The far North and the Joy of Mountains

Wednesday 21-Aug-2019 (Narvik to Myre (on Langoya))

Our “yellow-ramp levellers” for Fiat had been deteriorating for some time now – large cracks had appeared in this somewhat critical accessory (its hard to use a stove top when it is sloping!)… and McRent had proposed they be replaced by one of their agents in Norway… and there was one right near where we camped (there are a LOT of motor homes in Norway)... so a short trip along Herjansfjord – before moving on to the Lofoton Islands.

Looking down Herjangsfjorden and Ofortjorden from Bjerkvik. Seems a bit cloudy here too... but the hills are higher (and steeper) than in Sweden

While the ultimate goal of our visit to Lofoton is to visit Reine (a location also recommended by the the staff at the McRent station in Bjerkvik) we wanted to get a wider view of these islands – so chose a camp site that was on a fjord, with mountain views (and good reviewer ratings)… so it is a bit like the way we chose camp sites in Sweden – except we replace “lake” with “fjord”, and “forest” with “mountains”!  Easy really… same “pattern” different “contents”.

And so we crossed onto Lofoten (proper, i.e. the island of Hinnoya) via the bridge at Steinsland, then followed a circuitus route that included a ferry to cross Gullesfjorden (Fiat went on its fourth sea journey… ka ching (ka ching, ka ching… i.e. even more, since it is Norway)) then onto Storland (which Mike Revell had passed through a week or so earlier… on his bike).

The bridge to Hinnoya across Tield Sundet (opened in 1967)

Some of these "off the main tourist route" had almost an Italian feel to them....  Notice too the colour of the forest - which looks to be of spruce - unlike the more pastel and contracting bark colours of the Swedish birch forests.

Some more rain... and into the Jaws of the Ferry across Gullesfjorden - a 20 minute ride for NOK290. 

Gullesfjorden

While Norway is recognised as a very wealthy country (all that oil money etc…) – there is not a lot of evidence of that wealth in Lofoten… once off the main tourist route, the E10, there are places that look a lot more like the West Coast of the South Island.

Looking down Hadselfjorden, from Hannoya, just before crossing to Langoya at Sortland

Looking down Gavlfjorden and Risoysundet from Sortland...

Two satellite antennas on one camper... what does that say about the television preferences of the owners??

The reviews of tonight’s camp site (Oppmyre Camping) noted the “near sea setting” – but didn’t have much to say about the services except comments like “extensive kitchen and living room”… but this is what that translated into.. on the “ground”. Felt like being invited into the owner’s home!

The view of Prestfjorden from the front window of Fiat at Oppmyre Camping … and for us - the tide seems always to be out! 

The camper's kitchen at Oppmyre

And the "lounge" at Oppmyre…  Perhaps we could ask the folks at Motutere for an upgrade to their facilities - in line with International standards... where this is an "example"!

One last comment on this day… we have been fascinated by one of the common design “patterns” of Swedish and Norwegian houses… we sample a few below.  For those of you who know what our home looks like… you may be wondering if this is genetic(!) (like my Sisters love of bright colours – mentioned earlier!)…  And it comes in, cream, red, blue and we have seen forest green too!

Do you see the fundamental resemblance with the house at 10 Wantwood Grove?

Before we got to Norway, our (new) Swedish friends commented that Norway is always beautiful even when it rains… it just happens to be more beautiful when it is not raining. We can now vouch for the correctness of this statement – So it is just like the West Coast of the South Island – beautiful when it rains (which it only does at night… 😊), and when the sun shines!

Thursday 22-Aug-2019 (Myre to Sildpollen (on Austagoy))

In reading about the local history of Langoya – the theme that seems ever present is the idea of de-population (i.e. towns becoming ghost towns) – as industry is concentrated into fewer and fewer locations, and central services (e.g. post offices) are shut down.  Some small fishing villages have survived though, through retransformation – e.g. as tourist centres offering things such as whale watching, or some other aspect of marine tourism appear to be holding on.  One of these is Nyksund – which was just “up the road” from Myre.

How's that for a Garden ornament - surely beats a gnome?  (Yes it was advertising whale viewing excursions)… in Myre.

Sea cages for Aquaculture - fin fish(?), salmon(?)

The road to Nyksund...

