Heading North

 We woke to a very brisk -2 degree morning after a pleasant stopover in our little cabin.  New Zealand could learn a lot from the Norwegian buildings as a similar type cabin would never be as toasty warm as the one we stayed in.

Heading North we thought that we may not be able to do everything that we had planned, due to the distances, but the roads were surprisingly quiet.  Shoulder season definitely seems to be the time to travel if you want to avoid the crowds.  Speed limits are considerably lower than the main highway we travelled on yesterday, with a maximum speed of 80 km/hour.  It does make everything feel a little safer, especially for those of us not used to driving on the right hand side of the road.

Our first stop was to visit Trollstigen Pass which is a crazy road with 11 hairpin bends that is built into the side of the mountain.  The pass is closed over Winter, due to snow and the risk of avalanches, but reopened today.  David was so excited about getting the chance to drive some of the road - me, not so much.  We compromised and drove about half way to the top, before turning around.  It was a bit like the Crown Range on steroids.  A few cars went through while we were there but I could't believe it when we saw a car towing a double horse float winding it's way to the top,  It's a popular tourist destination, so imagine that it would be really busy in Summer.

From there we drove through villages and around the fiords toward Molde.  Lots of bridges, tunnels (including one that went deep under a fiord, and then onto a ferry.  There are many ferries crossing the fiords and linking up the roading network very efficiently.  

The aim for the day was to drive The Atlantic Road, an eight km road that links the region of Averoy and the mainland via seven bridges, over the Hustadvika Bay.  One of bridges is really steep and has appeared in movies and advertisements.  It was a stunning drive and can imagine it would be spectacular in wild weather.  We had a 'moody' sky which added to the atmosphere.  Again, we expected it to be busy, but wasn't, mind you, the freezing cold wind and threatening rain may have kept people away.

That was our Northern most part of our Norwegian adventure as we headed back toward Molde for the night.  In the tradition of rental car issues that seem to stalk us, a warning light came on in the car.  A slight detour to get it checked with the company who confirmed that we should just continue to drive and they would sort it once the car was returned.  It was the outcome we wanted, but keen to make sure that it was their decision, just in case.

Our hotel tonight looks over the fiord, with snow capped mountains in the background.  Ferries regularly glide across the bay and it is nice and warm inside.  All in all, a pretty pleasant place to be.