0330 Atlantahavsvegen to Trondheim

17^th Aug 2015

Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries

Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning !  The Weather Gods really are smiling on us this week and everyone we meet tells us what a terrible summer they have had until now !  The morning sun over the water was just beautiful, and after a slow and easy pack up, we moseyed on across a few more bridges !! This Atlantic Road isn’t a very long section, but it really is scenic, and we are lucky enough to see it in the sunshine.  Only a few hundred yards up the road from our free camp site we stopped where there was a little walk out onto the rocks, and the still morning water was just delightful.  Signs indicated that there is an old farm on an island that has been turned into a motel / restaurant for people who REALLY want to get away from things ! It looked great, and a little boat came in to pick up to people who were presumably checked in, and took them back out to the island.

Soon after that we were off the islands and cutting across the island of Averoya, so it was cross farming country, with numerous lakes and ocean inlets (it is hard to tell the difference sometimes !) and on towards Kristiansund. Janet spotted a deer in a field, and we turned back to check because we have seen NO wildlife here so far. Sure enough, a little deer was watching us from the field as we stopped to check on him.  Shortly afterwards we descended deep down in a 5 km tunnel under the fjord as we entered Kristiansund.  To get under these deep fjords the tunnels have to go even deeper, so one is braking most of the time in the first half to avoid breaking the 80 kmh speed limit that is monitored by cameras, and then on the up hill section one is dropping down a gear in order to get up the incline. Tunnels through mountains are totally different because they are just level.

After the tunnel we popped up almost in the middle of Kristiansund, and drove down to the water front where there are lots of big North Sea / Atlantic sized work boats for all the offshore rigs – They are so much bigger than Australian offshore work boats due to the extreme weather conditions in which they operate.  On the water front people were queuing up on the sidewalk to buy big slabs of freshly frozen prawns off the fishing boats – Unfortunately we do not have room in our little fridge for such a big slab !!  Then we wound on through the town, and on the outskirts stopped for some groceries, and diesel.  I was pleased to get my diesel at the lowest rate we have seen for several days (I haven’t filled up since before Bergen), so I filled both tanks up in the expectation of more expensive fuel as we head north (its about Aus$2.00 per litre here).  After doing our shopping, a chap came up in the car park for a chat about our car, and wanted to get a newspaper friend of his to write an article on us.  Unfortunately he couldn’t contact his friend, but he took all our details and blog addresses, and said he would contact us.  Heine Schjolberg was his name, and apparently he has a video clip up on U Tube about the Atlantic Road we had just come along, but in a storm in mid winter.  I haven’t watched it yet, but it may be interesting – Try Googling atlanterhavsveien dated 27^th December 2011 – You might find it !

After our chat with Heine we headed out towards Trondheim, through a long tunnel, and then we were about to cross a big bridge – Until our road turned left and went the other way !  So we had our picnic lunch under the bridge before heading east towards Trondheim.  The first part of the trip was delightful, driving along the sides of fjords, over bridges, more fjords, and then we were told to be careful of our fart.  We had fartsmaling, and then we were advised of our own fart.  Luckily the only sign we didn’t see today was the big one that advises “Fart control ahead” !!  Very regulated, Norway !!!

Then we came to a long ferry trip from Kanestaum to Halsa, during which we saw a kind of “bore”, like the “Severn Bore”.  Out in the middle of the fjord were a series of waves 1-2 feet high, just making their own way across the water.  Very interesting.

After the ferry ride we we once again traveling along beside fjords for a while, and then we climbed up a little and spent some time up in forests as we crossed bigger islands.  Although it was still only about 4.30 pm, I wanted to stop short of Trondheim, and we found a place near the fjord which was a bot busy and a bit expensive, but was fine for us after two nights free camping – We needed showers and a place to do some laundry !  So we got all our chores done, had some Norwegian Fish Cakes for supper, along with a drop of Chilean red, and as the sun went down, we headed to bed.  Tomorrow into Trondheim for a look at their cathedral and some other sights, and then we need to get moving north – We are still less than a 3^rd of the way up Norway, so we still have a way to go and want to do as much while we have the current good weather. 

Photos are here - At last !!  
https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0330AtlanicRoadToTrondheim?authkey=Gv1sRgCKn2hvze55SJrQE