Tuesday 17 June 2014

Bakeri on the Road

Bakeri
Wood powered
Grassed roofed
Self Service    
Beautiful
Traditional
Handmade
Tasty
Still warm
Brod
Delicious
All words to describe the bakery we came across today when we stopped for lunch at the side of the road.
Inside a little hut surrounded by wood piles there is a wood oven and on the tables inside are stacks of freshly baked bread and pastries. A sign reads in Norwegian and English: ‘Please make your choice and pay in the kiosk’.
There are little huts by an elven river where you can stay and have a hot tub in the evenings, and a shop offering yoga massage and selling tarot cards. We are tempted but £12 (for a loaf of bread and 3 pastries) later we make our exit.
yummy warm bread inside - Graham has wood pile envy

Breathtaking views around every corner
Snow capped mountains
Iced lakes of black, every shade of blue, and dark green.
Vast pine forests rolling down into lakes
Hairpin bends
Narrow roads
Bright sunshine
Dark, thin tunnels
Stave churches
Wooden cottages and barns
Bouldered rivers
White water
Huge lakes
Waterfalls

An afternoon of terrifying tunnels through the snow capped mountains followed and we are parked up overlooking a fabulous lake with three Dutch motor homes. Our view is slightly spectacular!
Wood powered
Grassed roofed
Self Service    
Beautiful
Traditional
Handmade
Tasty
Still warm
Brod
Delicious

All words to describe the bakery we came across today when we stopped for lunch at the side of the road.
Inside a little hut surrounded by wood piles there is a wood oven and on the tables inside are stacks of freshly baked bread and pastries. A sign reads in Norwegian and English: ‘Please make your choice and pay in the kiosk’.
There are little huts by an elven river where you can stay and have a hot tub in the evenings, and a shop offering yoga massage and selling tarot cards. We are tempted but £12 (for a loaf of bread and 3 pastries) later we make our exit.
lunch by the elf-inhabited river

Breathtaking views around every corner
Snow capped mountains
Iced lakes of black, every shade of blue, and dark green.
Vast pine forests rolling down into lakes
Hairpin bends
Narrow roads
Bright sunshine
Dark, thin tunnels
Stave churches
Wooden cottages and barns
Bouldered rivers
White water
Huge lakes
Waterfalls
ethereal/glow in the dark swans

An afternoon of terrifying tunnels through the snow capped mountains followed and we are parked up overlooking a fabulous lake with three Dutch motor homes. Our view is slightly spectacular!
 
not a bad view out the back passage



Sunday 15 June 2014

Models in Heddal

When Vebjorn Hefre Bakka (who works at the church) heard we were doing a blog he was more than happy to pose for a picture for us. He gave us some interesting information about the Heddal Stave Church and is wearing a belt with runes copied from the ones carved on the walls of the church indicating it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. I was intending to get a close up of the belt but this photo is much more exciting. Thanks for a fun visit to Heddal, Vobjorn.
modelling beautifully


and even more beautifully

Saturday 14 June 2014

Seljord

Seljord is an interesting place which is famous for its Loch Ness style monster and elves. A goblin built the local church which has a labyrinth painted on the wall. We are parked up by this lake so it could be an interesting night.
labyrinth of west wall of goblin-built church
Graham is now the second person ever to lift the 570 kilo stone after strong Nils many years ago.
My hero!

Stave Churches R Us

We decided it would be a day of churches today. Graham was pleased to get out of Moss today - he was not lichen it (boom boom). The ferry to Horten was 30 mins and cut out the drive up to Oslo. Now the scenery is absolutely stunning, every bend in the road delivers another breathtaking bit of scenery. 
Our first stop was Hoyjord Stavkyrke which was being renovated but we took a couple of good pics of the roof with its new copper trim.
sparkling in the summer sun
Our main target was Heddal Stavkyrkje. We were lucky enough to stumble upon a wedding (the groom wore a kilt) then we met a fabulous guide called Vebjorn Hefre Bakka who kindly agreed to pose for me so I could take a picture of his runic belt. (I will have to put this picture on tomorrow as my ipad refuses to connect to the internet tonight so if you are reading this Vebjorn check back tomorrow for your photo). The runes on his belt come from the church and say that this church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It's a beautiful place with some exceptional carvings around the doors and frescoes on the walls.
wedded bliss awaits them
I will put more pics on tomorrow if my ipad will co-operate

Progress

2000 miles up and many more to go!
The trip mileometer has just topped 2000 miles so time for some thrilling stats!

