Alisund to Kristiansund – The Atlantic Highway

Kristiansund shipyard

This road is one of Norway’s primary tourist attractions – not the places along the road but the road itself.  It passes through stunningly beautiful scenery and is a wonder of modern engineering and art. Somehow the design team made a road that swoops and sweeps in harmony with the landscape. This is a motorhomer’s paradise which is why it is full of motorhomes! You can even fish for Atlantic cod without leaving the road.

Bridges R Us

Last night we went out for a meal to celebrate the summer solstice – we chose a Chinese restaurant close to our parking place on the coast. Kerriann suggested the set menu for two which looked very good and not too expensive at £36.  We had a small beer each as a mediocre bottle of wine was around £ 45. We had a lovely meal but were a little shocked with the bill £89 without tip. The menu had indicated £36 as a price per head for the set meal for two – oh well you live and learn.

Where's Clarkson?

Today we only had one ferry crossing and one toll tunnel but those add up to £46. Most days we are having to spend around £20 - £ 30 on ferries – this is not a cheap country to travel through!

Surprisingly diesel is a little cheaper than the UK – this mornings prices were around £1.27 per litre but they had gone up to £1.34 by the afternoon. It’s always a surprise what the next service station will bring.

me being fed up

Kerriann got a little fed up today – it has rained most of the day and there seemed to be an additional charge for everything. The ferry ticket man charged us double because he noticed that our bike rack took Dickie’s length to about 2 cm over the 6 metre threshold and the tunnel man wanted extra because there were two of us in the motorhome. This took it up to £13 to drive through a 5 km tunnel.  

I want to progress to the artic circle and the ancient rock art in Alta but Kerriann wants to turn around and head for Spain. Watch this space to see who what we decide to do.

We have just eaten the large mackerel that I caught from the carpark in front of Dickie last night – this is a major breakthrough – it is the first edible fish we have caught and landed on the trip!

G

Geiranger

Three ferries and more than 20 kilometres of tunnels today, winding, narrow roads with the occasional large truck or bus- this all made for interesting driving. The last ferry trip was along the Geiringerfjord from Hellesylt to Geiranger and was breathtakingly beautiful. The weather has changed, the clouds were forming around the mountain tops but rays of sunshine were breaking through, and huge cruise liners negotiated the narrow fjord much as I did the narrow roads. 

Hellesylt selfie

on our way down the fjord

captain-esque

This last ferry trip cost us around £40 which I think was great value - £20 a head for over an hour’s tour of some of the world’s most fantastic scenery – the area is a UNESCO World Heritage site - and this included transporting Dickie, our mobile hotel room to his lovely current (free of charge) location alongside the port at Geiranger village.

stay away from the waterfall

Dickie from a distance

Fishy Business

Since the last post Graham has now caught a starfish

he put him back

and I now have a better pic of the fish he caught - it had spines on its back and pointed teeth

what am I?

Bergen, Knitting and Dancing Mats

I’ve had enough. I can’t take it anymore.

Having looked down and seen the blonde hairs sparkling and swaying on my flaky legs I knew it was time to take the plunge and get the Bic out. The shower cubicle in Dickie is usually more than adequate but it can involve a fair amount of, shall I say, yogic body positioning to shave the legs. I managed after some interesting contortions and weird gruntage. I’m also lucky enough to have rather hairy toes which gives me the option to choose the type of shaving I can perform…do I go the full Brazilian leaving a toe totally denuded of hair or go the landing strip, leaving a thin line of hair down the middle? I decided on the toe Brazilian and am now perfectly denuded with armpits to match.

Anyway I digress from our travels.

our view of Sognefjord

We are now parked up by the Sognefjord which, yet again, is stunning. Is it possible to get tired of endless stunning? Mr Fluffy has attached some rather sparkly mackerel feathers to his rod and I am hoping he will catch a couple of fish for dinner. It is true that Norway is beyond expensive so we are rather glad we stocked up on food before we got here.

The fish market in Bergen was excruciatingly expensive but everything looked absolutely fabulous. We spent the night at a stellplatz just outside Bergen and took a tram into town to see the World Heritage site of Bryggen which has 18^th and 19^th century houses down by the wharf. Very interesting and we would have loved to have had a beer in one of the old bars but I couldn’t get the mortgage organised in time.

Bryggen walkway

I forced Graham to go along to the knitting museum in Salhus yesterday and surprisingly he really enjoyed it. It may be because they took us through the old factory and showed us how the Victorian machines worked. It was a very interesting museum in a gorgeous setting overlooking a fjord and had a very amusing film before the guided tour. I would recommend it.

Knitting machines in Salhus

Mr Fluffy getting in on the knitting action

Eek Graham has just raced in, muddying the dancing mat on the way, to grab his fish identification book as he has excitedly just caught something.

anyone know what this fish is?

Am now back in the van having checked the fish and, having been unable to identify it, Graham has put it back and it is now swimming away with a very sore lip. Hopefully it wasn’t something tasty.

What is a ‘dancing mat’ I hear you ask? It may look like a very boring beige mat, purchased in Belgium, but every time we step on it we must do a cute and amusing dance. If you are lucky, one day we may do a little film of hot ‘dancing mat’ action .

