Daily Archives: June 13, 2014

Friday, 13th June, 2014

Country: Norway
Distance travelled:
Weather: overcast

The cries of the gulls nesting on the rock wall behind our evening park in Bud woke me this morning. It was another dull looking day but it wasn’t raining again. I got out of bed and after tidying up a little, decided to try my luck at finding a wifi hotspot. Despite the relatively small town we were visiting and the high sheer rock wall behind us, I managed to connect to a free wifi network which I think was supplied by the local tourist bureau. This, combined with the overcast day, tempted us into staying put until nearly 12pm. We had so good a connection that we indulged in a skype call to Marks’ dad and his wife back in Australia.

Our overnight spot in Bud

Our target today was the Atlanterhavsvegen Scenic Tourist Route, otherwise known as the Atlantic Road. According to the website:

Atlanterhavsvegen is a superb manifestation of successful interaction between people and nature. The seven bridges that arch between the islets and skerries on the edge of the ocean, providing magnificent views for travellers, are an outstanding feat of engineering. In 2005, Atlanterhavsvegen was awarded the distinction of being named Norway’s Architectural Monument of the Century. It is also known as the world’s most beautiful car journey. Vistas of the ocean dominate the this route, which passes through a landscape rich in coastal culture along the rough Hustadvika bay, a treacherous stretch for seafarers through the centuries.

We stopped just before the iconic bridge shown in all the brochures and enquired at a little kiosk as to the best vantage point for photography. The lady there advised us to walk out on the spit of rock just across from where we were so this we did. Photos duly taken, we were back at the van and preparing to drive on when I realised I had misplaced a camera lens cap. A short walk in the cool breeze coming in from the sea back to where I had paused to take photos of the bands of colour in the rock and it was back in my possession.

Iconic Bridge

At our lunch stop at the northern end of the drive, Mark and I decided that the weather was neither bad enough nor good enough to make the Atlantic Road worthy of its tourist blurb. Had it been blowing a gale, there would have been crashing waves to marvel at and had the sun been shining, the sea would have been a beautiful blue and the pale rocks would have stood out starkly. Unfortunately today was a grey overcast day with just a light breeze. Maybe a little excessive post-processing can make something of the photos.

Rocks - Atlantic Road

To reach the town of Kristiansund, we had to pay a toll of 125kr to pass though the Atlantic Ocean Tunnel, just over 5.72km in length and dropping to 250m below the Bremsnesfjorden and one of the deepest undersea tunnels in the world. Having not bothered to set the GPS since we knew where we were going until now, we were treated to an inadvertent tour of Kristiansund before we punched in Trondheim and managed to escape a town with too many cars for its generally narrow, hilly roads.

The route lay through another undersea tunnel, 5.1km long this time, also expected to be a toll road, but finding no toll plaza, we assume that tunnel has been paid off. Norway only puts tolls on their roads until they are paid for except in Oslo and a few other cities where they are used to reduce congestion. Further on we caught the ferry to Halsa (another 120kr) and then we were back onto the highway heading for Trondheim.

I had noticed earlier in the week, in other locations in Norway, the random occurrence of chipbark in some rather unexpected locations, not places to be considered gardens by any stretch of the imagination. Today my curiosity was answered when we passed a piece of machinery picking up recently cut tree trunks with a claw and feeding them into its’ side after which streams of chipbark spewed back onto the verge. Puzzle solved.

More toll roads followed, all automatic, so we can expect another bill in the mail. Three long tunnels at 5.1km, 2.7km and 1.29km in length and three smaller. I like tunnels, along with bridges and other oversized civil structures but I’m getting a little blasé about tunnels in Norway. Anything less than a kilometer really isn’t interesting any more. I must add that the Norwegians have some great tunnels. From the huge four lane concrete lined illuminated wonders to dark single lane grooves cut into the bare rock, we’ve seen and driven a wide variety.

Eventually reaching Trondheim, we parked in the free motorhome designated carpark along with quite a number of others. The city has a wifi network, unfortunately requiring payment, and the closest McDonalds has a hill between us and them. We will pay for a day on our Europa sim tomorrow since it is about the same price as Trondheim’s network without the card fees we would incur paying for access. Now it’s time to hunt out a laundromat.