After an encounter with an Aussie/Norwegian guy in the Hertz office we were off into Stavanger. This was my first experience of driving on the right side of the road. I was pretty damn tentative to begin with, particularly after my tyre made friends with the curb after only 10 minutes. That gave me enough of a scare that I managed to work it all out and pretty much get the hang of it, except for on some crazy Norwegian roads.
We picked up Van from the Stavanger sidewalk, which is very cute and cobbled around their apartment, and set off to Trolltunga. It was set to be a 4 hour drive but with everyone having the same idea as us "get out of the city it's the weekend!!", it made for an hour wait in a queue that seemed to continue forever just to get on the ferry. Luckily Van had brought snacks so I was introduced to possibly the best chips I have ever had and became the rubbish dump for all the chocolates that Matty and Van turned their noses up at (coconut and marzipan, they are actually really good). Norwegian drivers turned out to be pretty hilarious with some great passing maneuvers when everyone was sitting still and it was literally impossible to get back into the queue, therefore blocking the entire road until people could inch forward and begrudgingly let them back in. There was also a lovely truck driver who decided that everyone could just wait for him to finish his cigarette before he would move forward. Turns out Norway isn't so perfect after all!
Once we were finally off the ferry and on our way the challenge for me began. I thought NZ roads were windy and narrow in places but Norway is just crazy! With all the fjords around the roads seem to wind along the waterline (single lane of course) before heading into a monstrous tunnel then back to the winding hell. Add on top of that the darkness and rain that had started, lets just say I had a very firm grip on the wheel and was seriously pleased to have done alot of hairy driving in NZ. Eventually we made it to our oasis for the weekend, a little apartment right on the fjord, just past Odda.
The plan had been to walk Trolltunga on Saturday and relax Sunday but thanks to a rather bleak weather report Saturday became gloriously lazy. We slept in, chocolate was involved in breakfast, we watched movies, drank coffee and explored Odda. All topped off with Matty and Van's traditional Norwegian dinner of shrimp on bread with mayonnaise, avocado, egg, tomato and lettuce, seriously delicious! Sunday was the day for action. Trolltunga was the last rock precipice that Matty and Van had to tick off their list, one of the big 3 and the only thing stopping them had been that they couldn't hire a car, which is where I stepped in. Plus they wanted the joy of my company as well.
We set off nice and early and reached the relatively empty car park. The walk was supposed to be 7-8 hours return and Norwegians seem to be relatively accurate, unlike DOC back home. We headed up the hill and out across the rocky hill tops, passing more summer houses which would be amazing in winter for cross country skiing but unsure I would want to do the 40 minute hike to get there, uphill, carrying all your stuff. The sun shone, a bit. It was horrifically windy in the exposed areas but manageable with all our gear on, just meant a bit of head down with multiple lolly refuel breaks.
We eventually rounded the corner of the hill to find we were looking down in a ridiculous outcrop where people were jumping and posing. Trolltunga literally translates to Troll's tongue and you can see why, it's a ledge that sticks right out over the rather steep drop to the ground hundreds of meters below. Inevitably there was also a queue to get out on to it but in typical Scandinavian style everyone was very gracious in waiting their turn and letting people take their time on the tongue. We each had a go with Matty filming his video for a kiwi version of the Lion King. A heavenly bagel was scoffed down in the shelter of some rocks before heading back to the car. Quite a few people had camped up there overnight which I thought was pretty cool, not a bad spot to watch the sunset around a camp fire!
Following the delightful 5 hour drive back to Stavanger we were a very weary group by the time we got there. Such an epic weekend though and made my dithering over whether I could afford to come to Norway all worthwhile, and it was only the beginning!
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