Pulpit Rock

Pulpit rock

Another lovely drive along rather too narrow, Norwegian roads – luckily we did not meet any big trucks in the thinner tunnels or hairpin bends, they were tighter than a nun’s nasty as the saying goes. The two ferries today cost around £29 in total. We do not mind paying for the ferries – their cost is covered by the lack of campsite charges. We haven’t paid a penny to park up in the most amazing places for several nights. 

The kind Norwegians provide free stations where we can empty Dickie’s toilet cassette and fill up his water tank.

setting off- unaware of the hike ahead

Our destination today was Pulpit Rock or Preikestolen. 

Over thirty years ago I did the hard climb/walk to this amazing natural viewing platform with my close school friend Rodney who sadly passed away some years ago. My fear of heights has clearly gotten worse – on my first visit I dared to lie on my belly and wriggle to the edge of the rock and peer straight down many hundreds of feet to the fjord below. This time I couldn’t go near the edge and the sight of youngsters sitting with their feet dangling over the drop gave me the collywobbles. It was a hard climb to Pulpit rock and I was secretly nervous about Kerriann who has had problems with her knees and a general wimpish nature but she did me proud.  Barely a word of complaint was uttered on the ascent and only a few minor moans on the descent. All in all another wonderful day even if our legs are a little stiff.

surveying the kingdom

our smiles belie the painful legs

G

A little stiff? I could start my moaning now but I’ll refrain. What a fab, if hideous, hot, and hard climb it was today. It was quite exhilarating though. My favourite bit was when we passed a group of Chinese tourists all clad in varying degrees of fabric, some swathed in fleece, others in glamorous street clothes, and the last lady in the line was wearing a white cardigan trimmed with blue lace. I smiled at her as we passed, she looked at me and let out the largest burp I’ve ever heard from a sixty something woman on a trail in a Norwegian forest. It took a few seconds to register then my guffaws could be heard throughout the trail. What a woman!

this is as close as I'm getting to the edge

Quite a few Aussies on the trek, along with many Germans and a Spanish woman who did not draw breath for the entire 2.5 k walk down from the rock. Sheesh! There were several dozen women who must have been at least 70 doing the trek so I thought 'if they can do it so can I'. Ugh! I hope to recover (with the aid of vodka) by tomorrow as we head up the islands towards Bergen.

It is currently 11pm. It is broad daylight outside but there is a hint that the sun may go down briefly very soon. We are parked at a marina a few kilometres from Stravangar. It’s quite windy but I don’t care as I am warm and snug in Dickie.

snug in Dickie 

K

Bakeri on the Road

Bakeri

Wood powered

Grassed roofed

Self Service    

Beautiful

Traditional

Handmade

Tasty

Still warm

Brod

Delicious

All words to describe the bakery we came across today when we stopped for lunch at the side of the road.

Inside a little hut surrounded by wood piles there is a wood oven and on the tables inside are stacks of freshly baked bread and pastries. A sign reads in Norwegian and English: ‘Please make your choice and pay in the kiosk’.

There are little huts by an elven river where you can stay and have a hot tub in the evenings, and a shop offering yoga massage and selling tarot cards. We are tempted but £12 (for a loaf of bread and 3 pastries) later we make our exit.

yummy warm bread inside - Graham has wood pile envy

Breathtaking views around every corner

Snow capped mountains

Iced lakes of black, every shade of blue, and dark green.

Vast pine forests rolling down into lakes

Hairpin bends

Narrow roads

Bright sunshine

Dark, thin tunnels

Stave churches

Wooden cottages and barns

Bouldered rivers

White water

Huge lakes

Waterfalls

An afternoon of terrifying tunnels through the snow capped mountains followed and we are parked up overlooking a fabulous lake with three Dutch motor homes. Our view is slightly spectacular!

Wood powered

Grassed roofed

Self Service    

Beautiful

Traditional

Handmade

Tasty

Still warm

Brod

Delicious

All words to describe the bakery we came across today when we stopped for lunch at the side of the road.

Inside a little hut surrounded by wood piles there is a wood oven and on the tables inside are stacks of freshly baked bread and pastries. A sign reads in Norwegian and English: ‘Please make your choice and pay in the kiosk’.

There are little huts by an elven river where you can stay and have a hot tub in the evenings, and a shop offering yoga massage and selling tarot cards. We are tempted but £12 (for a loaf of bread and 3 pastries) later we make our exit.

lunch by the elf-inhabited river

Breathtaking views around every corner

Snow capped mountains

Iced lakes of black, every shade of blue, and dark green.

Vast pine forests rolling down into lakes

Hairpin bends

Narrow roads

Bright sunshine

Dark, thin tunnels

Stave churches

Wooden cottages and barns

Bouldered rivers

White water

Huge lakes

Waterfalls

ethereal/glow in the dark swans

An afternoon of terrifying tunnels through the snow capped mountains followed and we are parked up overlooking a fabulous lake with three Dutch motor homes. Our view is slightly spectacular!

 

not a bad view out the back passage

Models in Heddal

When Vebjorn Hefre Bakka (who works at the church) heard we were doing a blog he was more than happy to pose for a picture for us. He gave us some interesting information about the Heddal Stave Church and is wearing a belt with runes copied from the ones carved on the walls of the church indicating it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. I was intending to get a close up of the belt but this photo is much more exciting. Thanks for a fun visit to Heddal, Vobjorn.

modelling beautifully

and even more beautifully