Norway Day Six - Drama in the Mountains

 

Day six was majestic and stunning, and quite cold.

We woke to a stunning, clear, and chilly day in Aurlandsvangen. We were able to watch the Ferry come in as we had done the day before and had great views down the fjord. We had no idea what was in store for us that day.

We set off up the steep zigzag to the Stegastein lookout. Norwegians know how to do lookouts, with a platform built out from the road to allow the panoramic views back down to  Nærøyfjord in all directions.

When we had taken out fill of dramatic photos of the fjords and surrounding peaks, we carried on up to Aurlandsfjellet National Tourist Route. This mountain road is normally only open from the 1st of June to approx. 15th of October. Kenneth had never crossed it before as it has always been closed when he tried. And he was sure it was going to close again as we drove over. 

The road crosses a mountain plateau between Aurland and Lærdal. Even in summer you can see snow, so on a day well into autumn so close to being closed for the winter it was going to be dramatic, with snow and ice and frozen waterfalls. As the morning wore on the cloud thickened it snowed, slowly turning the world white. It was glorious, and cold. So cold! And we did not have winter tyres on (yes fellow New Zealanders, there are such things) so a little nerve wracking. But marvelous none the less. So many dramatic photos. You see my Facebook post from this drive here.

As we came down from the plateau we stopped at Vedahaugane to look at both the wonderfully panoramic views from this lookout point and the art installation added in 2012. The installation, by America artist Mark Dion, is called “DEN”. It is a bear’s den complete with bear hibernating on a pile of objects collected around the world which explores humanity’s impact on nature.

A little further down the road we stopped at a picturesque waterfall at Sluppen, a good chance to stretch legs and just be in the astoundingly beautiful land.

 

Next stop Borgund Stavekirke – for Bonnie at least one of the highlights of the trip. She had asked to see Stave churches and luckily for us many of the 28 that remain were where we were driving through. And this one is exceptionally we preserved and was open. Dating back to 1180, this stave church is one of the most distinctive and lavishly carved in Norway.

These churches are Norway’s answer to the great stone cathedrals being built in Europe, but in this case in wood. It is thought they were built on the old Norse religious sites using and developing the same techniques as used in their feared Viking ships and long halls. And many features of the carving traditions including the dragon heads from the front of those long boats can be seen here at Borgund. 

They are surprisingly small on the inside – one of the reasons they were demolished. When bigger churches were needed with growing populations they were replace with larger more modern buildings, especially between 1851 to 1890 when a new law was passed that required churches to be able to accommodate 30% of the local population. Through the concerted efforts of a few people, we have these 28 examples left today, which are now protected and preserved.

We had a lovely time in the small dark ancient place of worship exploring the architecture unique way of siting on the land. You can find my Facebook post about this stave church here.

We then had a long drive back to Drammen and Kenneth’s lovely place, stopping for lunch on the way. It is hard to get good coffee in these parts of Norway! It was a big day of driving for Kenneth, lots of big days of driving.

The next days were to be spent around Oslo. Less driving but still so much to do and see.