We had a wonderful drive up to Sauda. We took a total of three ferries along the way. Ferries are a part of life in many parts of Norway. With all the fjords, there is no way to build roads straight from one place to another. They aren't very expensive (in Norwegian terms), and they run pretty regularly from the scheduled locations. The rest of the drive was very scenic along fjords, through "mountains" (I put this in quotes because the tallest one we saw was still only about 1200 meters high), and a bit scary at times. The roads are very narrow, often only one lane around blind switchbacks and curves, and there are some places with tunnels that are not lit. Add to that the bicycle race going on this past weekend into Sauda, and it adds up to a high probability of an accident if one isn't careful.
We stopped for a picnic along the way, as is our habit. We ate near a spinnery, which serves now as a crafts center where people learn felting, basket weaving and other local arts. We also stopped at the site of an old stone bridge that is no longer in use. It was built around the turn of the century. It is pictured here.
When we arrived in Sauda, the bike race was still going on. The participants rode over 160 km from the coast all the way to the mountains, and some of the hills looked wicked! We walked around town for a little, thinking we would get a chance later to go back to do a little extra shopping for our picnics for the next few days, but were surprised when everything closed at 4 p.m. (except a few restaurants.) Apparently the closings were in relation to the "Sauda Days" celebration. We also had a little problem at check-in at our hotel as the first person at the reception desk didn't speak English and he and the next person to help couldn't figure out we had a reservation. I had visions of being 120 miles from home with nowhere to stay, but then saw my name in their guest register and pointed it out to them.
We ate dinner at a Italian/Turkish/Indian restaurant and the food was very good. The only problem was there was too much to choose from on the menu! After dinner, we went to Svandalsfossen, a waterfall just outside Sauda. The waterfalls produce a lot of mist, and we wore our raincoats to keep from being soaked. Sidney was tired of walking after the falls, so we drove up to a little farm called Tviettunet, which boasted these sod-roofed buildings with pansies growing on them. The buildings were closed, but the buildings were very nice with the flowers on them.
We went back to our hotel to "settle down", but found our hotel also has a pub that serves outdoors as well. The band playing the Sauda Days dance was also staying there, and the laughing and talking carried on well into the morning. The good thing is that the mountains actually seemed to make it a little darker there, so sleep was a little easier.
We got up early Sunday morning and went down for breakfast. The buffet was the typical Norwegian hotel breakfast buffet, with cold cuts, cheeses, bread, spreads, boiled eggs, pickled herring, mackerel and sardines, cereal, juice, milk, coffee (bad), yogurt and a few other odds and ends. After breakfast, we headed up the Roldal road, which is soon to be a National road in Norway because of its natural beauty. Beauty aside, this road is amazing for the mere fact that they built a road through an area that gets more snow than most other places in Europe! It usually opens some time in May or June and closes during the winter. As you can see in these pictures, there is still quite a bit of snow in the area, even though temperatures in the valleys were near 70 degrees. The road was also very winding and steep in many places, again much of it being one lane. Oh, I almost forgot our "detour" to a dam on the way up. There was a turn-off that showed a tourist attraction labeled "dam", which did turn out to be a dam, as well as a lake (which was refilling with snow-melt water, and an old ski jump, which looked very frightening. There were several cabins, and about 10 cows that felt like hanging out in the middle of the one lane road. We also passed through a herd of goats as we got onto the really mountainous part of the road. I will talk about another "wildlife" experience in a bit.
We made it down the mountains alive, and went through one of the strangest tunnels ever at the bottom. This tunnel actually corkscrews through the mountain. The exit is below where the entrance is on the mountain. Once in Roldal, we stopped at the stave church. For those of you that have been to Epcot, the stave church reproduction there can't compare to the real thing. This one has apparently been around since the 1300's and the interior was decorated in the 1600's. Services were going on, so we didn't get to see the inside, but the church provided a nice backdrop for our Sunday picnic.
