UK Norway 2019

Breakfast was not included with last nights accommodation, so we showered and left.   As we headed off, we were stopped by a couple of girls, who were moving horses from one paddock to another across the road.   Just as well she stopped me, I didn’t see the rope she had put across the road until I was almost on it.   They had put up ropes to act as a temporary fence and guide the horses straight across the road.   We weren’t going very fast, so I would have been able to stop in time, but it was still a bit of a shock.   While we waited, about 30+ horses trotted across the road in front of us.   They operate midnight sun rides on artic horses, and I guess these were being shifted to fresh grazing after the evening’s excusions.   They were lovely animals, very stocky with long hairy manes, and flicking tails, followed by a cloud of flies.   You can see how I almost drove through the rope We continued on our way to our next and fin...

We had breakfast (included with the room) and went on our way.   We are on a bit of a wind down now, and have time to take our foot off the gas with nothing much planned for the next couple of days.   So today we cruised a little, stopping in Henningsvaer, which is a very picturesque town down on the southern tip of one of the islands of Lofoten.   There were a number of artists shops, including a glass blowing studio that had some lovely original vases and glasses (amongst other things) for sale, although we weren't tempted to buy anything. The town was overflowing with young people and there seemed to be some kind of music festival in progress.   There were lots of tents perched along the bottom of the hills coming into the town, if there was a spot flat enough to lie down on, there was a tent pitched.   We had lunch and a coffee, and then headed to our next lodging, the Lofoten Links lodges, which is out on the northern coast o...

We went to sleep last night to the sound of waves slapping the boats tied up to the floating pier below us, and the screeching of gulls, that have managed to nest despite the spikes lining the beams and rafters.   We had breakfast at the hotel, which has now been awarded the “first bad coffee in Norway” honour because it was luke warm and quite disgusting, and then wandered around Å for a bit, snapping photos madly and trying to capture the experience in digital form.   Once we were done, we hopped along the coast to the next little village, a place called Reine.   We debated whether or not to try and climb the Reinbringen, which is a new path up to the top of one of the hills.   We’ve read a few different reviews of the walk, some saying walkers were discouraged because it’s not safe, and a newer one saying the old path has been replaced by 1560 steps ! You can just see the track winding it’s way up to the top. We eventually decided that we ...

Today we are flying to Svolvaer which is in the Lofoten Islands to the north of Norway.   It’s about a one and a half hour flight to Bodo (pronounced Booda) and then we hop in a puddle jumper for the next leg to Svolvaer.   The only thing that rates a mention about the flight from Oslo to Bodo was the cacophony of babies crying as we landed in Bodo, there must have been about 12 of them, all howling at once.  At least, that's what it sounded like. A s the boarding call was announced in Bodo, they guy said “we’ll get you to wait on the tarmac until everyone is ready to board, otherwise it will get too hot”.    What the heck I thought, it is hot enough on the tarmac, being 27 degrees outside.   So we waited in the sun, and cooked slowly, then we boarded the plane and the heat was indeed turned up to boil.   It was stinking, and there was no air.   Everyone was sweating buckets, including the hostess, and fanning themselves with the emerge...

Today was a long and relatively boring 5+ hour drive back to Oslo from Trollstigen.   We left at about 8am and headed up the valley next to Trollstigen, so we got to see yesterdays mountains from the other side.   Lots of sheer rock faces, lots of waterfalls, but eventually the land flattened out, and we drove alongside wide rivers and lakes and farmlands.   It also included about 45k worth of road works, which was very tedious, and we were glad that no-one heeded the 70kph limit through them else it would have taken forever. We arrived in Oslo at about 2pm and check-in wasn’t until 3, so we had time to visit the Norwegian Armed Forces aircraft collection, which is housed near Gardermoen airport.   Or should I say J visited it, while I filled the car with petrol and tidied up the car ready for returning it to Avis and schlepping all our stuff up to our room.   We are staying at the Radison Park Inn, it is just a few minutes walk from the a...

We had a leisurely breakfast of muesli and instant coffee (needs must), showered and bade farewell to our wee cabin at Geiranger.   J washing breakfast dishes, camping style Today we are driving to Trollstigen, or The Trolls Road.   It is a valley with massively high peaks on each side, and a narrow switchback road that winds down to the valley floor.   The Norwegians love their switchbacks.   I feel a bit like a broken record, but the scenery was pretty good. We are staying tonight at the Trollstigen Camping ground, which as the name suggests is in the Trollstigen valley.   We were way too early to check in, so decided on a side-trip to Andalsnes and a walk up to the Rampestreken, which is a metal platform that juts out from the hillside, offering fabulous views.   The reviews said it was steep and hard going, but should be a 3 hour return trip.   We are pros at this we said, so off we set.   Man, it was HARD.   It ...

Wow, what a day today.   We left our quaint little Nordic hut about 8am and set off for Geiranger.   We’d had breakfast muesli at our cabin before we left but not coffee, so we stopped in a little place called Skei for a coffee and pastry to top-up.   While we were there a tour bus arrived, and unloaded into the café and gift shop, and toilets of course.   We seem to have hit the tourist trail now, we’ve mostly avoided them, until Bergen at least.   We carried on, more fjords, more glaciers, more mountains, more chocolate box scenery.   We hit a couple of traffic jams, once a herd of goats on the road that had to be shooed off so traffic could get past, and a couple more times by sheep on the side of the road, bells clanking. They seem fearless, not bothered by traffic at all.   Traffic jam caused by a herd of goats finally shooed off the road this time it was sheep. The drive for the last hour or so before Gei...

We schlepped our stuff to the car and left Bergen around 8-8.30 after another good breakfast included with the hotel.   It was much easier getting out of the city than getting in, and we were on our way with no missed directions or hold ups.   Our route takes us north and east today, across a couple of bridges, one car ferry, through countless tunnels, alongside lakes and fjords, past gorgeous glaciers and under mountains.   We arrived at Vesterland Feriepark at about 1.30pm where we have booked a cabin.   It’s a wooden hut set amongst trees along with a bunch of other wooden huts, but it really is very quaint and after the colourful modern shoe box in Bergen, we have space to live.   A couch to sit on, a table and chairs to sit at, a kitchen sink, stove and fridge, even a wood fire if we felt chilled.   Which we don’t, it has been very hot today, 27 degrees !! our cabin is on this end dining table and chairs a couch to...