Day 07 - A Purple Finish.

23 Aug

Last night didn't get properly dark until around the same time I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I did wake to peer into the darkness and saw a couple of stars from the warmth and comfort of bed.

Speaking of beds, there's something different about the bedding here. The mattresses are soft yet supportive. There is a bottom sheet to cover the double mattress and we have a single doona each. Strange but effective at thwarting the blanket thief.

Today didn't have anything in particular planned. It was what we call a transport day. There was bound to be some scenery somewhere along the way. The trip included a ferry ride from Oppendal to Lavik. 

Approaching Oppendal

 

Charleen takes the chance to clean the windscreen

Once we were off the ferry and out of the traffic, Clint convinced me that we were on a major road and it would be a good place for me to have a drive of the Volvo. We swapped over and It was my opportunity to feel the driver assist functions. Thankfully when the road narrowed I didn't have any oncoming trucks to complicate matters. I drove as far as Huldefossen where we pulled up to have a look at a waterfall. It was fun driving and it gave Clint a chance to have a better look around. Maybe I'll have another attempt soon.

The suffix fossen means waterfall. So the water falls from lake Hulde.

Way past being mown.

It probably stays quite damp.  Yep, that's an outhouse complete with heart on the door.  But there's only sheep in the larger hut.

The GPS wasn't set on scenic, but it still managed to take us away from the main road. We drove through villages, beside fjords and mountain streams. The colour of the water in the streams was an opaque icy green that looked cold. One mountain stream looked appealing to Clint to get some more practice with Minerva. I wandered off with my camera to see what I could find.

Found a spider

One part of the track was down a very twisty road into Utik where the road was being repaired. Our detour took us almost through the backyards of some of the villagers’ homes.

We were making good time to arrive at our destination, that was until we spied the Skylift at Loen.

We couldn't resist. The gondola ride takes 5-7 minutes each way.  The top is at 1,011m. We could see paragliders launching themselves from up there. We took our time having a good look around.

The inevitable Selfie - note the paraglider.

Can you see the cruise ship?

Have to be one of the better locations for gliding

Feeling on top of the world

If the GPS had stayed on the main highway, we wouldn't have found the beauty that we saw today.

We arrived at First Hotel Raftevold in Grodas and have a room with a view to lake Hornindalsvatnet. The decorator seems to have a liking for velour furniture. In the lobby there are two single seats and a lounge all covered in beautiful velour prints. Our room has a purple chair and footstool. Maybe the desk clerk knew something when he gave us this room.