Norway

[Andywright]

We are planing a trip to Norway next year, jumping on the ferry in Newcastle and paddling up the coast on the otherside.

Anyone completed a trip to Norway before, and have any advice?

Thanks

[nichburton]

I was part of a school trip that did the same in July 1992. We took the ferry from Newcastle to Stavanger, and then paddled from Stavanger to Bergen, via Haugesund. As I recall, its about 120 miles, which we'd planned to do in 5days, but finished in 6due to an unfortunate F8 headwind! We then picked up the return ferry to the UK from Bergen (after 10days walking/climbing in the Jotunheimen mountains).

Very scenic boating, lots of small pine-forested islands etc,. The biggest open crossing is on the first day (10miles?), but after that its all island hopping. Its not the classic deep fjordland scenery, so if you want that I think you have to go north from Bergen. There's a Norwegain naval base tunnelled into the cliffs a few miles south of Bergen - very impressive to paddle past and see warships under a cliff!!

Camping was easy - as long as you're not within 150m of a house, you can camp anywhere!

HTH,
Nick.
http://www.nickburton.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

[Chas C]

Try Dave Miller, recall a presentation I saw of his some years ago where he had paddled around Norway with his wife.

Chas

[kayaknorway]

I live and paddle on the north west coast of Norway, and would be more than happy to help if I can. As Nick says, you'll have to go north of Bergen if you want to see the typical Norwegian fjords. Sogn og Fjordane (with Sognefjorden, etc) and Møre og Romsdal (with the Geiranger Fjord, Runde, etc) are great areas to paddle and worth looking into.

I just paddled in Sunnfjord (in Sogn and Fjordane) and had a great time. To see some pics from this area, go to http://www.njord.as, or http://www.cse.ogi.edu/~walpole/Askvoll.html.

This summer I paddled from Geiranger to Runde with a few friends. That was also a great trip, and we got to see both the dramatic fjords and experience the open sea. But the area further south, between Stavanger and Bergen, is also great.

And you can easily move along the coast with Hurtigruten to find the perfect starting point. It's not too expensive, and you can bring your kayaks.

But how much time do you have? What kind of paddling do you want to do? And what kind of experiences are you seeking?

Just drop me a mail with specific questions and I'll do my best to help.

dag
dag@[remove]kayak.no

[DaveM]

We carried boat onto the ferry to Bergen, then a quick portage to the station (the local taxi company wanted to send an articulated lorry, so we enlisted the help of some Brit skiers waiting to go home).

There is no problem taking sea kayaks on the train, if you can get it in you can take it. We were charged for bicycles, and the chap at the booking office, station and train staff acted as if he did this every day and were very helpful. I would advise that you e-mail and get conformation just in case, it may be a problem in the summer when the train is busy. There is one change onto a rack and pinion train into Flam (better than Snowdon!).
Flam is a big tourist place in the summer, but in May it is almost deserted.

From there we paddled down Sognefjord, fantastic place, 3000m mountains rising out of the water, words fail (3 or 4 days in decent weather).

Due to losing three days in the first week to storms we abandoned our plan to paddle to Stavanger, so paddled a trianglr of fjords (Veafjorden, Sorfjorden and Osterfjorden) a few miles north of Bergen. This is about 65 miles round, check out a side fjord into a little group of mountans at the top. It was now hot sun and mirror calm water for a week.
This loop would be a good 4 star trip, or if you only have a week, or if the waeather turns bad.

In May you can have snow and sub-zero weather. We had gales that literally ripped the surface off the water and required bracing with our bodies laying flat on the water. We also had incredibly hot still weather. Go prepared for anything, this is not the Dart Estuary.

The people are wonderful, but if you need an interpreter, children all learn English. Take some small gifts, the generousity and help that was given freely can make you wish you could give something in return. Another good idea is to take a few bottles of spirits so that you can share a drink with the people you meet.

We will be back as soon as my son is old enough to do a long trip. You've got to go. Do it. Book now. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't.