A warm welcome in Sand, Norway

Zagan the motorhome is feeling the love in the village of Sand. He’s parked up with fellow motorhomes in dedicated parking in a prime position overlooking the Sandsfjorden (N59.48504,E6.24717).

Last night as the sun set behind Zagan the lake turned to mercury while the mountain backdrop blazed orange red. If someone had drawn it you wouldn’t have believed it. The camera couldn’t capture it, but our eyes will always remember it. We’re finding that a lot in Norway, the photos we take may look incredible, but they aren’t a patch on the real thing.

Jay was up with the lark, well before the alarm at 8.30am, and on a mission. That mission was a full-cooked breakfast and boy did it taste good. The last of our Nuremberg sausages were cooked up, (the closest thing to English sausages you can get abroad, you’ll find them in most Lidls) along with Parma ham in place of bacon. The chunk of it we bought in Finland to see us through Norway has done us proud. Jay cooked up a storm and it was delicious.

After brekkie we hit the road, following the signs as satnav refused to find any satellites for most of the hour long drive. You can’t blame her in the numerous tunnels and steep sided gorges, but even in the wide open areas she was struggling. It looks like we’ll have to find some WiFi and get her the GPS update that was recently published.

Mirror lakes surrounded by steep mountains, narrow gorges with white water rushing alongside the road, the hour flew by and soon we were in Sand. Driving through the narrow street lined with white wooden houses I couldn’t help wonder if we were going in the right direction. Spotting a group of motorhomes at the edge of the water we pulled in and joined them, just behind are picnic benches, a small beach and a diving board – it’s like our own little campsite.

Doorstep fishing, you can’t get better than that

The van next to us had all its doors open but no one was around. Eventually a chap arrived on a bicycle and introduced himself. Tijmen from Amsterdam was the owner of the van and was happy to leave it all open while he cycled around, and I am not surprised, that is how safe Norway feels. If we hadn’t heard about the attempted break-in on our friends Richard and Jenny’s van in Trondheim, I suspect our security would be a bit more lax by now too.

While chatting with Tijmen another chap flew past on a scooter – think of the child scooters like a skateboard with a long handle only motorised. Martin from Germany, the owner of one of the other motorhomes, spun round and stopped by to say hello. Both of them have been here for a few days, and I could easily see us falling into that trap too as it is such a chilled-out place. The tourist office next to the parking has a ‘Welcome Motorhome’ leaflet which lists things to see and do as well as doctors, dentists, garage repairs, service point etc. It feels as if Sand has rolled out the red carpet for us.

Charlie was in need of a walk so we headed off for a look around the village. With it being Sunday everything is shut, and some shops look a bit more shut than just weekend shut. That could be because to get across the fjord you used to have to catch a ferry, or drive a long way around. Not any more, last year a new bridge opened further down the fjord so now Sand is bypassed by the traffic. After the welcome we have been given I really hope the village will continue to thrive.

The passenger ferry still runs from here, so hopefully that will help keep the place alive.

It makes me smile when you hear a gentle hum and look across to see one of these fellas working away – there are loads of them here.

On the other side of the village the Suldalslågen river runs into the fjord and a few hundred metres up river is the Sand waterfall. Here you can sit and watch Salmon and Trout as they jump up the waterfall to make their way upstream to spawn. A ‘salmon ladder’ has been built which helps the fish make their way up the waterfall and a glass walled studio enables you to watch them under the water. As the fish swim up the nine rungs of the ladder, only about 10% of all the fish going up the river take this option, they are ‘caught’ on the fifth rung and the sick and farmed fish are prevented from getting any further upstream. Between 10 and 30% of fish using the ladder are salmon, the majority of them are trout, but I doubt it will be renamed.

First rungs of the Salmon ladder are at the bottom left

We had Charlie with us, who wasn’t allowed in, so Jay suggested that as another early birthday treat he would wait with Charlie while I went in. Then I reminded him that I really don’t like fish, I even get the heebeegeebees walking around an aquarium, so as an early birthday treat perhaps he would like to go in for me – and he did. I love my husband. So while Jay watched the fishes through the glass, Charlie and I sat in the sun and watched them fly.

Even though the peak season is around the end of July, there were still fish jumping up the river every five or ten minutes – we can only assume they also have a satnav that needs updating. As we sat several cars pulled up, people got out sat for a couple of minutes, shook their heads and left – they obviously had somewhere else to be. It is days like today, and moments like that, which remind me how wonderful our lives are. We have the time to sit and watch and see.

Appropriately Sand Church has a fish scale roof

After all that excitement we had a lazy Sunday afternoon. Charlie and I had naps while Jay went fishing. Before the sun set Jay had to give the diving board a test run as the last time he was on one it broke. This one survived, as did Jay, even though the water was freezing.

Daniel Craig is not a patch on my Jay

The maps have been out again to work out our route. Our next stop is the famous Pulpit Rock then after that we have two choices, either cross inland to Oslo or follow the coast around. Tough choices, but nice ones to have.

Ju x

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