Norway Part 2 - Nigardsbreen

This day was almost certainly the clear highlight of our trip. We made the five minute drive to the edge of the lake immediately in front of the glacier. In days passed, we would've been buried under the snow, however like most of the glaciers in Norway, the Nigardsbreen has retreated up its valley. The interesting thing about this particular glacier however, is that it seems to be bucking the 'climate change' trend of most other glaciers in Europe, and is actually advancing rather than retreating.

We were introduced to Andres, a Swedish guide, and were kitted up with ice axe, helmet and crampons (metal spikes that are strapped on to your boots) before hopping into a little motorboat to the face of Nigardsbreen.

There were two other couples joining us on the climb, a German Couple, and a Dutch couple, who between them spoke about eight different languages, putting us to shame! Anyway, we strapped ourselves into our spikes, 'roped up' into a line, and under Andres' guidance climbed up onto the ice. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I felt much more secure on the crampons than I thought we would be; I don't think we slipped once all day!

We'd done a little walking before then, and each time felt absolutely knackered, but striding up the steep slope of the massive slab of blue ice, we felt energised rather than tired. I think it was because it was such a strange, exciting landscape, and with that slight trepidation about doing something relatively adventurous we weren't able to worry about our legs.

After a couple of hours of hiking, we were guided down through a spectacular, jagged crevass-filled region of the glacier. These typically occur in steeper sections of the valley where the ice is moving faster than in others. It was here that we found our 'wall': a ten-metre vertical (and in slightly vertical in some spots) slab of ice that we were going to climb.

We were given a quick 'how-to', handed a pair of specialised ice-climbing axes, and clipped into a rope set up by Andres. We then had to work out how to get up the bloody thing! See the results below:

It was a little scary, awkward at times, and just plain hard work! By the time I got close to the top, my arms literally stopped working, and my hands had been fused into claws...I could barely press the shutter to take photos of Fee when she went up!

After we'd all finished our ice-climbing (and a little lunch) we continued on up to the upper third of the glacier, which was completely covered in crevasses. Without Andres, we wouldn't have stood a chance of navigating our way through that mess. At the top of the climb, we were able to glimpse the fringes of the massive ice cap lurking above the valley.

Perhaps the best, and scariest bit, came on the way down. Andres gave us the impression that it was a quick, straight-forward route back. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhtt. We soon found ourselves in the midst of a crevass field, on an ever-narrowing plate of ice. Soon, we were faced with apparently bottomless crevasses on either side, and at one point, a strip of 'land' no more than a foot wide. Andres flattened the path for us, and with little choice in the matter, and more than a little trepidation, we forded the crossing and continued on.

The last section of the hike, whilst not so scary, was still a lot of fun. We made our way through 'The Labyrinth' - a series of troughs, tunnels and walls that formed a complex maze leading back down to the front of the glacier. It was in this section that the ice was the oldest, and subsequently the bluest too. We could hear running water everywhere, and see it underneath our feet, and as we reach the end of the trek, it was obvious where it was all going: straight into the torrent that was bursting forth from underneath the front wall of Nigardsbreen.

We were tired, but thoroughly satisfied with our day. We'd done something new, challenged a few fears, and experienced a most remarkable environment. After a drink with our fellow hikers, we enjoyed a quiet night of beer and pizza in the sitting room of our guesthouse.

Norway Part 1 - Bergen

Our latest adventure has been to the beautiful fjord region of Norway. While we could definitely have used a few more days to really soak it all, it was nonetheless another fantastic week in an unforgettably dramatic landscape.

You can see the many photos on our Norway flickr page.

We began by flying into Bergen late on the Wednesday night, where we crashed at the airport hotel (which was surprisingly good - ask Fee about the super-comf!). We were up early-ish the next morning, picking up our trusty (if not slightly buzzy) hire car before heading into Bergen proper.

Setting off, we meandred through town, not really knowing what to expect from our visit here. We soon came to the water, which is certainly in no shortage here, and more importantly the fish markets. To call it a fish market is probably a disservice, because there were all sorts of exotic delicacies on display. We got chatting to one man behind one of the stalls, who told us all about his wares and fed us with equally plentiful samples, including some of the best smoked salmon, prawns and even whale meat. (not entirely politically correct, but when in Norway...) Needless to say that he'd sold us - we'd return later in the day before we moved on!

Crossing through the extended marketplace, with fruit, vegetables, clothes and the odd stall selling wolf, deer and seal pelts, we came to the area known as Bryggen.

Bryggen is a kind of district in itself, made up of an eclectic mix of warmly coloured timber buildings that were originally used as warehouses, wharf offices and stables, dating back to the early 1700s. Looking at the photos its a miracle its all still standing!

After negotiating the maze that was Bryggen, we set on up the hill to find the funicular to take us up to the top of the hill above Bergen. A short ride up the hill and we were soon looking down on the city. We took in the views, brought Henry a souvenir (see Supermoose) and took the slow way down.

We still had a drive ahead of us, so we picked up some seafood from the market for dinner, and headed off towards Eidfjord.

Eidfjord is a little town at the end of the Eidfjord (funnily enough). If we had more time we probably would've based ourselves here for a few days, and done some walking on the Hardangervidda, Europe's largest mountain plateau. As we were only staying one night, we stuck to the car and drove up to the Voringfossen,a beautiful valley into which up to seven waterfalls cascade.

The beauty of Norway is that half the fun is in getting to your destination. We weren't really prepared for the sheer extent of the spectacular landscape of this country. From voringfossen, we spent nearly five hours in the car, and every new corner (and there were plenty) brought with it another amazing vista; vertiginous cliffs, inky black fjords, snow-capped mountains, and more waterfalls than you could ever imagine. There is certainly no water shortage here!

After a long drive, we eventually arrived in Jotunheimen, in the Jotunheimen national park, which basically consists of an enormous ice cap that feeds the many glaciers that creep slowly into the valleys below. Our ultimate destination was the Nigardsbreen glacier, which we were to traverse the next day. We checked into the Nigardsbreen guesthouse, and ducked out to another local hotel for some hearty local fare, including a dessert we had to fight a gang of hungry bingo grannies for. Into bed early, we were ready for a big day.