Daniel and his lovely beard - which he is still threatening to shave off on the 1st of July. I think that he should at least keep it til he turns 30! or until he need a real job!
Views from the Skuleskogen National ParkThe majority of today was spent relaxing about at the summer home.
The wind could have been a little quieter, but it was all very
peaceful.
We did venture out onto the water in the row boat for a little bit of
exercise, but once out of the sheltered area and into the full force
of the wind, we decided the little row boat, and our novice rowing
arms weren't quite cut out for waves of any size. It was quite
entertaining watching poor Marea row against the wind and not move
anywhere for 5 minutes.
Come the evening it was time to walk back out of the wilderness to the
van and continue heading up the coast. Thank you very very much
Birgetta, Linn, Yohan, Simon and Peter for your fantastic hospitality
in Ostersund and at your summer house. It has been a wonderful start
to the Swedish leg of our journey.
The plan was to make it up to the Skuleskogen National Park via the
tourist route but we stopped enroute in the very pretty fishing
village of Norrfällsviken. We found our perfect spot for the night
right next to a secluded and beautiful beach. So secluded, it turned
out to be a naturists beach!! But the holiday season doesn't appear
to have started yet, as there was no one else to share the "no
textiles" beach with :-)
Today we made it to Sweden's coast and the Gulf of Bothnia. Our
destination - Birgetta and her family's summer house near Kromfors.
Our plan was to meet up at the "really really big bridge" and we
spotted this feat of engineering, from a few kilometres back; Linn's
description "our own Golden Gate" was very apt.
Then around the next corner we were meet by our hosts as they
frantically waved us down!! I guess our lumbering "big red bus" is
easy to spot. They had been waiting by the bus stop because the two
boys and a friend were returning to Ostersund, so our timing was
perfect.
After a short drive around the High Coast area (this coast line is
growing upwards at 1 cm a year), we parked Pat, but we still weren't
there - we had another 20 minutes of walking through the forest to get
to a secluded little patch of grass and a very cute 'dolls house' type
summer home. Supplies/building materials have to be driven over the
frozen lake during winter, there is no electricity here and until this
year no running water but if you want to get away from the rat race of
the outside world, this would be perfect!!
That evening after dinner we walked to the top of the hill with views
over the bay, and checked out the neighbours' home further round the
coast. We also saw plenty of moose droppings, but no mooses [sic]
unfortunately.
The weather was not on our side today - especially since we had made
the trip up to the mountains to enjoy the views:-( At the bottom of
the mountain it was very windy and cold, but apparently at the top the
winds were going at 22 metres/second (80km/hr). So with plan A
cancelled, we instead went for a smaller walk around part of the
mountain that had plenty of trees to keep us sheltered. On one hill
we did climb up, we were almost blown straight back off, so we weren't
hanging around!!
Now was time to head back past Ostersund to the coast. We went on a little tikitour on our way to Döda Fallet.Whilst Marea slept,Daniel, being clever, had entered our destination's GPS coordinates into Tomtom. However, it was not until he figured we were a bit lost
and Marea woke up that he confessed that he might just have bypassed a vital formatting option. Very familiar with this particular type of folly, Marea confirmed that Tomtom would have to be formatted to degrees, minutes, seconds format and not decimal degrees.
All mumbo jumbo to most, but tickled my funnybone, that even away from my work,
the same old problems with mapping coordinates are still cropping up.
Prior to the 7th of June 1796, Döda Fallet - translation Dead Falls,
were actually called The Great Falls. So great that the poor
foresters wanting to transport logs, down the river and lake systems
to the coast, would have lost all their logs at The Great Falls as
they "were been smashed to bits like match-sticks". A solution was
needed to get the logs past, so a channel was set up to divert some of
the water down a more gentle path. However still during contruction,
on the night of the 6th/7th, a great spring flood breached the wall
above the channel and emptied an entire lake in just 4 hours -
flooding the farmland below and silencing The Great Falls.
It was quite surreal walking among the dry falls with views of rock
formations carved out by centuries of tumbling water; you don't
normally get to see these at other waterfalls, as they are usually
covered in water.
It was back to Jamtli first thing in the morning where we visited the
more orthodox section; the museum. Here we learnt about the native
Sami people, and how for centuries they followed their Reindeer herds
along their migration routes from high in the mountains during summer
to the lower areas come winter. The Sami were excellent at making use
of almost every part of a culled Reindeer's body, and they always only
culled just enough Reindeer to survive - there was no over-indulgence
by anyone!! Today the Sami people share a similar story to so many
other native peoples around the world. With difference cultures
moving in and destroying the Sami people's way of life. This has
resulted in the Sami culture and language coming under threat.
However, it is legislated that all reindeer belong to the Sami and
there a resurgence of culture amongst young Sami people.
Also in the museum was a small section on the province of Jämtland,
where for many years as a result of different wars, it has been taken,
returned, conquered, re-conquered, re-taken several times by Denmark,
Sweden and Norway. I am sure all that has now come to an end, but
apparently there is (although not very serious) a group that wants to
see Jämtland an independent country!!
Another exhibit was of surprisingly well preserved 1000 year old
Viking weavings called Överhogdal Tapestries.These pieces were found
stored away in an old church, some being used as cleaning cloths!
There seems to be a technique the Vikings used to help preserve
materials that has now been lost over the centuries.
As but there is no written history to record what stories are on the
Tapestries there are a number of theories ranging from Pagan themes,
Doomsday, or Christian stories.
