Read about Ron & Viv's journey so far - Norway.
There are lots and lots of ferry crossings.
Bergen: Neil & Ron pose beside a leather shop in the old town beside a very tatty old Moose.
A morning brew stop – not a bad backdrop.
Driving through a high pass in the Reinheimen National Park.
Trondheim and the Nidaros Cathedral which was built in the late 11th Century.
North of the Artic Circle we found a magic spot to bush camp. The bay was about 100 metres wide hemmed in by low granite rock headlands on each side where the white sands of the bay were washed by clear blue, near ice cold water;
Fish drying is a common sight along the shoreline; here the racks were full of fish hung out to dry.
Once at North Cape, or NordKap as it is more properly known we headed for the final cliff and monument. We could only see about 50 metres at most but once at the cliff that is the spot, we poured our water that we had collected at Cape Agulhus in Africa (it was rotten and stunk!) over the 1000' cliffs – job completed, now for the next stage of our trip.
11th June to 27th June 2008NORWAY
Fjords, Ferries and Fog in Norway
Fjord crowded south-western Norway
Two things you quickly learn about Norway once you get there. One the scenery is truly spectacular – if it is not the most spectacular country in the world then it is up there with the best of them.
Two; it is very expensive. Rich on North Sea oil it seems you need to be an oil executive to live here. Still fuel costs around $2.80 to over $3.15 a litre – and they are the third biggest exporter in the world of crude – and from what heard from the locals the government is getting fat on it.. A non-powered camping site will see you fork out between $35 and $50 a night, while a ‘Big Mac' at the well patronized McDonalds' outlets will set you back $17.50 Beer in a discount supermarket can be had for ‘just' $4.50 a can, a single beer in a hotel will easily cost you $15, while a 4-litre cask of wine in a Vinmolet – the only place you can buy grog apart from beer – will set you back $60-75!
But back to the start. We landed in Stavanger after a 19 hour ferry trip from Newcastle in the UK. We were all pretty glad to get there – especially Viv. Stavanger is an historic port off the southwest coast of Norway and is quite a pleasant place to wander around, even though now days it owes much of its prosperity to the oil fields offshore. Get this, a report in the late 1950's said there was absolutely no chance of finding oil in Norwegian or North Sea waters. How wrong could they be for just a decade later they found one of the biggest deposits ever with now over 110 deep sea rigs working the fields!
Got to our campsite at Mosvatnet , (GPS 58°57'08”N 005°42'50”E) which is on the edge of a large lake about 5km south of the city. The fish market at the wharf area is the absolute centre of town with some small fishing boats and older and larger steamers crowding around the small harbour, which is backed by some colourful old wooden buildings.
Still we only stayed long enough in Stavanger to get our passports away to Australia and hopefully this time to get our Russian visas issued. Headed north via ferries, tunnels and bridges to Bergen, the second biggest city in Norway. We checked out Bratland Camping but that didn't enthrall any of us so we went back south a short distance to Grimen Camping . This is only a small site crowded in between the road (which is generally pretty quiet at night) and the lake with a high rocky mountain as a backdrop. The facilities such as toilet and shower are quite good but you'd want them to be – you pay about $40 for just Viv and I for a night and then NOK10 (A$2.20) for a shower! This site was also pretty protected from the wind that was blowing (again).
Spent the next day in and around the Bergen port – Vagen Harbour , the fish market and the old heritage listed part of town – Bryggen – which as you can expect sits close to the wharves. The buildings of the old town are all of timber as are the walkways amongst them; however the warped and twisted angles of the buildings supposedly only date back to the 1940's when an munitions ship blew up in the harbour lifting the roofs off the buildings and twisting the pylons. The harbour itself was lined with fishing boats, steam ships, and a few sailing ships including a 4-master. It was a delightful scene with the colourful shop fronts of the old town really setting it off.
