Northern Lights and Glaciers, Norway’s Kystriksveien
Zagan the motorhome had a fantastic view an hour ago, at the base of a massive wall that is the Holmvassdammen (N66.75260,E14.09990), a 380 metre wide dam. But, as the sun dipped behind the mountains around us, cloud crept up the valley an enveloped him, so now all we can see is white.
After the excitement of the maelstrom and with a freezer bursting with fish we set off along the Kystriksveien. Billed as the world’s most beautiful journey on the booklet the FV17, as it is technically known, has a lot to live up to.
Soon we were crossing bridges and plummeting through tunnels bored into mountains. With the sun shining down on us we pootled along, mainly because the speed limit is 80 kph (50 mph), and admired the views around us. Craggy mountains diving into reflective fjords greeted us as we wound our way along the coast. Soon we spotted a memorial and pulled in for a closer look. It was to 34 Norwegian submariners and six British commandos who lost their lives when the British-made, Norwegian submarine HNoMS Uredd was sunk by a German minefield in 1943.
After an hour of driving and just after a tunnel we stopped for a brew a lovely little picnic spot with benches, fire pits, a beach, motorhome service point and a closed co-op (well it was Sunday). We were tempted to stop there for the night, but it was in the shade of a huge chunk of mountainous rock and wouldn’t get the sun for several hours (N66.9600, E13.8032). After a quick look around and a read of the information boards which showed images of the party they had in the 1990’s when the tunnel leading to it was opened, we carried on.
Just after the village of Reipå we spotted a beach sign and pulled into the parking (N66.89598, E13.64913). We tucked ourselves into the end of the gravel space and got the chairs out. An afternoon of chilling out in the sunshine was followed by no-oven fish pie, a new recipe for us, but one that was rather tasty. We’re thinking of putting some recipes onto the blog, would you be interested in knowing our in-van favourites?
As night fell the sky was still clear and looking out just before I shut the curtains for bed I spotted star. I haven’t seen stars for months, the sky has been too light from the midnight sun. While we relaxed on Haukland beach Sarah from Veedubadventures mentioned friends of hers had seen the Northern Lights when they were on Senja the other day, this got me thinking.
Another amazing sunset
A quick search of the internet and I found a northern lights forecaster which lets you know how strong they are based on data from NASA. The higher the number the further south and clearer they will appear. It wasn’t good, the dial was saying it would be a 2 all night which would be only just visible where we are. Then the dial moved up to a 3. Staring out of the window my mind and eyes played tricks on me, every patch of sky containing a faint glow. We’ve been fortunate to see the lights before in Finland on a skiing trip, so I knew what I was looking for when a dim glow appeared, or was it a smudge on the window? I leapt out of Zagan, closely followed by Jay who leapt out of bed and wrapped himself in a sleeping bag.
For the next two hours we both watched in awe as faint green clouds danced across the night sky, streaks appeared and disappeared before we could point the camera at them. Now both dressed and with sleeping bags wrapped around us for warmth, after all we are still in the Arctic Circle, we lasted out until 1am when the show slowly came to an end – confirmed by the internet forecaster which dropped to 1.67. What a treat and a privilege. Only a month ago we were on a beach watching the midnight sun not set, and now we were watching the Aurora Borealis.
This morning the scene around us couldn’t have been any different as Zagan was surrounded by fog. We set off quickly stopping off in the town of Ørnes as I spotted a pharmacy. Charlie is running a bit low on his arthritis supplement. The assistants, there were several of them, were really helpful, but rather than spend a fortune on several individual tablets to make up what is in his one tablet, I think we’ll just order some from the UK.
Back on the road and we were soon pulling in to watch dolphins swimming along the fjord beside us. Seriously Norway, how many amazing things can we take in.
