We cruised into Kristiansund in the morning, once again a lovely panorama to start the day. This time, it was islands, snow-covered mountains, and beautiful coastline. The city of Kristiansund is located on four main islands.
Approaching Kristiansund
Kristiansund Harbor
Our excursion this day was a drive to Averoya Island. To get there, we had to go through a tunnel hat goes down 830 feet to allow us to go under the fjord. The tunnel is about 3 miles long. That must have been one heck of a project. Norway, with its wealth from North Sea oil, has invested wisely in its infrastructure. The result is roads, bridges, and tunnels connecting its spread-out country.
The object of our visit was the Kvernes stave church. Many of these old churches have been dismantled and replaced. There are just a handful that remain. We had an interesting presentation by a certified representative of Norway's historical sites body. Thanks to her talk, I got an answer to one of my questions. Over and over in churches we've visited, we've noticed a model ship hanging from the ceiling and wondered why. They don't seem particularly sacred. It turns out that they represent the journey of life from cradle to grave and that they are typical of churches in coastal areas.
Our trusty bus driver drove us around the island, so we got to see some lovely vistas, lots of farms, and the ubiquitous local aquaculture of salmon.
We were taken on the 8km Atlantic Road, a local claim to fame. It has 8 bridges, one of which climbs dramatically and swoops out over the ocean, looking for all the world like a segment of a roller coaster.
We sailed out of Kristiansund harbor in early evening, evening being a funny thing. It's a time on a clock, but there is little darkening of the sky this far north and at this time of year. Sunrise is sometime before 4am, and sunset is after 11:30pm. Since we will be sailing north for the next 2 days, that short "night" will be even shorter.
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