The fish market was more than a fish market with stalls selling flowers, souvineers, take away snacks and coffee, and skins and hides. At the fish stalls you could buy anything from king crab ($66/kilo), crayfish, live fish, conger eels and big beautiful whole salmon to whale, which is a dark soft red meat almost like liver. Yep, Norway is still whaling against a lot of International condemnation. In the fur stalls you could buy wolf, coyote, seal, deer, reindeer and mink, plus others; the mink being the dearest with a beautiful cap Viv tried on coming in at about Kr3500 (A$700)! All in all it was a very colourful and lively scene.
Took the Fliobanen Funicular Railway to the top of Mt Floyen – about 2500' above the city and its fiord - for a great view over the area. The railway starts just nearby to the fish market which is really the heart and soul of the city. Built back in the early 1900's the carriages have been upgraded a few times since but the track remains a steepish 26° and the view once at the top is magical; you can see as far as the open ocean (about 50km away as the crow flies) with the intermediate area being dotted with islands, fiords, headlands and miles of protected waterways.
We pushed north sticking pretty close to the coast but wearing the consequence of fiords, ferries and tunnels. The longest tunnel on the trip was 25km long – it's the longest road tunnel in the world, built in 2001, but there were a few between 5 and 13km long. There doesn't seem to be any standard of tunnel construction and none are as ‘high tech' as say ‘City Link' in Melbourne. They are a hole through the rock, most have some lighting, some poor, a few with good lighting; some have reflectors on the edge of the tunnel, most don't, and one had its walls painted white which was good for brightness. The only ‘safety items' along the tunnels are every few hundred metres is a fire extinguisher and every 500 or so metres there's a SOS phone. Every km or so is a pull in spot if you are lucky.
Glaciers and Icecaps
The Vosso River valley the E6 follows north of Voss is magical. Set amongst steep green mountains their base sometimes flat enough for pasture and crops, but for the most part steep enough for pines and trees to cling to until the final climb to a rocky crest, which just has a scattering of snow at the moment – most of it having been lost in the last few weeks, by all accounts. The river is 50-100 metres wide but quite shallow, running over rocks and gravel for much of the way and plunging over the odd small waterfall and rapid in a few places. Needless to say it is crystal clear – in places icy blue in colour, which is an idea of where the rush of water comes from! A few blokes were fly fishing and a large group of rafters were floating down the river – the sort of river which has a few rapids but nothing too daunting like Vic Falls in Africa.
As we got closer to Gudvagen , where we stopped for lunch the steep valley sides were streaked with the whisps of waterfalls plunging a 1000 feet or more over sheer granite cliffs. The Sognefjorden Fiord ends (or starts here) and as it connected directly to the open sea, some 100 twisted spectacular km or so away, there were a couple of cruise ships just coming up the fiord to prove the point. If any country has a ‘WOW' factor then Norway has it in bucket loads! It is a delightful country to drive through with an awe inspiring view around every corner.
After a night at Boyum Camping , which is a very pleasant spot set amongst high snow draped peaks, with all the facilities you have come to expect we headed up the main road and then just before a longish (6km) tunnel we turned off and went the short distance to Brævasshytta which is the parking area for the short walk to the Boyabreen glacier. You can't actually get to the face of the glacier as it is about 300 metres up a very steep cliff but we could enjoy the reflections of the moraine lake, which is fed from the melting water from the glacier and the icecap. This glacier is part of the Jostedalsbreen Icecap which is the largest icecap in mainland Europe covering 487sqkm and up to 400metres thick in places. There are about 22 glaciers from this icecap and most of the icecap is protected in national park. In contrast to all the carry on about global warming, the icecaps in Norway and their glaciers are actually advancing! Now I wonder why we don't here so much about these? From the high mountains immediately around us a quick count totaled 18 or more waterfalls, most thin whisps of water plunging a 1000feet or more. The scene down the valley was quite stunning.
Just north of Hornindal we stopped at a wayside stop beside a river: Stoverstein, with a great view up the valley to a high ‘Matterhorn' type peak and a historic bridge over the river beside the main modern road bridge. There's a camping area here but we decided a camp on the river just upstream from the bridge was a better idea. We set up and within a half hour we had the caravan park owner over who told us we must pay. Neil wasn't impressed but we got the sites for 200Kr for all of us. It was worth it and we even had a fire and a fair amount of wood to feed it. ‘Wild' or ‘bush' camping is pretty difficult in Norway, so don't believe all you read about a 1000 year old law that allows you to do just that. It probably works if you are on foot with a small tent but not when you are camping with a vehicle.