We turned off at a gap between two tunnels onto a construction road which had a fleeting mention in our Kystriksveien booklet. It said the road was good and there is a view from one of the dams of the Svartisen glacier. The Svartisen is Norway’s second largest glacier but the arms of it that come down the valleys make it the lowest lying glacier on the European mainland. Before we got 100 metres along the road information boards had us pulling in, again. Just around the corner was 9000 year old rock art, and as we’d skipped the rock art museum when we were in Alta, we figured we’d nip and have a look.
OK, they should be easy enough to spot
The rock art is produced by polishing the stone so no lichen or moss sticks to it. In an effort to preserve the images several of the rocks have been cleaned, however in the dull light of the fog around us, we couldn’t see a thing. We stood for a good few minutes wondering if it was a con and a Norweigen Jeremy Beadle would appear, but nothing, so we left feeling a bit bemused.
Errr, nope can’t see a thing
Finally winding our way up the construction road we resisted the temptation to stop and admire the waterfalls lining the route, hunger driving us on to the top. A 3km long tunnel which climbed up through a mountain gave away that this isn’t a main road, unlit and pot-holed it took all of Jay’s concentration to get us out at the top in one piece.
Scary unlit tunnel reminded me of the opening credits for Dr Who
Parking up under the wall of the dam, Jay got the outdoor gas cooker going so we could have lunch (it was now after 5pm) before a walk up onto the dam wall. As we climbed the sun set and the clouds chased up the valley towards us. We reached the top of the dam with just enough time to see the glacier before the cloud caught up with us and soared over our heads following the line of the dam wall above us.
Spot Zagan!
Svartisen Glacier from top of dam
The route back down was a white out, so we’re now holed up in Zagan with plans for a movie tonight. Fingers crossed the cloud clears as we fancy a walk around here tomorrow.
Ju x
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Excellent blog as always! Yes, we would love to read your recipes. We are leaving UK this Friday in our B544 for a long trip, taking in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.
Thanks to you both for writing in such an informative and enjoyable style.
Ernest and Diana Vincent, Warwick.
Cheers guys, you’re welcome, have a fantastic tour! Jay
Northern Lights – cool!
I’d be interested in recipes; we now have a (recently bought) double skillet (for gas), Remoska (for EHU) and a new Cadac Safari Chef 2 (that I won in a Cadac competition by submitting a recipe and photo cooking it). So sharing recipes, particularly based on food products available in different countries would be interesting.
Paul
Hi guys, great post. You are creating a great path for us to follow!!
We too have limited cooking (skills and facilities) so would welcome some recipes.
Have a great day,
Mark & Bev. Aussie Bruce!!
Hi Mark and Bev
Great to hear from you guys, hope Bruce is continuing to serve you well. We’re enjoying Scandinavia, rather a lot! Currently in a free official aire with a side window full of glacier suspended above a deep green fjord, what’s not to like?
We’ll pop recipes up as we think of ’em or cook ’em, feel free to let us know any good (easy, oven-free) ones you know of too?
Cheers, Jay
Amazing day again.
I think we are just going to copy your route next year, although possibly a month behind your schedule in order to get the kids back to school and free up a few more Scandinavian parking spots perhaps.
Lee & Angeline – http://www.gohumberto.com
Thanks Lee, cool blog fella, know what you mean about the A class windscreen, it’s like the most enchanting 3D high def surround cinema. If you’re anything like me, the sights that will fill that screen will knock you sideways in awe. Cheers, Jay
We would love to see your recipes. I find just having the hob in our 1997 B564 means rethinking many of my usual recipes but it is surprising just how much you can do. We have no BBQ or Remoska just the basic Hymer hob. In Somerset just now but I am hoping to get to France later this Autumn. We have had our van less than a year and we have relied heavily on your guidance to choose it, equip it and decide where to go. Now please help us decide what to eat in it as well!
Very many thanks indeed for your blog. It is an inspiration to us all.
Tim & Eileen on Bertie
How lucky to see the lights! We have seen them before but not on this trip, amazing, good luck with those scary tunnels, you have a lot of them to come! I just closed my eyes! G said the same about them looking like dr who start!