What was meant to be a morning outing to the museum turned into a good
part of the afternoon, so we didn't make it to Àre mountains until the
evening. The trip across was beautiful, as it took us around Lake
Störjön for a bit, then onto a FREE ferry, over an island in the lake,
on another FREE ferry (why can't Norway take leasons off Sweden :-),
then up the valley to Àre.
Today we had another lazy morning and in the afternoon, Peter took us
out on the lake in their boat. We saw a fantastic view of the Åre
mountains, which is where we plan to go next.
After this we visited Jamtli Historieland, which depicts recreations
of Swedish life in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Actors are
dressed for those times and role play, sometimes in old Swedish
dialect. We came across one house just as they were eating dinner so
we were invited to sit for a meal of pigs blood mixed with flour
(which formed a kind of pasta), served with a white sauce. It was
actually quite tasty and Daniel tucked into it with relish. The family
we were eating with, offered Daniel a job, as their previous worker
had left for America. They also thought he was too skinny and said
they'd feed him up. All of this role playing was translated by Peter
and was a very amusing exchange.
We also went back to our childhood days and got on stilts for a quick
walk around. After a few nervous moments, its just like riding a
bike!!
We had planned to go to the Åre mountains but there is so much to see
at Jamtli and our ticket is valid for two days so we decided to stay
another night in Ostersund and go to the mountains tomorrow afternoon.
A Yummy Midsommer spread:-) - we stuffed ourselves silly
Marea was happy this morning, cause I didn't have to climb over her to
get of bed, so she was able to have a real sleep-in:-)
Once we were up and alive, Birgetta introduced us to a Swedish staple
- a thick, sour milk to go with our cereal. It wasn't too bad at
all!!
As today is the day after mid summer celebrations, the whole country
has the day off to enjoy a lovely summer's day. We took a walk to
Ostersund centre, through the town and across a bridge to the island
of Frösön. Here we found a ski slope, that had great views of
Ostersund and Lake Storjön. It is quite amazing that for almost half
of the year the lake is completely frozen, and becomes a real winter
wonderland with ice skaters and cross country skiing going up and down
the lake. There are even ice roads across the lake to different
islands dotted around. After all, the ferry service can't work, so
why not just drive!!
Dinner was a fantastic family affair, as Linn was home for a summer
holiday, and after dinner we looked through some old slideshows from
the family's trips to the Southern Hemisphere in 1998 and 1989. There
were some great shots of the Verry family and farm.
An early morning for us all today. Kerryn's train to Oslo left at
05:21 so we were up around 04:40 and what a beautiful day it is, after
yesterday's miserable weather it is lovely.
We will miss Kerryn and her torets style "Farts" everytime we go over
speedhumps. For yes that's what they are called in Norway(we think),
and it caused much juvenile amusement.
Daniel and I also leave Norway behind, we have a very long, 7 hour,
drive to Ostersund in Sweden today, so it is great to be on the road
early. We are heading for Verry family friends for longest day
celebrations.
The early start meant we were able to drive almost half of the 7 hours
before we needed to stop for breakfast! We also saw a few fit and
motivated earlybirds off-season training for cross country skiing.
Just because all the snow has melted is no excuse for them to slack
off. They just swap their skis, for what can best be described as a
long pair off roller skates, and go 'skiing'/'skating' along the
roads, it looks like very hard work.
We stopped at the old copper mining village of Røros. This is a
Unesco World Heritage town that began mining for copper ore in 1644.
The wooden houses with their grassy roofs in the village do not seem
to have changed alot since then. This timewarp feels like a western
movie as you stroll down the streets, past the tiny wooden miners
cottages and saloon style shops. We also walked up onto the slag heap
(waste from the mine) for a better view from the town. It is quite
amusing that a large pile of waste rocks is now a protected site that
cannot be moved or removed :-)
After scouring the van for all the remaining Norwegian money we had,
we topped up on diesel then crossed the border into Sweden. The first
interesting thing we stopped to see was Tor, a 2000 year old meteorite
crater in the forest!! It was only a small crater - about 40 metres
wide, but cause by the meteorite travelling at 10km/second, or
36,000km/hour!!
We finally made it to Ostersund and Birgetta's house beside Lake
Storsjön. Birgetta and her family have visited us in Piopio a few
times, so it was time to see where they live finally!! We arrived
just in time for the mid-summer celebrations, and we have been spoilt
with fantastic food and hospitality. We ate so much food, that we had
to finish the evening with a walk around the shores of Lake Storsjön.
The lake shares a similar story to Loch Ness, as it to aparently has a
monster lurking below the surface!! Maybe another monster spotting
expedition is required ;-)
Today a good day to have a 'Sunday', as the weather was not inducive
to getting out and about :-(
The road followed the Tourist Railway Route which goes from Åndalsnes
to Dombàs. This gave us the chance to check out another impressive
old bridge - the Kylling Bridge. Built between 1913 and 1921, this
rail bridge is not the longest or highest bridge we have seen, but
considering the period that it was built in, and the technology they
would have had - it is quite an achievement, and definitely very
picturesque compared to some modern concrete monstrosities.
We turned off the main road and drove over the hill into the beautiful
(although wet) Skamsdalen Valley. It would have been a great place to
get out and about to explore, but instead we parked up for lunch, and
huddled up in blankets to try and keep warm, before falling asleep for
an afternoon nap. Even Kerryn went to sleep!!
We are stopped in a rest area with the intent of soaking up the last
of the sun whilst BBQing a 1kg marinated pork chop for dinner. Daniel
says that it may be cooked by tomorrow!
