A Duck flies north - to Sweden and Norway

[OZDUCK]

Some other parts of Alesund

Memorial to the 'Shetland Bus' operation which kept Norway and the Shetland Islands clandestinely connected after the German occupation in WW2. Shetland bus - Wikipedia



The remarkably ugly restaurant despoiling the lookout over Alesund. We took the earlier high level photos from the hill above the restaurant. We drove to the top and did not use the steps.



The freshest of fish for sale



The Fisheries Museum area. These houses date from around the 1860's







A building which covers two of my interests - the Customs (Toll) office which was built to the Jugendstil design.



Looking out from the edge of Alesund city



A bit more of the cityscape

 

[OZDUCK]

While we were having lunch in a cafe in Alesund a local Tourist Guide who was waiting for his clients to turn up had a nice chat with us. He recommended that we visit a lovely little island off the coast. Once isolated but now connected by 3 undersea tunnels and a tall bridge. It turned out to be his birthplace but it was a great suggestion. The weather was so bad that any cruise up the fjords would have been pointless.

So the next day we went to the island of Godoya



The first tunnel, the Ellingsøy Tunnel starts near the centre of Alesund. It is 3.48 Km long and reaches 140 metres below sea level and you come back up to the surface via a 'corkscrew' ramp. Our ears were popping as we descended.



You then take the Valderøy Tunnel which is 4.22Km long but a mere 137 metres below sea level. These tunnels can have steep ascents/descents



There is nice bridge before you take the final undersea tunnel - the Godøy Tunnel which is 3.84 Km long and dives to 153 metres below sea level.





Once you are on the island there is another tunnel, through a mountain, which is 'interesting as it is one lane with passing places. I met a car in the tunnel but it observed the priority directions and pulled off for me. The surfboard on top of the car will be accounted for later.





The 'M' marks the passing space



The GPS gives a bit of an idea of how isolated this island once was.

 

[OZDUCK]

The island is famous, locally, for the lighthouse. The museum was closed because it was out of season. Outside the main cities we discovered a lot of museums etc close in mid-August because it is the 'end of season'.



The only village on the island - Alnes





The fishermen's storage huts on the sea shore. This was a common sight on the coast.



An explanation for the surfboards on the car in the tunnel. A nice little swell was running - but it was far too cold to have ever tempted me.





There is a very flash Cafe/Art Gallery built into the side of the hill under the Lighthouse





We has some lovely cakes there. One was Lingonberry and the other was a Pistachio and Seaweed cheesecake.



If you like a quiet life you can move there

 

[OZDUCK]

Just to finish off Alesund

On the way back to the hotel the rain stopped but the clouds remained. There were some nice views over the various lakes and inlets we passed.





We couldn't figure out why this sign was in English only.



This one was near to the hotel



Just aside the hotelr



The first of many ferries for the next part of the trip. It cost about $18 for the 20 - 25 minute trip.

 

[OZDUCK]

We now transitioned to the town of Sandane, which is at the base of the Gloppenfjorden. To get there we had to use two ferry crossings, multiple tunnels and lots of twisty roads and this the main road.

This gives an idea of the size of some of the ferries - others were smaller.



We did pass lots of nice scenery on the way









This was protection from falling rocks



These were common sights - I hate to to think how long and difficult the trip would be without the numerous tunnels



The largish town of Nordfjordeid



This sign gives an idea of the sort of countryside we drove through



Our destination - Sandane

 

[OZDUCK]

The fjord from the town jetty



The hotel we stayed in - Gloppen Hotel. Tourism to the area started in 1829 as a destination for the English aristocracy to pursue salmon and sea trout. The main building dates back to 1866. We didn't stay in the historic rooms as they wewren't available when we booked. Instead we stayed out the back in a refurbished 1960's motel type wing. Comfortable but unremarkable. The Hotel - Classic Norway



We mostly ate perfectly nice, if expensive, but not special meals in Norway. I had decided that this hotel was to provide our "blow out" meal".

The separate dining room. The decor reflects the origin of the hotel as basically a hunting lodge



The prices - I had the 4 course menu and my wife the 3 course. We were barely able to struggle away from the table afterwards



The choices





Origin of the ingredients - the most distant was 1 hour from the hotel



The hit to my pocket - roughly $242. Reasonable, considering the superb quality food, well cooked an excellently served - with once again not the slightest hint that a tip was expected. An all round great experience.

The Eplemost was locally bottled apple juice while the Dampol was a "steam ale" - naturally enough brewed on the premises.

 

[OZDUCK]

Now for the food

A starter plate of flatbread, bread, herbed butter and sea salt.



The fish soup. The plate was bought to the table and the soup then poured over the mussels etc



The pan fried scallops



Then a mouth cleanser of fresh ginger and apple puree



The entrecote



The 'white fish'. It turned out to be catfish caught in the next fjord. Incredibly fresh and sweet



The berries - with home made ice cream



Cheese board - we shared. It included a local variation on Camembert, aged cheese and blue cheese - which he described as the best in the world. I thought it was a bit of local hyperbole but he was correct. Norwegian Blue Cheese Crowned World’s Best Cheese It was excellent.

 

[craven morehead]

We now transitioned to the town of Sandane, which is at the base of the Gloppenfjorden. To get there we had to use two ferry crossings, multiple tunnels and lots of twisty roads and this the main road.

This gives an idea of the size of some of the ferries - others were smaller.

