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We've been to incredibly beautiful and stunning countries on this trip, even our lives for that matter, and then we drove over the border and into Norway. Words really can't describe the incredibly stunning scenery that we saw over the period of 3 weeks, it exhausts all superlatives!!!
We started at the top in a place called the Lofoten Islands where we witnessed a midnight sun/glow at the top of a mountain overlooking the Lofoten Wall - stunning! We then had a full day of sunshine exploring the 200km stretch back to the mainland and were completely mesmerised at every turn. The biggest surprise for us was the beaches, they were pristine, something you would expect on a tropical island - if only the water wasn't icy cold.
We then spent a week or so traveling down the length of the country until we reached the main tourist area at the bottom. The weather wasn't kind to us, even the locals said it was out of the ordinary, but we did have some moments of pure delight. Highlights on this stretch include Saltstrauman, the worlds largest tidal movements with 400 million cubic metres of water passing through a 150m wide passage every 6 hours, fishing on the Atlantic Coast Road although it was incredibly cold and windy, and the Romsdalstrappa hike up to an incredible viewpoint looking out of the fjords.
When we reached the lower part of Norway, it got even better. The scenery at Trollistigen was stunning, the Geirangerfjord is breathtaking and hiking the Nigardsbreen Glacier was incredible. It then got even better again. The last 4 days we had the most incredible weather, the drive over the Aurlandsfjellet tourist route with over 4m snow drifts beside the road was awesome. The following day we hiked 22km through the snow to sit on the edge of Trolltunga, a rock jutting out of the most beautiful fjord. The following day we stood on the edge of Preikestolen looking straight down 600m to the bottom of the fjord and the water below. And the final day we hiked another 10km to stand on the Kjerag Bolt, a small boulder wedged into a crevasse with another 600m drop below to the bottom of the fjord. It was quite honestly the best 4 days we'd had on the entire trip.
Unfortunately the car let us down a bit through Norway. The alternator decided to die about halfway down the country. The only alternator in the country didn't fit and was going to cost us 500 Euros. It was also going to be a 3 week wait for a replacement alternator from the UK. So we decided to buy a battery charger and limp the car out of Scandinavia by charging at campsites every second night. We probably could have stretched out further to every 3 or 4 nights but you have to have your headlights on at all times so 2 days was the maximum we could manage. This also destroyed our budget with Norway being so extremely expensive it's not funny. Think $7 for a litre of milk and some bread. The most we paid for fuel in Lofoten was roughly $2.70/litre AUD. But it was worth it, so incredibly worth it. By far Norway has been our favourite country on this trip, if not our lives. It surely has to be on everyones bucket list once you see the photos.
Speedometer: 160,386 km's
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