Final Day - Oslo, Norway

Took this photo for you, Bill. I bet you can figure out where it is with no problem.

When we landed in Oslo at just after midnight (our flight was late) the airport was bustling. All the duty free shops were packed with people shopping at almost one in the morning. All I could think about was getting to our inn for the short night. We are now back to 7 hours ahead of Texas.

We spent about 8 hours in Oslo (at the B&B trying to sleep) before catching the shuttle back to the airport to pick up our rental car. The shuttle runs pretty much 24 hours for people like us arriving super late and many others leaving super early. Unfortunately, it was right outside our window and the planes took off right overhead so all the coming and going made it quite noisy! We will spend two days in Oslo when we come back in two weeks to fly home. I can’t believe one week is already gone.

Our B&B

The breakfast bar, notice the brown cheese. There's nothing that says Norway more than a piece of brown cheese. The taste is truly unique, and nothing like anything most people have tasted before, so it's very difficult to describe. People tend to either hate it or love it. Kim tried some and didn't eat much of it so I figure he's leaning toward the "can live without it" side.

They had gluten free options on the continental breakfast bar this morning so I had oatmeal, a nice change from the cold cuts.

The B&B shuttle right outside our window.

The scenery is strikingly different from Iceland. We are in the land of mountains, fjords, trees and farms. The first time we stepped out of the car the smell of pine trees took me back to family days at our cabin in the mountains. The fall colors are absolutely magnificent. 

Speaking of the car, the next two weeks we’ll be in a Toyota RAV4, much easier for Kim to get in and out of than the little Volkswagen we drove in Iceland. They warned us about speeding so Kim’s been very cautious about his speed. As a result, we either have a line of cars behind us or they are passing us 😬.

The water was like a mirror.

We stopped for lunch at 

First Camp Hallingdal

I had fish and Kim had a hamburger.

restoring an old church

Notice how the scenery begins to change as the day goes on.

Many Circle K's

The pole on the side of this photo is a snow pole. 

Hardangerjøkulen (English: Hardanger Glacier) is the sixth largest glacier in mainland Norway. The thickest measurement of the glacier was 380 metres (1,250 ft) thick, but it has been getting thinner during the 20th century.

Our goal for today was to get from Oslo to Bergen and stop at two waterfalls along the way. First stop: Voringsfossen Waterfall.

To witness the huge volumes of water from the Hardangervidda plateau powerfully drop almost 600' to the valley of Måbødalen below is an impressive sight. Our first glimpse was the mist rising from the valley.

I know you can't experience the power of the falls from the photos or videos, but I tried to capture them.

I'm finding myself at a loss for words,

and the funny thing is, it's okay.

The last thing I need is to be heard,

but to hear what You would say.

Word of God speak.

Would you pour down like rain,

washing my eyes to see

Your majesty,

to be still and know, 

that You're in this place.

Please let me stay and rest

in Your Holiness.

Word of God speak.

So many of the houses and buildings have grass growing on the roof. They look like hobbit homes or houses for fairies, but Scandinavian grass roofs are the real deal. Some are green as pasture, while others are golden in color. Some grow wildflowers, some grow trees and some have even invited the occasional goat to graze on top. Perhaps the reason grass roofs were originally used hundreds of years ago is the plants' role in insulating the home. The plants can keep warmth within the home in the winter, as well as keep the house cool during summer months.

There have been many tunnels. At last count we went through 48 of them today.

This was the longest one at 7.7 km. There was a roundabout in it as well. Very strange. 

In another, we made a complete 360 deg turn while descending inside the mountain.

I was trying to get a picture of this fjord when a bicyclist whizzed by. At least I thought it was a cyclist until I was looking back through the photos and realized it was not real. 😆

The bridge in the distance we are about to cross.

some closeups of the bridge

And another fjord crossing bridge

Our last stop of the day was Steinsdalsfossen Waterfall. We weren't sure we would make it before dark but arrived at 6:58 pm. Sunset was at 7:04. Perfect timing.

You can see how massive it is by seeing how small Kim looks in comparison.

Øvsthusfossen, or Steinsdalsfossen waterfall, as it is called today, attracts tourists by the thousands, and always has done as long as there have been tourists in Norway, since the early 1800s. Why is there an overhang just here? Where the waterfall flowed off the cliffside, there is a hard and massive greenstone (transformed lava). The bedrock where the path goes, however, is a more easily weathered type, with mica rich phyllite. The soft phyllite has crumbled away more than the harder greenstone, thus creating an overhang.

Steinsdal arch bridge was built in 1908. The arch has a span of almost 25 meters. When building this type of bridge, an arch frame made of wood was erected first. Pre-cut and bolted elements were hoisted into place. The stone blocks were then placed onto the frame, stacked from both sides of the span, from the bottom up towards the peak of the arch. Finally, the frame could be removed. The stones are kept in place by the force of gravity. The removal of the arch frame was always a tense moment.

The fact that the road crosses the biggest high mountain plateau in Northern Europe gave us a hint about what was in store for us today, but not everything.

We encountered vast plateaus, deep, lush valleys, high mountains, glaciers in the far distance, waterfalls and azure fjords. 

The Hardangervidda plateau boasts one of the biggest populations of wild reindeer in Europe and if you are very patient and very lucky you can marvel at these amazing animals in their proper element. We saw many reindeer crossing signs, but alas, no reindeer.

"God’s work in you is a process, not an event. It progresses not in three or four huge moments, but in ten thousand moments of change." PDT