We’ve had a quieter day today, after the excitement of the ‘Atlantic Ocean Road’ yesterday, culminating in Howard’s fire episode.

Despite much frantic wafting, and opening all the windows, the smoke from the chimney failed to clear sufficiently to silence the fire alarm. So eventually, Howard phoned the warden, who had to come back to de-activate the fire alarm Turns out, the last person to light the fire, had closed the vent that allows smoke up the chimney – so it wasn’t entirely our fault after all! Needless to say though, we weren’t the most popular campers on site!

This morning we went off to explore the town of Kristiansund. It sits by the Atlantic Ocean, or, as it is called here, the Norwegian Sea. It comprises an archipelago of islands, that combine to form a natural harbour. In the past, it was famed for it’s Salted Cod fleet, and the processing of said fish. today, it gains most of it’s wealth from the gas and oil industries, providing many of the support vessels for this booming industry. As a result, Kristiansund has a moderately affluent feel about it, with many expensive yachts in the marina, and a plethora of well kept brightly painted weather-boarded houses.

Our guide books didn’t have much to say about it really, I suspect because it’s not a natural tourist magnet. The Hurtigruten does stop here, but not to let people do anything apart from look from the boat, so it has the feel more of a jobbing town and port, rather than anything else. Howard and I liked it all the more for being just that.

We parked Oscar up, and headed down to the dockside, where we had been told there was a small ferry boat that connects the four main islands of Kristiansund. It turns out, in fact, that this small boat is the world’s oldest method of public transport, having been in continuous operation since 1876, before even the famous San Fransisco trams. The current boat, Framnaes, has been in operation since 1917. The added bonus of this marvellous little ferry, that continual rotates between the four main drop off points every twenty minutes or so, is that it is completely free to use!

We hopped on and did the short leg across to the old part of the town, called Innlandet. Unbeknown to us, they were celebrating a ‘Tahiti Festival’. Seems a bit incongruous in Norway, but that’s what they’d billed it as. So as we landed at the small dockside, it was adorned with lots of tissue paper flower garlands, and just up from the jetty, a stage had been erected. At the time, they seemed to be running the equivalent of ‘Norway’s Got Talent’ for teenagers, who one by one, were doing a turn on the microphone. Thankfully, we only caught the tail end of it, before they packed up for the afternoon. We then had a very pleasant wander around the streets of Innlandet, admiring the pretty little wooden houses, with beautifully kept gardens. At the top of a hill was a path leading to a tall stone memorial, surrounded by Norwegian flags and several canons. It turns out, that this was to celebrate a famous victory over the British in 1808, when two British Frigates sailed into the port, and were duly well and truly routed by the Norwegians, who set their guns on them from this tactical vantage point.

We then caught the ferry back to the main jetty, and had a walk around the rest of the town. We climbed up to the ultra modern Cathedral, with it’s angular roof made of concrete. We were unable to gain access, but I suspect it would be fairly minimal inside, which seems to be the norm here in Norway. I tried to gain some help with my internet / WiFi issues, but to no avail – Norwegian MiFi sims are only sold to Norwegians apparently. I remain completely baffled as to why the 4G is so poor here that it is failing to download the photos from my iPhone. We have positively the worst reception of any country we have visited so far. Inexplicably, I have just received four photos taken today, but none of those from yesterday, the day before, or the rest of today. What is the ‘Cloud’ doing with them, I ask?!                                 

We decided on another night at the same campsite. It is set in a quiet paddock surrounded by trees, there is hardly anyone else here, the showers have underfloor heating (a big plus!), and we need to do some washing. Despite there being hardly anyone around, within five minutes of getting back, a German lady and her daughter arrived, and despite having approximately four acres to chose from, decided to pitch their tent right next to us. What is it about these people?!!! To make matters worse, when Howard carried the washing up to put it in the machine – she had just pipped us to the post. I’m quite sure she overheard us discussing doing the washing (her English is immaculate), so she must have literally sprinted up to put hers on first. Howard, who usually is all sweetness and light, is now glowering at our new neighbours! This could be ‘War of the Laundry’!! I’m not phased though – I have my ultimate revenge weapon – a snoring husband! Never before have his dulcet tones sounded so satisfying!

