We're back from Belgium - exhausted but happy. I'll tell you all about it next week once I have time to recover, upload photos and write.
You might remember that one of the things we were looking forward to was being able to take drives - road trips, short or long. The weekend before last, we decided it was high time to go for a drive and check out some of the beautiful scenery Rogaland has to offer.
Norway is known for it's fjords - narrow inlets of water with steep cliffs on either side. In fact, the entire West coast is filled with these and Stavanger sits at the edge of one of the most famous in the country - the Lysefjord. It is home to the famed Pulpit Rock (or Preikestolen) and Kjerag and it's possible to take in the views via boat, car or on foot.
While we have plans to hike Preikestolen and we definitely want to take the boat down the fjord, we thought we'd drive it first.
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| Yes, we drove up that tiny little mountain road and back down again. |
Norway has some scary roads. Main highways are of course, large, paved and up to the same standard as most highways in North America. Less common roads tend to be wide enough for a single lane of traffic (although both directions do use the same road) and offer small jut outs every 50 feet to allow on coming traffic room to pass. The speed limit is typically 80 km/hr and when you are driving up the side of a mountain with no where to go but down, it's a little terrifying.
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| The Town of Tau - a large ferry transports us back to Stavanger from here. I don't think we'll ever get over just how beautiful this coastline is and both of us are excited to explore it more! |
Pictures like this make me want to move to Europe. It looks so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHey Jay, found your blog via Lemons, Avocados, and the Bay :)
ReplyDeletethe pictures are great and it's really interesting :)
Therefore I am your new follower now :)
SAndra
Jay these pictures are gorgeous! I always looks like you have the greatest adventures and I am insanely jealous of the scenery. Thanks for posting and always helping me daydream about these places while I'm cooped up at work :)
ReplyDelete@Cassie - Always happy to assist in procrastination and daydreaming! Thanks for reading :)
ReplyDeleteMake me want to move back to Rogaland! I don't have so many options here in Oslo.
ReplyDeleteDon't now witch route you took, but the a trip down to Lysebotn is fun. Just look at the road the last bit:
http://kart.finn.no/?lng=6.66468&lat=59.05046&zoom=16&mapType=finnvector
Even in low gear the brakes on my car needed to rest for 30 minutes at the bottom to work again :p
A trip to Mosterøy is also worth the time, with Ulstein Abbey (Ulstein Kloster) on Klosterøya. May be some toll plazas there still though :p
@Anon - I don't think we made it down that far but that road looks crazy! I'm going to keep your recommendations handy for our next trips! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow. amazing pictures! It blows my mind how much natural beauty there is in this crazy world. You must have had a blast.
ReplyDeletehttp://mckenzieadelaide.blogspot.com/
These pics are amazing!! Would love to go there!
ReplyDeleteyeay for roadtrips! the coastline looks pretty spectacular! enjoy!
ReplyDeleteabsolutely goorrggeeeoouuuss!!
ReplyDeleteYour photos are gorgeous! My uncle and aunt just returned to the U.S. after living in Stavanger for two years, and throughout their stay there I was completely amazed - and occasionally a bit terrified! - by the photos of their hiking trips in the area.
ReplyDeleteabsolutely stunning!
ReplyDeletexo the egg out west.
We don't have a car (or a boat! you guys are fast...) so thanks for showing a little of what the surrounding coastline looks like.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I see pictures from Norway, I am in awe. Sometimes I am like, whatever this person just went to the best spot ever, but the more I follow you Norway bloggers, I realize the whole place is hard to beat!
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome photos!! you know what!!
ReplyDeleteMar from http://mariaana.blogspot.com/ works at that park. She lives there year round. You should het ahold of her next time you go back. Her twitter handle is @Mar84
LOVE your photos!!
How fun to see pictures of places I know so well :) I know exactly where you took the picture of that rock hanging over the road.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're loving Norway so much, it's beautiful here, isn't it?