After looking around Roldal a bit, and after some yummy desserts from a local cafe, we went for a hike that was described to us as "only steep for the first 200 meters or so." It was only 2 kilometers long, but was steep for about 1500 of that. It went up a mountain and through a sheep pasture, ending up near another old farm no longer in use. We would have possibly taken the circuitous route back, but weren't sure about the path on the other side, as there were waterfalls coming off that mountain and the path was not as apparent. It was a nice walk, but it tired us of walking for the day. On the way down, I said hello to a few of the less timid sheep.
On the drive back, we decided to stop and get some pictures that would give some perspective on the depth of the snow. This is our car parked on the opposite side of the road as the snow, and another picture of Kimber standing beside the snowbank. Notice the wooden poles in the car picture. Those are so the snowplow can tell where the edge of the road is when it really is snowing. See how high they are? There was actually a tractor doing some snow removal as the snow was melting enough to fall onto the roadway and disrupt traffic in areas. Imagine coming around the corner on a one lane road in a blind curve and finding an excavator facing you head on!
We also stopped to enjoy some cool, clear snow-melt water. I stepped into the wrong place and went up to my hip in the snow. You don't often get to see me in the blog, so Kimber was kind enough to get this so you could see. We let Sidney dip her feet into a pool of the water because it looked so inviting, but she didn't think that was very cool. Actually, she thought it was way too cool! The water was beautiful and clear, and I had a little drink. Nope, no cryptosporidium or other problems in this stuff!
We made it back into Sauda and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was not bad, and the prices were better than most we have found so far, with main courses around $15. We went to the room afterward to get some sleep, but the pub outside was loud again. I finally went down and spoke with the manager around 11 p.m., and he took care of the problem. Other than the noise, the hotel was not bad and was centrally located in town.
Another round of the breakfast buffet on Monday (Monday was a holiday here - Whit Monday, hence the reason Kimber was off), then on to more hiking. We went along a trail that went to an abandoned zinc mine. The trail was flat most of the way, but provided some excellent views of the river, waterfalls, and old mine ruins. You can see some old support pillars for tracks in one of these pictures. You also see Kimber and Sidney at the entrance to the mine tunnel. There are guided tours of the mine after June 15th, but we were a bit early for those. The walk was nice though.
We left Sauda to come back home, but stopped along the way for one more hike, this time to Jona farm. This was a farm that has been in this family since the 1600's, and is the site of an early hydro-electric facility and a water-powered saw. There are a couple of pictures here of these things. We also did a little more hiking up the mountain, but the climb was very steep and the ground was saturated. It reminded me of some areas in Alaska with mushy bogs and swamps. The landscape here actually is similar to Alaska or the Pacific Northwest, and the mountains are reminiscent of Yosemite, but while the land is rugged, it doesn't have the "wild" trait that many parts of the West or Alaska have. The only "wildlife" we have encountered so far on our hikes were a few neat birds and three snakes. Kimber actually picked up a snake on the Jona farm hike, played with it, let Sidney pet it, etc. Some other hikers happened along about that time and when she showed them the snake, they freaked! They told her to put it down immediately, as it was the only dangerous type of snake in Norway. (Norwegians call it a hoggurm, it is a type of viper.) They said she was lucky not to have been bit. Other than the zig-zag markings on his back, he looked like the typical garter snake. This is the second one of these I have seen here, and we did see a garter snake as well, as mentioned in an earlier post.
We came home, and after a nice drive and three ferry rides, found out the Vikings were playing a televised game at home. We were able to watch all the people come in and enjoy the game in the comfort of our living room. We could tell when something exciting was about to happen on t.v. because there was a 5 second delay in the broadcast, and we would hear the roar of the crowd just before it happened on t.v. The Vikings lost 4-0, and they are quickly slipping down to last place in the league.
We also found a new visitor to our next-door port. The Sandpiper is a Panamanian-flagged vessel that looks like a pipe-laying ship. She was here, apparently, to get a new crane on the deck, and she left this morning. No idea when the other ship that was here last week left, but I was a little surprised to see her gone. But like I told Sidney, if they are sitting here in port, they aren't making any money, so they try to get them in and out as quickly as possible.
The next post will have pictures and events from Sidney's day at the beach with her class. And as a little teaser, there will be big news regarding our swans here at our apartment marina!
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