Bellarine Traveller: On to Trondheim

I am not sure just how you describe several days travelling along the Norwegian fiords between snow capped mountains, waterfalls, picturesque farms, beautiful forests and several frozen lakes, I guess magnificent plus.

Our stay in Alta was a memorable one. We had an option to take a ‘Wilderness River Trip’ and most of the group decided to take the tour. What we did not realise was that the river trip was in open wooden canoes with outboard motors! Yes, they did move rather fast, but the scenery was again incredible and we saw a reindeer herd grazing in the forest. After the river trip we had afternoon tea by the river and that was lovely, tea or coffee and some home-cooked waffles, homemade strawberry jam and sour-cream, just delicious.

On the way back to the hotel we called into a husky dog place as two members of our group asked if they could do a husky-dog ride. The dogs were all very friendly and used to people coming to see them. In the winter they take people for sled rides and in the summer they have a buggy where you can ride through the forest.

We then travelled onto Narvik – again wonderful scenery. That night was a clear blue sky (almost) and this was out last chance to see the midnight sun. So we all went up to the top floor of the hotel and we did finally see the midnight sun! This is an incredible site, but in some ways rather bizarre as it is fully daylight. So glad I have seen it, as I may never travel to this area again.

The journey from Narvic to Mosjoen included a ferry trip. Again the scenery was wonderful – lots of snow capped mountains, homes and farms where people live all year round.

To get to Mosjoen we had to cross the Arctic Circle again. Where the Arctic Circle is, there is a roadside stop and there was a lot of snow on the ground. There is also a monument to the soldiers who passed away building this highway during WW2. Like most stories during WW2 this one is especially tragic and partly due to the horrific weather conditions.

Mosjoen is a very attractive small town. We had a couple of long travel days so we did get the opportunity to have a wander around the town. Because of the long hours of daylight, this is the time of the year when the locals have lots of music concerts out of doors and you see many families taking their children to playgrounds or walking in parks.

On our drive to Trondheim we stopped at Laksfoss Falls. These were huge falls and you can sometimes see Salmon jumping up the falls to breed. This was the wrong time of the year, but the falls were beautiful anyway.

On arrival in Trondheim we visited the Lutheran Cathedral – again a very old cathedral. Part of the cathedral was built in the 1200’s and finished in the 1700’s. It was a lovely cathedral, similar in architecture to St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. The interior was very dull and quite dark. I would imagine in the winter months it could be very dark and cold.

When you travel through Norway you do see piles of stones near the side of the road or at roadside stops and camping areas. These are ‘trolls’ that people build, there are several versions of exactly why people make these. But, in general terms they are to bring people luck in their travels and to keep bad things from happening to them. You do see them everywhere. There is one basic rule – if you see a troll, you must leave it, and if you want to build a troll you must find your own stones.

Another custom is, that very often in homes you see lights hanging in windows or, people have a lamps in their windows – this again is to keep bad sprits away from their homes.

I am looking forward to more magnificent scenery in coming days.