From Stranda we climbed gently to Valldar and then much higher coming into a high pass where it was nearly all snow. Stopped at the small wayside stop of Klovstien in the Reinheimen National Park to take a few pics and admire the view. As we pushed higher up the road the snow was still two metres deep on the edge of the road – it would have been much deeper earlier on!
High Road to Trondheim
A short time later we crested the ridge (where there is a good wayside stop) and turned down the hill and passed through a tourist village that is at the top of the great descent. You soon enter the series of switchbacks down a very steep section of cliff and road, where waterfalls plummet down beside you as you descend what is known as Trollstigveien or the ‘ Trolls Ladder' . There are 11 switchback in all, the road being built back in the 1930's and taking 8 years to build. For much of the way it is single lane and you have to give way – or get given way too - to pass oncoming traffic. The view down the surrounding cliffs and the twitchy, zig-zaging road, which is often hidden from view because the country is so steep, to the large green U-shaped glacier carved valley below, is truly awe inspiring; some say it is the most spectacular road in all of Europe – if it is not I'd love to see the one that is! It's no great drama to drive though even with a 1:12 gradient – buses, motorhomes and vehicles towing vans and trailers all do this fantastic drive – surely one of the best in the world!
By now we had discovered that driving in Norway is a series of getting on and off ferries, driving through tunnels and across bridges. The fees you end up paying is also quite steep – it was costing us $30-50 a day just in road tolls and ferry fees and generally we were only doing 200-300km a day.
Stopped to check out Oysand Camping about 20km south of Trondheim but didn't like it so pushed on and set up camp at Sandmoen Camping about 12km from the centre of the city. It's a very protected site but nothing really flat with good amenities and a shop though.
While it was sunny when we arrived – enough to finish drying the clothes – it began to rain and was cold for the rest of the afternoon. Mind you that is not strange for this area; by all accounts Trondheim has 200 days where it rains and 75-100 days when the town and region are covered in snow. Discount the days when it is cloudy and doesn't rain or snow and you have very few left in the year for sunshine!
Next day we headed into the centre of the city and parked near the cathedral. The Nidaros Cathedral was built in the late 11 th Century and features a very impressive western wall that is adorned with life-size biblical characters along with Norwegian bishops and kings. Inside the stained glass windows are impressive while the altar was placed over the grave of St Olav, the Viking king who replaced the pagan Nordic religion with Christianity. Viv wandered through the cathedral and even climbed the tower – all 177 steps - to get an expansive view over the city. She then checked out the Royal Jewels which were okay but weren't in the same league as the English Royal jewels – no diamonds for starters just precious stones!
Pushed north along the E6 through a range of valleys that were steeper than around Trondheim, but were not fiord like in their scale or magnitude. They were heavily clothed in forest and the occasional small farm consisted of just a 100 acres or less of flat country hugging the shores of the valley, with most given over to growing rich deep green grass. This far north they were only starting to cut it or hadn't got around to it yet. The number of stock – or really the lack of them – really amazes me. If you see any, and I mean ‘if' then the mobs of cattle only number 10-20 while goats number a few more. We did see a few animals in the forest – maybe they push them out to feed away from the paddocks so they can cut feed for winter. How do they make a living on so few animals – all of Norway is like this too – small farms and even smaller herds of cows, sheep or goats. Down south a few were growing crops but the vast majority seem to just grow grass.
