We are now into the sixth week of our tour and continuing the long trip southwards. We have crossed back over the Arctic Circle and hopefully heading for the warmer parts of this vast country.
Tuesday 30th June
Our journey today takes us from Namsos to Malvik, a suburb of the City of Trondheim. On the way we decided to visit the Church at Stiklestad. This is the site of the Battle of Stiklestad, where King Olav (Later to become Saint Olav) was killed. The church is dedicated to him as is the monument on the hill marking the spot where he was cut down. In the church is the stone that Olav was found leaning on when he was killed on 29th July 1030. He became Norway’s Patron Saint and 29th July has now become a National Holiday.
As we were heading back to the vehicles after visiting the church we noticed an open air museum with inhabitants in period costume. We wandered across to get a better view and realised that they were acting out a play. Although it was in Norwegian it was quite easy to follow and very entertaining. The play moved around the various buildings of the museum and the audience followed it round. It seems that the story is about a boy and girl who have a school crush. As life goes on they separate and lead their own lives, he going to follow a career and she marrying and having children. In time she is widowed and they meet again and fall in love….etc.
Our campsite at Malvik is at the side of the fjord and for those of us that have the view of the water, the site is terraced so that all units get a good view. In the evening many of us gathered on the jetty at the waterside and were able to see Dolphins in the distance jumping in the water.
Wednesday 1st July
Another wet day, today we have a coach tour of Trondheim to include a visit to the Wooden Royal Palace, Lunch, and the Cathedral. Unfortunately the weather was set to spoil the day as whenever we were due to leave the coach so the rain got heavier. The Wooden Royal Palace was quite a disappointment; whilst it is still used on rare occasions, the last State occasion was in 1996. The building is in a poor state of repair and photos are banned. We had a guided tour, which was led by a very strict lady.
Lunch was a three course buffet affair, which was up to the excellent level that we have become used to. Dessert was ice cream with the speciality of the house: licorice sprinklies.
Following lunch we had a tour of the Cathedral, which is dedicated to Saint Olav. Our gorgeous Norwegian Guide gave us a very comprehensive tour. The organ in the Cathedral is the largest in Europe with over 9,000 pipes.
Thursday 2nd July
Today we travel south on one of our longest journeys; 211 miles from Malvik to Andalsnes. Many of our party have talked about driving the Atlantic Coast Highway, rated one of the top 10 most beautiful roads to drive. We decided to take the route shown in our route guide and were pleased that we did. Some that took the alternative spoke of their disappointment that apart from the long bridges over the sea, the remainder of the route was quite ordinary. Our route took us up and down mountain roads from snow capped peaks to the fjords. The views were stunning and every bend in the road produced another WOW!. We saw spectacular waterfalls and deep gorges. We had some beautiful stops along the way and, in fact at our stop for tea in the afternoon we were able to watch Salmon leaping in one direction and Sea Otter playing in the other.
Which was the better route? Ours, of course.
Friday 3rd July
Today is a free day and a chance to recharge the bodily batteries.
We decided to take a walk into Andalsnes, it turned out to be a quite insignificant town with very little of any interest. There was a Cruise ship at anchor and the tenders were bringing passengers back and forth. This is a big operation. In the town, outside the railway station is an old railway coach that has been converted into a chapel. Some of our group decided to take the rocky hike from the town to the peaks that could be seen from the site. We declined the offer of joining the hike and the 715 Metre climb.
