Ålesund was a new port for us in Norway, and after a lazy day in Olden and a sail away on Sky Princess down the Nordfjord the night before, we had more of a plan for this particular Norwegian town. There will be more details about Ålesund itself in a later post in this cruise travelogue series when we use some free time at the end of the day’s excursion to have a walk around and a couple of drinks, but for now you can get a feel for how much larger than many fjord ports the town was, and see the lack of some of the more impressive Norwegian landscape views on account of Ålesund being located near the entrance of a fjord rather than deep within one.
Our Princess Cruises excursion was due to take us to the nearby islands of Giske and Godøya, and if you know anything about cruising or anything about islands then your first thought might be that this would involve one or more boat trips. It’s a reasonable thought, but then you have to factor Norway into the equation. A weird fact about Norway is that it really likes tunnels. We’d previously driven through the longest road tunnel in the world (still, at time of writing) when we’d visited the Borgund Stave Church in 2013, and we’d encountered a few smaller ones through hills on this cruise already, but in Ålesund we’d get to experience underwater tunnels for the first time. Why does Norway like tunnels? It’s either a Freudian sex thing or wanting to appease trolls. With Norwegians, either is equally likely.
Our bus took us via tunnel underwater to Valderøya first, then over a bridge to Giske, then another underwater tunnel to Godøya.
You’ll probably be able to guess already – indeed, you may well have searched the internet for the Giske and Godøya excursion on a cruise that you’re planning, so you’ll know – that our destination on Godøya was the Alnes Lighthouse.
The present Alnes Lighthouse – the fourth to serve the island as a navigation aid for fishing – dates from 1937. The first lighthouse in 1853 was little more than a window in a wall lit dimly with three candles so as not to confuse vessels with the lighthouse on Runde, and operated for only a few months in winter. This was replaced by a lantern that could be hoisted up a pole. In the 1870s a small guard house was built and the lighting time extended to most of the year but attracting anyone to work the beacon proved difficult due to the poor conditions so a larger, better residence was constructed and in the early 1890s moved to its current location. In 1928 the lighthouse was connected to the electricity grid and a backup gas light was installed.
Getting off the bus we were told that we were free to visit the lighthouse or the former lighthouse-keeper’s residence (now a café and exhibition centre) during our allotted time, and that our excursion included a pancake and drink in the café. We headed straight for the lighthouse. Inside we were greeted by art from local artists on the walls and steep steps up a few floors that wouldn’t feel out of place on a warship. They’re the sort you walk down backwards for safety, so bear that in mind if you’ve got any mobility issues or are a generally clumsy oaf. My wife, who has a history of falling down steps, actually managed okay, though.
At the top of Alnes Lighthouse we were treated to some lovely views courtesy of the natural beauty of Norway and a spectacularly bright and sunny June day. We also might have been treated to a phallic shadow that made me snigger.
There wasn’t a lot of room at the top of the lighthouse so we limited our time admiring the Godøya scenery in order that those other members of our cruise excursion who’d hit the monument rather than the café first could see the sights and grab some photos of their own. We’re considerate like that. We then headed off to get our included snack which was fine, pleasant enough, but nothing outstanding.
We spent the remainder of our time at Godøya wandering down to the shoreline. The beach there was rocky and absolutely gorgeous. Norway is not short of wonderful views.
In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll move onto the second part of this day’s excursion while in Ålesund when we stop on the island of Giske to visit the church there.