Crossing the Artic Circle
As we approached the Artic Circle , the road had climbed a little and we were in Artic Tundra, the pines giving way to beech, the beech giving way to spindly low trees and then that giving way to low heath. The domed hills around us were bleak and large patches of snow still lingered from the recent onslaught of winter. Got to the Artic Circle at 66°33'N – you couldn't miss the spot with its sprawling carpark, large modern souvineer shop and visitor centre, many monuments and heaps of vehicles. Here for one day a year- the 22/23 June - the sun never sets. As you move further north into the Artic more days are like that. We pulled in amongst the throng of cars, motorhomes and bikes and checked the place out and like the rest bought a few stickers and souvineers. Some of the monuments are to the prisoners of war who, under the Germans in WW2, built the road north. They were extremely poorly treated and there are 7000 buried in one of the cemeteries nearby – the highway became known as the ‘Blood Road' . Took a few pics – it was cold - and then headed off.
Further north of Mo I Rana we stopped at the Tommernes Rock Carvings which are just of the E6 on the edge of a rock channel – but there is only one really visible – a larger than life reindeer. It dates back 7-9000 years.
Pushed on and then just before yet another ferry we took a side road to the west towards the small village of Leiknes. It was a picturesque fishing village but the tide was out. We found the road that went further and wound our way slowly along it looking for a spot to camp . The road turned narrow and then to dirt – all good signs - and soon we found a spot right on the coast with some flat short grassy areas. It was a magic spot. The bay was about 100 metres wide hemmed in by low granite rock headlands on each side where the white sands of the bay were washed by clear blue, near ice cold water.
Across the 20km wide stretch of the Vestfjorden Fiord on what is our western horizon, the craggy, shark-tooth shaped, bare black rock, snow draped peaks of Lofoten Island are slashed across the skyline. It is without doubt the best ‘bush' camp we have ever had in Europe - nearly 2000km north of Oslo in Norway and 200km into the Artic.
The range behind our camp is the Leiknes Range and is one of north Norway's biggest and most impressive ancient rock carving sites. These carvings are 8-9,000 years old. Stopped at the small carpark and took the 400-500 metre walk up the granite slabbed hill to ‘Animal Rock' just one site but one that is easily reached after a short walk. Here etched into the rock – hardly discernable as a groove but still a lighter colour than the surrounding rock - were the outlines of a number of animals, most bigger than lifesize – a swan (looked like an emu), lots of reindeer and moose and one that looked like a whale.
As we headed on, ever northwards, we stopped at Narvik – that famous, or infamous World War 2 place which was fought over a few times by the Germans and British forces who both wanted control of the iron ore and steel works as well as the sheltered harbour - and checked out the Red Cross Museum . It was a beauty although the little booklet that described everything in English was a little hard to follow! The town itself is situated in quite a spectacular spot with fiords and high mountains around it but the town itself, especially along the waterfront is heavy industry and isn't too pretty. The surrounding fiord is crowded with WW2 wrecks and the region is known for its great wreck diving. Maybe we'll have to come back!
The snow line is coming lower and lower as we head north – around one of the low-lying lakes there was even patches of snow – luckily the fiord-side towns are now free of snow. Got to the small town of Nordkjosbotn on the end of a fiord and at the junction of the E6 and E8 and pulled into the Bjornebo Camping ground . There were patches of snow on the high peaks around the town. A small camping area the park had pretty good facilities and helpful hosts.
A short drive next day saw us at the pretty city of Tromso where, most importantly, we collected our passports from DHL – with our Russian visas issued! It was time to celebrate!!
Headed off to the cable car – the Storsteinen Fjellheis up Mt Storsteinen which climbs 420 metre peak up to near the crest of the mountain just outside the city of Tromso. It was now an absolute ball biter of a day and the view from the top was a stunner across the channel to the city which is on an island in the middle of a fiord which is surrounded by snow capped mountains. From there we headed back and found our camp at the expensive Tromso Camping (220NKr ($50) a night for a non-powered site) which isn't great but has all the facilities you require.
That evening we finally found our way to the restaurant and night life area of town down near the port where the Arctandria fish restaurant is close to the waterfront. We had a couple of Mack beers – from a local brewery which until a micro brewery started further north just recently, was the most northern brewery in the world – the beer, especially their Artic Ice, was pretty good. Had an entrée of whale and seal – the thin sliced whale was pretty good, the seal was a black flesh that had the consistency of corn beef but tasted fishier than that. It wasn't bad. Then I had a main course of whale steak, which was like a firm lamb's fry but had a definite taste of fish about it. It was okay but I wouldn't rave about it! The reindeer steak that a couple of us had was voted an absolute winner, while the fish with bacon and carrot was deemed to be pretty good as well.
