Jeff: On our way to Odda

So as expected we woke up to the rain and grey skies which didn’t look like they were going to go anywhere fast. We then remembered we had left our chairs outside so Rich got them in (soaking wet) and off we trotted north stopping to get some shopping in and service the van. The drive was lovely due to the different scenery we past from mountains and fjords and through lots of tunnels. We had to catch a ferry across one of the fjords but it was seamless and we pretty much managed to drive straight on. We continued to stop at some view points, to also have a rest, before getting to our camperstop for the night which is off the main road and down a little country road. We ended up driving for about 4.5 hours and it has rained on and off for most of the day. It looks like it also due to rain tomorrow but we have plans and we don’t mind getting a little wet

The next morning we got up fairly early and headed out along the country road to get back on the main road but we soon came across a herd of goats having their morning naps on the road. I got out to try and move them on but they were having none of my attempts to shoo them and I didn’t want to get that close. Rich then told me to jump in the drivers seat and he would shoo them if I was too scared (im my defence they have horns that they don’t seem scared to use and kids with them). He managed to move them and took over driving again before we rounded a courner and met the next group of goats but as the group wasn’t as big I managed to move them enough Rich could squeeze by but then we met the third group and I was back in the drivers seat and Rich moved them on. Finally we could see the end of the country lane having taken way longer than expected to get out we quickly continued on to our first stop which was Langfossen, a large waterfall which is next to the side of the road. It was really tall and a lot larger than the waterfall we saw earlier in the trip. After walking around for a while we headed back to Jeff and continued on up the road to the next waterfall, Latefossen which is where two rivers both cascade down the rockface and meet in the river below. They were really powerful and sent a spray of mist around the area. There was also a small waterfall just up the road, so we wandered up to have a look at that one as well.

We then jumped back into Jeff and parked just outside Odda which is a town on a large fjord and decided to go for a hike as it seemed to have stopped raining for a little bit. This was a big mistake! Rather than parking in the car park (and paying £15) for the hike we stayed in our camper stop for the night and walked up, this was an uphill walk of around an hour (almost 5km) and then we started the hike which is around 5.5km hike to get to the bottom of the glacier (you cant actually go on it or touch it but you do get fairly close). To start with the hike was fairly easy going through meadows (with highland cows) and forests but after a couple of kilometres the path became more rocky with higher climbs neared and then we started with the bridges to cross the rivers (these ranged from small single planks to rickety wooden swing bridges) to ropes to help you climb up and over the different rock faces. As you can imagine this started to send my fear of heights into overdrive but we continued up and I managed to scale up all the climbs and we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the glacier. There was a sign that said stop at the top but then just behind it and over a small river was a bridge to cross the bigger river, which we were tempted to cross but decided against it and started the climb back down. During most of the climb up it had rained gently and anytime it stopped Rich would say “look its letting up” only for it to start again 5 minutes later.

Anyway we carried on down and I think it was harder than the climb up, mostly because everything was wet and fairly slippery but also because the rocks were quite steep and ideally you should abseil down them with the rope but this scared me so I found other ways to climb down. The rain continued for the whole climb and walk down but really started to come down as we got to the car park, this made knowing that we had a 5km walk back to the car really annoying. We were already wet from the climb down but the walk back to the van ensured we were soaking. When we were less than 0.5km away from the van a very nice couple in a rental car did offer us a life but by then we were as wet as you could possibliy get and only a few minutes from the van so we declined (plus we didn’t want to soak their car). As soon as we were back in the van the heating and hot water were put to max and we got changed and had hot showers to warm and dry ourselves. Then we had to hang our wet clothes around the van and hope they dry before tomorrow.

The plan had been to do a very long all day hike tomorrow to Trolltunga (28km round trip) but given that the weather is due to be the same we are rethinking this idea and considering waiting a couple of days before doing the walk.

Over night we got some thunder and a lot of rain, which made us glad that we have decided not to walk today, instead we have managed to do some washing, go on a short bike ride (in the late afternoon when it cleared up for a bit) and sort out bits in the van. Its been a bit of a quiet one but we have got some admin and our washing done and started planning our next steps for once we have done the walk. We aren’t doing the long walk tomorrow as it is still due to rain all day but then Friday looks completely clear so our plan is to head up on Friday then head out of this town.