MORE MAGIC IN NORWAY

 

We are now heading south passing miles of Rocky Mountains and shimmering lakes. I lose count of the number of tunnels we drive through, some scarily narrow. They only look single lane to me, but occasionally we squeeze past an oncoming truck! Finally, we are back at Bodo. We will head south on the Coastal Route as we came north on the Artic Highway. We decide to stop and watch the world’s strongest maelstrom at Saltstraumen. As we reach the bridge over the inlet, we spy the place we camped many years ago (no longer possible now) and yay the maelstrom is in full action. This phenomenon happens four times a day and is an incredible sight with its huge swirls of water.  We stop and watch for ages before continuing to the Sandhornoybra bridge where there is a lovely spot to camp. A few locals arrive to fish for mackerel for bait, then huge halibut from the bridge. John scores a few mackerel to pop into the freezer. They leave late with no halibut this time. In the morning it is still and misty, giving marvelous reflections on the water.

As it is Saturday, with much lighter traffic than a weekday, we decide to detour around the island of Sandhornoy. We hope to meet very little oncoming traffic as the road is mostly single lane. It’s a pretty drive and we reach the ferry port at the far end. Oh bother, will there be a ferry on Saturday. A local assures us one is coming so we wait. When it rolls up we drive on and it heads off, but not in the direction we expect. Golly where are we going? John chats to some locals on board and we discover we are going out to Sorarnoy Island. They convince us to go ashore and visit, which we do after checking there is a later ferry to get us back to the mainland. We explore both Sorarnoy & then Nordarnoy, which is connected by a bridge. Here we walk out to some WW2 bunkers. Much later that day we catch the ferry. It has been an unexpected trip!  As it’s getting late we stop at the first beach spot we find. A few other campers join us. They are hoping for a showing of the Northern Lights. I keep checking but the moon is full and there is only a few swirls of white. Not worth getting the camera out for!

After such a magical sunny day, in typical Norwegian fashion, today is gray, drizzly and cold. We head off anyway and reach our first ferry port but have just missed it. We wait and wait while the queue grows. Because it is Sunday they are not running so often (yes on Sunday here all the shops are closed and very little happens), but finally 3 hours later we are onboard. At least the weather has improved. It’s another 50km before the next ferry through more tunnels. The narrow 6km long one is a tad scary. The next ferry is another wait – well over an hour! By the time we got off that ferry we look for a spot for the night. All the other motorhomes are busy pulling over too. We only managed a mere150Km today.

Monday is gorgeous all day and again there are ferries between all the skerries that we are driving over. They are low grassy islands dotted with a few houses and lots of sheep. In total we go on 4 ferries and today the waits are much shorter, making it a much more pleasant process. There is also the rather stunning Helgeland bridge to cross with a 90deg turn halfway across. Later that day we find a gorgeous spot to camp at the inlet of a fjord at Kongsmoen. It is a private camp spot, but very cheap and perfect to enjoy a slow start tomorrow as we do all our washing and wait for it to dry, giving us some time to do some route planning. We are well behind schedule as driving is slow, so it’s time to crank it up and maybe skip a few places we have visited before. Just like that we will bypass Trondheim & Bergen! By midday we head off. We have nearly completed the Coastal Route but cannot return to Steinkjer as the main road between there and Trondheim has been severely damaged by a small earthquake, so we must continue on smaller roads and catch the ferry to a port south of Trondheim. By the end of the day we stop just off the side of a back road south of Trondheim.

From Trondheim we follow a more coastal route. Before long our motorway thins down into the usual narrow 2 laned road, and then we are back on another ferry at Moulde. This one is so long we even buy lunch onboard. Off the ferry we continue to Alesund and find a large waterfront carpark. The parking signs show no motorhome signs, so we ask and they say if we pay for a ticket it might be OK. We pay for an hour and rush out to explore. It is a pretty old town set on a waterway, but there are 2 massive cruise ships in port so lots of people milling around. Our hour up we head off. We have decided to drive the famous Trollistigen Road again. We did it years ago but cannot resist repeating the narrow 11 hairpins up a steep mountainside in this fabulous weather. It is late when we arrive, which is a good thing as all the tour buses have finished for the day. It is a stunning drive but I try not to look down at the tight hairpins or across the very narrow old stone bridge. We are surrounded by towering rocky cliffs and gushing waterfalls. At the top we explore the viewpoints before heading into the high country to find a camp spot. And we find a great one a few kms on where there are a group of campers. We are invited by 4 Norwegian guys to join them around their campfire. These guys are the friendliest Norwegians we have met (Norwegians are generally a very untalkative bunch!) and we find out they are here for the grouse hunting season.  A lovely evening in a magical setting.

