Saturday 19th October

We woke after a good sleep to a not too bad a day. Weather forecast was for better weather in the morning, increasing cloud in the afternoon, and rain in the evening.  This was considered an amazing weekend weather for this time of year in Alesund. We consider it 4 seasons in one day.

Breakfast at the Thon was very good. We stayed in a Thon on our last holiday and were impressed, and this one is proving to be an enjoyable and value for money stay. As already mentioned the location is very good, the facilities bright, modern and comfortable, the staff exceptional, and quality of breakfast extensive and delicious.  I was very happy to have lots of seafood for breakfast and Vern was spoilt for choices for his hot dishes.

We got the airport bus back to Vigra and picked up the car keys from Avis, before finding the Widerøe help desk.  The gentleman there was sympathetic but reiterated that they do not send goods. He promised to see what he could do and ring me.

Our car is a little sports model Toyota Yaris.  It was a giggle hopping in after the Lexus, however Vern soon adjusted to it and appreciated the automatic transmission. It even had a nav, albeit not a great one. We were thankful to have it and not have to use a heap of roaming data on navigation.

Our plan was to drive the scenic route up to the Trollstigen plateau, down the hair pin road, then along the Geiranger fjord. We heard that the hair pin road was closed and confirmed this on the internet. Regrettably it is closed for the rest of the year due to rock fall, however, one could drive up to the plateau one side – and or the other side take a cruise or drive up the Geiranger fjord.  We could not do both in one day with the road closed inbetween, so we chose the closest one, that included the plateau.

On the way we were treated to wonderful autumn colours, especially the golden leaves of the birch trees that illuminated the landscape.

Mum loved the silver birch and planted a row by the family home. I now see why, funny I had always thought it was the bark she loved and recall she said they reminded her of home in Germany. The ones she planted here in New Zealand never got the autumn colour though that I can remember, perhaps our climate was too mild?

We may have missed out on the Geiranger fjord, however, the fjord we passed – Storfjorden I believe is equally as stunning.  We stopped at a cafe with wonderful views and were tempted by the owner to sample her apple cake that was fresh out of the oven.  It was lovely and there were few people around so we enjoyed the scenery and special attention. We read in the visitor book that someone saw Orca out the window. The owner confirmed that yes they are seen there on occasion – this was about 30km at least inland from the sea.

The drive continued through fairly typical Norwegian scenery. Mountains, fjords, stony rivers, abundant waterfalls, small villages and tunnels. No sign of reindeer though, which was disappointing.

Before you get to the plateau near a place called Valldal there is a strawberry growing area, and we also saw apple and pear orchard.  Apparently the cafe there has amazing baking, but it was closed for the winter season – even though it is not winter yet of course.  There have certainly been a lot of places closed around the place, especially toilets.  Later in the day I had to toilet ‘wild’ due to the lack of facilities.

As we got higher it got more rugged and there was snow on the ground. It is not quite as dramatic as Lofoten, but still beautiful and one little video I took made it look like a volcanic landscape or other planet.  The Norwegian fjords are certainly beautiful, and having recently seen the New Zealand ones on a cruise, we feel the Norwegian are more scenic. The photo below is at the top of the Plateau, and really does not depict the altitude!

Up at the plateau we saw a couple of dead small Guinea pig type critters by the (closed) cafe. I looked them up later and found they are a Norwegian Lemming!  Vern also spotted a snow white small ferret type animal in the grasses popping its head up and then disappearing under little rock overhangs like mini caves.

The big view down the valley where the hairpin road runs (pictured above), was of course spectacular, again a little bit disappointing that we could not complete the loupe and drive the iconic hairpins.

On the way back we stopped at a couple of viewpoints where there was a salmon ladder, and another a very dramatic river that had some deep water holes and mini but strong gushing waterfalls framed by country houses and snowy mountains. 

This part of Norway also has a bit more arable land than up north, and we actually saw a small herd of sheep (about 30), hay bales, and a couple of horses!  We saw more camping grounds and camper van yards than we have seen anywhere. It is obviously very popular for summertime holidays.

While we were out and about a lady rung Verns phone saying she was from Widerøe in Bergen.  I told her the story and she explained that they do not normally send, however, she could offer me an option for 400NOK to send it back to Ålesund on the plane. 

Wonderful! I would have to confirm the conversation via a particular email address, of which she texted to me. And then tomorrow she would ring me and send me a link for payment.  It would only be able to go on Monday as we are leaving at 0600 on Tuesday and the receiving office are not there in the weekend. It was a tight timeframe and a few steps, however I was so relieved that I had finally found someone who was obliging in assisting a resolution.

The sun was low in the sky by the time we got home and after a quick freshen we took a stroll around the harbour and had ‘authentic’ Thai for dinner.  It wasn’t that great or authentic, albeit Verns chicken and cashew noodle dish was far better than my bland Pad Thai.