And now, up close and personal..

The picturesque "fishing" village of Nyksund..

Looking across Prestfjorden from Nyksund

At this point we needed to double back on the route from Sortland (the Blue City… they like to paint their built structure, blue)… and across the bridge to Hinoya, and a stop at the same place as above for a photograph and lunch…  still raining… different lighting, and still “beautiful” …

Another look at Hadselfjorden (see above), different day, similar cloud, but more sun!

Then – it was a case of going over ground, underground (long tunnels), undersea (long tunnels – down (8% gradient) to as far as 112m below sea level) and over sea (long “hump-back” bridges)… to our next stop, on a fjord, by mountains – at Sildpollen (on the island of Austagoy) – and just short of Svolvaer – the “capital” of Lofoten.

The church at the campsite in Sildpollen

So as we note... camping on a fjord (Austres-fjorden), in the mountains.

And this is what the sky looked like at 3:11AM... it never really got completely dark … but Fiat has good light proofing - so did not cause a lack of sleep...

Austres-fjorden viewed from above the campsite (the church is on the headland on the left)… notice... there is an absence of cloud!  You will need to click on this image to get a reasonable sense of the view...

Friday 23-Aug-2019 (Sildpollen to Moskenes (on Moskensoya))

More island hopping today – as we headed toward the area that provides “the” imagery of Lofoten – the villages of Reine , Sakrisoy and Hamnoy -see below… So another day of really (it was not raining) beautiful scenery…

Mountains, water, no wind, reflections....

Not much vegetation on the hills - but good roads... now wind, and reflections!

Vessel seen at Svolaer… but what are its dynamic capabilities?  It doesn't "look" like it would be very stable... infact it looks to have the characteristics of the Vasser - and that didn't work out well!

A word familiar to all New Zealanders.... and it turns out to a lot of Norwegians - it is a quite large supermarket chain here...

We came to call these, "hump back bridges", this is the one across the strait between the islands of Hadsel and Austvagoy.

Reflections on Austvagoy at Steiriapollen 

That included a visit to the “living museum” at Borg – where in 1981,  a farmer ploughing his field with a plough that went 5 cm deeper than in earlier years bug up what were beads and shards of glass. It turned out to be a major discovery, as this was to be the largest Viking era longhouse in Scandinavia… In its final form. It was  83m long, 12 m wide by 9.5 m high – and was inhabited between 700 and 900 AD, but earlier buildings on the same site date from 500 AD. Not much is known of the inhabitants (or the name of the Chieftains) – and why it was abandoned in 900. We visited the re-construction of this building – which was indeed very large. It was a living museum. In that they had staff dressed in Viking age clothing, carrying out tasks from that era – such as weaving, and cooking – as well as explaining the features of the building, and the life in the Viking age – which is considered to have run from the 700s to 1066 when Harald III Hardrade was killed at the Battle of Stanford Bridge – after which the  “Royal Revenues” increasingly came from “fees”, fines and “taxes”… 

Why was the Long house evacuated in the 900’s and who were the Chieftains? There is conjecture that the last Chieftain was Olaf Tvennumbruni, and that he and his family, retainers and  slaves decamped to Iceland – seen as a land of opportunity – as local Chieftains lost power during a period of “consolidation” of power by more powerful Chieftains.  Is the Iceland hypothesis credible? Well a colonist named Olaf Tvennumbruni settled in Iceland around 900 AD (similar to the date that Borg was abandoned), on what is still the largest farm in Iceland – and which is still in the same hands as the original owners – 25 generations later.  Perhaps a coincidence, perhaps not?

The re-creation of the Viking Longhouse at Borg

Learning more about life in an important Chieftains  Longhouse during the Viking Era (in this case around 800 - 900 AD)

More interesting roads too… and so we arrived in Moskenes – where after a longish day – we decided to splash out and buy dinner at the Camps restaurant.. where it turns out every item on the menu was “fish” in some form or another – e.g. Stockfish (re-hydrated dried fish), and whale meat (yes I know whales are not fish – hence the “ “!).  We had a discussion with the restaurant manager (and Camp site owner) about this issue… he was quite adamant that removing minke whales from the ecosystem was “improving” the functioning of said ecosystem…  We agreed to differ!

