We left after work on Thursday and drove to a town called Kristandsund which is 198 km from us (or about 123 miles) but the drive took about 4 hours which is due to slow speed limits, narrow roads and breathtaking scenery. We had the experience of taking a ferry and driving under a fjord. The tunnel under the fjord (which cost us a $20 toll) was pretty interesting – it was quite steep, dark and very wet – the rock was dripping the whole way. We had several tolls to pay along the way – all were automated booths that took credit cards and coins. The Norwegian road people do run a good racket - if you pay with coins they don’t give you change! The toll is 16NOK (which would require 3 coins) but if you put a 20NOK coin ($2) in you don’t get change.
Kristiansund is a cute little town of about 16,000 and it is situated on 3 islands. The town was pretty sleepy due to the holiday season. We had dinner at the worst Chinese place in Norway then found a cute place for dessert. Our guide book told us to see the “old town” on the next island but the ferry stopped running (so we thought) so we walked a long way over to the “old town”. Not much to see so we hiked up to the lovely stone monument – which was really just a large rock but it had a nice view. Then we hiked all the way back to the other island since the ferry wasn’t running. After we hiked back we saw the ferry running! Very annoying but we got some exercise.
Day two of our trip started with another ferry to the island of Averoya. We took a detour to see the Kvernes Stave church. There are only 31 of this type of churches left in Norway. We followed the GPS’ advice and took a road that would lead us back to the main road. Bad advice! The road ended up being a one lane dirt road with a 25% grade up and down. Luckily our little car has all wheel drive. About halfway through this 6 mile road we meet up with a large bulldozer coming right at us. We back up about 200 meters to find a wide spot so we could pass. It was slightly scary – I am glad Jason was driving. I am really glad Jason drove the whole weekend actually since the roads are crazy here- many areas are one lane and around turns you are gambling. Buses and trucks have no fear and barely slow down for you! We continued on to the Atlantic Ocean Highway which connects about 17 islands with 8 bridges. It was a neat sight – very different scenery then you would expect. Next we hit Molde for lunch and our next ferry ride. We ended up in Alesund about 3pm.
Day three is our fjord adventure. We took a catamaran boat from Alesund to Oye down the Hjorund Fjord. From Oye we took a bus to Hellesylt. Our bus driver was a local from Oye and was a fearless driver on the one lane road. We saw a part of the fjord that had been dammed by a rock slide many years ago – you could see the old road and house foundations in the lake. From Hellesylt we took a 70 minute ferry ride to Geiranger through the Geiranger Fjord which is one of Norway’s most famous. I had seen pictures and I expected it to be pretty but words cannot describe how beautiful it really is.
The mountains come right out of the water and the water is blue green almost like the Caribbean Ocean. There are some farms along the fjord that are abandoned but have pretty amazing stories – these people lived in the middle of nowhere and many times had to row to another section of land for water in the middle of winter! The ferry we took was just like any other car ferry and wasn’t much more expensive but it did have nice commentary. We arrived in Geiranger – which is not much since the only business anymore is tourism- they say 600,000 people tour it and the fjord each year.
We stayed an hour and then took a cruise ship called the Hurtigruten back to Alesund. The Hurtigruten is cruise ship that does the whole Norwegian coast in 6 days with something like 25 stops – it has been around for about 100 years (not the boat but the company). Back in Alesund we hiked up to the 400 steps to the Kniven viewpoint over the city then hiked back for some dinner which was one of the first very good meals in Norway.
View from top of hill over Alesund
Last day – we left Alesund pretty early and retraced our steps for about an hour. Then headed to Andalsnes which is famous for the Trollstigen (a sheer rock wall) and the Trolls Highway which consists of 11 hairpin turns up the mountain- we had seen enough crazy driving so we skipped this and drove on. We drove though the Rauma River Valley. I can’t really put into words how spectacular this drive was. We stopped several times to take photos. The river runs the whole way and drops from about 600 meters (2000 feet) to the sea – so the waterfalls are pretty spectacular. We continued home on highway E6 – which is the major north south route from Oslo. It is one lane in each direction with a max speed of 90K (55 mph) so Jason was ready to shoot himself when we got home. It was a really great trip. Norway is hands down the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice. Norway doesn't have the castles and churches like the rest of Europe but their countryside more then makes up for it. I have added pictures of the journey to the New Photo Album along with more commentary on the photos.
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