We had a nice, leisurely drive along the coast, then inland. As the day wore on we began to think about heading over and up to Hirtshals and see when the next ferry would be departing. Hirtshals is in the far north of the country, but not the very northern tip. We found the harbor easily enough and the place to buy ferry tickets. We approached the counter, the lady asked what she could do for us and we told her that we wanted to go to Norway and she asked which port. We said Kristiansand and she said, “Oh, that ferry is just now leaving”. Darn. The next one would be at around 20.30 or so. We discussed the possibilities and she looked up prices for us. The prices of the tickets change from hour to hour and day to day. It is an amazing pricing strategy. Apparently the main this is demand-- the greater the demand, the higher the cost. Well, we chose to take the next ferry and that would arrive in Norway at around 00.15 in the mourning. Yeah, I know—nuts. We were thinking that if we took the one the following mourning that we would have to pay for another hut in Denmark, just to sit in and wait. Yes, that’s faulty judgment as well because finding a camping that would be open at 12 midnight seemed unlikely. We drove off and took a 2½ hour tour through the countryside surrounding Hirtshals. We had to be back and check in an hour before departure. We did that and lined-up to wait. The trip was very smooth and uneventful except for a group of drunken Vietnamese sitting near us—what a noise!. When we got off the ferry, we went through customs and drove off into the moonless night. It wasn’t a nightmare, but it was not pleasant either. The lovely thing about the lit-up lay-by’s in Denmark and Norway is that they have simple, clean toilets as well. I pulled over every so often to take little power naps, and then continued until my eyes would begin to cross again. There were quite a few trucks and almost no auto’s on the road that night. The road was steep and curvy, so it required good concentration. Finally I had had enough and we looked for another lay-by. The next one looked good to me, so I pulled off and hit the auto’s lights. MY lights soon went out as well; and when I awoke, it was sort of pre-dawn. Once my eyes focused, I could see that the lay-by was actually located on a bluff and the panorama below featured a small village and an arm of a fjord. We woke up and drove for a while in that magical morning light, but it wasn’t too long before my tum began to rumble and groan—I needed FOOOOOOOD! We came to another lay-by and there we whipped out the small table, the food box and the thermos of boiled water….Tea. Mmmm. We had bread and things to put on it; we also had oj and melk…water and tea. The most important thing that we had though was sunshine…and no wind. Well, we drove until I needed to stop and rest. We looked and eventually found a camping along a river. I have never been so happy to see a hut! Here it is. The river was right behind us and it is here that we had our first realization how big fishing is in the Norwegian culture. Not only the Norwegians but also it was interesting to learn that people come from all over Europe to fish in the Norwegian fjords and rivers. I have done a great deal of fishing in my time, but resolved not to buy a fishing license or kit. I would satisfy my interest by watching others. The first foto shows the fishermen at work. The second shows a salmon ladder whereby the salmon can go upstream. The final pic is a shot of the falls there. The water fell so hard that it made a fine sort of mist in which a rainbow was visible. The roar of the river behind our hut made me wonder if we would be able to sleep at all that night. I could have known; however, that it would play no roll as tired as I was. However, when we were lying in bed that night with the lights out…my bride sort of looked up at the ceiling and with a sigh said, “When do you think they are going to turn the rapids off”? The next day I was up and att’em early and popped over to the showers. When I got back my bride had a story for me: While I was bathing she was washing our dirty clothes that had been soaking in the Biotex over night. She hung them up on the little line that spanned between two trees behind the hut. There were undies, towels wash rags, socks… She had washed them, hung them up and sat down in the chair to rest and smoke a ciggie. Suddenly there came an enormous and hard wind gust and took all the laundry off the line….klikkety-klik-klik—the clothes pegs popped off the line, the line broke and the laundry flew towards the river and some hung in the trees and bushes and other bits went out of sight. There was a drop-off from where one would stand on the banks of the river down to where the river rushed along. In-between there were great boulders and some brushy growth here and there. Of course when that happened, my bride let out an expletive of surprise…as she jumped up and ran to the edge of the banks. Now, she was surprised when a man emerged from the undergrowth with a fishing pole in one hand and her knickers, bh and a towel in the other. They exchanged a few words and she thanked the man. He said that there was more clothing as well as some pegs that he would retrieve for her. My bride asked where he was from and he said, Belgium…so they spoke Dutch to each