View attachment 187186

We did pass lots of nice scenery on the way

View attachment 187187

View attachment 187188

View attachment 187195

View attachment 187194

This was protection from falling rocks

View attachment 187189

These were common sights - I hate to to think how long and difficult the trip would be without the numerous tunnels

View attachment 187190

The largish town of Nordfjordeid

View attachment 187193

This sign gives an idea of the sort of countryside we drove through

View attachment 187191

Our destination - Sandane

View attachment 187192

The scenery is only slightly more stunning than around my place in Central Qld

 

[craven morehead]

Now for the food

A starter plate of flatbread, bread, herbed butter and sea salt.

View attachment 187209

The fish soup. The plate was bought to the table and the soup then poured over the mussels etc

View attachment 187212

The pan fried scallops

View attachment 187211

Then a mouth cleanser of fresh ginger and apple puree

View attachment 187213

The entrecote

View attachment 187215

The 'white fish'. It turned out to be catfish caught in the next fjord. Incredibly fresh and sweet

View attachment 187216

The berries - with home made ice cream

View attachment 187217

Cheese board - we shared. It included a local variation on Camembert, aged cheese and blue cheese - which he described as the best in the world. I thought it was a bit of local hyperbole but he was correct. Norwegian Blue Cheese Crowned World’s Best Cheese It was excellent.

View attachment 187218

The tucker looked well worth the price tag

 

[RooFlyer]

The choices

Torture!

Now for the food

More torture!!

The cost doesn't seem outrageous to me considering 1) Norway and 2) The quality ( and quantity? ) of the meal.

No booze in that, though? Didn't need a new mortgage?

 

[OZDUCK]

Torture!



More torture!!

The cost doesn't seem outrageous to me considering 1) Norway and 2) The quality ( and quantity? ) of the meal.

No booze in that, though? Didn't need a new mortgage?

Yes it was value for money considering Norway, the quality of the food and the location of the hotel. I did have on of their own beers. But the wines were on special(?) @ 3 glasses for $52. A bit rich for me I am afraid.

 

[OZDUCK]

A bit more around Sandane

Coming into the village



From above



The hotel still caters for fishermen. Their cars had Dutch plates. They only need to go about 1 Km to get to the fishing spots. We saw people fly fishing just around the corner from the hotel where a small river feed into the fjord.

I didn't realise how long the rods can be. The tall one, an English reel/rod, is marked as being 18'5".





This is what they are hunting - a record one caught near the hotel at 10 Kg



The breakfasts at most of the hotels in Norway were great, This hotel had the best. Apart from the selections shown below there was - home made porridge (lovely), fresh fried eggs with a piece of bacon on top, a wide selection of breads, cereals, fruit juices etc etc.

Part of the spread. Most are made locally, many at the hotel itself. Including - smoked salmon & mackerel, pickled cucumber, pickled beetroot, rollmops and mustard herring, freshly baked Carrot Cake home made jams and preserves. The brown 'block' is Brunost This Is Brunost: Norwegian Brown Cheese - Life in Norway The list goes on and on.



Just a small selection of fruits, and nuts etc



An evening picnic. The fly fishing river is just beyond the point on the left of these photos





Basically the only reddish sunset we saw in nearly a month in Scandinavia

 

[RooFlyer]

But the wines were on special(?) @ 3 glasses for $52. A bit rich for me I am afraid.

Bah. Perfectly within my definition of a 'blow out meal'

... in Norway.

I visited a distant rellie in Stavanger a year or so ago & got invited to dinner. I gulped and went to buy a couple of bottles of wine to take. SAVED! by the fact it was Sunday and all the grog shops were closed (they understood ...)

 

[OZDUCK]

The next day we headed of to the Briksdal Glacier 20 KM in a straight line but 74 Km by road. It was a very slow trip as there are lots of narrow roads and hills to cope with. But the scenery was great.













Glacier meltwater





At least in this tunnel it was only one way traffic. The oncoming traffic was outside the tunnel. But it still felt like driving in a large sewer pipe.

 

[OZDUCK]

Getting closer to our destination



There was a nice waterfall on the right hand side of the valley



They were a bit optimistic about the walking time. By this stage of the trip my knee was just about blown out and it took us over an hour each way. On the way down I had to resort to the old trick of walking backwards downhill to ease the strain





You had to pass a small waterfall on the way up



The glacier lake. I had a bit of fun with the camera settings on the second photo





The glacier edge

 

[OZDUCK]

A few more around the glacier and then the drive out.





Ice sculptures



You could hire these "Troll Cars" to get within about 500 metres of the glacier lake



You just hope a car is not coming the other way



We actually had a few minutes of sun and it certainly accentuated the colours

 

[VPS]

Stunning scenery and photos. Loving this TR

 

[amaroo]

Great photo. That drive looks sensational.

 

[OZDUCK]

We returned to hotel by driving a big circle around a couple of fjords so we didn't backtrack.

This is a map of the area and the badly drawn line is our basic route for the day. Altogether it took about 5 hours in just driving time.









Skiing never seems to be far from the local's mind










.

 

[OZDUCK]

We stopped for a late lunch at one of the few places open on a Sunday.

The fish and chips were fine and cost $29. That is about normal for Norway. As a contrast we went out for a suburban pub lunch in Perth today and paid $15 for a weekday lunch special 'fisherman's basket' which was about 50% bigger than this.



Kylingsnadder (Chicken) with Bearnaise sauce it cost about $34. The meals were usually pretty big but there was normally nothing much under about $25 for an 'ordinary' meal.



The roads then narrowed again



This was a very dark single lane tunnel of about 300 metres - if there were passing spots I didn't see them. Luckily this was on a bit of a back road.



The ferry waiting for us



The ferries on the short - 20 - 30 minute crossings are electric. There is a charger column at each jetty. The ferry just docks and is automatically recharged.



On the water