 

Today dawned a much brighter day in Alesund. After breakfast, I sought out a Specsavers, yet again, to get my glasses re-adjusted, since they had become loose playing table tennis.  One of the benefits of using the High Street brand to supply my glasses, is that there is a branch in virtually every moderate sized European town or city, which has come in very useful on this trip.

Job done, we set off eastwards along the shores of Storfjorden and Ellingsoyfjorden, with the stunning mountains in the distance, until heading northwards towards Vestnes. There was caught yet another ferry across Moldefjorden to the pleasant waterside town of Molde. A morning coffee stop beckoned, so we sat outside in the sunshine, looking at the town. We mused on the name, and for some reason suddenly remembered a pop song from the seventies called ‘Mouldy Old Dough’. Turns out it was a hit in 1972, for a group called Lieutenant Pigeon. They don’t make them like that anymore!! Our children will have absolutely no idea what I am talking about!

We then continued on our way, heading for the town of Kristiansund. Rather than travel the direct route along the main road, we had opted to drive the world famous ‘Atlantic Highway’. It took us most of the afternoon to wiggle and weave our way along this sublimely beautiful coastal route.

We stopped for a while at a town called Bud, which had a pretty little church and harbour, and pristinely kept weather-boarded houses. On a mount just above the town was a series of gun emplacements, left by the Nazis from their occupation in the Second World War. From this vantage point, we could see across the town and out across the Norwegian Sea to multiple little islands.Ten kilometres or so further north, we branched off the main highway to a place called Askevagen. This was the site of huge kelp beds, harvested in the past for potash and iodine production, but now a source for alginates used in wound dressings. Here you could also walk along to a glass-fronted viewing platform, enabling you to get a 360 degree panorama of the archipelago of islands and coastline.

We stopped a couple more times, just to take in the views, before coming to the climax of the route – the Storseisund Bridge, which appears to defy gravity, and twist and curl to Averoy Island. It looked a pretty daunting prospect before we drove onto it, and at it’s highest point, reminded me a little of a roller-coaster ride.

This truly is a wonderful drive, and we were very fortunate to be able to see it in such good weather. On a bleak windy day, I am sure the Atlantic wouldn’t look anywhere near as appealing!

Eventually we approached Kristiansund, and located our campsite for the night. It looks an interesting coastal town, which hopefully we will explore tomorrow. It is famous for it’s Salted Cod. Frankly though, I’ve eaten so much cod on this trip so far, I’m not sure how much more I can manage.

As I type, Howard has just set off the fire alarm, by trying to light the fire in the communal room on our campsite. He has just thrown water on the fire, opened all the windows, and is stood on a table, waving cushions around frantically, trying to dissipate the smoke from around the smoke detectors. I think the Fire Brigade may arrive shortly! I am finding it hard not to laugh at this moment in time. The other campers are looking less pleased – the alarm is exceedingly loud. I’ll update you tomorrow – I may have to evacuate the building, and retreat to Oscar!  

Still no photos – what does the cloud do with them for two days?!!  

The view from our campsite in Aldalsnes was amazing – looking across the river to the soaring mountains. Last night in the sunshine it looked incredible – this morning in the rain, it was still impressive, but lacking the same appeal as last night.

We dId have some excitement though (warning – entomphiles look away now) – we got to christen our new insect bat effectively for the first time. Previously we had just swung it around aimlessly. An annoying little fly appeared as we were eating breakfast. We reached for the bat, and zap! The bat lets out a very satisfying sizzling noise, associated with a flash, as the bat hits the fly and falls too the ground. Macabre, but very pleasing. Howard looked as if he had just won an important sporting contest, he was so chuffed!

We set off, and decided on stopping in the town of Aldalsnes for coffee, since we had only seen the outskirts. There’s not a lot to say abut it really, except that it’s clearly into mountain climbing. There were several outdoor shops selling all manner of climbing equipment. It also lays claim to the tallest indoor climbing wall in Europe, housed in the visitor centre. We had our coffee, and left.

Before heading onwards, we needed to make some phone calls. Oscar will be due a service in the next week, and we were struggling to find a Commercial VW dealer. We googled one in Trondheim, and tried to call. We were defeated by a Norwegian message, probably telling us to select options, which we were unable to understand. We phoned our garage in Edinburgh – they were unable to help either.  In desperation, I googled again on my phone and pressed the ‘call’ option. When a remote voice spoke, I just pressed one, then one again. Eventually we got through to a real person! But then she had to put us through to the service department. Walter only spoke very limited English. He asked if we spoke German – no! So after a very stilted conversation, I think we have managed to book Oscar in for his service at the beginning of next week – we will see.