We wake to a cold, gray misty morning. So glad we drove up the mountain last night! But there is still something special about driving along the high mountain plateau in mist. We wind our way down to the fjord to Validal and head to the lookout, but find a mostly one lane road, followed by a rocky 1km tunnel. The next tunnel is 5km and the height restriction is a bit too tight for comfort, so we turn around! There will be other lookouts. We head along the fjord, cross on a ferry and head through the valley up and over the mountains to descend again, through a 5km tunnel to the lookout above the famous Geiranger Fjord. Of course, there are numerous tight hairpins and we meet lots of oncoming motorhomes. The Germans visit here in droves! Anyway, once down the drizzle starts and continues for the rest of the day as we continue to the very touristy town of Geiranger and up more hairpins into the mountains. More tight roads with lots of traffic! Way up here the landscape is barren and rocky with water, water everywhere. It is running down every possible slope, but the drive is pure magic. Much later we pull over at the town of Lom and visit the truly gorgeous old stave church there. Then wander town in the rain, before heading off to tackle the famous Sognefjellet Route (one of the most scenic and highest mountain drives drives in Norway) with more narrow roads and tight hairpins as we pass lush green valleys and gorgeous farming communities. As we reach the highest peaks, we see glaciers and mountain lakes. It’s still raining, but we decide not to stop, and descend while there is still visibility. So more of those crazy hairpins before we reach the fjord and find a campspot for the night.

In the morning we continue our magic drive to Sogndal. Then more ferries and tunnels. In fact the tunnels are huge today. 5km, 6km, 14km and then the biggey at 24.5km long which has 3 areas inside that are lit up to help with claustrophobia!  Lots more fjords, tunnels and bridges until we reach the incredibly scenic Hardanger fjord. Our road clings to the edge and there are apple orchards as far as the eye can see. Simply stunning, but oh boy that road is narrow (so so glad I am not driving! Oh, and so is John) Much later we stop at the inlet of the fjord at the iron smelting town of Odda. There is a waterfront camping area, but it’s $68AUS parking with no facilities, so we continue further and find the very magical Latefossen with 2 side by side waterfalls that spill out beside the road.  We end up beside the lovely Flessefosen waterfall for the night. It has been an impressive day!

In the morning, we head down to the fjord. I have chosen this route because it looks like the bigger road on the map. How wrong am I! Fortunately, it is early Sunday morning so there is very little traffic. Thank goodness as there are long sections of single lane road. And there is a long section of gorge to navigate. Finally, onto a ferry for a short ride and now onto a wider road and before we know it, we are at the entrance to the Ryfylke Tunnel. It’s the longest, deepest, most expensive under ocean tunnel in the world at 14.4km long. We head in. Golly, we go down a long way, before we head back up and pop out onto land (a small island) and then duck back down for another 6km. After the second tunnel we pop out right in the middle of Stavanger city and wind our way down back roads to where we can camp an easy km walk to the city centre.  We buy our parking ticket and head off to explore. Love the gorgeous old Cathedral, the old waterfront and the rows of tiny white houses running along the hillside. Sadly, there is another massive cruise ship tied up in port filling the streets with big groups of people. We pop into the fascinating Canning Museum and discover all about sardines, smoking them and canning them and all about labelling.  Later, with the help of a local, we find a great fish restaurant right on the waterfront for dinner.

We have seen boats taking tourists out for trips up the Lysefjorden Fjord and I decide it would be a fun thing to do. We book a 3 hour trip and settle in for a quiet night. Rain in the night is a bit worrying, but it’s fine when we wake, later than normal, so we race down to the wharf. Awesome, the cruise ship has gone and all we can see is a long queue waiting for the trip. The boat is amazing – lots of indoor space with huge windows and plenty of upstairs deck space for everyone to enjoy the magic views of Lysefjord and enjoy it we all do. Of course, the highlight is a waterside view of Pulpit Rock/ Preikestolen.  The hike to the rock is  one of Norway’s most famous hikes.

Back in town we head off for our final visit to the incredible Petroleum Museum. It is all hitech and full of models of numerous oil rigs. More info than we can possibly read. This black gold has turned Norway into one of the worlds most prosperous countries. For every 100Kr of oil produced, 90Kr goes to the Governments coffers, and only a small proportion is spent while the rest is invested for future prosperity. How awesome is that!  But our time is up on our camp spot so we need to race back to GR3, pack up and head out of the city to find a spot for the night near Eggersund.

It rains all night and continues all day, so we decide it is time to head south to catch the ferry to Denmark at Kristiansand. We are back on narrow roads driving the scenic route 44 near the coast. The views are still magic in the rain and we have a few stops to make, despite the rain. The first is the pretty town of Sogndalsstrand right beside a roaring river. There is a row of old weatherboard cottages to admire before we rush back to GR3. The next planned stop is at Jossingfjord to look for some old houses underneath an overhanging rock. Driving into the granite sided fjord is stupendous. The tiny road is an incredible feat of engineering down into the fjord.  There is a break in the rain as we walk to the rather unexciting cottages (For us it is the location rather than the houses). Finally, we reach Flekkeefjord and the main road. Phew! When we stop for lunch we book our ferry tickets, so when we reach Kristiansand, we can drive right onto the port and join the queues.

Goodbye Norway. We love your incredible scenery that’s makes every day magical.