October 17, 2015
Adventure week,
Exploring Norway with friends and a camera make for some insane memories. This week I saw some of the most famous fjords in this section of Norway, as well as seeing the popular Trollstigen road! We sat around a fire in the middle of a giant valley and watched stars before heading off to bed in a farmhouse. It was a real memorable week for sure.
So after last week at Molde with circuit riders almost everyone was completely exhausted, because of this our leaders decided to give us Monday off which was a real treat. We relaxed and celebrated Canadian thanksgiving, eating pizza with mashed potatoes and gravy as our main course. It wasn’t quite like at home, but it was nice to get dressed up and be a bit festive.
After thanksgiving I went and explore the Sunnmore museum at sunset and had a wonderful hour spending time alone just thinking and enjoying the scenery. The clouds that night were a perfect red hue and the air was calm, nothing stirred and the water cast a perfect reflection of the houses along the water.
The next day was the start of our creative week, we were given an assignment to create a photo essay for a day in the life of _________. So my assignment was to be done with Rebecca, one of the students here who is an avid hiker and comes from Switzerland! Along with this assignment we were introduced to the fact that we were going to be adventuring around the Sunnmore region for the next 3 days, seeing Stranda, Trollstigen and Geiranger!
Wednesday came around and we started our way to Stranda to go and explore the mountain and see Strandafjord early in the morning. As we started packing into the car the sun began to rise and the colours shown, proving that the rest of the day was going to be just swell. We arrived at the base of the mountain and were greeted by a lady in an old beat up van. She let us know that we would be taking turns riding up the mountain in this sketchy vehicle. With the back open and our legs dangling we started up, bouncing and laughing the whole way we thought at points that we would surely fall out of the back. We arrived to the top safe and sound, a little bit shake, but nonetheless, safe and what an insane view we had. Looking down at the fjord and the city of Stranda was just beautiful, the air was cool and crisp, filling our lungs and giving us that wonderful mountain energy.
After the mini hikes up at the top of Stranda, we were blessed with free coffee and hot chocolate at the chalet. We warmed up and shared stories, feeling pumped about what we just saw and knowing that it was only just the beginning of the rest of the incredible things we were going to see the next day.
Thursday was another early start, heading off to Geirandgerfjord instead this time. The trip was to take around 2 hours, but the time seemed to just fly by because everywhere we went was so stunning that our eyes were glued to the windows. Trying to take in every second of the adventure, not wanting to miss any single bit of whatever was coming our way.
Geirangerfjord was even more stunning in person than any photo I’ve ever seen of it. The scale of the walls and the knowledge that the water below was just as deep as the walls were high was just insane. Just below from the viewpoint we were at was the village of Geiranger and the chocolate factory I will be shooting at in the next couple weeks. We explored the village for a while then continued to Trollstigen.
The road to Trollstigen was absolutely beautiful, almost like a moonlike land covered in rocks and mountians. We stopped just on the other side of the ridge to Trollstigen and looked back down the valley of where we just were and what a sight it was. I even recognized the spot from photos I had seen online before, but it was nothing compared to the road we were just about to witness.
Trollstigen was just perfect. The road, the valley, the mountains, everything just seemed surreal. Like who would come up with the idea to put a road in that spot. The designer of the road is a real genius to be able to figure out a safe way to set it all up. After hanging around the lookout point for a while we headed off down the road itself. Curving, dipping, and racing down it in our big blue vans was something in itself.
Not far from the bottom of Trollstigen was the farm house that we got to stay at for the night. A little cozy house that was donated to YWAM by this super nice old couple that wanted to help our ministry here. The house is right in the middle of the valley of Trollvegen. Where the walls are so high that for about a month in winter no sunlight hits the house.
It was a great night and morning full of games, fires, music and laughter. We all had such a great time that it made it hard to leave.
With adventure week being over we all shared our photos from the trip, caught up with our friends back at the base and then rested up so that we would be ready for lecture week starting on Monday.
