Wonderfjord

The geography of Norway is difficult to grasp, but safe to say most of the country is jaw-droppingly beautiful. It's not the season for whale-watching, which had been on mother's birthday bucket list, but there are a billion fjord trips to do. The choice is baffling but we settled on visiting the picturesque community of Rosendal situated on the Hardangerfjord, the second longest in Norway.

After a stunning boat journey there were bucolic scenes aplenty, of rose gardens and sheep bells ringing, and I lost count of the number of cute wooden houses that I would like to live in. In Rosendal and the countless islands that we passed, colourful homes perch on the rocks, many with their own boatsheds and inhabitants pootling at the water's edge.

There's an old stately home in Rosendal, the Baroniet, corresponding to a time when baronies governed over regions and collected taxes from peasants. It was an interesting tour to hear the history, and was conducted by a guy who was a more highbrow replica of Peter Crouch. At the restaurant next to the Baroniet we ate Norwegian salmon and rhubarb cake.

Norway has strict legislation for accessing alcohol. On Saturdays it's not possible to purchase any in shops after 3pm. Wanting to avoid the £9.50 per beer that is paid in bars and restaurants, before the curfew I panicked like a classic British binge drinker and bought a six-pack of lager (at a cost of £17) and hauled it around all day. My sister also bought some pick n mix, which is hugely popular in Norway, and spent about a tenner's worth of krone for a weight barely discernible to the human hand.