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Published: September 10th 2009
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Catching the ferry from Hirtshals on the northern coast of Jutland, we left a hot and sunny Denmark behind and began the eighteen hour crossing to Bergen in Norway. The vehicle deck was closed off during the crossing so after checking out our pre-booked “sleeperette” seats (similar to airplane seats), we bagged ourselves a sunny position out on deck and tried to while away the hours. The first part of the journey was endless sea views but the scenery started to get exciting as we made the first port of call at Stavanger in Norway. Even here just before midnight, it was still quite light and we could make out the red wooden houses on the shoreline before we headed back out to sea and further north.
As the hours rolled slowly past, we failed to contort ourselves to sleep in our seats and lamented not forking out for an overpriced cabin. Light again at 4am, the scenery changed as we headed inland and we started to roll past tiny islands, many uninhabited, small rocky outcrops, others larger with a solitary wooden house, beautiful in the glow of the rising sun, the islands getting greater in number the closer to
Bergen we got. At 8am, we arrived in Bergen and it wasn’t raining - one of the forty days per year that it doesn’t rain.
We rolled off the ferry and managed to get lost amongst the confusing road systems around Bergen whilst trying to find the camperstop where we had planned to spend the first few days. After some tears, tantrums, driving the same 8km tunnel three times and visiting the Bus station twice, we eventually worked out which road the sat nav was trying to send us down - only to find that the camperstop was full. Not the best of starts. Absolutely shattered, we headed out of Bergen looking for the first place to pull over and rework our route. We hit upon a picnic area beside a beautiful fjord and downed tools for 24 hour to recover.
Sleep deprivation over, we headed off towards Flam stopping here for five nights. As a first real taste of Norway, the scenery was spectacular. We took the Flamsbana railway up to Merdal, passing amazing waterfalls, picturesque hamlets and marvelling over the sheer drops. The train made a brief stop at one of the bigger waterfalls and as
Hardangerfjord
Recovering from the journey, this was the view on our first night in norway - parked by the side of the Hardangerfjord. if the sheer power of thousands of gallons of water rushing down directly in front of you was not enough, we were accompanied by a fair maiden, perched precariously on the rocks swaying and miming to the sorrowful music blaring out.
We hiked back down some of the track using the vertiginous “navvies” road, the silence only interrupted every twenty or so minutes by the echoes of the fair maiden’s song echoing around the mountains each time the train made its waterfall stop.
Whilst in Flam, we also went out on a Fjord “safari”. Donning survival suits, furry hats and gloved and finally ski-googles in the hot sun, we wondered if the tour organisers were having a laugh. However once we were out on the water, it became apparent why we needed them - it was absolutely freezing out here in the shade of the mountains whipping across the water at high speeds. We stopped at abandoned farms which looked immaculate; our guide explained that whilst the traditional farming lifestyles were no longer viable here, the families maintained the buildings, using them in the summer.
We left Flam, going through the Laerdals tunnel which at 24km long
started to feel a little claustrophic - broken up every 6km with some spectacular lighting effects. We made a quick detour to Borgund Stave church and then headed north towards the Jostelbreen - Norway’s largest glacier. We approached the Nigardsbreen northern arm of the glacier, tracking the river which flowed from it - the churning water the colour of old jade. We checked into a desolate campsite at the start of the glacier’s national park and hiked the 5km to the glacier’s edge. You could get about 20 feet away from it and close up the electric blue inside the crevices made it sparkle. We contented ourselves with watching those on guided glacier walks clamber up the crevices towards the top, roped together and glad they were doing the hard walk - the 5km hike to the glacier was enough for us. The chill from the glacier and impending rain sent us back to the campsite and we left for lower ground.
In Norway, ferries form a major part of the road system, the road just suddenly stop and we boarded the small ferry to Balestrand, stopping off overnight by the side of the Sognefjord. Our tour of Norway
was being dictated somewhat by the lack of information we had about stopping places. We wanted to minimise the use of campsites here as much as possible as they are very expensive. Similar to Morocco, we expected a free camping heaven in this part of the world, but disappointed again, we have probably visited a few years too late, an abundance of “camping forbudt” or “privat” signs greeted us at most parking areas. As in Denmark, we interpreted the “camping forbudt” signs as having no relevance to us so long as we don’t leave anything outside the Van; we were therefore parked not camped.
We then headed further north to Alesund on the west coast, a town full of Art Nouveau architecture and the huge cruise ships that seemed to be calling at every destination we were. Pushing on we headed to Andalsnes and come across dedicated motorhome parking, albeit besides the noisy train tracks in the middle of the town. A torrential storm completely obscured the fantastic views but cleared later in the evening to provide a spectacular post-storm sky.
Having gone as far north as we intended, we then headed south again to drive two of
The Siren's song
Waterfall stop on the Flamsbana railway Norway’s scariest roads - the Trollstigen and the Eagles Highway - before dropping down into Geiranger. It wasn’t actually as bad as expected and whilst some sections were extremely narrow with some fairly horrific hairpin bends and steep ascents and descents, with some careful repositioning, we made it into Geiranger without any damage. If you ever get the opportunity to drive the routes - do so as the views are absolutely amazing.
Pitched up right at the Fjord edge in Geiranger, we got the kayaks out and headed off for a paddle in the sunny heat. Seven hours later as we were headed back home, the weather dramatically changed for the worse and it became a pitched battle against the wind and rain. The waves whipped up and at about 2km from home, we wondered whether it would be quicker to get out and carry the kayaks home by road- the wind made it impossible to make any progress. Persevering, we did make it back but were both exhausted and collapsed with an obligatory cup of tea. With a howling wind and torrential rain throughout the night, we expected to get up the next morning to find camping paraphernalia
On Safari
Survival suits, ski googles, woolly hats - I thought we were going on a boat ride ? floating on the fjord, but everybody appeared to have tied down well enough to survive. We spent the day subdued and comparing where we hurt the most - the day finished with us watching strange shapes bobbing up and down in front of us in the fjord, which through the binoculars looked like a seal. The seal however, turned out to be an Otter, who came ashore right in front of us with a fish clamped in his jaws - unconcerned by us or the seagulls who were attempting to steal his prize catch.
The final stop in Norway was Oslo where we spent a few days cycling around and exploring the capital city. Small and compact, we soon saw the sights we wanted to and headed south east into Sweden.
Driving in Norway was challenging and having no choice to use the ferries to get around when the roads suddenly end, combined with the very high cost of living, meant that the three weeks we spent there were very expensive. It is such a spectacular country that it was well worth the effort and cost but we left having developed some rather squeaky brakes probably due to
the punishing descents that we put the van through.
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Cheryle
non-member comment
wow
thanks for the update it looks amazing i want to visit Oslo even more now i have seen your pictures - would love to see the northern lights!!! i now have one of your pictures on my desktop keep them coming take care love Cheryle xxx