5 September 2023

The inhabitants of Soltun Tiny House slept well last night, lulled by the white noise emitted from our nearby waterfall. We packed up our stuff, had a quick chat with the owner of our little eco-lodge, waved to the 8:30 am Flåmsbana Train rattling past our driveway, already jam packed with tourists, cameras at the ready, and began our drive to Bergen.

There was a new ship parked in the village, this one depositing mostly English visitors to Flåm, for a day of adventuring (or sauna- ing)

We assessed our daily coffee at a solid 7/10. Definitely not bad! But room for improvement.

Our first plan for today was to retrace our steps a little and visit Stegastein Viewpoint overlooking Aurlandsfjord. We had meant to visit it on our way in to Flåm yesterday, but somehow missed the turn. Given the high recommendations from our Airbnb host, along with copious tourist guides, we thought it would be a shame to miss it.

The drive along the fjord and up to this lookout was yet another adventure in narrow road driving, combined with spectacular views, hairpin bends and ….. cows.

We shared the road with busses, cars, cyclists and those funny little “sports car” thingies. Most drivers played by the rules and pulled over in special passing bays to allow the oncoming cars to avoid plummeting over the edge but some didn’t! It got a little tense, but not as tense as yesterdays road trip!

The viewing platform “juts out 30 metres from the mountainside, 650 metres above the fjord, and offers an unparalleled panorama. A more amazing view of the fjord, mountains and surrounding landscape is hard to imagine”. (Google)

There was some very light mist falling , which had us reaching for our wet weather gear. As we walked onto the viewing platform something really nice happened!

We headed back down the mountain and stopped once or twice to enjoy the view, again. It’s a gift that just keeps giving.

And this is when the tunnelling began. At first it was a novelty but by the end of the day, the number of tunnels and the length of the tunnels actually got boring. (I know, poor me!)

Grahame and I reckon that at least a third of our road trip today was underground.

We also experienced a fair bit of road works , possibly as a result of the bad storms a month or so ago. One lane would be closed, and we would have to sit and wait til the a lead safety car escorted us through the closed section. This meant the drive took a lot longer than intended. But we usually had a view when stopped, and we were in no hurry anyway.

Our first stop was at Gudvangen, a little further down the fjord from Flåm. A lot of travellers doing a particular route called “Norway in a Nutshell” catch the ferry from Flåm to here, before boarding a bus to Voss and then the train into Bergen.

Emily and Grahame met with one of the locals here and permitted me to record the event.

Not sure that Grahame permitted this one though!

We drove on towards Voss, spending much of our time underground. We still had great scenery in between tunnels though, so no complaints.

At one stage, we were driving alongside a fjord and I tried to count the waterfalls easily seen on the mountain opposite. I got to 15. Admittedly, some were fairly small, but they were still making that long plunge to the Valley below. Waterfalls are becoming a bit ho- hum (says she, tongue in cheek).

Our next “Ho-hum” moment came just up the road. Right beside the E16, one of Norways main highways was this beauty, the Tvindefossen just begging to be photographed. So I did!

We arrived in Voss, several tunnels later. Voss is considered yet another Adventure Hub in the region. Once again there was whitewater rafting, mountain biking, fjord touring, waterfall hunting and gondola riding on offer.

We found a nice little park down by the waters edge and had a picnic instead. Our fare was very similar to our last picnic in Lom, so there’s no photo to whet your appetite. But here’s a pic of the local church instead.

I searched for some Voss Sparkling Water, naively thinking that we were in the vicinity of a huge water bottling plant, and I could sip from the spring. Nup!! I googled it! Turns out Voss Water is bottled 400 kms away.

After many more kilometres in the bowels of the earth, we emerged in the outskirts of Bergen mid afternoon. We had decided to book accommodation for two nights, so we have plenty of time to sort ourselves out, repack and get organised for the next stage of our adventure.

Our apartment is so ridiculously spacious, that we keep getting lost. The bathroom is bigger than two of our lodgings over the last week.

Ruby Red was safely parked in a parking station a few hundred metres away while we headed off to explore Bergen on foot.

We made our way towards the “harbour” and stumbled across the Hurtigruten wharf where we will be checking-in in a couple of days. MS Nordkapp was in Port today. We will soon be chasing it up the Norwegian Coast on board MS Polarlys.

Our big Italian cruise ship from Flåm was docked nearby and the surrounding streets were filled with its passengers . We wondered whether the sick/ injured one has rejoined the ship. Hope so!

We turned right and walked around the waters edge towards Bryggen, the UNESCO World Heritage Listed harbour district.

But first we had to negotiate the fish markets chockablock full of fish mongers, food trucks, and Italians.

An office of the Hanseatic League was established in Bryggen 1350 , however the site was first establishback around 1070. “As the town developed into an important trading centre, the wharfs were improved and the buildings of Bryggen were gradually taken over by the Hanseatic merchants. The warehouses were used to store goods, particularly stockfish from northern Norway, and cereal from Europe.” (Google)

And then they all burned down (much like many of the timber buildings that make up Norwegian architecture).

We wandered through the rabbit warren that was once a thriving wharf. It was easy to imagine what it was like in its heyday. Didn’t miss the stench though!

From here we headed out the the point to explore Rosenkrantz Tower, originally part of the Norwegian Royal Castle back in 1270.

It was a lovely afternoon to stroll and explore, but we were starting to feel hungry and headed back into the centre of town for a lovely dinner. You guessed it. Italian!!!

It was a colourful walk through the streets of Bergen to our lodgings.

Back “home”, we toasted our good fortune with a G&T ( minus the T but with some sort of lemon/ lime fizzy drink we found in the fridge) settled down in front of the TV and introduced Emily to the joy that is Ted Lasso. I think we have another convert.

Time to tunnel under the covers and dream sweet dreams.! Goodnight!!