Total mileage for the trip                                    2025
Country count                                                     9
                                                                        Cornwall
                                                                        England
                                                                        France
                                                                        Belgium          
                                                                        Holland
                                                                        Germany
                                                                        Denmark
                                                                        Sweden
                                                                        Norway
Average miles per gallon                                     30.7
Total diesel costs                                               £374
Total LPG Cooking/heating gas spend                   £18
Total food (and drink for van) spend                    £396
Current location                                                 Moss – Norway
Days on the road                                                28
 
the miles are clocking up!
Our plans are still very loose but today we plan to bypass Oslo and start heading across the central South of Norway taking in some Stave churches. We will be taking the ferry to Horten and first stop Heddal church near Notaddon.
Why bypass Oslo? We prefer the countryside and villages to the cities.
We hear all is well at home and the house sitters are loving Boscastle


Friday 13 June 2014

Off to Norway

Norway snuck up on us today.

There were no thieves in the car park at Fjallbacka so we had an easy start to the day, strolling around town, climbing up vertiginous steps, and walking under gigantic boulders. I have no idea why Mr Fluffy made me stand under them so long while he took my photo.
off we go..up the stairs

follow me through this totally NOT dangerous chasrn

I promise they won't fall

just stay there a bit longer while I get the shot

Having not had enough of the Bronze Age action yesterday we headed off to Greby to see some amazing standing stones at a burial ground, and then on to Tanum (Aspeberget) which was close to the museum we visited yesterday. Some more incredible rock carvings were found here, many have been damaged by the sulphur in the air pollution and are in danger of disappearing.
Greby standing stones

naughty Scots

more stones at Greby
looks like dogs sniffed each others bottoms in the Bronze Age too
I'm not saying anything
dancing Bronze Age dudes

and Greby again

We had set the sat nav up to avoid motorways, so heading north it took us up some incredibly slim roads which didn’t seem to worry Mr Fluffy but terrified my good self. Luckily nothing else was silly enough to take such a ridiculous 12 km stretch of road and we emerged unscathed at the other end having caught a glimpse of an ancient ‘Valkommen in Norway’ sign or something similar. We were expecting something much more exciting but here we are and the scenery does not look too different so far.
Funnily enough the first person we spoke to in Norway was at a petrol station as we went in search of LPG. ‘Do you speak English?’ I cheerily sprouted – ‘I speak very good English’ he replied in a strong London accent, ‘and yes this is the most expensive country in the world!’ ‘Great’ we chirruped as one, smiling thinly. Thankfully we have packed enough beer and wine to last for a few months…well a week or two at best knowing us.


Having finally got LPG at the Shell outside Halden we headed off to Moss where we are now parked up by the marina. The brochure we picked up at the Tourist info in Halden did a very good job of selling this place. It sounded gorge but is actually quite hideous. There is a town festival on at the moment and it has the worst stalls we have come across ever. This parking place is quite nice and there is a very lucky Chinese chap who is the only one of about 12 fishermen who is catching anything. He pops his rod in and several massive mackerels commit suicide on it immediately. The others are all looking a bit miffed. I wonder what his secret is.

Thursday 12 June 2014

Vitlycke Museum

We thought we'd put a few pics on of the Bronze Age museum.
boats
inside the Long House
carvings have been painted by archaeologists to highlight the images


A Soggy Return

It wasn’t the welcome home we expected - torrential rain, flooding, and giant potholes in pretty much every road we drove on today. Ugh! The...