Day 17 Monday 2 September

Yes food focus again – but really at this hotel and in the Northern hemisphere it is a real occasion and therefore worthy of note. There is even a sign at breakfast that says that, “Without a good sleep and good breakfast you are not prepared for a good day”, I agree. We took the time to enjoy our food and then left excited and a little nervous about facing the left hand drive exit out of the city.

At Hertz we asked if the car we had booked had navigation as we couldn’t get a sim for our iPad. No our car didn’t but the nice staff upgraded us to an automatic with Nav for no extra fee. This was such a blessing and gave us a boost of support as we commenced our self drive Norway in a Nutshell tour.

The start of left hand driving is nerve racking enough, additionally an exit out of a city is always with trepidation. First turn left then turn right – whoops we went through a red light and had to pause real quick – thankfully someone stopped for us too! Also a relief that the Norwegians drive slow and the traffic is not bad at all. Ruh-roo – Verns poor nerves – which were bad enough as there are tram lines everywhere and we really didn’t want to go up a one way or take one of them on! The red light excitement and the Nav taking a bit to find her bearings coming out of the underground parking lot (as they do) meant we missed one turn, but she recorrected and it wasn’t long before we were out of the city and on the E16 towards Aurland.

We had a bit of fun with the Nav as she wanted to take us on the E18, and was not allowing us to reroute to our location via the more scenic way recommended by Rick Steves. We also couldn’t expand her out to get some other towns to pin point to so we kind of went by feel and instinct and ignored her. This strategy went fairly well, only a couple of turn arounds in the country and fun making our own adventure. To resolve this we pulled over and had a cup of coffee and Stollebolle (sweet bun with custard and coconut) and used the free wifi to get our iPad to Nav – this got us set until we arrived at our destination as once you map a place, google maps does not need to be connected to complete the journey.

The weather was really nice with blue skies and some white clouds illuminating the countryside scenery with bright green foliage, yellow round hale bales and picture perfect reflections on the prevalent water ways of lakes and rivers. I would describe Norway as a land of water and rocks – you literally follow water in some form all the way. There seems to be more water covering the land and rocky hills or cliffs than flat arable land areas. We still have not seen much livestock although I am delighted to say that I actually spotted some wild reindeer as we headed out of the lower regions into the rockier higher country. There are lots of troll statues around but I didn’t see any of them out wandering.

On reflection there is one disappointment I have with this region is the lack of Viking and historical cultural connection – for a tourist is seems more modern and they are not outwardly living their history and culture like some of the village life we have been to in other areas. It has a been difficult to sense what being a Norwegian is, and also the same in Sweden. I do say outwardly as there are probably some strong connections lived that we are not aware of.

Our first official stop was a Stav Church at Borgund. We got there at 4pm with half an hour to spare before it closed. First a welcome quick comfort stop and then over the road to the ancient black tarred wooden church. Built in 1180 approximately it the most original and best preserved example of a Stav church, including the oldest and only surviving original bell tower.

First impressions were of surprise on how small it was inside, you would only fit about 25 people standing (there are no pews, just a little bench on one wall for the elderly or infirm. The smell of the wood and the dim light showing the simplicity of the humble inside evoked a sense of a time when life was a lot more difficult. We wandered around enjoying touching the beams and tracing the carving connecting and respecting the spirit and lives that resonated from them. The graveyard around the church is beautifully tended with flowers and grass not too short and yet long enough to match the graceful age of the church.

From Borgund there are two options to get to Aurland and Sognefjord – either the longest tunnel in Laerdal at 24 km long, or over the scenic ‘snow road’, the latter taking in the Stegastein lookout point. I am not overly fond of tunnels as some of my readers will know, regardless we were going to take the more scenic route which as it transpired was a real highlight. And that is saying something as I am no snow bunny either.

As we started to move higher valleys were replaced by more stoney looking hills, still with boulder filled rivers directing the road line. We past ski resorts and golf courses, and lots of tiny hamlets with up to 20 houses. The snow road commenced with our first view of a big fjord which looked beautiful in the shelter of the high walls of rock around it, with a few boats reflecting in its dark green waters. We then commenced our climb to 1,306m on a narrow winding 48km long road really only 1.5 lane wide – with lots of pull over strips to use when you met a vehicle coming in the other direction.

When we got to the top it was like another planet – and climate. The mild day of around 18 degrees descended to 2 degrees and for a bonus it started to sleet. The road closes in winter due to snow, which remains in various degrees all year long – thus the name snow road. The rocky landscape had little lakes and ponds, streams, water spilling over rocks, alpine flowers of white, purple, and lime green and a few hearty fat sheep happily grazing. The mist hung low in places adding to the solitary atmosphere. Pretty magic. We had some warm clothes with our light down jackets – albeit not enough for that weather and the wind chill that was biting through our layers. I managed a couple of quick photo excursions before proclaiming I was getting hypothermia and returned to the comfort of the car.

The Stegastein lookout is on the descending side of the road and fortunately the sleeting had stopped as we got lower on that side so we were treated to a sun setting behind the fjord and the tiny town of Aurland in it’s matchbox size below. The lookout is shaped like a ski jump and protrudes out into the air high over the valley. There are a nice set of WC there, and you sit on the toilet looking out a large picture window over the fjord, very classy indeed. The colours here are dark – dark green foliage, mountain ranges and inky green water. It’s a dark and yet peaceful beauty.

Vern has done an amazing job of picking up on the left hand drive and getting us around safely. He says he couldn’t do it without my navigation but I still think he is wonderful being able to execute this so well. He is also very obliging with turning around and pulling over for things like reindeer to wildflowers and water falls!

Down a fun series of hairpins and 12 degree decline we arrived in Aurland which is pretty tiny so it was very easy to find our accomodation and check in. By now it was 8:30 pm so we had dinner at the guest house which was very expensive but that’s what its like in these prime tourist destinations. We had a lamb meal and a halibut – both tasty but not super flash if you considered the price and shared a cider totalling around 700 Nok (about 85NZD). Our room has a big comfy bed, and a lovely view over the fjord but is quite spartan. To be honest the bed comfort is the most important thing after such a big day!

We had hoped to arrive earlier in Aurland, and do either the Flam ride or a fjord cruise. On reflection we probably lost a bit of time as we didn’t have the proper nav until we got the wifi sorted, (a hangover at not being able to get a sim) and we dallied at breakfast. We are actually good with that as this holiday we did want to slow things down a bit and it has been good dropping a couple of things as it gives us time to process and absorb what we have done – just that bit better.