It is a special day today because it is 5 years to the day that Daniel
had twisted, nervous stomach all morning because of a lunchtime date
he had with a pretty young lady. The same day Marea fell asleep in an
afternoon meeting because her lunchtime cider, and more importantly
the first date of many, was so enjoyable ;-)
This morning we drove to the town of Åndalsnes with the express
purpose of finding a long walk for today. We were directed to
Isfjorden, where we followed the Grøvdalen Valley Road. With no idea
what we were in for, or even where we were really going, we packed
lunch and snacks, water and of course warm clothes.
And we needed them all! It was six hours before we got home and we'd
hiked through rain forest, beside a mountain river, over a swing
bridge, over rocks, over snow and up to frozen, snow covered mountain
lakes. The sun shone, the rain fell, it got freezing cold and then, as
we descended, it became a clear blue sky day again.
Between the three of us we saw, a badger, a frog, a cool blue beetle,
a deer and a nesting mountain bird. Its nest was in the rocks in the
middle of our path and along with the absence of any other footprints
in the snow meant we might have been the first hikers on that trail
this year.
Apparently it is Norway which may have been Tolkin's inspiration and
right now we are in Troll country, so Daniel insisted we check out the
Trollstigen ("The Troll's ladder'') , and not just from the bottom.
With 11 hairpins, it was pretty hairy for old Pat both up and down.
There is now a bridge across the very dangerous Stigefossen waterfall
but in centuries past, many men and beasts were lost over this
waterfall and the old packhorse route, which you can still scramble up
today.
After dinner we also checked out Trollveggen -the troll wall. This is
the largest vertical cliff face in Europe, It wasn't climbed until
1965 and is considered the ultimate challenge for Norwegian rock
climbers. The wall is 5500 feet, with 3000 vertical metres and a 150
foot overhang. Awesome!
Only 3 sleeps until Kerryn flies back to the UK and we have to start
making itinerary decisions again. Without regular access to the
internet and having limited travel books, we tend to rely on
information centres for inspiration. Having Kerryn on board has been
like have our own research assistant and personal tour guide, though
I'm afraid we've become a little lazy.
Today we drove to Ålesund which is world renown for its own
distinctive architecture. Ålesund was devastated by a fire in 1904
which burnt 850 houses and left tens of thousands homeless, but "a new
town rose phoenix-like from the ashes - in a distinctive Art
Nouveau-style with a myriad of turrets, spires and beautiful
ornamentation, like something from a fairy tale."
I felt a certain compulsion to visit Ålesund as its story is so
similar to Napier's; the city where I grew up. In 1931 Napier was also
flattened by a combination if earthquake and fire. And just like
Ålesund a beautiful new city was rebuilt though it was in the 1930's
Art Deco style.
Due to the time of year, there were no English speaking tours so we
took our own self guided tour, with Marea carrying the 'umbrella' for
authenticity. Over the years most of the hills around Ålesund have
been mined and flattened to make room for the expanding city but we
did climb a very steep 418 steps up Mount Aksla for fantastic views of
Ålesund's old town, the surrounding islands and out to a the majestic
Sunnmøre Alps.
After the city 'tour' we had to stock up on groceries where Kerryn and
Daniel managed to mistake a pack of 8 toilet rolls for 4 rolls of
kitchen towel. Under any other circumstance, having spare bog roll
wouldn't be problematic, but no matter how insistant they were that
(1ply) toilet roll would substitute just fine for kitchen roll, I
couldn't have it. What on earth are we going to do with eight rolls of
toilet paper!?!? I simply had to go and get a refund on the 16.9
kroner loo paper and purchase the 29.9 kroner, much more versatile
kitchen roll.
The road took us back inland where we stopped for dinner with a view
of the Skodjie Bridges. The bridge over Skodjestrumen sound is
apparently a "the bridge among bridges" being the largest stone bridge
in Europe when it was built in 1916.
Whilst we were there, a group with a guide stopped and we looked on
with not very covert interest, as their guide handed out what could
only conclude was delicacies, sure enough when, they had all had their
fill, we were offered what can only be described as fish jerky and it
was not too bad, nicer I thought than beef jerky anyway.
A relaxed morning, waking to the gentle lapping of the sea and
breakfast enjoyed outside in the sun again.
Today's destination was the Island of Runde. To get there we first
had to take a trip deep under the sea! To our delight the sea level
was helpfully marked by blue neon lights both at the entrance and exit
of the 6km tunnel. Numerous bridges (more anorak photos for Dave) and
a bit of island hopping later, we drove onto Runde; tourist
destination central judging by the many other campers. There is only
one Pat and we stick out like a sore thumb among the ubiquitous white
campers. We certainly get remembered, especially when one of them,
gets stuck behind us on a hill...hehe.
We'd come to Runde in search of puffegian speaking Puffins to see if
they were different from the puffish speaking ones in Scotland.
Unfortunately, though we huffed and puffed to the Raudenipa Ciffs on
the west side of the island, we saw tens of thousands of other
seabirds but no puffins. We settled in for the long wait til 20:00,
which is supposedly the best viewing time for puffins. The sun was
being uncooperative though so we decided to forgo the dubious
possibility of seeing puffins for a hot shower. At 10 kroner each(£1)
for 4 minutes of hot water, it was the best shower in two weeks!
Another seaside resting spot was found with a view for a sunset. There
was no spectacular sunset though, just a sliver of red between the
clouds and horizon but we did find out that sun set is at 23:30!!
The seven sisters waterfall
Then a 45min walk, to yes, yet another waterfall!! This one's unique
feature, was that you could walk right in behind the it. The
deafening sound of water smashing down was not definitely not
conducive to conversation.
