Geiranger to Loen scenery photos

We left Geiranger and stopped at a viewing place for this photo of Geiranger.  While we were taking photos and admiring the view, an ambulance and fire engine drove past quickly up the mountain.

The views were spectacular along the road up the mountain, but there was nowhere to stop, so we had to keep driving, and Nicole took photos out the window.

We love the glaciers on top of the mountains.

There were small pockets of snow/ice wedged inbetween rocks.

Around every windy road there was more sightings of the glacier to be seen

We caught up to the fire engine, the road was steep, and it really couldn't go that fast.

Then at the top of the mountain the traffic was stopped and we had a 1/2 hour wait while they cleared the road.  the kids got out and had a bit of a run around, and a closer look at the glacier.

Unfortunately the reason for the stop was because a motorcycist had come off his bike.  They had to be helicoptered off the mountain.  Hopefully the motorcyclist was OK.  The kids enjoyed seeing the helicopter take off.  Then it was only another few minutes before the traffic started again.

Scattered along the mountain road were isolated homes like this one.

Coming down the main mountain we had a 4.5 km tunnel through another mountain to go through

The tunnels are the quickest way to get around Norway.  There are plenty of tunnels and they are well built and maintained, although sometime we all breathe in when a truck passes us by.

On the other side of the tunnel we had a large mountain to go down. We love the winding roads down the mountains, and Boris our sat nav leads us in the right direction.

At the bottom of the mountains are glorious lakes with the most gorgeous blue/green water.  It reminded us of Iceland's geothermal areas.

Walk up to the Storseter waterfall, and walk under the waterfall

Once we got off the ferry we found the path to the Storseter Waterfall.  It was a 35 minute walk up to the top.  It wasn't that warm, but by the time we got to the top we were all hot!
About 2/3rds of the way up there was a natural spring, and the water was fantastic to drink, so cool and  refreshing and a perfect place for a quick stop!

Along the  way we saw some sheep, hard to catch for the Norwegian wool.

At the bottom of the walk were a bunch of hand carved Norwegian Nordic Sticks that you could borrow for the steep walk!  Gee, they were great!

The top of the waterfall was a great place for a picnic.  A family had brought along a mini BBQ to have their dinner.

Fantastic views at the top of the glaciers in the Jostedalsbreen National Park.

Not far from the top of the waterfall was a path to walk down to get a good view of the falls.

There was a path to follow to walk underneath the waterfall.

Nicole stood nearby and took photos of Phil and the boys having fun under the waterfall.

Heading back to the bottom of the path were some more sheep...these ones hard to catch too.  Look like Nicole will need to go to a wool shop instead.

Back at the base of the waterfall we stopped at the restaurant for a simple dinner, we finished a little after 9 pm.  The long days give plenty of time for touring!

Then it was (we thought) a 1 hour drive to our hotel for the evening.

Fjord Cruise from Hellesylt to Geiranger

Recommended by the Lonely Planet guide, and our friend Judi, we headed to Hellesylt to catch the ferry to Geiranger.

It's a 60 minute public car ferry and reasonably priced, with commontary as well.  We got there again with 10 minutes to spare and there was still enough room on the ferry for us to board. (This ferry only takes 40-50 cars, and runs every 1 1/2 hours.)

This fjord was incredible,  so beautiful that when we downloaded the photos onto the computer, we had taken over 3 photos per minute.

Our ferry took us along the Sunnylvsfjord and then turned right into the Geirangerfjord.
Along the way there were several abandoned farm houses.  It was interesting to hear that the farms here had very fertile ground, and many fruit trees grew here.  It is so remote.

The views from the front of the boat were amazing, expecially as in most parts we were the only boat around.

Another abandoned farm house

We had a flock of sea gulls follow us.  They may have left us alone earlier, but a group of tourists thought it was hilarious to wave crusts of bread in the air.  We were just waiting for one of the sea gulls to leave a deposit on someone's head.

Some of the abandoned farm houses were still being used in the 1950's and 60's.

Some of the mountainsides reach more than 1000 metres, and a few had glaciers at the summits.

There were many waterfalls along the walls of the fjords. 

Along the way, we also spotted some dolphins.  We think they were White-Beaked Dolphins, but we can't be sure.  They only popped up for a few moments, and then swam away...no photos!

This series of waterfalls is known as the Seven Sisters (a group of seven waterfalls with a drop of over 250 metres to the fjord.

Directly opposite the Seven Sisters waterfalls is this waterwall called the Friaren (Suitor).

The legend is that the Frairen tries to flirt with the Seven Sisters, but the Seven Sisters ignore him and continue to dance. 

The fjord is over 200 metres deep in some places, allowing large cruise ships to dock for the day so the tourists can spend the day in Geiranger.  they were just leaving as we were approaching Geiranger.

The white ship is MSC Poesia, the blue one is the Queen Mary 2.

The town of Geiranger was small and surrounded by mountains