Seasonal Notes

A number of people have asked the first question below so I will address that right from the start which leads to the second point:

• No, although Norway is in the north, I did not expect to, and I didn’t, see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Although there have been a number of solar flares around the time of the trip, you need darkness to see the Aurora. This leads to the second point;
• The trip was close to the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, the day with the most daylight. For Norway being in the far north this means very little “night” or darkness. Although the sun does set it doesn’t get far below the horizon so 2am is still pretty light and you could probably read outside without a light.
  • Yes, this made sleeping a challenge as, surprisingly, some of the places we stayed did not have great blackout curtains.
    
    

Oslo – 2 Nights

Two of use arrived a day early to ensure we didn’t experience flight delays and I appreciate the extra time to adjust to jet-lag as I still cannot sleep on a plane. 🙁

After a flight cancellation we actually ended up with better flights (2 instead of 3) and arrived at Oslo within 30 minutes of our previously scheduled time, so we had the full day to explore. I really recommend staying in downtown Oslo, the airport train (or bus) takes you right there and then everything is walkable. The Olso Opera House, the Munch Museum, the main tourist road, Karl Johans Gate, leads to the Royal Palace and from there it is not far to the Vigeland Sculpture Park.

Before meeting the rest of our group in the afternoon we went over to the Munch Museum to get a little cultured. This is a 13 story museum that is mostly dedicated to the art of Edvard Munch. He is most well known for his painting “The Scream” and they actually display three versions of the piece, rotating between them every 30 minutes.

After lunch it was time to meet our guides and the rest of the group before getting a behind the scenes tour of the Oslo Opera House. Always interesting to see “behind the scenes”, the massive set preparations, the stage lighting and construction shops. It appears as there is much competition between Opera Houses as we were not allowed to take any pictures and they guarded their models of future sets closely.

Lom- 1 Night

Started the day by taking the train from Oslo to the little town of Otta. It was a wonderful train ride through the country but for many of our group it was a great chance to adjust to jet-lag and slept. (rolf) From Otta our group split into two vans for the drive to Lom and met again for a lunch stop at Heidal Ysteri to learn about Norway’s famous Brunost (brown cheese), it is a sweet cheese so nothing, I think, that you would want too much of. The Lom Stave Church is something that you must stop and see if you are in the area. It is in a picturesque location and is one of the oldest stave churches in Norway and the construction is fascinating. We were told that no metal nails were used in it’s construction but I could not find any online information to confirm that and I did see a couple of old style metal nails – but they could have been post construction maintenance. We were lucky enough to spend the night across the road from the church at the Fossheim Hotel. This is where the Norwegian culture started to shine for me. The little town had a few shops with one of the larger stores being a bakery/cafe and the hotel had a wonderful local beer menu. Such a relaxed culture compared to the stereotypical Western world.

Skjolden – 1 Night

This morning was the 90 minute drive to the village of Skjolden, if we didn’t stop, but what’s the fun in that? We made a couple of brief stops to enjoy the views and the snow as we reached higher elevations in Jotunheimen National Park. There were a number of people out cross-country skiing, what great views they must have been enjoying!

Late morning we stopped for our first group hike. This was going to be a good test to see just how fit everyone was. I admit, it was a bit of a challenge after taking it easy for the previous few days but the trail and the views were beautiful. Through in some wildflowers, a waterfall, a fjord, good weather, you could not ask for more.

After the hike it was time for drive to the Skjolden Hotel that was right on the end of a fjord. With the encouragement of our guides, a few of us took a quick plunge into the fjord – ohhh that was was, uhmm, refreshing!! No regrets at all, new experiences is what travel is all about and after a hot shower I could feel my toes again.

Below are pictures of the different courses we had for dinner. I couldn’t tell you most of what it was but it was all wonderful.

Gloppen – 2 Nights

Well, when you travel you have to be prepared for your plans to change and that is what happened to us today. The original idea was that we would leave Skjolden and hike up Molden (looking out from the hotel you could, uhmm, not see it due to the weather). This was one of the hikes I was most looking forward to on this trip, so I guess now I have an excuse to go back. 😉

If you look at the first photograph below, from the hotel looking towards Molden, you can see the short pier. That is where I had the “refreshing” fjord swim. Yes, it was cold, but how many times in your life do you get to swim in a fjord? In life you have to take advantage of your opportunities.

Our guides quickly adjusted and found another hike we could do en route to Gloppen. This did give the opportunity to stop and enjoy Bøyabreen glacier first. The glacier was a nice break from being in the van but it was also sad to hear how much the glacier has retreated over the recent years. Unfortunately, with so many of my travels I hear about how the world has changed so much. We do need to keep better care of our planet, for centuries it took care of us and now it is our turn to give Earth some help.

The hike our guides found was called Haugsvarden and although it appeared that it was going to be a moderate hike, well, first impressions can be deceiving. We actually had a few people turn back and return to the vans as it kept going up, plus the weather was “cool” with some drizzling rain. So, a drizzly, cold, cloudy day for a challenging hike. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely, nothing like be out in the great outdoors. Plus, the guides had chocolate at the peak!

