Norway, Part II: Molde, the Atlantic Road and Håholmen Island
- by anna
- 29 August, 2014
A glacier
On the next morning we started driving north of Laerdal, on the way to Kristiansund – we wanted to travel on the Atlantic Road, which had gained popularity recently. In order to do this, we crossed the Sognefjord by a ferry boat and took the road north-west, passing though beautiful lakes, fjords, high mountains with glaciers and peaks, covered in snow. The reflections of the sun in the water were amazing – they changed with every turn of the road. I also discovered something I did not know – that glacier water, when it came down to the lake, gave it a very bright aquamarine colour!
The Geirangerfjord
On the way
We crossed another ferry at Stranda, the road often circled round water – rivers, lakes and fjords.
The church tower of Molde
The third ferryboat was the longest – we took this at Solsnes over the Langfjorden and not long after we arrived in Molde.
In preparation of teh Jazz Festival on the next day
We wanted to see this town of two reasons – it was the town of Roses and we have one of those in Bulgaria – we wanted to be able to compare them. Also it is the home of a well-known Jazz Festival, on the stage of which many of the greatest Jazz musicians have played.
The town is built on a hill, so you have to go down a few steps to reach the centre of it and the
The girs with the rose tray
port. The elegant and light church tower impressed and down at sea level, there was a statue of a girl, carrying a basket of roses. Roses were planted everywhere and their fragrance filled the air. However – there was no comparison really, as the Bulgarian town of roses – Kazanluk, is surrounded by endless fields, producing roses and it is one of the main centres of the production of rose oil in Bulgaria, as well as rose-based cosmetics. There is a well- known Rose Festival, to which many people flock from Bulgaria and abroad.
Chris with the Jazz sacsophonist
In the centre of Molde, we noticed a statue of a Jazz trumpet player and also workmen were putting together the gazeboes for the Jazz festival, starting on the next day. The port had several ferryboats docked; some tourists were walking towards them. There is a Fisheries Museum also in the town, but we had no time to visit it , unfortunately.
A fishy bench in Malde!
The Atlantic Way
After a short break, we sat in the car and moved on towards the Atlantic Road. The Atlantic Road seemed to be a new-ish development – the Norwegians have built bridges on many (12) islands and causeways, which were unused until now in order to create a road, which was not only shorter, but extremely attractive. Our hotel, we knew, was somewhere towards the end on the Atlantic way.
The map of the Atlantic Road
Not only have the Norwegians built this magnificent road, but they anticipated the tourist interest and used a small island to build a tourist viewing point with a coffee-shop and toilets. The parking in front of it was full, but we found a place – by then a fog had descended and the bridges looked very romantic engulfed in it. It emerged, that the builders of the road had endured twelve hurricanes to complete it!
The Atlantic Road
We went all the way up the Atlantic way, having entered the address of the next hotel in the GPS and we were practically in Kristiansund, when on a very narrow street in a village, we decided to ask a couple of pedestrians, walking, about its whereabouts. It turned out that we were 20 kilometers further away and had to go back. “Your hotel is on an island – you can’t drive to it! You have to park your car at a car park, ring the hotel and they will send a boat to collect you.”
The port
Well, what about that – we had no idea we had booked on an island! We went back and found the particular car park, noticing that it was almost full. The hotel sent a swish motorboat to collect us and the luggage. And we disembarked on the Håholmen Island.
We went to the reception and took the keys to our rooms – they were in one small house – a single floor wooden structure, looking like a long container, with a proper roof or an accommodation block for the soldiers in the army.
The village, now a hotel, was a fishing village, originating from the 18th century. It was previously
The bride and groom
owned y the famous Norwegian adventurer Ragner Thorseth, who was well-known for sailing with Viking replica ships. There were many pictures of him everywhere and his book was also available from the hotel.
View from above
The huts, each of which consisted of two comfortable wood-clad rooms, with spacious showers, were painted on the outside in maroon-red and had a layer of earth on top of the roofs, on which grew a variety of vegetation. This was used to insulate the huts from summer heat and winter cold and gave them the most unusual look. Several other buildings were used as the restaurant, in which there was a wedding on the day we visited, a pub, etc. A small pontoon port was attached to the front wooden platform, where a number of boats were moored.
While we were going around investigating, the bride and groom, followed by a photographer and a
The pontoon port
number of friends appeared and went to the oldest of the boats to take some snaps for memory sake! We climbed on the island hill and perused the near-by small islands, the birds on them and the boats, sailing in the Atlantic in the early evening sunshine.
The view from above
The Atlantic Road on the way back
After breakfast on the next day, we discovered we were not the only people going away – the wedding party was also departing! Everyone was loaded in the oldest, biggest boat with the luggage to be taken back to the shore and our cars.
The dining-room
With the car, we started going down the Atlantic Road and on the way to where my husband had spent two years as a teacher – in Slidre, which was our next destination.
The return
The reception and the port