Since none of us could sleep anyway, we were up early this morning and ready to go. We had a great breakfast of BLT’s and fruit. We then packed up and headed for the dock where we would embark on our “Norway in a Nutshell” Tour. We were able to get a great seat with a table to put our stuff on and a nice view of the water and surrounding scenery. And man, was there a lot of scenery! We slowly made our way out of the port of Bergen and out through channels on our way to Sogndal. It was interesting to see the miles of houses and neighborhoods built along the water.
Land in Norway is very rocky and except for land right along the water and occasional flat spots in the valleys, there is very little land to farm or build on. Gradually we worked our way up into the fjord where the passage opened up. Once the boat got out on big water they stepped on the gas. Passengers were allowed to be out on the front and back of the boat on the top deck. Being in front was a challenge. With the wind blowing and the boat cruising at a crisp 30 mph or so, it was a challenge to just hang onto your camera! The rear was really nice. It was out of the wind and offered a great vista from behind. It was also pretty warm like it had been in Norway for quite a while. It was quite pleasant. The boat made several stops along the way at towns right along the water, stopping to pick up and drop off passengers. Our trip to Balestrand took about four hours.
We arrived punctually and our bus was waiting. The bus dropped us right at the ESSO station down the road where our rental car was waiting for us. The gas station was adjacent to a small restaurant so we decided to grab a bite of lunch and kill a little time before heading to the house. It was still too early to check in, but since we had nothing better to do, we thought that we would stop by just to see if we could at least drop off our bags. We met our host, Roar, who gave us the key and let us move in. The house is pretty cool, simple but comfortable and solid, built to withstand the winds, rains and snows of this climate. The house literally backs up to the water. There is a seawall 20 feet from the back of the house. Roar has built a dock and has two boats for use by the residents. There is currently a pair of nesting Oystercatchers at the back of the property within easy eyesight of the house. When you approach the nest, the bird creates a ruckus, screeching and diving at any intruder.
An Oystercatcher nesting in the rocky shoreline next to the fjord
Roar’s in-laws have owned the property since early in the 1900’s. They are farmers and grow apples, pears and plums. When I expressed interest in their farm, Roar sent his son over with a free bottle of apple juice. With several hours of daylight still remaining and nowhere to be, we decided to head into Sogndal to go to the grocery store. We returned to the house, cooked up some dinner and then hit the sack early to try and catch up on our sleep. I ended up staying up till midnight writing in my blog and it was interesting to see the sky still not quite dark when I turned in.
Here are a couple of observations after being in Norway for four days: the locals can be rude. Several times they would cut in front of us when we were waiting in line at stores, restaurants or tourists attractions. Our first day in Bergen Clay and I were sitting on a park bench while we waited for our apartment to be cleaned, when we were approached by a local older man who proceeded to engage us in conversation. He was an interesting guy who told us his life story and really seemed interested in ours. The next day we ran into a young man while shopping on the waterfront. He told us that Norwegians aren’t particularly nice people, that they keep to themselves and don’t appreciate their personal space being invaded. Of course he was friendly and engaging, so there ya go. Plus people generally say hello and are friendly if you say hello first. People here are also quite alarmed by the radical weather that they have been experiencing this year. The have not had a significant rain in nearly two months and temperatures have been running 10-15 degrees above normal. Norway has a maritime climate with consistent rain and cool temperatures. This is definitely not normal. They are very concerned that this is yet another manifestation of global warming. Just yesterday the people staying in the unit next to us were doing a glacier hike up on the top of a local mountain. Suddenly a tornado blew up, pelting them with rocks and raising a water spout on a mountain lake. She happened to shoot some footage that then ended up on the national news this morning