other. He told that he had come to Norway for the fishing. The line had broken, so we hung up our own cord (we always travel with a clothesline), and the wash dried without further events. Y’know—just like I am conveying this story now, the Belgian also will have a story to tell his mates and family when he gets back home. It was fine there, we spent two days…but it was time to move on. We travelled on large, medium and small roads. One of the nicest drives that we took was on this tiny white-gravel road that looped off the main road and rejoined it some Km’s later. There were some very pleasant places to stop and walk and look. The landscape was gentle and impressive. The interesting thing was that when we had gone about two-thirds of the way, we came to a place where the road just stopped. There was a closed gate blocking the road. There was a hydroelectric “plant” there and the chap that came to see what was going on with us told us that we could not proceed, as a key and permission was necessary in order to continue. We had to turn around and go all the way back on the same road on which we came. The coming days took us by more and more dramatic vista’s that were attractive in spite of the fact that there was often rain. At one point we were travelling inland a bit and somehow I took a wrong turn, went through an 11 Km long tunnel and once I came out, there was then another tunnel of 10 Km. Well, I knew that I was wrong, but did not want to turn around, so I pulled over and we had a look at the map. We were on the wrong side of this body of water that I wanted to go along. The first tunnel had actually gone UNDER the water. According to the map, the road that we were then on also went along the water… just on the opposite side of the fjord tongue that I had wanted to be on. It would work but it turned out to be an extreeeeeeeeeemly narrow road. The road was not wide enough for two autos’s to pass, so I was praying that I would meet no trucks or busses. I did meet one truck though. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it all turned out oké. It was a little bit of a stressy ride, but the thing that was always the most irritating was that it was not a given that we would always find a camping with a hut. Because we were in the low season, some camping’s had receptionists present only part of the day…and others were closed altogether. Yeah, a bit of a problem. During the ride we had enough to keep us occupied, so we did not think about that so much. When we got back to the main road it was getting late and we tried a few places but they were either closed or we could not find them. What I mean here is that there would be a sign with a camping symbol leaving the road…we would drive and drive and drive and sometimes never see another sign. After as few of these experiences I had had enough and swore not to follow another sign unless it was also stated on the sign how far the camping was. As time went on, I began to become a bit irritable…but then we came to a place…….. It was the nicest hut that we would have in Norway OR Denmark. It had all the amenities—two rooms, WC/shower, kitchen, comfy beds and heating. We got there just in time because the weather took a very bad turn that evening--extremely high wind and buckets of rain. Before it hit, this was the view out the hut’s window. We wound up staying here for four days. We took day trips and re-stocked our food supplies.
I am SO jealous!! Sounds just lovely. That picture with the rainbow is breathtaking by the way...well, all the images are. And that last place you stayed...with the pink hanging flowers? Just gorgeous!
What beautiful landscapes Sjoerd. I always have it in my mind that Norway has gorgeous nature and your photos prove it. How nice of the fisherman to return your belongings
Thanks so much, RONNI--I am so delighted that you liked the pics. It was indeed a lovely place to visit. It made me think about Alaska. That last hut with the pink petunias was the absolute best place we stayed. It had everything. We purposely stayed in the most inexpensive huts there were...but this one cost the same as the average--a win-win situation, as they say. Thanks FRANK--Yes, that was nice of the Belgian, wasn't it. heh, heh, heh.
What an awesome place to see. I am sure your in person perspective was so much different than the pictures we are seeing.
Hiya C--You are too right. There is no way that a camera can possibly convey the true majesty of the places. It is a combination of smells, sounds and of course what one sees...it is just too immense. The result is that you get a snapshot of one aspect of the whole and then a few words of description that also cannot properly convey the "whole". It is a shame, but at least I can show something...and of course I have my memories.
Norway is somewhere I would love to visit and, after seeing your photographs, I'm even more determined that I'll see it for myself some day.
I love the scenery and those Huts.....I would choose to stay in one of those over a hotel room in a heartbeat. Compared to the Yurt we stayed in for a weekend last year those look very fancy.
Toni--Those huts WERE comfy, and far less expensive than hotel rooms. They were just right for us. We took a tent along but generally the ground was too soggy in most places and there was rain a great deal of the time.
