Monday 19 May
We packed up amongst a few haily rain showers, but were on the road by 9.40 (early for us), which was just as well. This turned out to be our hardest drive so far…135 miles of narrow windy roads. Some parts were only gravel, lots were through tunnels and even more up and round hairpin bends! The poor old tug was really put through her paces today. We found a lovely little town up on the snowy fell, called Hovden, so stopped to stock up on food and fuel, then sat and ate our picnic at the snowy roadside.



It was still warm and sunny though and very beautiful.
Roldal was much smaller than we expected and the campsite not quite so good, so we only stayed 2 nights. We went for a walk around the village and looked at their stave church (but could not go inside)




Wednesday 21 May
Off again! By 9.00 this time..we are getting quicker at packing up. Again a very beautiful, but narrow windy drive all morning. We arrived at Brimnes to catch a ferry across to Bruravik and only had to wait 25 minutes…the journey across took all of 10 minutes. From Bruravik the ascent was really hairy, 1st and 2nd gear around the hairpin bends and then in to tunnels where we weren’t sure if we were going up or down, but certainly round the bend! We reached Voss, a larger town, but carried on to Tvindefoss, a few miles further on. It has to be the most beautifully placed campsite on the planet, unfortunately quite basic, no actual pitches, just find the flattest bit of ground and hope for the best. We sat out in the sun and just watched the waterfalls (with our glass of wine) until about 10.00pm…still not dark, but much cooler once the sun goes behind a mountain.




The next day we went for a look around Voss itself, but as we are not town people did not stay long. Back at the site we again sat in the sun, watching the coach loads of tourists pull up for a 10 minute look at the waterfall before they were off again….lots of the buses come from cruise ships that have docked in the fjords.

Friday 23 May
An easy day’s drive today, only 58 miles and most of that time we were in one tunnel or another. The Laerdal tunnel itself is 24km long and has some very interesting lighting in it.



The campsite at Laerdal was well worth the journey…it is immaculate, with lovely flat pitches, clean showers etc. Even an oven in the kitchen so I could do a Sunday roast if I felt so inclined! The view over the fjord is superb and the water is like mirrored glass most of the time.
Next morning after catching up on some necessary chores (like washing and cleaning up our filthy camper) we walked through the village to the Wild Salmon Centre, where we spent an interesting couple of hours, both inside the exhibition and out.
We walked back through the old part of town and looked at some really old buildings. It is amazing they are still standing and lived in as they are all made of wood. Here it is still light at 11.30 pm so we can sit out in the evenings until we get too cold. We have been so lucky with the weather, really only one wet afternoon and a few other spots here and there. The rest of the time it is sunny, bright and now fairly warm.
On the Sunday we drove over to Borgund to look at the Stave Church there..absolutely fascinating both inside and out. The new church next door was just ‘chucking out’ lots of people in national dress. It apparently was the end of a confirmation service, so lots of proud parents were taking photos of proud youngsters. We came back from there via the old historic roads which are now no more than lanes, on the way stopping at the oldest track over the mountain called Vindhellervegen. We decided to go for a walk up the track….what a mistake! It was 1 in 4, grassy shale and easier going up than down. I managed to keep going for about ½ an hour to take some photos (Brian had turned back long before!) Back at camp we sat in the sun with a cuppa until it was time for showers and our treat for the week…dinner in the restaurant. Turned out to be an excellent move, beautiful salmon with sort of chips and salad, followed by apple cake and ice cream, washed down by beers and coffee. At £40 we thought it was quite good value as Norway is renowned for being expensive. (we did pass on the wine at £30 a bottle)

Tuesday 27 May
After a quiet day doing chores, we decided to take a drive up to the Jostedalsbreen Glacier and Museum. We started off with a 10 minute ferry trip across to Mannheller and then drove round part of the Sognefjord and on to Sogndal and up further in to the mountains. We found the Glacier Museum to be really interesting and spent a couple of hours there - very well-made film about the glaciers taken mainly from a helicopter in panoramic vision. On the way back we found a beautiful picnic stop at the side of the Boyabreen glacier and had a walk there. In all an excellent, but expensive day ( ferries cost approx £14 each way and tolls on the road £18 each way!) but well worth it.


Wednesday 28 May
We were up with the lark in order to catch the ferry at 8.30am from Laerdal to Gudvangen. There were a few other people from our campsite on there as well, as it is one of the most popular trips. We took our car, so that we could drive back through the world’s longest tunnel - Laerdalstunnelen (24.5 km). The others however did the full round trip on the boat - about 6 hours. The scenery as we passed by was magnificent, we couldn’t get over the little villages along the way that are only accessible by boat. Again we were lucky with the weather, it was still sunny although a little cooler. We picnicked by the quayside at Gudvangen and then had a look at the Fjordotell - made of wood with grass growing on the roof, but with sky windows in, so that you could lay in bed looking up at the mountains overhead. A most idyllic spot.


Back at base, we discovered that the Salmon Centre was running a Seafood Buffet that evening, so headed over there for a really wonderful meal.

Friday 30 May

We drove through the tunnel over to Flam to go on the Flamsbana, which is a 20km mountain railway,the steepest incline not on a cog track. It was very beautiful and interesting, with a couple of stops to take photos. One in particular, was Kjosfossen, a superb waterfall with a viewing platform. Whilst there, music was played and a girl in national costume danced on the rocks.




We had a half hour stop at the top of the line, Myrdal and saw the normal trains from Bergen and Oslo pull in and out again. Going back down our carriage was filled with Chinese, Koreans and Americans, so no peace there.
Back at Flam, after a late picnic lunch, we had a look in the railway museum and around the souvenir shops as well as a saunter around the ‘town’. We got back to the campsite around 5.30 in the end, after a few stops en route for photos etc.



Monday 2 June

We left Laerdal around 9.45 to drive the 88 miles to Fagernes. Not far one might think! But it was up and over the Filefjell at 20-30 miles an hour a lot of the way. Again the scenery was absolutely wonderful, shame the same could not be said about the narrow windy road. We both have a permanent set of white knuckles and no finger nails left. Our tug has done a marvellous job hauling Big Bertha around these mountains.
We got to Fagernes about 2.00, a lovely spot right on a lake….we could even swim if we wanted to, but the water is rather cold still, although today the temperature reached 26C. We still have had no rain to speak of, just a few spots here and there..the car and camper are covered in dust.

Tuesday 3 June

We spent a very interesting day looking around Fagernes town, lake, river and rapids. In the afternoon we went to the Valdres Folkmuseum which was right next to the camp site. They had about 50 old buildings, such as farmhouses and stores, all made of wood and built in the 1700 and 1800’s. They were quite fascinating to see, especially as some had still been in use as late as 1920.

Wednesday 4 June

Today we travelled 118 very hot miles to Oslo...again the scenery along the valleys was magnificent. We negotiated the Oslo ring road with difficulty, but arrived safe and sound about 2.30. The site is not marvellous, but is handy for Oslo centre as it has a bus stop right outside the gate. Tomorrow we will tackle the bus ride in to the city to go sight-seeing.