We then headed westwards, back towards the coast, to a town called Alesund. The Lonely Planet describes Alesund as a town unlike any other in Norway. It was largely destroyed by a fire in 1904, and was re-built in the Art Nouveau style, so has little of the typical clapboard houses of other old cities. It sits on a peninsular, surrounded on three sides by water, and is home to the Norwegian Cod fleet. In recent years, it has also become a popular stopping off point for cruise ships, as well as the Hurtigruten.

The entire journey here, it rained. The scenery, I suspect, on a day like yesterday, would be sublime. However, today, we could barely see the mountains through the mist.

As we drove into Alesund, however, the rain stopped, and slowly over the afternoon, the weather brightened.

We parked up Oscar, and took a walk around. It is a pleasant town, with a pretty waterfront, and many art Nouveau buildings extending up the hillsides from the water. There were three large cruise ships in dock, but one by one, their huge klaxons bellowed out, beckoning their passengers back onboard, and they slowly made their way out of the harbour. As we walked around, we stumbled across a stone table tennis table, outside the Arts Museum. Besides it were two bats and a container with balls inside. Being a former Youth Club table tennis champion (!!), it was something we could not resist!

Jackets off, we started to play. I must say, that in our youth, I could always beat Howard easily. So I was a little disturbed to find that Howard narrowly beat me in the first game. ‘Right – best of three, I announced’. Second game – Howard once more narrowly beat me. ‘Best of five!’ I exclaimed. Third game – he beat me again. ‘Best of seven?’ I pleaded. ‘No – winner decided on next game’, Howard appealed.

Game on. Off came my sweat shirt. I meant business. We were within a point all through the match, but eventually, I pipped him to it. Hoorah!!! The victor!! Well, in truth, I suspect that Howard may have conceded the match, but whatever – I was happy.

We then wandered off to the old part of town, passing by the Fisheries Museum, and some lovely wooden houses. 

As we returned back past the Table tennis table half an hour or so later, an Indian family who had watched us playing, had now taken up the batten. Father and son were having a match. What a lovely idea, to have a publicly available Table Tennis table in the middle of a city. Very sociable, and a credit to the local population that no-one had stolen the bats or balls. Alesund gets our vote!

Still struggling with photos – hopefully coming soon! Photos from days 167 and 168 now posted FYI.

Today has been another cracking day. It was a still morning on Gloppenfjorden, and the fjord looked just beautiful. We sat eating our breakfast looking out at the Viking ship, and before we left, Howard couldn’t resist playing Vikings aboard! Such a kid!

Our tentative plan for today had been to head for Geirangerfjord, billed as one of the most stunning of all the fjords, and to maybe stay at the campsite there. We were keen to do the boat trip between Geiranger and Hellesylt.

Before leaving Sandane, we stopped for some groceries, and decided on a coffee sitting outside in the sunshine. I watched an elderly couple eyeing up Oscar – they walked around him, then looked inside. They then crossed over the road towards us. ‘Is that yours?’, they enquired. We confirmed it was, and the old lady’s face lit up – ‘Another Brit’, she exclaimed. It turned out she had been born in Putney, but had married a Norwegian, and yesterday they celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary. She talked fondly of the UK, but it became clear to Howard and myself that she had some degree of dementia, often repeating things. Her dear husband sat patiently, quietly correcting her, and the two seemed totally devoted. Our conversation meant we were late starting our journey this morning, but clearly she had enjoyed meeting us.

We set the satnav, and it gave us two options on the route. For no particular reason, we picked the most northerly route. We hadn’t paid that much attention, because I suddenly realised from the map, that this route necessitated a ferry crossing. When I looked closer, it was the same crossing that we had wanted to do on a boat trip – so win, win. I quickly checked the ferry schedule to see the time of the next crossing – it was in twenty minutes. I looked at our satnav – we were about twenty two minutes away, with no reservation – bugger! Undeterred, we continued, thinking we would stop for a drink and sandwich in Hellesylt whilst we waited for the next ferry.

To our surprise, as we pulled in to Hellesylt, the ferry was still in the dock, loading. It should have left five minutes earlier. We drove Oscar up into the line of cars, with little expectation that we would get onboard. But to our delight, they managed to squeeze us in, right at the back, after manoeuvring a couple of cars to the side. We couldn’t believe our luck!

