Norway 27th June-27th July 2015

We crossed the 197km northern border from Russia to Norway at Skarskog, Kerkenes on the 27th June. A border which has seen many changes and turbulent times most recently during WWII when German troops stormed eastwards in 1941. Memorials now mark the huge loss of life suffered by the Soviet Army. During the Cold War, this and the Turkish border were the two USSR - NATO common borders. A large troop presence along with security and surveillance still remains today;

 These northern latitudes continue to support reindeer in large commercial herds running under free range conditions having lost their instinct to migrate with the seasons. However there are still wild reindeer which continue their migratory march between north and south over the open tundra;

Norway has a population of around 5.1m of which 21% live in rural areas mostly, in small remote fishing villages;

Skarsvag is the most northern settlement in Europe. While cod fishing still remains an important industry, support to the annual pilgrimage of travellers visiting Nordkapp must run a close second;

Approaching the Northern Cape of Europe the landscape is barren, treeless and windswept. Our mid-day lunch stop was around 4 degrees;

 Any thought of being pioneers to this most northerly point of Europe are soon dispelled on arrival. Apart from being an excellent road all the way, our day there was in the company of around 27 buses loaded with tourists from cruise ships anchored at Honningsvag 34 km south and another 50 motorhomes camped overnight in the parking area. The first tourists officially arrived in 1875!

Nordkapp's rugged but beautiful coastline; 71.1725 degrees north;

Mid-night and a crowd of around 1,500 people to witness the mid-night sun;

Not far south of Nordkapp and our first view of Gjesvaer fishing village and Gjesvaerstappen Island and bird Sanctuary;

Taking the boat to Gjesvaerstappen Island which contains over two million nesting birds one species of which is the Eider Duck once slaughtered for its soft down and yes, that’s where our warm doovers came from, which we called...... eider downs! The penny drops, the connections made!

The sanctuary contains one of Norway’s largest colonies of puffins. My camera is not this good; photo plagiarized from a brochure;

We drove around 2,500km along Norway's western coastline and the wow factor never ceased from fjord.....

.  .....to fjord....

.  .....to fjord....

While we would far prefer to see animals in their wild habitat sometimes it’s not possible. The Polar Park north of Narvik displays some endangered species such as this Arctic Fox in large pens of natural habitat;

 The Polar Park includes some Brown Bears which after nearly being shot to extinction there now remains a registered 136 in the wild of Norway.  This is probably as close as I'll get to my bucket list wish of seeing one in the wild;

In April 1940 Germany occupied Norway to ensure that supplies of Swedish iron ore continued to flow through Narvik for German furnaces and to provide security for German shipping. The Tirpitz, a sister ship to the Bismark but 2000 tonnes heavier was at the time the heaviest battleship ever built. Stationed in the fjords of Norway the Tirpitz was a protection force for German Norway and later played an important part in interrupting resupply shipping to Russia. With a length of 251m and a crew of 2,065 she was finally sunk at Tromso by the RAAF using the Tallboy bomb specially developed for the purpose. This model was at a private museum for the Tirpitz;

Seven giant guns, originally designed for a larger class of battleship than the Tirpitz but which never came to fruition, were instead installed on the coast of Norway as part of Hitler's fortress Norway. One of the guns is now restored as a museum piece at Trondenes. Its 23m barrel weighs in at 158 tonnes and has a bore of 43cm. While it never fired a shot in aggression there were many of the 100,000 Soviet POW's in Norway who lost their lives building the infrastructure for and installing the guns along with other German war works;

The lighter projectile known as the Adolf shell was backed with 350kg of explosive and produced a muzzle velocity of 1030m per second, could reach a trajectory ceiling of 21,800m and a range of 56km. Given that the projectile could be airborne for over two minutes meant precise calculations had to be made including range, global rotation and target movement data;

The Vikings were a force to be reckoned with during the period 800 to 1066 due in no small part to their mastery of the seas however they were also traders and farmers. While these Viking ships discovered in the Roskilde Fjord in Denmark are out of sync with Norway photos, I had to include them as they were such a fantastic find. Made in Dublin which was a city founded by the Vikings and later sunk for defensive purposes at Roskilde, they're dated as far back as 1060 and only discovered in 1962;

I'm afraid I wouldn't have made a very intimidating Viking;

We did have a chance to sail like the Vikings though..... well, in a relaxed sort of way;

