In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries.

There are many fjords, and mountains often reaching to the sea.

While harsh, the microclimates along some fjords allowed for a pastoral lifestyle similar to that of Iceland.

Along the British Columbia and Alaska coast, the mountains intermix with the sea in a complex maze of fjords, with thousands of islands.

The most noticeable of these are the fjords deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age.

And we know that the Inuit killed the Norse and, probably of greater importance, may have blocked access to the outer fjords, on which the Norse depended for seals at a critical time of the year.

How you'd have loved the North Cape and the fjords and the midnight sun, to sail across the reef at Barbados, where the blue water turns to green, to the Falklands where a southerly gale rips the whole sea white!