Feeling like we needed something else, we decided to hike further up
the valley. However, someone took a wrong turn up a rather steep hill
and after a sweaty half hour we figured we didn't have enough time to
continue hiking up a 1500m mountain!! Daniel's popularity wasn't
helped by Kerryn and he apparently subscribing to opposite ends of the
Hare -Tortoise sprectrum, with Kerryn taking (a little) umbrage at
Daniel's two speeds: "fast and stopped" as she put it;-)
So with a ferry to catch, we turned back after 30mins and slipped and
slid back down the hill.
The ferry took us on a one hour scenic trip from Geiranger to
Hellesylt through the stunning Geirangerfjord.
Whilst longer and more expensive (£45) than other ferry crossings this
one was more like a boat cruise with commentary and a photo stop at
the seven sisters...another waterfall.
From Hellesylt, the drive took us through the very pretty Norangsdalen
valley, which just for a change, didn't have a fjiord. At one point a
massive landslide in 1908 had dammed the valley stream up. In the lake
that was subsequently formed you can still see the foundations of
small huts that the farmers used before their livelihood was flooded.
Across Hjørundfjord on a small ferry, we headed to a junction of three
fjiords - Vartdalsfjord, Voldafjord and Rovderfjorden. Our camping
spot is right on the waters' edge with blue sky!
After enviously eyeing up some fishermen's catch Marea reminded me
again, that I thrown away the fishing rod that came with Pat when we'd
bought him! In fairness, it was only a rod - no reel, no line, no
hooks, no sinkers...... she doesn't seem to appreciate that you need
all that other stuff too.
Never mind, perfect weather for BBQ'd pork chops.
We woke to a beautiful day, but unfortunately were under a hill and in
the shade. Never fear though, parking at a view point looking down to
Geiranger gave us unlimited possibilities of where we could move to
for breakfast. Once we eyed up the best spot we were soon down the
hill, around a Shetland Pony who seemed to think the road was his so
wasn't budging from the road, and into the sunshine to cook up a
storm!!
A walk was the next on the agenda. Where to? - have a guess. Yes,
another waterfall!! The attraction of this one though was that you
could walk in behind the waterfall. It was pretty deafening as the
full force of the water smashed down over top of you.
Not feeling like had walked far enough, the decision was made to hike
further up the valley. However, someone (OK, me (Daniel)) took a
wrong turn and we ended up walking straight up a rather steep hill.
For a while I was hoping the track would turn and go along the side of
the valley. Soon, after a few buckets of sweat had been discharged,
we realised we climbing up to a 1500 metre peak instead!! With a
ferry to catch, we turned back and did our best to not slide too out
of control back down the hill.
The ferry we were catching was an hour long scenic trip from Geiranger
to Hellesylt through the stunning Geirangerfjord. With huge cliffs on
each side, our ever increasing knowledge of fiords knew that this
fiord was just a young one. An older fiord wouldn't have such steep
cliffs and would be shallower as it would have had a bit of time to
erode. There you go, you all learnt something today!
From Hellesylt, the drive took us through the Norangsdalen valley.
This was a bit of a novelty for us, as most valleys we have driven
along have a big humonguous fiord at the bottom. While this valley
still had amazing mountain peaks, the little stream we followed made
it very pretty. At one point the stream turned into a small lake.
This was due to a massive landslide in 1908 that dammed the stream up.
Peering down into the lake you can still see the foundations of small
huts that the farmers used before their lively hood was flooded.
Across Hjørundfjord on a small ferry, we then headed across to a
junction of fiords - Vartdalsfjord, Voldafjord and Rovderfjorden. Our
camping spot is right on the waters edge with blue sky above us!! As
Marea keeps reminding me, if only I had kept the fishing rod that came
with the van when we bought it!! In fairness, it was only a rod - no
reel, no line, no hooks, no sinkers...... she doesn't seem to
appreciate that you need all that stuff too. Never mind, perfect
weather for BBQ'd pork chops.
Today should have been a Sunday, we ate far too much and did very
little exercise. Awaking to heavy rain was a bit omninous, but wait a
couple of hours and we actually had a beautifully sunny day, capped
off by an All Blacks' win :-)
We first visited the Norsk BreMuseum, the Norwegian Glacier Museum in
Fjærland. This had a fantastic range of exhibits from a 210° panoramic
movie of the Jostedalsbreen Glacier that made you feel like you were
flying in a helicopter, to hands on experiments and models
demonstrating glacier characteristics. There was a fair bit about
climate change and finally there was an exhibit about Ötzi the 5300
year old mummified Iceage man who was found in a glacier in the
European Alps in 1991. With him were his Iceage clothes, tools and
utensils, all intact.
Leaving the museum we drove the short distance to the Bøyabreen Arm of
the Jostedalsbreen glacier for lunch. This glacier can be seen from
the car park though it is rapidly retreating and just last year lost
92m
Onwards then because the itinerary demands a long drive to
Geirangerfjord, supposedly the most beautiful of all the fjords.
We stopped for icecream in Olden where once again we were faced with a
dilemma of sorts. Individual icecreams are about 20 kroner each, but
the superette sells packs of six for 30 kroner(£3) Unfortunately it
means we all have to eat two icecreams at once because Pat's icebox
does not really live up to its name...hmmm
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration are developing 18 scenic
routes "which showcase the best Norwegian landscapes with unique
scenery which can be enjoyed from your car window". These routes have
now mostly been superseeded by boring tunnels (and road tolls)Whenever
possible we have tried to follow these routes, but today we were
thwarted trying to go via the Old Strynfjell Road (RV258). It is
supposed to be open from June but half way along the road we met road
barriers, perhaps an avalanche has made this route unpassable. It was
worth the detour though and the return descent was spectacular if a
bit hairy. The old roadside guardstones have been re-erected but it is
dubious whether they'd be an effective safety barrier. It was great to
be driving in the mountains again, this time without the elements
beating down and masking our views. And what views they are! I like to
say that where Scotland was Magnificent, Norway is Spectacular!