Saturday 4th July
Oh dear! it rained quite a lot last night and this morning there is fog and a cloud cover on the mountains above about 300 metres. Our plan is to go up the Trollstigen Pass, which is rated one of the top 15 must drive roads in the World. We decided to wait until after coffee and sure enough the fog started to lift. By just after 11:00 am it was clear enough to set off. Fill up with diesel and off we go. The Trollstigen Pass is about 8 miles of 10% climb with very tight hairpin bends. The road is narrow with passing places for much of the way. All types of traffic use the road including tourist coaches. Shortly after we started on the climb we ran into traffic coming down and whilst courtesy normally dictates that climbing traffic has priority, most of the passing places were on our side. At one point it did get rather scary as we met a coach coming towards us; although there was a passing place on the coaches side, it was very small and not a lot of help. Behind us were two more motorhomes and a car. Behind the coach were a couple of small trucks and a motorhome. We managed to pass safely by folding in the passenger door mirror and getting as close as possible to the wall on my side, even then there were never more than 1.5 inches between us and the coach.
As we neared the top we met the fog, but soon found the large car park at the visitor centre. We all agreed that the views on the way up were nothing short of magnificent. We were still shrouded in low cloud, but were able to take the walkway to look over the main waterfall for some stunning views. We had lunch in the visitor centre cafe, which gave the cloud sufficient time to lift. The visitor centre has been purposely designed to blend into the landscape whilst still being striking in it’s own right. They have certainly succeeded. Surprisingly for us Brits, it is completely free of charge.
After lunch we were able to take the walkway out to the platform which provided stunning views over the valley and a complete view of the road. You soon start to appreciate how it got it’s reputation. This is certainly a trip that every visitor to Central and Northern Norway must do.
The journey down was better than going up as we had beautiful blue skies to light up the views; this helped to make the nooks and crannies even more dramatic than before.
Sunday 5th July
Moving ever southwards, today our journey is not as long as previously. This is because the roads are narrower and more restricted than before; there are more sights to stop and view, making progress slower.
Today we head into the mountains and get to view the rivers at their angriest, they fall and crash into the foaming cauldrons that words could never describe. The scenery is dramatic and, although the sun is shining and the temperature has risen to 29 C the rivers do not abate.
Our resting place for the night is Lom, a former trading port and nowadays a major winter sports centre. The town is picturesque in the extreme and above the town is a wooden Stave Church, which was built in 1180AD and has been added to over the centuries.
In the evening we had a group dinner in the Hotel across the road from the site. The food was excellent and never ending.
Monday 6th July
It is raining, heavily, and this is currently day three of an amber flood warning for this part of Norway. We have already heard that roads that we took only a matter of days ago are now closed due to flooding.
Today’s route takes us up into the mountains again, following the Route 55 in it’s entirety. For Norwegians this is a must drive route and we are about to find out why. We climb gradually from Lom, following the course of the raging river. As we climb the river gets more angry and as the temperature falls a mist appears above the river giving the impression of boiling water. Our journey takes us above the tree line and into the snow line. The scenery changes dramatically, from green forests to barren land with more and more snow covering the ground.
In the mountains we pass a couple of dry skiers, training for cross country on the open roads. Eventually we come upon a year round winter sports centre with skiing all year round. The main building for the centre is magnificent, being built almost entirely in local pine. The pine scent is overwhelming. Outside is our first experience of the snow walls; these are not drifts, they are the remnants of the cutting made in the snow in order to keep the main road open, at this point the wall is possibly 5 metres high. As we travel further, so the snow walls become more surprising, towering above the roof of the motorhome to a height of 6 metres (30 feet). Every bend in the road brings more splendour; lakes that are still frozen, some that have had a slight thaw and now have their own icebergs.
The descent is just as amazing as the ascent, more raging rivers and waterfalls coupled with narrowing roads and very tight hairpin bends. At one point we had to stop for quite a while to allow the brakes to cool down. Even though we had been travelling in 2nd gear with minimum braking they roasted. Further on we ran into a problem when a German driver in an Audi decided not to move over to allow both vehicles to pass. He scraped the side of the van, but fortunately did not cause any damage other than a couple of scratches. He then proceeded to force Mick and Mavis, behind us into the bank.
The final part of our journey was by ferry to Laerdal, unfortunately we scraped the roof trim on the upper decking as we boarded. The damage amounted to some paint residue, which should polish out.