Lofthus Campsite, Hardangerfjord

Such an amazing drive today.   I certainly was not prepared for such spectacular scenery, and for so much snow.   Even South Islanders from New Zealand, would be impressed with the mountains and fjords here.   They are not as wild as those in Fjordland, NZ, I know, and the mountains are perhaps not as high.   However, for sheer beauty, plus picturesque villages, southwestern fjords in Norway are pretty good.   And I am determined to make no comparisons, although this is a bit difficult sometimes.

Within half an hour of starting today, the road began to climb, sometimes gradually and at other times quite steeply.    The villages we passed became smaller in size, and often they were just holiday cottages grouped together.   The forests changed from a mixture of birch and pine, then pine, then bare branched snow trees, and finally no trees at all.

The snow covered mountains came closer and closer as we climbed higher and higher.

 A picturesque little village nestled in an alpine valley.

 We passed many small lakes and swiftly flowing rivers.

 The snow became thicker and thicker as we approached the pass.   We could not believe how much snow there was, lying around, for the beginning of summer.   Apparently many of the passes are still closed, due to the heavy snow.

 However the snow was still melting, as can be seen by the waterfall of water, rushing out from underneath the snow, in the photograph below.

 We drove through many tunnels, dark and forbidding places, kilometres long.   At the entrance of two tunnels we had to wait, with other vehicles, to be escorted through, as the tunnels were being repaired and cleaned.

 A white wilderness.  It took about one and a half hours to drive over the pass.   The road was clear of snow, thank goodness, and well maintained.   It was an easy road to drive on.

We turned off the 134, at Skare, onto the 13, which was a smaller and narrower road, direction Hardangerfjord Fjord.   This was a trickier road to drive on, while towing a caravan, as there was a rocky edge on the right hand side, and the last thing we needed was a big hole in the side of the van.   But other drivers were very courteous and stopped to allow us through, if the road was too narrow for two vehicles to pass.

We drove through Odda,which was at the head of one of the arms of the Hardangerfjord Fjord.  The camping grounds there received terrible reviews, although it was a lovely town.   It pays to research before travelling.   About thirty kilometres on we came to the village of Lofthus, and wondered where the camping ground could be hiding, and as we expected, it was at the top of a very narrow and steep road.   Quite a challenge, but the car pulled the caravan up easily.    It all looked so much flatter on Google Earth!

There are four other large caravans here, one larger then ours, so we are not the only caravanners travelling around in this part of Norway.  I did not attempt to try and reverse the caravan in, so we impressed the neighbours with our electronic mover.

There are no other English number plates here, Swiss, Netherlands and Germans numberplates dominate on the motorhomes/caravans.   It is interesting to see the number of Swiss and Austrian numberplates in Norway, especially as they have such beautiful mountains to visit in their own countries.

The camping ground is very pleasant, in an old apple and cherry orchard, and surrounded by lush meadow grass.   The views are outstandingly beautiful.   The tops of the surrounding mountains are still covered in snow, so they provide a backdrop for the green forests, houses and water below.

The view of the fjord, looking towards the town of Odda, many kilometres away.

 The sun was quite warm, so we thought it time to try out the sunshade.   Walter sitting happily outside in a comfortable chair.  

 Our caravan, levelled correctly on the sloping ground.   The tow bar is almost sitting on the ground.

 A waterfall on the side of the mountains at the back of the camping ground.   It is some distance away, I zoomed in on it.

 The view from the window on my side of the caravan.   I can see this same view as I type the blog.   As the light changes during the evening, so the colours of the mountains change too.   This view is priceless, and at the moment we have it for eight days.  

Tomorrow we will explore the local area, and visit the Tourist Office to find out about boat trips on the fjords.