The ferry trip was sublime. The sun shone, and the scenery took your breath away. As we entered Geirangerfjorden, we passed the Hurtigruten sailing in the opposite direction, full of passengers up on deck. In contrast, our little ferry just had a smattering of car drivers, by far the best way to see this beautiful fjord, we thought.

As we approached our destination, the tiny village of Geiranger came into view, as well as two great big cruise ships moored up alongside. We also glimpsed the fjord-side campsite, bulging with Great Whites cheek by jowl. We both thought the same thing, simultaneously!

So, as we drove off the ferry, rather than turning right to the campsite, we hung a left, and drove off up the steep hill with a series of hairpins out of Geiranger. We had seen what we wanted to see – the stunning natural beauty of Geirangerfjorden, and that’s how we would leave it.

We checked the map again, and decided to head towards Aldalsnes further north. This route took us through the Reinheimen National Park, and then onto the famous Trollstigen Pass, known colloquially as the ‘Troll’s Road’. One of our friends had told us this was a must do experience – but having just done it, I wonder if I’m still speaking to her! This spiralling corkscrew of a road is definitely not for the faint hearted! It had 11 hairpins, a gradient of 1:12 and is billed in my guide book as ‘hair-raising’. No shit Sherlock! It was the best I could do to keep my eyes open, whilst Howard slowly edged Oscar down the gradient. It was certainly exhilarating – one of those experiences that once you’ve done it, you feel pleased, and the scenery was spectacular. But let’s just say, we won’t be doing it again tomorrow!

We found a nice campsite by the river near Aldalsnes, and have just enjoyed a tea in their cafe. Despite offering free WiFi, I still can’t get my photos downloaded, which is a shame, since I would love to share them with you. I will continue to seek out some decent signal in Norway!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Today was brilliant! After a really good sleep in a proper bed, we both woke up refreshed. My only regret was that despite having an ensuite, I hadn’t needed to use it in the night. One of the pleasures of staying in a hotel occasionally is that you don’t need to traipse across a field to the wash block in the middle of the night when you need a pee, so I felt slightly cheated that I hadn’t needed the luxury of just stepping out of my bed and into the bathroom. I did, however, make good use of the bath – my first bath for probably three months. Pure luxury.

As ever, our forward planning was non existent. However, on this occasion, our lackadaisical approach to this trip proved to our advantage. The day turned out to be beautifully sunny, without a cloud in the sky, and so any plans that we may have made went out of the window. We sat in the van, and Howard said, ‘Right, where to?’. We looked on the map, and studied our options. We had spotted a campsite further north on our camping App, and the most sensible way to have got there would have been to drive the main road, through lots of tunnels, and arrive early afternoon. Instead, we decided to back track to Gudvangen at the end of Naeroyfjorden, and catch the car ferry across to Kaupanger. A British couple, who we had met on the campsite in Flam, had told us about this ferry, and it sounded wonderful. 

So we set off, having no idea as to whether or not we would get on without a reservation. We arrived with about twenty minutes to spare, and, as luck would have it, there was space on this small ferry that services communities along the fjords.

The trip was sublime. The sun was shining, it was actually warm, and we sat out on deck in comfortable chairs, joined by just a handful of others car drivers. What a contrast from our tourist ferry two days earlier. It was bliss! For the first time since before we left for Iceland, we actually felt warm!

Naeroyfjorden must be one of the beautiful fjords in Norway, and clearly deserves it’s UNESCO status. We had seen it two days earlier in the gloom, and it had still looked impressive, but today it was just wonderful. From Nearoyfjorden, the ferry then travelled along Aurlandesfjorden, and into the main Sognesfjorden. The first part of the journey was undoubtedly the most impressive, with the towering cliffs and narrow fjord slowly opening up into the much wider Sognesfjorden. We stopped just the once at Amla, a small farming community on the fjord side, with no road access, and two people alighted. The whole journey to Kaupanger took two and a half hours – we could have been there in half the time if we had driven, but it was one of the best experiences we have had so far in Norway.

