Bit of a long blog, because I’m trying to catch up a bit, we seem to be on the move constantly at the moment.

Heading north, we called in for a visit to Kroneborg castle, supposedly the inspiration for Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’, though nobody can prove he ever actually came here, it’s a credible tale. All day long, we could see the ferry in the background, twoing-and-frowing from Denmark to Sweden, reminding us we need to get on with it or we will never get to Norway. So on we get and stump up the £85 for a 20 min ferry ride, they’ve got you by the dangly bits, because the Oresund bridge, (Copenhagen to Sweden) farther south is £120.

One day in Sweden: I’m sure there’s loads of nice bits of Sweden, but this bit’s not it. Most of it resembles Tilbury docks, so on we plod, north. There’s a UNESCO Radio (Morse) station at Varby that sounds interesting and it’s on-route. The station was built after the first world war to keep in contact with the rest of the world, mainly America is my guess, because all the equipment, engineers and knowledge came from ‘Radio Central’ Long Island, US of A. We had a personal tour, (as there was only us there at the time) the guide had only been there a couple of days but did a cracking job of explaining the history of the radio station and to top it off, we were allowed to sleep in the car park! …all for the entry price of £18.

Norway: I’ve got to push on into Norway, because, a) I’m quite far behind with the blog and b) quite frankly, I can’t find anything else good to write about this little industrial corner of Sweden. So on we push north to Oslo. I’d got a couple of ‘Wild’ (car parks) spots listed in Oslo, both were rammed full. Driving an 8 metre MoHo around a very busy Oslo is no fun so we decided to skip it and push on, Fjords, hills and snow await.

As soon as you get out of the grips of Oslo the scenery  changes, It’s like (God) someone flicked a switch, one minute it’s cranes and industrial estates, the next, its rolling hills, lakes and all the houses and barns are the same cedar-red colour, it’s all very ‘Chocolate-box-pretty’. We push on toward Hardanger Fjord area and the little village of Eidfjord. We took a ‘Sleepy spot’ from Our Bumble in a hotel car park at the top of “One of the best water falls in Norway”, I’m glad I took a few pictures as soon as we arrived, because soon after, the heavens opened (again) and it became so misty, you couldn’t see the falls at all. I feel a bit sorry for the wave after wave of coach parties arriving the following morning, the spray and mist were so dense, all they could do was hear it. This is what it should have looked like.

There’s a tourist trail, down the edge of the Eidfjord fjord to Odda, then back up the other side to Utne and around into the Hardanger fjord to Jondal and another ferry. But first, the major attraction near Odda is one of the most famous attractions in Norway and it would be a shame to miss it. Trolltunga!, the Trolls Tongue. The tourist information service in Norway is better than any we have seen. Reputedly, the best in the world, I wouldn’t argue with that. They explained how to get there, the route, what to take, what bus to catch, everything. It was clear for the answers to other people’s questions, they knew their stuff, and one bit of information was coming through loud and clear it’s an ALL DAY-HARD-HIKE!

So we’re still young and fit yes? …(Mmmm?… we will see). It’s the summer, and so the best time to go for it, we’re possibly not going to be here again, so we get up at 06:30 get packed up and go for it. Whizz up to the car park at Skyeggedal on Frankie and hiking we go. The first Km is almost vertical up a mixture of steps an boulders, the second and third Km flattens out a bit, then it’s uphill again, to a total of 1,250 metres and there’s still 8 Km to go! It did almost level out a bit after that and the scenery is breathtakingly beautiful, but the 11 Km hike certainly was a challenge. The hoards of people there before us, (most of which overtook us on-route) meant we had to queue for about half an hour to get a picture on ‘The Rock’ alone.

Even before we started the 11Km hike back, the rain started, drizzle, the pounding for a bit, then back to drizzle. The views disappeared into the mist and it turned into a long slog back in the rain. The thousands of boots churned up the mud and spread it all over the steps and rocks, making it difficult for even the experienced  hiker to stay upright. We had full wet weather gear, good footwear, food and a water bottle, (you don’t need to take water, as you can collect it from the hundreds of melting ice streams). We stayed an hour at the Troll’s tongue and the whole trek took 14.5 hours! Our thighs are still feeling it 2 days later, but it was worth every step.

I would just like to be a little indulgent at this point (it’s my blog after all) and let Angie know how proud I am of her completing the Trolltunga hike, which is not marked as green, yellow or red on the hiking scale…but BLACK.  A HARD hike. She attacked it with 100% confidence and never gave up, even though others were moaning and slipping back. Well done my Angel…Love you. XoX Mushy bit over…(ta)

We move on most days now, so it’s easier to list where we sleep:

List of sleep-overs.

03/07/16.Denmark, Helsingor marina, FREE,  quiet. n56.041806 e12.61101 water available from a hose on the edge of the car park, black waste (toilet) empty on the pier WC. Free WiFi. Two nights.

05/07/16. Sweden, Varburg Radio station. VERY quiet, FREE. n57.11063 e12.39741. No services. No Wifi. One night.

06/07/16. Norway, Moss. n59.42696 e10.638997. No WiFi. Car park next to marina. One night, no services. FREE

07/07/16. Norway, Nesbyen.n60.570584 e9.112538. Noisey next to the road, R7. River to one side, log cabin estate agent (closed) ‘car park’. Working toilet behind the estate agent. One night. FREE

08/07/196. Norway, Voringfossen. n60.42638 e7.25502.Quiet,  just the rumble of the falls. Fossli Hotel car park (Thanks Bumbles) FREE. Good 1Mbs WiFi from hotel. No services. One night.

09/07/16. Norway, Odda, Rema 100 car park. FREE. Quiet after 23:00 .Parking OK from 16:00h to 10:00. Free WiFi from Rema 1000 supermarket. One night. Then we moved across the road to …

10/07/16. Norway, Odda, Aire. 150Nok. £13.50 .Quite (other than F**kin gulls first thing in the morning!) EHU,Black/Gray waste & water inc. (Ahem…its also possible to use the services without paying). 2 nights. A perfect base for Trolltunga. Tourist information has washing machines and dryers 30 Nok per use. (£2.70). Two nights.

12/07/16. Norway, Bergen. n60.400013 e5.305007. FREE. Pay and display car park. OK from 23:00-08:00. Other MoHo’s there too. Quiet night until 06:00 am, noise from loading the ship behind us. Perfect for a late walk into Bergen. We parked outside the ‘Joke’ supermarket at n60.407875 e5.322326 opposite Norge Fiskmuseum during the day, ticket machine top of the hill up the steps. 60 Nok (£5) all day. Possibe to also walk into Bergen from here. Norge Fiskmuseum has free, good WiFi at 1.3Mbps+ too.

13/07/16. Norway, route 13 north. Lay-by, Edge of a very quiet road. FREE. n61.351666 e6.555385. No WiFi…nuffin! Quiet, isolated, bliss! One night.

A few random pics…

 

Soon be the weekend again…regards, Wayne x