The town was also one of the major setting off places for Artic exploration back in the late 1800's and early 1900's so it has the Polar Museum , which is again right on the waterfront. There's quite a few displays on the early hunters in the Artic – the sealers, whalers, polar bear and wolf hunters - and the exploration of the Artic especially the feats of the national hero, Roald Amundsen. The displays here are fantastic and the museum is well worth a visit.
Final Push to North Cape
A couple of days later we were cruising along the coast of the Altafjorden fiord which is dotted with little fishing huts and villages. Each family seems to own a small plot of land that they farm and keep a small number of stock - a few sheep and cows – while anchored offshore is a small wooden fishing boat. There were fish drying racks but only a couple had any fish drying on them and they certainly weren't full.
Once north of Alta we climbed steadily into the mountains the forest giving way from Pine to beech to straggly beech and then low spindly scrub and then to health and open tundra . Although we were only 380 metres above sea level the country had changed quite dramatically and we were above the tree line and it was all tundra dotted with snow. Even when we came down to sea level after crossing the range, at the road junction of the E6 and E69, the country remained tundra.
We had begun to see herds of reindeer which at this time of the year have dropped their calves and are roaming the hills and high peaks and down along the coast as they want. Later, after a few weeks of freedom, they will be rounded up (there are no ‘wild' reindeer left in any of the Scandinavian countries, marked and a few sorted and killed for their meat and skins. Then they are taken up into the high country for the winter. Towards the end of winter they are again brought into corrals, where the steers (are they steers? - anyway, the young males that have lost what matters most) are sorted for butchering for their skins and meat.
The coast drive north to the island and on the island itself is an absolute ripper as it hugs the very edge of the cliff for much of the way – a low cement wall being all that is between you and the ocean. In fact the water to our right, I thought was a fiord but they don't call it that, it is a huge U-shaped bay known as Porsangen that stretches nearly 200km inland to the town of Laksely.
We crossed to the island of Mageroya on another deep tunnel and the cloud was thick and low as we climbed the low passes. Stopped at Honningsvag the main town on the island and there was a a couple of cruise ships in – two of many that come here during the summer months. Checked out the NordCapp Camping just north of town – a fairly modern set-up with a lot of cabins and all you need - but they yelled at us to get off the grass so we left!
Got to the small village of Skarsvag – the most northerly fishing port in the world - where we went to the local Kirkeporten Camping – the most northerly camping site in the world! It has a small café, free wi-fi, and the normal facilities all for just 130Nkr a night. There are two other camp grounds just on the outskirts of town but this one is the oldest.
Woke next day to a cool morning, the day only getting cooler – we heard later that it peaked at 6°C while thick fog greated us as we climbed out of the village and up over the high hills towards North Cape. The fog stayed with us all day!
At the entry gate to North Cape we paid our 400NKr (A$88) per car (it allows you entry for 48 hours and many of the motorhomes and caravaners make use of the large carpark to stay for that time.
Now tourist have been coming to this point since an Italian priest found his way here back in the 1690's. Many followed along with kings and queens, those on motorbikes, pushbikes (even a penny farthing we met a couple of days previous), on foot, in motorhomes, caravans, work vans, utes as well as just normal crowded cars. The road was pushed through in 1956 and the stream of motorhomes has not abated! As well there are those that fly in, come by cruise ship and/or by yacht. Today there are over 200,000 visitors a year that come to this seemingly remote spot on the planet.