IT looks like there has been very large investment in roading infrastructure... and the ubiquitous Camper … it feels like every 5th (or so) vehicle is a Camper here... and a large number are A Class.

Pizza … with Salmon (alternatives were whale meat, stockfish, … every thing "fishy"... not really what a Pizza should taste like (in my view)….

But we did have another of those useful encounters… a German couple came and sat at the same table as us – and while the mutually understood English and German words were small in number – with the help of Google Translator we managed to have a conversation that included the details we needed to know to climb Reinebringen – the hill behind the town of Reine to see that iconic view of the “Lofoten Islands” (actually – just a few of them).  We did however learn the number: 1,560 steps.  As tomorrow was going to be another fine day – and because we had come to see this view… we went to bed anticipating a tiring day ahead.  But not before a bit more web searching about this walk – which included such gems as: its only safe to do it early morning or late afternoon (due to the risk of falling rocks… somebody was severely injured in early August as a result of a rock dislodged by a climber above), and that it is an “extremely difficult” walk (from what looked like a family that was very accustomed to “walking”).

Saturday 24-Aug-2019 (Moskenes)

After a hearty breakfast of muesli we set out on our bikes (3 km) to the foot of the track for the little “walk” up the Reinebringen hill… just 1,560 steps plus a 50 m scramble (supposedly on all fours) above the last step to get to the top – how hard could this be?  

One thing we can say… is they really know how to construct steps that will last “forever” here…. Nothing less than (very substantial) slabs of rock…

Look carefully... and on the hill ahead, you will see the "track" up Reinebringen...

This is what the steps look like... substantial, and quite large distances from one step to the next... this was at one of the less steep sections of the track... right at the bottom!

Perhaps this gives some sense of the track...

From the top... looking down from whence one has come... lovely!

And the view when rotating 180 degrees! The view over Reine... a view to create a sense of vertigo in some of us...  You don't really need drone to get an elevated view... though someone did have one up there...

Just to prove we really were there 

The Panoramic view...

Clearly, no rocks fell on our head’s and our knees and thigh muscles survived just fine – so our fitness levels must have improved over this time… and it only took one hour 10 minutes to get to the top.  As I like to point out – having not made much use of my knees over the last 40 years – they are still in good condition… making such “walks” entirely painless!  AS you climb… and have the occasional “break” (for whatever reason) you do end up on friendly-terms with some of your fellow sufferers… in our case with a lovely Australian couple from Port Macquarie (who took the photo of Karilyn and I). So while the walk was not too bad, for me – looking over the edge at the top was a very uncomfortable feeling – it is straight down… and because this is Norway, where people are clever enough to have a healthy respect for nature (so I have read),…  there are no guard rails.  I am not very fond of heights – but this one made for a feeling of extreme vulnerability – the more so when looking through the viewfinder means that you see nothing except emptiness… and a long, long way down!  On the way down – what should swim by but three orcas… a little like icing on the cake of this walk.

In the evening – we decided to visit Å (which just happens to be the last letter in the Norwegian alphabet, not to be confused with the first letter in the English alphabet) – the last town on the E10 road – and indeed the end of the road going south, and to go back to the Island of Sakrisoy – to have dinner at the famous Anita’s Fish restaurant… We had initially planned to do this on the bikes… it would have been around 20 km… but instead decided to unhook the power plug, de-ramp, and take Fiat for an afternoon / evening drive!

The fishing village of Sorvagen… between Moskenes and A.

Arriving in A... and the end of the E10 road - that we had (mostly) been following since Jokkmok.

This is the foundation for a quite large, old building in Sorvagen… obviously no earthquakes occur around here...

Stockfish drying racks (called hjells) in A... these are loaded up with cod from March to June - and cured in the open air - through a cold-air fermentation process. (similar to cheese... these racks are almost everywhere, including within the villages.... there must be quite a fishy aroma in the air for a few of those months! 

"Lands end" on Moskenescoya…. looking across to Vaeroya.  Between these two islands is said to be the strongest (tidal) maelstrom on the planet...

More colourful plants and berrys..

Guess the name...

The Menu at Anita's... very fishy... we had the "Classic" - a minced fish patty in a bun with some lettuce etc. and mayo and cost NZ$35 each!!    

The hjells just behind Anita's Restaurant...

A truckload of "Stockfish" - and yes you could buy them... What to do with one, once you have bought it... rehydrate and cook, is the answer, we believe.

Does this look delicious?  For some people, the answer clearly is, yes...

An evening view of Reine... from ground level.

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow… but that will not bother us – as we will be on the ferry to Bodo…

Sunday 25-Aug-2019 (Moskenes to Saltstraumen via Bodo)

The day dawned wet… and the sea looked somewhat less than as “calm – a touch of wind too… We caught the 11.00 ferry… at the small cost of NZD390.00- for the 3.5hour crossing. (if we had been less than 6m long the price would have been half this amount…).

A little rain at boarding... and perhaps you can tell... the ferry was not very large... and it was full.

Fiat among fellow campers,,,

The wind had had an effect on the ocean surface too… and so it turned out to be the equivalent of a “rough” Cook Strait type crossing (especially the feeling of roll and yaw when leaving the Wellington heads) – except in this case it went on for something like 3 hours of the crossing. I suspect that about 10-20% of the passengers were sick.  Not an entirely pleasant experience….

Some hope of respite from the Sea... approaching Bodo... 

Our campsite for the night was beside the Saltstraumen – a small Strait with one of the strongest tidal currents in the world… with more detail, according to Wikipedia being: “Up to 400 million cubic metres of seawater forces its way through a 3km long and 150mwide strait every six hours. Vortices known as whirlpools or maelstroms up to 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres in depth.”  We prepared to be dazzled by this spectacle the following morning at 7:57AM… when the flow would be at its highest.

Monday 26-Aug-2019 (Saltstraumen to Mo I Rana)

We arose early – and took up a strategic position on the bridge overlooking the Strait (as a search on the web had suggested that was the best location (if you are not in a boat).

The Salstraumen Maelstrom….

Up close... but definitely not 5 to 10m wide!

We were not dazzled.. though it was interesting.  The moon was only at half phase – so perhaps the tidal range was a little lower than is needed for one to be dazzled? So we moved on… as we had a fair distance to travel that day – on the E6.

The waters a re translucent in many places...

Lunch stop for us... and a place of death for two British soldiers in 1940.  Notice the tress growing out of the rock face beyond Fiat.

One of our last views of the land above the Arctic Circle... a bit desolate 

The Norwegians make a bigger "deal" of crossing the Arctic Circle than the Swedes did.  One of the few places that we have felt genuinely ripped off... by the price to view an "exciting" video on the Artic... (60NOK/person) - it was absolute rubbish! 

Would you agree - these Polar Bears would be quite intimidating... if you ended up close and personal with one...

World War two history is evident along the way.  At the Arctic Circle there were two memorials – one that was Soviet and a second that was Yugoslavian.  We wondered why at the time… Also where we stopped for lunch, there was a small plaque noting that two British Soldiers fell here in May 1940.

A feature of the day – was the re-construction work going on in parallel to the E6 highway… it seems that they are working on 100s of kms at the same time – with construction camps set up to provide accommodation for the workers etc.  There were Stop/Go’s and quite a few diversions onto gravel roadbeds… slow going in places.

Mo I Rana was just a stop on the way south… and the picture of the campsite looked appealing.  When we got there – we found it was just below a large industrial complex – but we could see that by taking the photo from a strategic point… it could look idyllic!  It turns out that the steel plant in Mo I Rana use more electrical power than all of Oslo...

Tuesday 27-Aug-2019 (Mo I Rana to Trondheim)

Again – a day of distance driving (approx. 420km today) through landscapes that were largely dominated by agriculture… but before we got to them we passed through/under the Korgfjellet mountain range. The Germans brought 100,000 Soviet and Yugoslavian prisoners to Norway and forced them to labour on several large-scale infrastructure projects.  There was large losses of life – up to 60% of prisoners died.  In the case of the Korgfjellet section, which was “managed” by the SS, 646 prisoners died due to hunger, illness, abuse and execution between 23 June 1942 and 6 May 1944.  Today – we passed under the mountain via a long tunnel.

On the Korgjellet road...

The Laksfan falls on the Vefsna River 

Another lunch stop (the Vefsna, we think... further up stream from the falls above)

Classic, forest, river scenery... just beyond this image, two boys were enjoying a swim..  

It is still surprising to see such still waters - on such large bodies of water ...

Just to give a sense of the scenery along the route...

In this agricultural region (where the "mountains" are just rolling hills and not like one expects to see in the Norwegian landscape) there are vast farm buildings... both the "farm houses" and the sheds for the animals...  We wonder who lives in the farm houses - as they look big enough to house 20 or 30 or more people. These buildings belonged to the farm beside our campsite in Trondheim

This is one of the "smaller" farm houses we saw (nearly always painted white) and most often, it would seem to a standard design - which differs by the number of windows on each floor.

Sunset on Trondheimsfjorden (the view from Fiat) 

Wednesday 28-Aug-2019 (Trondheim to Oppdal)

We had intended to get within striking distance of The Atlantic Road today… but our visit to Trondheim took a little longer than initially planned … we had a problem finding a parking space – ultimately parking in a Stellplatz for 3 hours – at the cost of NOK120 (i.e. NZ$20) – and used the bikes to visit the city (which is very bike friendly – i.e. lots of bike lanes).

Here we discovered the meaning of the gateway that we had passed through the previous evening (and today, on leaving) when entering the campsite.

Fiat leaving the campsite… through these interesting "gates"

And here are the "original" gates on which the above are modelled... the Gamle Bybro over the Nidelva River.

Classic (to our eyes) Norwegian warehouses on the Nidelva River - in the Old Town of Trondheim.

It turns out that it is Gamle Bybro crosses the Nidelva River from the south end of the main street Kjøpmannsgata, and that the “original” version was built in in 1681 in conjunction with the reconstruction of Trondheim after the great fire of 1681.  It seems to be one of the ”recognisable” landmarks of Norway.

We visited the Cathedral too (NOK110/per person, thankyou!)– the northern most Gothic Cathedral… and the burial site of Olaf II – known as the King that united Norway – and made Christianity the state religion. Reading some of the histories would suggest that his conversion to Christianity in France was more a political event than a case of a redeemed sinner!  His monument in Trondheim has an Orb with a Cross on it in one hand and a sword in the other. It would seem that the alternative to accepting conversion and baptism was not very palatable! 

Trondheim Cathedral … known as the "dark cathedral"... and yes it is very dark inside (with Stain glasses modelled on those of Chartre)… and even though we paid NOK110/person,  not photography was allowed!  The parts of the cathedral you see today - are in reality "quite new"... as new as 2001... but the origins of the building date back to the Romanesque period starting in  1070 but taking 230 years to "complete"... But what was completed then is not much like the current building... The façade you see here was only completed in 2001!

An accurate view of Olaf's take on the great commission.... repent and be baptised or die?

Trondheim makes a feature of it's marine setting... but according to our host at the Burger Restaurant... the city has a serious drug problem - heroin...

As the time had drawn on – we decided to buy lunch, and a burger at that, as Trondheim is known for its “Burger Nerds”- we decided that was the way to go, but not before buying a loaf of bread for the evening – that cost NZ$12!  And the cost of two burgers, one small side of chips and two 330ml shakes (not BK or McDonalds!) a mere NZ$94!  They do say Norway is expensive!!

So with the late start – we drove as far as Oppdal – a ski resort town (in winter) – and found a camp ground beside a river – very lovely.  And because it is an ACSI campsite – we only had to pay the ACSI rate – just NOK195/per night (plus NOK10 / shower).  In Trondheim we paid NOR390 for the night (including the cost of showers) – i.e. around NZD70 for the night. To complete this commentary on prices – for diesel we have paid between NOK14.22 and NOK16.00 per litre… and two thirds of a tank is 60 litres – or between NZ$150 and NZD170 – perhaps not a lot worse than in NZ?

Thursday 29-Aug to Saturday 31-Aug-2019 (Oppdal)

Catch up diary and blog….  - beside a fast running stream... 

"The stream"... with the Camp site on the true left bank - adjacent to the flagpole 

And I have discovered that my Surface Pro 4 is one of the "few" examples of this model that suffer from "scramble screen" (do a search)... which is making the blog a little harder to maintain - as the PC goes into the Scramble Screen (=unusable) at shorter and shorter intervals now... it used to be after 6 h or so of use... but now it is more like a few hours... lets hope it remains OK till we get home.