trollfjord was making its way south towards Bergen and was on time. Things were beginning to look up...

Dinner was... interesting. Excellent food, service of a decidedly amateurish streak. But then, Norwegians don't really tip - they assume that people get paid a proper salary - so some of the incentive is missing. Wesselstuen is a rather traditional sort of place, with an emphasis on the food, rather than the ambience. However, that suits me just fine, especially if there's reindeer on the menu.

Replete, we had a brief stroll around the town in bright sunshine before heading back to the hotel for a good night's sleep...