Once off the ferry, we headed off past Sogndal, and stopped briefly at Fjaerlandsforden, another tributary of Sognefjorden, just to admire the view. In the distance, we could see the soaring mountains of the Jostedalsbreen National Park. As we drove closer, we spotted the edge of the huge Jostedal Glacier, the largest glacier in mainland Europe. The views were just stunning, and just before the entrance to a tunnel, we spotted a sign to the glacier itself. We travelled down a small track, and there it was – the leading edge of the massive glacier, with ice blue melt water rushing off down a river. It was just a wonderful sight. We eventually dragged ourselves away, and headed onwards to our campsite for the night.

The campsite sits at the head of Gloppenfjorden, a tributary of Nordfjord. We have been given a pitch right by the fjord side. When we arrived, the tide was out, and a small stretch of sand led down to a jetty. On the side of the jetty is moored a replica Viking Ship. So tonight, we have eaten our tea, looking out over the fjord, with a Viking ship bobbing on the water. Strange, but quite magical.

Howard has just come back from washing up to tell me that the honeymoon couple in the monster Winnebago from our Bergen campsite have just turned up. They also appeared on our campsite in Flam. They must be stalking us! We haven’t actually seen them, just their huge vehicle. Howard says they have a British number plate, and has decided they must come from Essex. You see, this is what happens when you are away from home so long – your imagination takes over!

But it has truly been a wonderful day. Completely unexpected – a ferry trip, a glacier, and now a Viking ship and a stalking Winebago. Who would have thought?!

We were greeted by a cold and damp start to the day, with ominous low cloud hanging over the fjord, and the arrival of a huge cruise ship into the harbour. Our campsite had been virtually full by yesterday evening, and for the first time this trip I had to queue to get a shower. The prospect, though, of a night in a posh hotel was keeping me going.

After we had packed up Oscar, we decided on an outing this morning to one of the other tributaries of Sognefjorden, and to visit the village of Undredal. 

Undredal sits besides Aurlandsfjorden, and is famous for the smallest ‘Stave’ church in Northern Europe, as well as it’s brown goat’s cheese. As we drove down the steep valley, with looming cliffs on either side, the cloud was so low we felt we could almost touch it. It formed receeding layers, leading down to the fjord.

Undredal turned out to be a stunningly beautiful village, and much quieter than touristy Flam. First we went to visit the church. It was indeed small, very much in the style of Flam church, which we had visited the day before. These Stave churches are unique to this part of Norway, built of wood, and very simply decorated inside. Like Flam, the walls were decorated with ‘naive style’ paintings. Very effective and better for it’s simplicity.

Next we walked down to the fjord side. We stopped at a lovely little cafe and had coffee and shared a piece of home made apple cake, whilst we watched the ferries come and go down the fjord. A group of canoeists were just into the water and receiving instruction, when the local ferry came tooting round the corner, and had them all paddling for their lives away from the dock. By now, the sun had started to burn through the cloud, and for what seemed the first time in days, we saw some blue sky.

We sat on the deck, savouring the warmth. I had been so cold first thing this morning, that Howard had put the heater on in the van. Suddenly now, we were peeling off layers in the heat.

After a wander round the rest of the village, we wound our way back to Flam. By chance, the hotel that we had booked some days ago turned out to pretty close to our campsite. We checked in and enjoyed a drink in the sunshine, feeling very decadent not to be brewing tea in Oscar. 

We spent a leisurely afternoon taking a walk along the side of the fjord. As we returned, we watched the huge Costa cruise liner prepare to leave. The enormous ropes were pulled in by winches, whilst the tourists stood high up on deck watching. The liner was so big, that the people on deck looked like matchstick people. It is quite amazing how sleekly it manoeuvred it’s way up the narrow fjord – some rather expert navigating. But it did make us think of the other Costa cruiser that came aground off Italy, because it sailed too close to the shore.

Back at the hotel we are treating ourselves to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Tomorrow we start the long trek northwards. We had hoped to cadge a lift for part of the way on the Hurtigruten, but it turns out that it is booked up months in advance, so we will be driving the whole way. The guide book describes it as a ferry that is the lifeline for the remote communities along the Norwegian coastline, but it turns out this is not the case at all – maybe in the past it was, but now it has become yet another magnet for tourists, most doing the full cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes near the border with Russia, and back again.

I just heard on the radio that today was the hottest day of the year in the UK. I might have a tinge of envy, but at least we did see the sun today, so things are looking up at least. Long may it last!

