Beautiful Joy

"It can't be overstated: climb aboard a fjord bound ship and you've doomed yourself to the experience of life-changing, metaphysical beauty"...... says the lonely planet. They have totally underestimated the intensity of the landscape. You cannot escape the beauty.

I have had a sore neck for days from craning upwards out of the car windscreen, staring upwards at waterfalls and glaciers.

We left our urban campsite on the docks of Bergen and headed north and upwards along the E39 towards the mouth of Sognefjorden, the longest fjord in the world. Our plan, to drive along the entire length of the the fjord and then cross the mountainous interior of Norway to Oslo.

An almost empty car ferry takes us to the northern shore and then we turn east off the E39 onto the "B" roads. Here the hills climb gently from the still waters. They are covered in apple orchards, every tree heavily laden with bright red fruit.

Light blue sky, dark blue water, red apples, bright green grass and trees fading to autumn yellows combine with an empty road and gentle corners to set one's heart soaring. Pure joy is a rare experience sometimes, but if you ever want some, I can't recommend Norway enough.

After a full day of intense beauty we pulled up at the nights planned destination, a quiet village on the fjord shoreline, to find everything closed for the season. The campsite locked up and the village, Balestrand, deserted. A few phone calls later and a campsite 9 km away says we can stay. But when we arrive it is just an empty field with one other caravan in it and nobody else in sight.
The couple from Oslo in the caravan have also been searching for an open campsite all afternoon and tell us the owner will come soon to collect our fees. This has to be the cutest campsite so far. Tiny red wooden huts in a grassy field with an office that contains a single bed, a desk and a portrait on the king and queen. The owner arrives and we pay our fees. Dinner and card games follow along with a good nights sleep.

The following morning we rise to another sunny day. It has rained (touch wood) only once on this trip so far. The kids decide to climb up the hill behind the site to the waterfall above us, before breakfast. I head for the tiny timber shower block for a wash and a much needed shave. When I return the kids are still gone so I decide to follow and check on them.

The climb makes me painfully aware of how unfit I am. Sucking air like a drowning man I finally catch up with Flynn and Jane perched on the edge of a waterfall with a long drop below us all. So I gather them up and we head down via an old avalanche site of moss covered boulders that dislodge with every footfall. It's a slow journey down with both kids having a "I can't go on" moment before we reach the safety of Dotty.

Our drive today is a short one to the base of Europe's largest glacier. Once again we find a deserted campsite open just for us, the owner arrives by car to open the office and collect our fees. We set up and then upload the bikes for an afternoon ride along the fjord into the village. The empty deserted village. It has amazing hotels and cute book shops (4-km of book shelves says the guide book) but it's like a zombie movie, with all the residents gone for the winter. Then we feel it. The cold. In minutes the temperature plunges as the shadow of the mountains falls on us like some evil beast. Fingers freezing and children complaining we scurry back to camp to light the stove and warm everyone up with cooking.

The next morning everything is covered in ice. Oh no what have we done. Have we missed the boat. Are we doomed to travel europe in the cold?
We pack up in slow motion with painfully frozen fingers. Frozen bikes lifted onto their racks. Icy cold gas taps turned off and ice scrapped off the windscreen. Bundled up as best we can, We start up dotty's cold engine and head into the village to get bread for lunch. With such high mountains about, the sun kisses the earth late in the morning here. But when is does, it's like a magical springtime. We cross into the sunlight halfway to the village and steam rises from all around us. There must be a 10 degree temperature difference between sun and shade. The ice and frost melts and the landscape is enveloped in rising vapors creating another layer of beauty on this already impossibly beautiful scene.

The glacier visitor's centre is closed for the winter. We hike up to the ice face alone following a path made of little cairns stacked carefully on the boulders. They seem like small offerings made to the gods to avert the dangers of rock falls and ice crashing down on you.

Later that day we arrive at Kaupanger to catch the 4pm ferry along the UNESCO listed fjords to Flam. But it doesn't run in the winter. So we camp at a "free" campsite for the night on the waters edge to get the 0930 ferry the next day (It closes for the winter in 3 days). I "borrow" some firewood and the kids are overjoyed to have a fire to warm up with while mum cooks and they fish. No fish are caught but we are all well smoked before climbing into bed.

The ferry ride the next morning is cold, empty (one other car and 6 other passengers) and as amazing as promised in the guide book. The mountains meet the fjord here in steep cliffs decorated with waterfalls and pink granite. The water is like a mirror reflecting snow capped sun drenched mountains.

We dock at Flam in time to catch to last train up the mountain via the steepest train ride in the Norway (Europe?). An engineering marvel of hairpin tunnels. at the top you can continue onto Oslo or Bergen but we travel back down to our (empty) campsite.

Oslo is our next destination. Our next down neighbor has sent our mail here via a friend. But first we have to cross the central mountains of Norway to get there. This is proper nordic mountain landscapes. Ice covered mountain passes and mountain top lakes. The trees here have almost lost all their leaves and eventually we climb above the tree line into ski fields. No snow yet but it feels like the lifts will be open soon. 200 km of slow roads and very speed limit conscious Norwegian drivers later we arrive in Oslo.