Once at North Cape, or NordKap as it is more properly known we headed for the final cliff and monument. We could only see about 50 metres at most but once at the cliff that is the spot, we poured our water that we had collected at Cape Agulhus in Africa (it was rotten and stunk!) over the 1000' cliffs and took the required pics and video.The visitor centre nearby never opened until 11am. Rod and Kate went for their walk to the ‘real' northern point of Europe, (although I'm not sure how all this works as we are already on an island!) while we waited for the centre to open. The centre was crowded soon after we went there (there we 16 big buses in the carpark at the one time bringing people from the cruise ships and the airport at Honningsvag). We checked out the museum and the tunnel to the Kings View and then went to the souvenir shop, which was crowded, and all the five checkouts had long queues to pay for your purchases! It was the busiest souvenir shop I've ever seen!
The fog lifted a little around midday and we tried to get a few more pics of the cliffs and mighty headland that is North Cape but the fog was thick at sea level – we bought a few postcards instead! The movie that shows the region in all its many moods that they run in the centre is well worth seeing.
South to Finland
After another cold night and misty morning we cut our loses and headed south. Once south of Russenes we left the tundra behind – well at sea level we did – and slowly but surely the country became better with grass and small farms where only a few km before there was just tundra and herding of reindeer to support the people. It wasn't long before we even saw a few sheep and then cows! The bush changed from near bare tundra to spindly beech and Jupiter to straggly pine, which became thicker as we headed south. We were still a long way north of the Artic Circle but the weather had become milder – it may even be getting to double figures!
We stopped for lunch just north of the village and at a Sami Village beside the very end of the bay of Porsangen – known as Bjornes, Posanger - where we had lunch and met Risten Lango and her cousin and sister. She was selling souvineers and spoke very good English and was good fun but a hard trader! Her family farmed reindeer and most of them were free ranging at present. They were in the hills to get away from the blood sucking insects where there was a bit of a breeze. Last winter was, by her accounts a tough one as it was very cold followed by mild weather, then cold then mild, which formed layers of ice under the snow, making it hard for the reindeer to dig through the snow to get to grass, moss and lichen. She wouldn't tell me how many reindeer that they had – it was like money in the bank she said! Took a few pics of her and her teepee type tent, called by them kota. Her tent where they stayed had a fire burning (I don't think it ever stopped) in the centre and the walls were blackened by the smoke but it was still a warm and pleasant place, the tent being about 4 years old by her account.
As we headed south the country became less rugged and rolled through low hills clothed in pines, beech and Jupiter with not a patch of snow in sight! We enjoyed the easy drive south to Karasjok then headed out on the E92 and crossed the border about 3pm – there was no Norwegian gate or road block and we crossed the river which delineates the border to Finland where there was just a cursory check on the – the two guards didn't want to see our passports just wanted to know if we were on holidays and where we came from. Welcome to Finland!
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Link
to Picture Gallery Page for Norway.
We landed in Stavanger after a 19 hour ferry trip from Newcastle in the UK. Stavanger is an historic port off the southwest coast of Norway.
Heading from Stavanger to Burgen, we passed plenty of beautiful lakes, such as this near Voss.
BERGEN - the Fliobanen Funicular Railway to the top of Mt Floyen – about 2500' above the city and its fiord - for a great view over the area.
The Boyabreen glacier and its moraine lake, which is fed from the melting water from the glacier and the icecap. This glacier is part of the Jostedalsbreen Icecap which is the largest icecap in mainland Europe covering 487sqkm and up to 400metres thick in places.
The road known as Trollstigveien or the ‘ Trolls Ladder' . There are 11 switchback in all – a fantastic drive!
Crossing the Artic Circle - The Artic Circle at 66°33'N – what more would you expect but cold and raining; out little group with our vehicles beside the monument to the Artic Circle.
TROMSO - the pretty city of Tromso . Headed off to the cable car – the Storsteinen Fjellheis up Mt Storsteinen which climbs 420 metre peak up to near the crest of the mountain just outside the city of Tromso. Our merry group at the top of Mt Storsteinen; Ron & Viv with the view of the city in the background.
We camped just a few kms from North Cape itself at the northernmost camp ground in the world in the small fishing village of Skarsvag.
Stopped at a Sami Village where Viv brought a reindeer skin from Risten Lango – a lovely lady who spoke very good English and was happy to tell you of her family's way of life and reindeer farming.