This is probably one of the busiest campsites that we have stayed on to date – a sign of things to come now we have moved into holiday season. It is also close to many local attractions, which makes it even more popular no doubt.

Last night, just as we were getting ready for bed, a Transit conversion pulled up next to us to set up camp. Having no inside seating area, they then proceeded to put out table and chairs and cook their tea – at 11 o’clock at night! As we went to bed, I could hear every word they said through the upstairs canvas. Needless to say, when Howard fell quickly asleep and started snoring, I took some small pleasure from the awful din he was making, and unusually for me, didn’t give him a nudge in the side to silence him. Does that make me a bad person?!! 

This morning, after their late night session, they were still fast asleep as we ate our breakfast and got ready for the day. We walked the short distance down to the train station, and boarded the Flamsbana train, to take the trip up the mountain and back. The Flam railway opened in 1940, and linked those living along the Sognefjord to Bergen and Oslo, via the Bergen Railway. Today, it serves as the premier tourist attraction in Norway, and carries over a million passengers per year. It travels a distance of just over 20km, taking about an hour. It passes through twenty tunnels, and at it’s steepest point, climbs an incline of 55%, making it the steepest standard gauge railway in Northern Europe. 

It certainly travels through some spectacular scenery, although yet again, the weather was being unkind, with a light drizzle for most of the morning.

The journey outward was relatively quiet, with just a handful of other tourists in our carriage. At one point, the train stops by a spectacular waterfall, and allows passengers to disembark to take a photo. As you are stood there admiring the view, some stirring eerie music starts up, and on the rock by the waterfall appears a dancing lady, dressed in red. She is supposed to represent the ‘Huldra’, an underground spirit that captivates travellers with her enchanting song, and tries to lure men into the mountains! All a bit odd, but dutifully everyone took photos. Thankfully, Howard wasn’t lured into the mountain, and we all got back on the train. 

When we reached the terminus at Myrdal, there were hoards waiting on the platform, and our return journey was much busier. I gained a new travelling companion, a gorgeous Golden Retriever, who sat at my feet, and was just adorable. On my other side, I gained an Asian lady, in sunglasses despite the gloom, who spent the entire journey taking selfies of herself with the view out of the train window. 

Back at the waterfall on the way down, the same poor lady in the red dress leapt out from behind the rock, and started her strange gyrating dance again. It was still raining, and I couldn’t help but feel that this must be one of the worst jobs out, sitting perched up on a mountainside, in the rain, hiding behind a large boulder by a waterfall, waiting for the train to pass every half an hour. Seems a bummer to me! It turns out, though, that these are students from the Norwegian Ballet School, and it is apparently a very coveted gig to get to do the little ‘Huldra’ Dance.

As we approached the final part of our journey back into Flam, I watched my neighbour scroll through her iPhone photos – I counted fifteen selfies! I bet her Facebook page is interesting!

Back at the campsite, our Austrian Big White neighbour had been replaced by a Belgian Big White, even closer than the Austrian had parked. The Transit has been replaced by a German Big White, with similar personal space issues. We sat and watched England beat Panama 6 – 1 in the World Cup – hoorah! (Stop booing, you Scots!!). Then to celebrate that the rain had finally stopped, we went for a walk along to Old Flam, to take a look at the church that we had spied from the train. It is a charming old wooden church, dating back to 1667, simply decorated with paintings of animals, vines and landscapes in the ‘naive style’. In 1870, the minister had the wall decorations painted over because he felt his congregation too busy looking at the pictures on the wall, and were not concentrating on his sermon! Thankfully, they were restored finally in 1967.

We are now sat outside Oscar, cooking tea, and playing Ed Sheeran as loud as we dare, just to make our point to our incredibly close neighbours. In truth, they probably can’t even hear it, but our little protest is making us feel better!

Tomorrow a night in a hotel beckons – and not a moment too soon!

 

Today we headed out of Bergen, and off to explore the Western Fjords. Although not far as the crow flies, the route was pretty tortuous, winding it’s way alongside fjords, and through so many long tunnels that I lost count. We stopped briefly in Voss for coffee, a town renowned for adventure sports. As we arrived one guy was down at the fjord’s edge with a sky-diving parachute, presumably having already done his dive.