 Flocks and lupins give colour to the landscape;

  'Cod is God', as they say in Norway. The season runs from January to May when the migrating fish come to the Norwegian Coast to spawn. Caught in a short but furious season the fish in their tonnes are air dried on racks for export;

Cod after drying on racks are known as 'stock fish'

 The end of the season and the last of the cod or stock fish are collected for packing;

At Reine we get a view of Kirkefjord in the Lofoten Islands which is looked on as one of the more spectacular of Norway's fjords. We thought they were all tens;

 The fishing village of Reine;

The Svartisen Glacier on the Hollandsfjord. Now like all northern glaciers its in serious retreat after the last mini ice age only 300 years ago. During this period ice caps and glaciers expanded forcing many to abandon their farming communities. This in contrast to a period of temperate climate 7000 years ago when trees grew where permanent snow fields now exist;

What a landscape! Mountains, gorges and valleys gouged out by glacial force.....

........ and ground smooth by a huge ice cap that once covered the land;

And always the delicate flora rushing to complete their season before the return of winter;

 Wild salmon and salmon fishing are synonymous with Norway. Water ladders ensure access to up-river spawning grounds;

 A viewing box half way up the ladder;

Sport fishing is tremendously popular with fishing huts known as rorbu generally in tight rows, right on the water’s edge and always brightly coloured red or brown. The first rorbu were built in 1070 for visiting fishermen and from whom King Eystein collected a tax. Very entrepreneurial;

 Excellent natural conditions have supported the salmon industry which started in 1970. Now it’s more than just an industry, it’s a culture. With over 80,000km of fjord coastline salmon farms like this are to be seen everywhere. A great campsite as well!

The road between Andalsnes and Geiranger is a special drive. Known as the Trollstigen (Trolls Ladder) its eleven hair pin zig zags and climb up to 850m was a special engineering feat when built in 1935...

.  .....and the view is well worth the climb

Trolls and Norway seem to go together. I'm not quite sure why but in every souvenir shop there are tables of the weird and cute asking to be bought. I guess Trolls are associated with dangerous roads and that led to the naming of Trollstigen;

After the Troll's Road and prior to the decent we were rewarded with a spectacular view down to Geiranger and the fjord of the same name. A popular anchorage for cruise liners;

............Geiranger Fjord

After Geiranger the road climbs through some spectacular glaciated country......

........and on to a special high side road engineered and developed by early pioneers of the tourist industry. The Dalsnibba Road climbs to 1760m and gives the highest 'fjord view' in Norway;

We were there;

Lunch stop. Mid-summer and the lake surface is still 50% frozen;

The contrast from the cold wind swept glaciated tops down to the fjord valleys;

 Medieval wooden churches of pole load bearing construction known as, stave churches. They were common in NW Europe but now mostly found in Norway;

Aurlands Tourist Route between Laerdalsoyr and Aurlands;

 A great drive past frozen lakes, tundra and deep drifts of snow remaining from winter;

At this point we are 1,310m above sea level but the interesting thing is that 1,300m directly below Roadee is a tunnel that now crosses the mountain range and at 24km in length is the world's longest tunnel. Ahh modern engineering;

Before the descent to Flam, a platform extends out into space and gives you a bird’s eye view of the Aurlands Fjord;

 Aurlands Fjord;

 Earthen or sod rooves have a long standing tradition in Norway. While utilizing a natural material for insulation and weatherproofing, it makes you wonder who mows and maintains it, particularly when you see two metre trees growing on the roof!

  Bergen founded in 1070 was once the capital and major stockfish trade centre.....

......Now ranked number two in population after Oslo while tourism seems to have replaced the fish trade.  It does have a very quaint and historical water front teaming with busloads of international tourists;

Near Stavanger and towering 604m above Lysefjord is Prikestolen or the Preachers Pulpit. A place I wanted to visit but did I have the courage like all the young backpackers to hang my legs over the edge of this sheer precipice? A resounding NO. Instead the best I could do was to lie like a jibbering Mr Bean while the young nonchalantly posed for photos within inches of the 600m drop!

 

That’s cool.... At least I'm vertical and within reach of the edge. Now we can say that we have been part of the 250,000 visitors who visit the rock each year. On the two and a half hour walk to the rock we estimated that there were about 3,500 people on the track.