Today has been a very intense and overwhelming day, full of surprises and happy outcomes!
Leaving the hostel after a mostly Norwegian-style breakfast (I got to try the famous brown cheese!), we were lucky to only be skirting Oslo during rush hour and to be well clear of the city within an hour. This was just as well as our expected travelling time today was about 8 hours, even after saving 90 minutes or so by taking a ferry.
Our first destination was the Laerdal tunnel - the longest road tunnel in the world. It was a little out of our way but close enough that we thought it would be a shame to miss it, and it would make a good lunch stop we thought. It did mean taking a slightly longer but eminently more scenic route, and it wasn't long before we found ourselves pulling over to take photos (and make use of one of the superbly situated WCs that are found about every 10kms along major routes!). We were alongside a beautiful fjord, and scrambled down a rock face to the other side of the trees to get the best views.
Trees were a major factor in the first part of the route, coming as they did with their moose warnings (we haven't seen another one since Sweden), and a broadcast text message from the local fire service reminding everyone in the region that today was an extremely high risk day for forest fires and not to do anything that might result in one. Thankfully we cleared that part of the route safely and were soon in more mountainous territory, spotting our first snow topped mountain, followed by many others (in June!)
At one point in the journey we spotted a sign for a meteorite crater, and thought we should check it out, for educational purposes at least! We found the meteorite park a short way off the road, and although we didn't really have a lot of time to stop, after a lovely lady told us that the park wasn't open yet and therefore we wouldn't be paying the 280Kr entry fee (per family), but that we were welcome to go up to the car park and have a wander round by ourselves, we thought we'd better take a look around.
It was quite fascinating, the crater is around 5km in diameter, and although the metorite itself vapourised on impact, the effects of its crash landing can still be seen both in the geography of the site and its geology. There were information boards telling us what we needed to know, and suitably educated, we had our morning snack and continued with our journey.
The awe inspiring scenery continued as the road wound its way first along a fjord and then between snowy mountains, with plenty of tunnels along the way. Finally we reached the one we had been waiting for - the Laerdal tunnel at 24.5km in length. Felix can tell you more facts that I can about it, but basically it's 4 x 6km lengths, separated by large, brightly lit caverns to try to stop drivers feeling claustrophic and give them somewhere to stop if needed. It's artificially ventilated and took 5 years to build. We enjoyed it so much that we turned round and did it again. Actually that's not quite how it went. We stopped at Flam for lunch, and Google Maps told us to go back through the tunnel to get to our destination for the day...
We knew that the next leg would involve a short ferry journey, so I'd equipped myself with cash and we slipped in just in time to catch one. It was a beautiful journey across the fjord, although there was limited time to enjoy it. We haven't seen another British car since we arrived in Norway, and the guy taking money for the ferry seemed quite pleased to be using his English, which like everyone else in Norway, was pretty much fluent.
We had another scenic rest stop twenty minutes later, and not long after that we spotted a sign to Boyabreen Glacier after seeing it from a distance, and again, felt we had to stop. Part of the reason we decided to visit this area was to see the Jostedalsbreen Glacier, and this was one of the 'fingers'. We parked further from the glacier than turned out to be necessary, and Lowenna and Jowan had fun first dipping their fingers into and then drinking the glacier melt water nearby. The glacier itself was fascinating - seeing parts that looked like they were about to calve, hearing the creaking of the glacier, seeing the bright blueness of the ice and the grey colour of the glacier melt, plus the lake that had formed underneath from all of the rivulets of water running out from under the glacier.
It was hard to tear ourselves away - I never realised how addictive glacier watching would be! Then it was more unbelievable scenery before arriving at the campsite about 7.15pm. The campsite itself is lovely, just 10km away from the Briksdalbreen 'finger', which we hope to go and visit tomorrow, and beside two fjord lakes, surrounded by snow topped mountains. They also have free bikes to rent and all kinds of watersports equipment, all free as long as you use it at your own risk - paddleboards, kayaks, canoes, pedalo and a huge water trampoline that I think the kids will love until they realise how cold the water is!
All in all, it's been a long but perfect day, exactly what we were hoping for when we decided to go travelling. Hoping there are many more of these to come!
Published on Friday 8 June 2018
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