Panoramic views of lakes, waterfalls, mountains or fjords everywhere
we look and everwhere we go.
Another exciting non-event was somehow missing out on another 175
kroner road toll when we took the turnoff to Geirangerfjord. Yay!
We awoke to another beautiful day and Kerryn reckoned that last
night's riverside camp spot with our view of snow capped mountains was
1st equal with the 8th's, when we camped next to Nærøyfjorden.
We are still not enjoying the hot temperatures of a few days ago but
we all bravely dressed in t-shirts and after breakfast we drove the
300m to the start of today's walk through the Austerdals Valley. What
a pleasant walk it was. No scrambling over rocks or 1000m climbs, just
a gentle ramble sometimes over snow and streams.
The glacier itself was a "monster" according to Daniel, with two arms
coming down from the mountain and a massive 'river' of ice down into
the valley. Its evolutionary power was evident by the mountains of
gravel and boulders ground out of the surrounding hills. We'd not got
a glimpse of this monster until we were almost on top of it and we
quickly put on our longjohns and windbreakers to combat the sudden
chill that filled the air.
After a lunch of leftovers; pasta, potato salad and hotdogs
hmm...yummy, we set off for home for we had chores to do this
afternoon. Namely gas and grocery shopping in the big smoke of
Sogndal.
Driving on from Sogndal to Fjæland that Friday the 13th luck struck;
we got stung with our most expensive road toll yet, 175 kroner or
about £17.50! Road tolls and ferry charges are just what you have to
accept when touring Norway but most of the routes are so lovely that
these charges could almost be filed under tourist not van expenses
because aside from food and gas we aren't paying for much else.
At Fjæland we checked out the glacier museum as a possible excursion
for tomorrow and the Norwegian Book Town which has more than 250,000
second hand books in several different languages. Marea added an
overpriced copy of The Lovely Bones (in English) to Pat's library.
By now the good weather had deserted us and we have parked up beside
the very beautiful Fjælandsfjorden. Its raining outside but cosy
inside, and we munched on biscuits whilst watching episodes of Flight
of the Conchords on the laptop.
We are currently parked up because the Norwegians are doing road works
and Pat is too big to pass. We have to wait here in a nondescript car
park until we are told we can move again. Oh well it gives me (Marea)
a rest until we set off on another of our epic adventures.
This morning after a 45 minute scramble over rocks (which some poor
Japanese tourists must have thought they needed rock climbing gear,
judging by their very slow progress) we made it to the Nigardshreen
glacier. Compared to last week's glacier this one is massive!! The
colours were amazing, it was a bit dirty and grey on top, but
underneath some of the huge crevasses reflected a very cool blue
colour. On close inspection we saw that the glacier wasn't just one
solid block of ice but lots of crystalized coin sized chips of ice all
packed together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
After a few photos and consultation of the map and guide books for a
suitable walk, we began our drive around the national park to the
Austerdalsbreen glacier where there should be not many (other)
tourists and more amazing scenery for us to enjoy.
The no tourists part was definitely true as we ended up sitting in
our nondescript car park for over 2 hours and in that time there was
only about 10 other vehicles who wanted to use our road!! Once moving
again, it was a very beautiful drive along the edge of Lake
Veitastrondsvatnet, we did think for a short time that we could see
the glacier up ahead, but then realised something was a little amiss
as the road went straight through the 'glacier'. Once we got to it,
it became clear that we were driving through the remains of what must
have been an enormous avalanche. There were flattened trees and power
poles on both sides of the road.
Our drive was then once again slowed, as the locals were droving a few
sheep up the road. Lucky for us, our kitchen is always close by, so
we parked up, had dinner, then drove on to meet the sheep musterers a
few kilometres further up the road where we managed to find our
camping spot for the night ;-)
Today we had planned to climb Norway's highest peak - Galdahøpiggen at
2469 metres, but it didn't look like particularly good weather. We
started off in the right direction up Northern Europe's highest (and
most spectacular) mountain pass. At the 1400m high point we enjoyed
lunch in our nice warm van whilst outside a snow storm raged. Today
definitely wasn't the day to climb the highest peak in Norway.
Unfortunately though there were mountains all around we couldn't see
much for the clouds but the parts we could see were amazing, in spite
of the weather. After an hour of 12% downhill gradient we'd made it
all the way back to sea level and the fiord Lustrafjorden. Marea and
Kerryn went for a walk while I decided another afternoon nap would be
better for me and my bikini bod.
We are now entering the Jostedalsbreen National Park and glacier
country!! Our final resting spot for the night is on the road to the
Nigardshreen glacier, we are over looking the glacial river which is
full to capacity!!
After stopping off at Lærdel and reading up about the transportation
challenges faced over the centuries, we headed for Borgund to view
Norway's best preserved stave church - dating back almost 1000 years.
From here we took a walk over the historic Vindhella road dating back
to 1700's with some impressive hairpin bends. It wound up a seemingly
impossible hillside with a 1:5 and sometimes 1:4 gradients.
The main road then took us back into the mountains, past the Filefjell
ski area and up to Lake Tyin. We felt as if we'd reached the shores of
the Arctic Ocean with snow and melting ice floating like icebergs as
far as the eye could see.
