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!
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