Morning Kayaking

Our full day in Sandane in Gloppen started with some kayaking in the Gleppenfjorden, right in front of the hotel, however having jumped into a fjord the other day I knew that they are ice cold. How are we going to get in and out of the kayaks without getting wet? Well, they supplied all of us with dry suits, and was that entertaining watching us try to get into those. (Those pictures will never see the light of day. 😀 ) Once we were all suited up (pun intended) and given some instructions we pulled our 2-person sea kayaks into the fjord and everyone successfully got in and set off for about 90 minutes of exploring. Our guides gave us a little history of the area while we paddled but I think I was too busy taking in the calmness and in awe of how clear the water was. It was 2-3 meters (6-10 feet) deep but you felt that you could reach down and touch the bottom. I did spot a nice rod and reel on the bottom that I think one of our guides was going to go back and retrieve later.

After the kayaking we had the rest of the day to ourselves to explore the small town and perhaps some local refreshments.

I forgot to start my GPS, hence the start and end do not appear the same below.

Valldal – 1 Night

Another day of travel but what a fun day. A small vehicle ferry to cross the Innvikfjorden, from Anda to Lote, then an hour drive before getting on an hour ferry ride that took us from Hellesylt to Geiranger. Ohh, what a wonderful trip it was on the ferry on Geirangerfjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So many beautiful waterfalls to enjoy, and then in ABC we take a winding road to get a view from a higher elevation. This was what they show you in the tourist brochures for Norway. The beauty of nature at it’s finest and a reminder that the world is full of wonders.

Can you believe that was just the morning? For the afternoon we got a nice hike in that gave us more wonderful views of the fjords. Starting near Kilsti and hiking to the top of Blahornet was so rewarding. Just the vastness of the land and the views that are only stopped by the mountains.

After the hike we had to hustle to catch the short ferry ride in Eidsal to Linge before continuing on to Valldal for the night.

Have I mentioned that they feed us well on this trip. Such wonderful meals, my only regret is not much seafood – which I was looking forward too.

Oppdal – 1 Night

This would be the day with the most driving, about 3.5 hours but there were plenty of stops along the way and a hike in the afternoon along the Old King’s Road. The first stop of the day was at Gudbrandsjuvet to view their waterfall through a small canyon. It has a well maintained boardwalk over the ravine that allows you to get close enough to feel the power of the rushing water. Definitely a good stop to stretch the legs and enjoy.

Next we took a longer stop at Trollstigen to enjoy the view and see the road ahead. We were lucky that it was not peak tourist season as our guide was telling us traffic can come to a standstill on this portion of the road. If the eleven switchbacks don’t get you nervous, then you are distracted by the waterfalls and views. I wish I was driving and had my car for the road down into the valley, with no other traffic. It looks like it would be so much fun, but probably best that I didn’t get that opportunity. 😉

After driving down into the valley we stopped at the Troll Wall to let the other van catch up. Maybe I had been living in the wrong caves but I had not been thinking of trolls until this point on the trip.

After lunch, where I ate way too much pizza we drove towards our next hike. They kept bringing different styles of pizza and I just had to try them all. It would have been impolite to not try. 😉

This was a point to point hike so we had to pick up another driver to assist with shuttling the two vans from the starting point to the end point but our guides were great and pulled it off smoothly. The hike was technically pretty straight forward and not that difficult which gave us plenty of time to enjoy the wildflowers and to learn about the rich history of the trail. It is something to think that you are on trail that has been used for almost 900 years. From lone travellers to monarchy have walked on the same dirt and enjoyed the same views.

Trondheim – 1 Night

It’s gone by so quickly but this was the last full day in Norway. We started with a morning hike, then the drive to Trondheim where we would have the afternoon to ourselves before meeting up for the farewell dinner.

This hike would take us to the summit of Rauhovdin and give us wonderful views of (Lake) Gjevillvatnet. The trail started with sheep coming out to see what these crazy two-legged animals were doing and once they decided we didn’t have food for them, they let us on our way through the meadows and with a rock scramble at the end we all made it to the summit. Our trusty guides, naturally, had chocolate and other treats for us to enjoy and we took in the views and reminisced on what a great trip this had been.

After a short drive we arrived in Trondheim, which is a much larger city than I was expecting. It’s actually the third largest city in the country. We walked from the hotel to our farewell dinner and stopped to admire the Nidaros Cathedral and wandered on the grounds being told of it’s history and significance. I am constantly in awe at the age of so many of these European buildings and that they have stood the test of time so well.

After dinner we strolled back to the hotel, taking our last real looks at Norway. It surpassed my expectations.

Travel Day

The Trondheim airport is not close to the city and the tour company only offered one airport shuttle which was too late in the day for my flights so it was a 890NOK taxi ride to the airport. Luckily there were three of use so that worked out reasonably. It turned out only one (of nine) people could use the scheduled airport shuttle, so obviously they have an area for improvement there.

Thank you Norway for a great trip, wonderful scenery, great people and expensive beer. 😉

Logistics

Have you been to Norway? What did I miss? If you haven’t been I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip.