We were all pretty tired after yesterday's antics, so we had a bit of a lie in - it seems most other people here on the campsite had the same idea, it was certainly very quiet!
Then after breakfast the kids were desperate to get on the water. We narrowly missed out on the extremely popular pedalo, and ended up in two rowing boats instead. It took a while to get the hang of rowing but it was beautiful and peaceful on the lake.
Felix had a bit of a mooch in one of the canoes while we finally managed to grab the pedalo, and then it was time to put a packed lunch together and head out to the glacier. We'd sized it up the day before to decide whether to drive, cycle or walk the 12km,and decided that driving would be best since there was a 45 minute hike involved anyway. We were a little surprised to be paying for parking - in fact it's the first paid car park we've seen in Norway, but it is a popular tourist attraction, so understandable I guess!
The hike was about 3km, some of it very steep, but involved lots of photo stops including an extremely powerful and beautiful waterfall that soaked us as we crossed a bridge - very welcome on a hot day like today, it was around 30 degrees! We walked alongside raging white water, the melt water from the glacier which is receding rapidly, and emerged on to the shores of the grey-blue glacier lake.
In 2000, the glacier completely covered the glacial lake, and even in photos from a few years ago you can see it reaching the edge of the lake. However now it's quite a long way short, though still very impressive - it's hard to imagine the scale involved in the glacier, which in some places is 600m thick!
We sat and ate lunch on a boulder watching the glacier, secretly hoping for some activity, although there was none. It was such a beautiful sight though, I could have sat there for hours, but the kids were getting restless, so we headed back.
On the way through we'd spotted a hiking trail which looked interesting, and although we were all a little bit tired at this point, we decided to at least walk a little way along the path. It was an exhilarating route, clambering over boulders at the side of the rapids, well waymarked and with the promise of exciting views at the top, but sadly the younger two were not at all up for it and we had to head back.
We took a quick look around the souvenir shop and bought a moose oven glove - cool *and* practical - and spotted a can of Heineken in the cafe for 90Kr, the equivalent of about £9! Luckily we had cheap German beer in the fridge back at the campsite (we're in a cabin, not roughing it) and cracked open a couple when we got back.
James and Felix were particularly keen to go in the canoes, but just missed out so ended up in a rowing boat. When they got back and finally got in a canoe, it turned out Felix wasn't happy with sharing the boat so chucked James out. We all joined him in a rowing boat, even though it meant two of us taking the oars - big mistake!
It turns out sharing the oars is both a recipe for domestic discord and difficult paddling. We've had little to argue about since beginning our journey but we were nearly ready for divorce by the time we hit the shore (not literally, although we did manage to hit the middle of the bridge!)
Just as we thought we were home and dry while mooring the boat, it started sliding under the jetty, knocking me backwards into the lake in the process! Thankfully it wasn't as cold as I expected, although that may have been down to the fact I was fully clothed at the time...
Then it was back to the cabin to make dinner, pasta with passata, sweetcorn and tinned tuna, all bought in Germany or Sweden. We're really fighting to keep the costs down here, although we did stretch to homemade bread from the campsite and some smoked salmon to go with it for lunch!
Tomorrow (assuming James and the kids come back from their latest pedalo trip!) we'll be heading off to the Atlantic Ocean Road, but it's safe to say we'll miss this place!
Published on Saturday 9 June 2018
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