Kayaking

After my breakfast of Muesli and coffee (instant--ugh), I walked to Njord kayaking on the other side of the harbor for my tour of the fjord.  Turns out, I was the only participant, so I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted.  My guide was Ervin, who has lived and kayaked all over the world and knows about 7 languages. 

Getting my big body in the gear and the cockpit were a challenge (my recreational kayak at home has a huge cockpit--not so these sea kayaks), and I was glad there weren't others around.  Ervin was nonplussed, and did nothing to make me feel more awkward, which I very much appreciated.  This was a two person kayak, which gave me the liberty of paddling if I wished, or just taking photos and enjoying the view. 

I paddled most of the way out, and before long we were as far as Aurland (8 km), a trip that took me about 3 times as long with my little 5 hp motor the other day.  I couldn't believe how swiftly we were moving.   At one point, we headed into a waterfall, which I loved so much I asked Ervin to go again.  I was, of course, drenched at the end of the tour.  We paddled around to an area known as the Old King's Path, where we got out for a hike.  Now, this was not really a path, but it wasn't hilly or anything.  Still, we were walking over mossy stones and mud and everything was soft and wet--about five minutes in we came to stream and I told Ervin I wanted to turn back.  I knew there were waterfalls and other splendors ahead, but with my gear and my wetboots and my fatigue, I was really concerned about falling or twisting an ankle. I was disappointed in this, but I was slipping on rocks and just knew I was one slight misstep from ruining the rest of my trip.

We had a seal trailing us for awhile, but I only saw his back as he dove down.  Ervin said seals and porpoises are fairly common in the fjord, even here at the south end, and I should watch for them primarily at dawn and dusk.

The mist in the mountains was absolutely beautiful, especially from the viewpoint of the top of the water, and as Ervin related some of the legends of trolls and stuff, I realized how easy it would be to imagine singing coming from that mist or magical creatures existing within it.  I wish I had been able to take some notes as he spoke because he gave me the names of each peak and waterfall in this area, but I need to see a thing written to have any shot at remembering it. 

I didn't paddle much on the way back, I'm afraid, just enjoyed the rocking of the kayak, the view and the pleasure of being that close to the water.  The only downside was that a cruise ship came into the harbor while we were out.  That was cool to see, but the ship then sat in the harbor for a few hours, and the running of its engines created a low throb in the air that replaced the great calm that comes from gliding in a kayak with a constant agitation until the ship left about 7. 

I have to admit, though, it was pretty fascinating watching it turn around in the fjord. 

On a tech note, I debated for about a month before this trip about whether or not to buy a Kodak Playsport for the trip.  It's a waterproof video camera that will also take 5 MP still photos.  I have way too many such gadgets, but I kinda thought a waterproof camera might be handy, and, well, I like any excuse to get a gadget.  It was worth the purchase just to have the camera with me on the kayaking trip.  I didn't get the great shots I would have gotten with my DSLR, but the little camera did fine for some web shots, and I was happy not to have to worry about it or fumble with a camera through a dry bag.  And it's purple.