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Published: July 10th 2016
We made the most of a lie in this morning which meant we did miss the sun because by the time we hit the road the rain had come back. Bergen wasn’t going to let us depart without giving us another soaking.
We have had a very comfortable stay in this apartment and we have had everything we needed including a comfortable lounge suite to relax in. We know we have a couple of challenging days ahead in cabins so we have made the most of a bit of comfort.
Buying petrol in Norway is a bit of an experience which is out of the ordinary for us.
As there are roughly six kroner to the dollar and petrol is around 14 or 15 kroner per litre we have tried to work out in our head before filling up where the money counter on the pump should be when the car has been filled.
The numbers of kroner whiz around so fast that trying to make it stop on the number you had thought of before you started pumping is a challenge that will take a lot of getting used to. Then to add to that the
smallest coin is one kroner so if the pump stops at say 300.40 you get the 0.40 for free as they use a rounding system and that would take the amount payable down to Kr300 neat.
The route we are taking today is away from the coast although we will follow water, a fjord, for a good distance inland.
This south western part of Norway is where most of the fjords are located and we shall see many of them over the next few days as we head further north.
The E16 took us east and it wasn’t long before the road took us into the first tunnel of the day, and there were to be many more to come.
This tunnel was 2.13 km long followed by another shortly thereafter by a 1.7km tunnel.
Tunnels mean that you don’t actually travel that far from where you started but as they have penetrated mountains the countryside will have changed dramatically from where you started. In New Zealand you would have probably gone up and over a mountain pass to go the same ‘as the crow flies’ distance but have taken many more kilometres to get
to the same spot.
We were following a fjord initially and then after the tunnels the water was still there but it was now a lake.
On getting back into the car after a stop for photos we noticed a guy inspecting what we thought initially were petrol pumps outside a cafe/shop. He had a cigarette in his hand. Not a good idea we thought. Should we be starting the motor and high tailing it or should we just go across and point out to him a naked flame and petrol fumes don’t mix well for staying alive!
A closer look at the ‘pumps ‘revealed they weren’t petrol but rather they were to recharge your electric car and we took it that they don’t have the same volatility as petrol and left the guy to continue his inspection undisturbed by us.
There were more tunnels to come of varying lengths between 1.4km and 1.8km as we followed two valleys with lakes that changed sides of the car after we had emerged from the tunnels confirming we had passed through another mountain range.
We took a stop at Voss, a sizeable town that was also a
base for skiing in the winter.
It was here that we noticed a couple of small groups of immigrant families dressed in the clothes they would have worn in their country of birth.
It would seem to us that they would assimilate better into the country if they changed into more western style clothing. And they would be warmer too as it was only 15C today.
We did some grocery shopping as our accommodation is still 20km away on the E16 and then a further 8km up the D13 and we assume it will be quite remote as far as shops are concerned.
We arrived at the hotel which has studios with cooking facilities around 2pm and unpacked.
With the weather now quite fine overhead we pondered whether we should take advantage and do at least one of the two activities that we have planned for the Flam area.
It was only another 26km onto Gudvangen at the head of the Naeroyfjord which is an offshoot of the mighty Sognefjord (the longest fjord in the country) and from there we could take our fjord cruise and tick it off the list of things to
do.
It is going to daylight until nearly 11pm and even then it is more like twilight after that until the sun comes up again shortly after 4am so we are unlikely to be that late home.
So it was back in the car and off to Gudvangen and another 3km long tunnel to get us through another mountain range in the way of the E16.
When we pulled into the car park at Gudvangen ferry terminal we noticed a large number of buses and thought that the cruises might be full. However they were all empty and waiting for their passengers to come back from a cruise.
There was really nothing else at Gudvangen other than a large restaurant at the ferry terminal and a petrol station on the main road. It still gets a spot on the map in the atlas which is probably more down to the fact that ferry boats seem to be coming and going with regularity indicating it was a good crossing point from the other side of the fjord saving many kilometres in driving.
We had to wait an hour before a cruise started on the way around
to Flam. So we spent the time people watching as they came and went. Including a party of about 40 alumni from Ohio State University who had to be organised into place for a photo shoot. There always has to be someone in a group of that size that does the organising but it must have been exhausting getting 40 odd people to all get along into place, look at the camera and then put the benches used for seating back into place.
Our cruise doubled as a regular sailing of a ‘mail’ ferry that called into 5 small fjord side villages if there were passengers to pick up or drop off.
It would take 2 ¼ hours to cruise down the fjord and turn right and head down to Flam.
There were probably only 40 people on the ferry so there was plenty of room to move around and you could choose where you sat outside to watch the scenery go by which included numerous waterfalls, some close to the fjord and others high up on the steep rocky cliffs that rose probably 500 metres plus above the fjord.
The weather stayed fine almost all
the way with just a brief shower for a few minutes which appeared from nowhere considering the sky overhead seemed to clear of any rain clouds.
We passed by all the villages as there was no one to get on or off although the boat did sail slowly close to the jetty it would have used at each stop just in case someone turned up late to catch a ride.
We came close enough to the shore on one occasion to take a look at a group of canoeists who were camping on a small stretch of flat land and grass at the water’s edge.
As we came out of Naeroyfjord a cruise ship the Viking Star sailed by having left Flam and heading to the open sea down the fjord.
As we rounded the last corner towards Flam, a Holland America cruise ship the Konigsdam,was just completing its half turn in the bay to head out towards the open sea ,down the Sognefjord 200km away!
It had been a lovely leisurely cruise with scenery all around that had just kept us amazed from high rocky peaks to tumbling waterfalls with the view changing almost
by the minute.
Flam is also just a small village but with an extensive port terminal area and was obviously big enough to cope with 2 large cruise ships at a time.
It is also from here that the Flam railway starts what is reputed to be one of the world’s most scenic rail trips which takes you 20km up a valley and then a mountain side to an altitude of over 800 metres. We plan to do the trip but will leave it until tomorrow even though there was still another departure as we strolled past the platform at 6.40pm.
As part of the ticket price for the cruise we got a mini bus ride back to Gudvangen about 20km away of which about 13km was spent driving through two tunnels!
We got back to our car at Gudvangen at about 7.30pm and then had a drive of another 40 minutes back to the hotel. So all in all it had worked out to be quite a long day even though we had got to our accommodation first in probably the quickest trip of the BBA V3 to date.
PS:enjoy bopping along to Cliff
Richard and the Shadows while he 'takes you on a Sea Cruise'.On Youtube as usual.
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GRACIELA GARGIULO
non-member comment
Good, great.
What a place. Good memories.