We then headed on to Flam, stopping briefly at the end of Naeroyfjord, the narrowest fjord in Europe. It is a branch of the larger Sojnefjord, and at it’s narrowest point is only 250 metres across, framed by towering 1200 metre cliffs on either side. We arrived at our campsite in Flam shortly after three, when campervans were arriving thick and fast. In fact, the terraced campsite was so busy, that one of the employees was cycling around on his bicycle, directing people to their pitches. We were positioned rather closer than I would have chosen to a Big White, but at least the view made up for it – towering mountains and the end of the Aurlandsfjord.

Having arrived in good time, we opted to take a boat trip along Aurlandsfjord and down the narrow Naeroyfjord to Gudvangen, and then return by shuttle bus. Unbeknown to us, this is part of the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ trip, so rather than have a quiet afternoon’s cruise along the fjord, we were suddenly joined by hoards of tourist groups. I tried my hardest to enjoy the scenery – which was sublime – but it became increasingly hard to blot out the constant flow of people pushing me out of the way to take the nth selfie of themselves, or to avoid the decibel breaking cackle of three American women, who spent so much time chatting, that I don’t think they barely looked up to absorb the wonderful view. Sat opposite us, was an elderly Japanese couple, who like us, tried their utmost to ignore the general rabble – but I could see that they were also disappointed with their crew mates. Individually, I’m sure all these people are charming, but once they get together in large groups, their behaviour seems to change. I’m quite sure that the Brits en masse are no better, and I am well aware that I am  a tourist also, but I am becoming increasingly intolerant of large organised groups. Howard says I must just chill, and stop taking photos of people taking selfies, just for my own amusement, but I can’t help how I feel. I suspected this may happen, having had Europe virtually to ourselves for the first three months of our trip. We had become spoilt  – we even wandered through the streets of Pompeii alone!

Back in Flam, down by the fjord-side, a large group of locals were having a mid-summer’s celebration. A local brass band were gathered, and family groups were enjoying a drink and a hot dog, listening to the music, whilst a huge bonfire was lit at the water’s edge. We watched for a while, then wandered back to the campsite.

After tea, we treated ourselves to a chocolate and banana crepe, on sale in the little garden cafe by the campsite – yummy! Tomorrow we plan to take the Flamsbana train up the mountain. For now, I have turned my angst from large groups of tourists to large groups of biting insects, and am waging war on them with my new electric shock bat. I suspect I may be losing the plot!

 

After a rather damp start, the day slowly picked up as we made our way into Bergen. We parked up Oscar on the top level of a huge multi-storey, and walked the short distance into the old town and harbour. 

Bergen is a very good looking city – in fact it is stunningly beautiful. It’s geographical situation helps considerably – the natural harbour sitting at the end of a fjord, with seven hills rising up behind. By nature, therefore, that makes Bergen pretty compact, and easy to negotiate. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Bergen was the capital of Norway, and a significant trading port. The focus of trade was Vagan Harbour, with it’s UNESCO listed Bryggen Wharf sited on it’s north side. Bryggen was once home to German merchants from the Hanseatic League, and although many of the original warehouses have long since burnt down, they were replaced in the early 1900s with colourful wooden buildings bordering the harbour. Tiny alleyways lead up the hillside from Bryggen have become home to many artists and craftspeople, and a labyrinth of bijou shops are housed in the attractive wooden buildings.

After a statutory coffee, our first port of call was the Fish Market down by the harbour. The main speciality here seemed to be shrimp and King Crabs. Many restaurants were serving up seafood, some of which could be selected live, straight from large tanks, and then cooked. Not for me!

We then headed the short distance to the Floibanen Funicular railway, which travels up to the top of Mount Floyen, giving spectacular views over the city. By now, the sun had appeared, and at the top we watched a huge P & O cruise ship negotiate the narrow passage out of the harbour. The summit of Mount Floyen is forested, with many walking paths, so we took a wander around the top, before catching the funicular back down to the town.

We then hit the tourist trail, and explored Bryggen, browsing in a few shops in the alleyways, and admiring the beautiful sailing boats moored up in the harbour. We watched as one of these huge vessels left port. A small tug actually drew up alongside, and literally pushed the vessel around 180 degrees, so that it could negotiate itself into the fjord.

By now it was time for an early tea, so we picked a restaurant on the quayside, and ate our supper, watching the world go by. We had opted to sit outside, lured there by the brief sunshine. However, thick clouds once again rolled in, and it became decidedly chilly once more. However, we should count ourselves lucky, because Bergen has rainfall for an average of 260 days per year, and in its wettest year, it rained on 300 days. It also meant that Howard didn’t have a chance to wear his new hat, for which I was grateful!