After stocking up on food at Øvre Årdal we found another camping spot
at the starting point for the approx 1 hour walk up to yet another
waterfall - Vettisfossen is supposed to have one of the largest
freefalls at about 300m
We finished dinner about 21:00, but there is no relaxng for this
intrepid trio; we figured we better check out this waterfall NOW
incase the weather turned again tomorrow. We were not even certain if
we were on the right track nor how far the walk actually was; but an
hour and a half later we made it to Vettisfossen.
After a week in Norway, a country of a thousand unnamed waterfalls, we
consider ourselves waterfall connoisseurs. The verdict was that this
wasn't quite as good as Latefoss. Latefoss had been one of our first
waterfalls and at 22:30 all this spray was pretty damm impressive but
a bit cold.
What was more impressive was when we got 'home' after midnight it
was still light enough to comfortably see where we were going.
After hiring bikes we were on the train and enjoying the trip up 'the
steepest railway on a normal gauge'. It was a rather impressive
railway made even more impressive when you think about the tools they
had to make it about 100 years ago!! True to Norwegian scenery, we
were also privileged to witness two more massive waterfall's hurtling
down the cliffs.
Our stop was the last stop right up in the snow at Myrdal. After
doning every article of clothing we had in our bag, it was time to put
the bikes into use and enjoy the 20 kilometre ride back down to Flàm.
However before too much enjoyment could be had, we first had to
negotiate 21 hairpin bends as we made our way down into the valley -
once we made that part in one piece we felt like real pro's on the
bikes!!! Although no one did warn us that the tunnel we go through
would be pitch black while inside!! Lucky there were no big
pot-holes.
Back in Flàm, Marea and Kerryn still had energy so went for a bike
around part of the fiord, while I had an afternoon nap (after all, it
is hard work biking down hill isn't it? ;-)
Once back on the road, we had a decision to make. Either take a 24
kilometre tunnel through the mountains, or take the 48 kilometre
(approx) road over the mountains. From our experiences through
tunnels ranging from 2 to 11 kilometres long, a 24 kilometre long
tunnel was probably going to be a little bit boring. Anyway, whats
the rush!!!! we've got a few months to spare :-)
Only 15 minutes into our drive, the decision seemed justified as we
were treated with amazing views of the Aurlandsfjorden and surrounding
mountains. Another 15 minutes we were in the mointains and parked all
ready for a cosy night in the snow!!
We had a small dilemma this morning - to either continue our super
form of walking up the crazy steep mountains, or use the road that was
available for todays expedition to Kjeåsen, an 'abandoned' farm near
the town of Eidfjord.
To help our decision we couldn't actually find the start of the
walking track (I think we were all rather relieved), so it was Pat's
turn to do some work!!
It turned out that the road up was a little more interesting than the
final destination. The road consisted of number of hairpin bends,
then a 2.5 kilometre tunnel that was still too steep for Pat to get up
in anything higher than 2nd gear!! Oh, and you could only go up the
road on the hour, and down the road on the half hour to save meeting
anyone on a tight spot.
The view at the top was lovely but there wasn't much else in the way
of explaining any history about this small farm purched high up above
the fiord, and what confused us a little more was that this 'abandoned
farm' had a house that was been lived in, and sheep enjoying the view
in their respective paddocks??
Poor Pat's brakes got a little warm on the trip down, but we made it
down safely after a rest halfway and headed for the nex big attraction
- Voringfoss waterfall. I think we really have come at the best time
of year, as with all the melting snow, these waterfalls are all rather
spectacular!!
Back down the hill, across a fiord in the ferry, checked out Ulvik,
past another 50 waterfalls, took every free English pamplet out of the
Voss information centre then took in more scenery before finishing up
for the night at the world's narrowest fiord - Nærøyfjorden. Driving
along it felt like you were following a perfectly still river at
times. Our resting spot for the night was surrounded by 1000 metre
cliffs all round!!!!
Back down again and off to Odda for an ice cream, then a swim and
sunbathe in the next fiord - Sorfjorden. It really was starting to
feel like summer :-)
After checking out a very sleepy Loftus, we continued round the fiord
looking for a suitable parking up spot. We soon found that the
trouble with driving on a main road with cliffs above, and sea below -
there are very few areas to stop and park up. Never mind, we did
finally find an area of concrete right beside the road - not going to
be in our top 10 spots, but it'll do!!
As nice as our camping spot was (right by the lake, with 360° gorgeous
views), we felt it was imperative to move to the opposite side of the
lake where there was sun. There we hungrily devoured scrabbled eggs
for breakfast; cooked outside of course to maximise our vitamin D
intake.
Much studying of maps later we voted to forgo the easy walk we'd
planned in favour of Langfoss the fifth largest waterfall in Norway
and a hike into the mountains to the waterfall's source.
The drive to Langfoss was interrupted many times as we stopped to take
in the views and photogragh bridges (more porn for Dave).... and do a
u-turn when we accidentally drove into an 11km tunnel. This is not the
place to be stuck in tunnels and miss all the scenery outside!! It is
hard to believe that this is not supposed to be the most beautiful
part of Norway!!
At first all we saw was clouds of spray before rounding the corner and
witnessing all 612m of raging water falling. It was truely amazing and
a little scary as we drove over a bridge which spanned its base. The
waterfall's source is melting snowfall so we donned jackets to keep
warm and dry as we ventured even closer on foot.
We'd not thought the waterfall so accessible that we could drive right
to it and now we questioned our enthusiasm for the grueling hike
ahead. But this intrepid trio is not so easily deterred! 600m straight
up, then hiking for another two hours right into the snow. It was
worth it, for the amazing world that just for a short time we were the
only inhabitants of!!
