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Fjord Norway 8th - 12th August
The trip down to the Fjords was via the high tundra area we had gone through on the way to Lensvik. From here we then descended westwards down a reasonably steep river valley, the river a beautiful blue colour with spectacular white water, we saw quite a few kayakers trying it out. We turned into a new valley and travelled up it to the famous Trollstigen, a series of hairpin bends winding their way up a steep valley wall. At the top were a series of souvenir shops selling Sami crafts, sheepskins, furs and knitted hats etc. Liam was disappointed the new viewing platform which stuck out over the cliff 10 meters was closed, I wasn’t though!!!
From here we travelled over the hill to Geiranger, the truly spectacular fjord of all the postcards. Unfortunately it wasn’t a very sunny day and there were no cruise ships at anchor but it is still a fabulous sight as you come over the hill with the village nestled at the head of the fjord. We camped in Geiranger for the night and after dinner went for a walk to a viewpoint away above the village. The next day we missed the ferry down the fjord but that was more than made up for by the spectacular road we took instead. We got the classic photo on the overhanging rock with Geiranger Fjord in the background. Jennie was too scared to get on the rock though.!!
The road took us over a high pass where snow was still lying and there were beautiful icy cold lakes. We dared Vanessa and Liam to skinny dip in one and they did, but it was a quick dip!!! We saw glaciers, waterfalls, tunnels and fjords and couldn’t stop taking photos. We went through the longest road tunnel in the world (or so they say) at 25km. It is amazing how many roads are crisscrossing these fjords and if they run out of road it’s on to a ferry instead. It was a long day’s driving though and we didn’t make camp until 6pm in a village near Voss.
The next morning we set off south again, caught a ferry across a fjord then took a short detour up to visit one of Norway’s most famous waterfalls called Voringsfossen which tumbles over a sheer cliff. The mountains are high around here and waterfalls abound. Further south along the Sorfjorden there were many fruit trees growing - apples, cherries and plums. From here on we went through a lot of tunnels not great for sightseeing but make driving a lot easier. We reckoned we drove through about 60 tunnels today alone!! We camped the night beside a lake not too far from Stavanger.
The next morning unfortunately was raining, today we planned to walk up to Preikestollen (Priest’s Pulpit Rock) It is just over an hour’s walk up and luckily the rain cleared but it was still cloudy at the top and we missed out on the spectacular views, it was still pretty scary though standing on an overhanging rock 600 meters above a fjord. After a late lunch we carried on south until we found another campsite by a lake and spent the evening sitting round a campfire drinking hot drinks and eating chocolate. Free wifi too which was a bonus.
We had just a two hour drive to Kristiansand the next day where we were to catch our ferry to Hirtshalls in Denmark and we enjoyed the leisurely drive around the coast.
This must be one of the most spectacular drives in the world. It was 1300km from Trondheim down to Kristainsand, and involved well over 100 tunnels, and six ferry trips. The road itself is a feat of Norwegian engineering, and we enjoyed every minute of it!
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