August 27th 2015: Norway: The drive to Bergen

Monty the Motorhome is in Bergen, parked at a similar ‘aire’ to the one we were at in Trondheim.

We had an early start this morning, wanting to catch the 09.00am ferry. Yesterday we spoke to one of the people at the ferry terminal, who advised being there one hour before as the vehicle capacity was small. So we duly turned up at 7.40am and became second in the queue.

As mentioned yesterday this ferry route normally caters just for passengers. However they are taking advantage of the tunnel closure by providing vehicular transport as well. The route was simply spectacular. Down one steep sided fjord and up another one, with the total journey time being just over two hours. Wall to wall beauty all the way, with low lying wispy cloud giving some real atmosphere and drama to the landscape. We were lucky with the weather as the rain held off until we reached Gudvangen. 

The cloud spills down over Autland

The drive to Bergen was on good roads, but from Voss onwards there were interminable tunnels, seemingly one every mile.

However we reached Bergen by early afternoon and with just two minor sat nav wobbles found the ‘aire’ at Bergenshallen. The site is a large car parking area adjacent to an ice rink.  Parking is available for 28 vans, on designated pitches. Water is available and there are facilities for waste disposal. This all comes at a fee - 150 NOK per day. Electric hook up is available, but strangely only 14 sockets are provided, so it is first come first served. We were lucky, firstly to get a space and secondly to secure an electric point as someone was leaving. Mind you the point was some distance away and for the first time ever we had to use both our electric cables.

Our reason for coming to Bergen was to see Rachael, who we last saw at the start of our Norwegian trip. She came up to the van shortly after we arrived and it was good to see her again. Unfortunately Ivar is away working at the moment, so she is on her own. We spent a happy afternoon catching up with all the news and subjecting her to our photographic record - currently just over 700 pictures!

Home made ragu (which has been in the freezer since leaving the UK) and some Merlot completed the day.

Note: no internet at time of writing, possibly due to a massive thunderstorm we experienced. So posted on August 28th.