Think yesterday's walk, but on a much grander scale, with the added
bonus of a crystal clear wide winding river and some boggy fields on a
plateau. It was so inviting I'm sure we'd have swam if only we could
have could stood in it for more than a second!
Marea and Kerryn competed to see who could keep their feet in the
longest, but agreed to a ceasefire, when they felt their feet would
fall off after about 20 seconds.
After a spot of sunbathing on a rock not covered in snow we turned
around for the 'short' trip home.
Reunited with the Red Baron, and with the sun now behind the hills we
looked for somewhere to rest for the night. We stumbled across "the
valley of waterfalls" cue lots of photos, and then across a glacier!
That was as good a place as any!
After another lazy morning enjoying the view, with hotdogs and yogurt
for breakfast, we headed back to Haugesund to visit the information
centre and find out what there is to do in this joint (the
Scandinavian Lonely Planet forgets to mention this place). We left
armed with a multitude of information booklets and maps; if it was in
English, we took it!!
The next stop was Haugesund airport to collect Kerryn, for the next
two weeks we are not going to be a dynamic duo, but an intrepid
trio!!! (or should that be terrible trio??).
A supermarket and a traffic jam later we made it to Frette on the
northern side of Lake Stordalsvatnet where we had a walk for tomorrow
all planned. However, on arrival and in awe of the scenery around us
we set off for a walk right there and then...it was only 7pm, and we
should have some daylight til near midnight!
The scenery up close was even better than from the road; a raging
river, mirror flat lakes, cows (and sheep) with bells on, and torrents
of water cascading from towering cliffs!!
It must be a sign that our campervan is really our true home when I
(Daniel) woke this morning; disorientated and thinking that the van
was rocking due to all the traffic rushing past - it took me about 5
minutes to remember that I was still on the boat!!
Cousin Merril had a great saying about travellling "Everyday's a
Saturday, but sometimes you need a Sunday" Today was truely a Sunday!
Marea stayed in bed until way past a decent hour in our very dark
windowless cabin which was actually quite a welcome change from 0400
sunrises. We were lucky to have a four berth cabin all to ourselves
and
with not much else to do on board we ate chocolate and read until we
disembarked at Haugesund, Norway at 1800.
We checked out the cute town of Haugesund which had a very nice
promenade and pedestrianised main street. Then we took a short drive
to Haraldshaugen where there is a 19th century monument on a mound
which is supposedly the burial tomb of King Harald, the king
responsible for the unification of Norway over 1000 years ago!
We then drove north in search of a camping spot near the sea. A couple
of false leads until we followed a sign to Førland where we found the
most gorgeous tiny bay full of row boats.
In true Norwegian style??, our first dinner on the continent consisted
of hotdogs and fishfingers; a suitable Sunday dinner surely.
Today we left Merrill, Dan and cutist baby Kieran in Langholm and set
off for Newcastle. After a mad dash into Newcastle to get a haircut
(but not a real job of course), use McDonalds' internet, then search
around for a supermarket to stock on the 'home' comforts that we have
become accustomed to, it was then off to the ferry terminal for the 24
hour ferry trip to the next installment of our adventures in
Scandinavia!!
Today we left Merrill, Dan and the cutest baby Keiran in Langholm and
set of for Newcastle. We are scheduled on a ferry trip leaving
Newcastle at 1830 and arriving in Haugensund at 1800 on Wednesday. We
should have time in Newcastle to stock on the 'home' comforts that we
have become accustomed to, for who knows what we will find in
Scandinavia?!
We'd parked up in the lakeside town of Aldochlay with gorgeous views
of a boat filled bay on Loch Lomond.
We awoke at a reasonable hour, but not too early because there was no
point getting the road for Glasgow's rush hour. Our destination is
once again Langholm in the Scottish borders to visit Daniel's newest
cousin Kieran
This time yesterday we were on the top of Ben Nevis - and today Marea
is still in bed! Understandable really because yesterday we ended up
burning the candle at both ends. Whilst we were enjoying our bbq by
the sea a couple of locals, out for a walk, stopped by for a chat.
Whilst we watched the sunset Joe and Linda invited us in for drink at
their place.
They had moved up here 5 years ago from Burton on Trent which is not
far from our old stomping ground of Nottingham and we had a grand
evening chatting away in the very cute house with large picture
windows overlooking the bay. Apparently there had been dolphins in the
bay yesterday, though with only about 10 performances a year
unfortunately they did not make a repeat appearance today:-( Thank
you very very much for your fantastic hospitality Joe and Linda - you
have reminded us that we need to carry at least one spare bottle of
wine around at all times for such friendly encounters.
Back to this morning, once we were finally up, it was time to explore
the very cute mining village of Ellenabeich and the island of Seil
that unbeknown to us yesterday when we drove over a bridge that just
appeared to be over a river was actually a very narrow channel of the
sea!! Hence we were no longer on the mainland. To rub it in further,
in true Scottish style it turns out that this bridge is known as the
Bridge over the Atlantic.
"Well here we are at the top of Ben Nevis and it's too cold to write
anymore" - is how Marea started this blog entry. Now back at sea
level, we'd best elaborate further.
The alarm clock made its first appearance in seven weeks, we'd wanted
to be up (bright and) early. But even this early we were no match for
those who'd started at 2am and who we passed as they were coming down
before 7am! They were just completing the 3 peaks challenge in which
they'd climbed respectively the highest mountains in Wales, England
and Scotland within a 24 hour period. Very Impressive!