There was plenty we didn’t have time to see. Bergen was also home to Edvard Greig, and houses a museum in his honour. We did however pass by his statue in the park. We chuckled as a large pigeon sat on top of his hat, and rather tragically, the entirety of his face was covered in bird excrement. A rather unfortunate memorial to such a great composer!

In all, we thoroughly enjoyed our day in this wonderful city. They call it the ‘Gateway to the Fjords’, so in the next few days, we hope to explore some of these. Rather disturbingly though, at the top of the funicular we saw a sign, that showed distances to various places. It turns out that we are closer to London (1,049 km) and Iceland (1,462 km), than to Nordcapp, where we are headed in the far north of Norway – a staggering 1,508 kilometres! Maybe time for a re-think!!

Today has been full of adventure. Inexplicably, we seem to have lost our map of Norway. Although this seems unlikely in a van of our size, we cannot find it anywhere. So, despite having two satnavs on board, we have felt incredibly lost without it.

After packing up this morning, we set both Boris and Natasha for Bergen. Inevitably, in the first five minutes, they disagreed. Within the first four miles of our journey, we found ourselves taking a ferry. This was not unexpected, since to reach Lyseford from either direction, a ferry is required. It was just a short hop across the water, back towards Stavanger, and most people didn’t even bother to get out of their cars.

As we approached Stavanger, the tension mounted. The problem with both our satnavs, is that although they indicate that we will be crossing water, they don’t make it clear whether this is by tunnel or ferry. So to our surprise, from Stavanger, we entered a long tunnel. 

The weather by now was clearing a little, having been greeted by yet more rain first thing this morning, and the fjords around Stavanger were looking splendid. Shortly after the tunnel, we suddenly reached another ferry terminal. The ferries along the Norwegian coast operate a similar service to the Caledonian McBrae ferries in Scotland. They are peppered along the coast, and as well as serving the local communities, in the case of our route northwards today, are the only sensible means of getting any distance behind you, since otherwise you would be covering huge mileages zig-zagging in and out of fjords.

The ferries are very frequent, and very efficient. No sooner have they have arrived, you are loaded, and they are off again.

This second ferry was slightly longer, crossing Stavanger Fjord, giving us enough time to get out and grab a coffee, but only just. We continued to meander our way up along the coast. Offshore there was an archipelago of many small rocky islands, mostly uninhabited. The further north we drove, the more beautiful the scenery seemed to become, although we couldn’t help notice that everywhere looked very green – no doubt due to the frequent rainfall!

An hour and a half later we are approaching another stretch of water on the satnav. We start to take bets – is this another tunnel or a ferry? Turns out both – first an 8km long tunnel (I quickly pulled in to let Howard drive that one!), followed just a mile or so later by our third ferry of the day. We sat in the queue next to a rather good looking grey and white two-tone VW California, with a ‘Just Married’ sign in the back window. We stood admiring the colours for a while until the ferry arrived – rather swish. This ferry was the longest – about forty minutes, and it brought us to within spitting distance of Bergen. It had taken us the best part of the day to get here – three ferries, about ten tunnels and several bridges.

Our campsite is a few miles out of Bergen besides a lake. We managed to grab one of the last lakeside pitches, largely due to the fact that our hook in cable is very long, and so offers us more choice than most. Who should pull up a few minutes later? The Honeymoon couple in their Cali. They are a young German couple, who bought themselves the van as a wedding present. We offered our congratulations. As it happens, parked up next to them is an enormous Winnebago, also with ‘Just Married’ on the back – this time with their names and the date they were married (two weeks ago) actually painted onto the bodywork. Perhaps this is a new craze? Gone are the days of saving a deposit for a house, the new ‘must have’ wedding gift seems to be a camper van! Let’s hope Thomas and Katy don’t go getting any ideas – ‘cos they’re not having ours!

Having just parked up, the sun has eventually peeped out from behind the dark looming clouds, giving us a lovely vista to have a drink and eat our tea.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Bergen. I will need to buy a new map, since I’m suspecting we have plenty more ferries to take before reaching the top of Norway. I’m also hoping for better weather – the thought of walking around town all day with Howard wearing the sou’wester is a step too far!