We were told it would take 4 hours to get to the summit, so figured
leaving before 7 would get us up in time for an early lunch. However
we didn't anticipate our 'lunch' stop being at 9.20!!! Maybe all this
walking is getting us a little more fit than we'd realised. In a
perverse fashion Marea was disappointed the ascent was not more
challenging and rated it much easier than Ben Hope. Certainly our legs
will probably not ache as much tomorrow.
69% of the year Ben Nevis is under clouds but today the view from the
top was spectacular; not a cloud to bother us. Marea's previous
comment about the cold was probably an excuse to stop writing and
enjoy our surroundings a little more because compared to other
mountains we've climbed, this one has had the most settled weather.
We spent over an hour at the top and on the trek back down Marea
choose to conserve energy by sliding down part of the mountain that
had snow. We passed hundreds of people still slogging upwards under
the hot sun. Their alarm clocks obviously don't work as well as ours.
Also today was a wheel chair 'race' to the Ben Nevis summit which was
organised to raise awareness for the charities Scope and Capability
Scotland. Proving that wheelchair bound people can still get out and
about in the great outdoors, teams of 6 (including one one in a
wheelchair) pulled, pushed, carried, man-handled, slogged and sweat
buckets in order to get all their team members to the top. Those in
the chairs weren't getting an easy ride; hanging on for dear life
whilst traversing seemingly impossible boulders and when the track was
a little smoother wheeling themselves as much as possible. What took
us 2 hours 40 mins, was going to take them at least 7 hours!!!
After a beer at the Ben Nevis Inn, it was back on the road for us. We
checked out the very pleasant Oban, before heading to Ellenabeich
which we chose solely because on the map it looked like a quiet spot
to park up for the night.
On arriving there we realised we has come across a real gem of a
place!! We found a fantastic parking spot right on the shore front
over looking the bay and numerous islands out to sea. Time for a BBQ
and a bit of cider while we gaze out to sea and reflect on getting to
the top and back!
Today was time to head back to the mainland, and continue the journey
south. After stopping at Kyle of Lochalsh to pick up another yummy
Haggis from the local butcher we checked out the very picturesque
Eilean Donan Castle. This sits out on a small island in Loch Duich.
Home to the Macrae clan, this castle was completly restored from
1912-1932, so you can wander through the fully decorated banqueting
hall, billetting room and kitchen. Daniel thought it would be fun to
look through the visitors book and find someone from Piopio.
Strangely enough he couldn't find anyone, but did see that the
Ballentynes from down the road in Aria had been visiting 6 days ago!!
I know that the norm when driving is for the person who is sleepy to
be the passenger. But Marea has a funny habit of falling to sleep as
soon as we get on the road, and therefore misses all the fantastic
scenery. So to combat this, whenever Marea begins to feel sleepy, she
takes over the driving. Don't worry Mum, for some reason driving
wakes her up again, and we can both enjoy the scenery!!
Numerous stops were made just to take in the view and appreciate the
shorts and t-shirts weather.
We also stopped to stretch our legs for and hour in the Glengarry
forest and took a quick dip in the river to refresh and wash hair.
Brrrh!
Onwards still to Fort William the closest town to Ben Nevis. Ben Nevis
being the highest mountain in the UK at 1343m will be great one to
tick off the list. The weather forecast is for a clear day tomorrow so
we have parked up at the mountain base and hope to get and early start
beating the inevitable Saturday crowds.
We'd parked up last night at the base of the Cuillin Hills and we
decided that the keen walkers who showed up nice and early were a bit
too eager to slog up these impressive mountains for a complete
white-out and no chance of a view. I guess it is just a matter of
opinion, but we are fair weather walkers - so there was no chance that
we were tempted to join them. There has got to be alot more stuff on
the island that will actually provide a view!!
Hence we were of to the northern side of the island, via Portree to
stock up on a few things, then onto the 'geological eccentric' (guide
book's description) Trotternish Peninsula.
The guide book certainly was not lying; the rock formations everywhere
were amazing. There were lots of towering cliffs, rock columns jutting
out, and a waterfall dropping 100 metres straight into the sea.
We decided that taking all this in from the road just doesn't cut it,
so headed cross country (without the van) for the Quiraing; a
labyrinth of cliffs and pinnacles all bunched in together and great
fun to clamber around in. We did find the Needle and the Table, but
are not 100% sure if we found the Prison, we did find an area totally
surrounded by cliffs - I guess that could have been the Prison?
The weather seems to be improving tonight - fingers crossed the
elusive Scottish sun will grace us with its presence again tomorrow!!
I was going to call everyone that told us it rains alot in Scotland, a
bunch of big fat liars!! But today our perfect record is over as the
heavens opened. On a brighter side, we get to see a different beauty
of Scotland. It is quite a sight all the mountains rising up out of
the sea and lochs then disapearing into a cloud of mist.
From the Wester Ross area we continued south to Kyle of Lochalsh, and
then over the rather impressive Skye Bridge and onto the Isle of Skye.
First stop on the island was Glenbrittle, right at the foot of The
Cuillin Hills - perhaps we are too optimistic that tomorrow the
weather may come right and we'll see the tops of the mighty Cuillins!!
It was here, thanks to the wet and windless conditions that we found
out that Pat is NOT midgie proof. Fortunately we have some anti
mosquito incense burners left from Pats previous owners. These
effectively seem to kill and stupify the evil beasts and they have
created a 'carpet' of dead midges all over the lino. Gross!!!
Never mind, even midgies couldn't spoil our fantastic Haggis that we
had simmering away in the pot. Yum Yum!!!!
