Travels with Spaniels: 418 steps, night time excavations and the goat boat.

We had spent the night in the aquarium car park at Ålesund which furnished our two top requirements when it comes to overnighting. It was quiet and it was free. First thing we took the spaniels down to the neighbouring beach - small but bijou- to give them a bit of a run before anyone else was around. It is illegal to have dogs off the lead in Norway during the summer months to protect wildlife, but the only wildlife we saw was a sleepy female emerging from a tent on the shore, no doubt woken by Elsa's excited barks as we threw the ball for her.

Elsa is not impressed by Trolls

We drove down to the marina and pulled up in the motorhome park overlooking the harbour.We would have paid 250 nok to stay the night here, which we thought was a bit steep, but were happy to pay 75 nok for three hours parking while we visited the town. While we breakfasted we watched the marine traffic including the Nordlys, one of the Hurtigruten ships, which regularly plies a route from the far north of Norway to the south, carrying cargo to coastal communities as well as fare paying passengers. Our attention was caught by a sleek looking vessel with a helicopter on the rear deck which we assumed to be a posh yacht. In fact it turned out to be merely the support vessel for a super yacht which we later saw in the main harbour. It belongs, apparently, to a Ukranian billionaire named Yuriy Kosiuk. I'm not jealous.

A long climb for a great view

Most of the houses in the old part of Ålesund were built after 1905, for the simple reason that a huge fire destroyed most of the town, then mainly constructed with wood, the year before. Many of the current buildings are constructed in the Art Nouveau style. I had anticipated a gentle walk around the town but instead found myself at the foot of the 418 steps leading up to Aksla, the town's famous viewpoint. Not only did the steps zig-zag up the side of the sheer rock but they were crowded with tourists who, having disembarked from two monstrous cruise ships, were eager to climb high enough to get a photograph of the floating tower blocks which had conveyed them to the town. The spaniels were useful in carving a path to the top. As people suddenly stood to one side, to avoid stepping on small paws, we followed close behind. The view was, indeed spectacular, with the added bonus of a more gentle, if longer path, to return to sea level.

Peace & quiet....before the machines arrived

From Ålesund it was time to turn north again and we ended up staying in a picnic area close to the small village of Eide, alongside a beautiful fjord, where we anticipated a peaceful night. It was not to be. Around 2 am I was woken by a noise outside and, looking out, I saw a huge machine, covered in flashing amber lights, scuttling backwards and forwards on the road. It turned out the the local highways department seem to have a policy of carrying out a bit of resurfacing in the small hours. Needless to say we didn't rise particularly early.

In Norway you are never far from water

I was preparing breakfast while Neri was on a morning run when I was called by an elderly lady who was sitting at one of the picnic tables with her grandchild together with a small dog. She was keen to know where we were from and got very excited when I told her we lived not far from Manchester. It turned out that the current Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær came, she said pointing vaguely across the fjord, from 'just over there'. Just over there turned out to be Kristiansund some 48km away but he had managed her local club at Molde so was seen as a local boy. She delighted in telling me that she had once met 'super-sub's' mother.

The Atlantic road switch backs across a string of islands

Having walked the spaniels on a path alongside the fjord it was back in the van for a journey along Norway's Atlantic Road. This stunning highway is built on several small islands and skerries which are connected by a series of causeways and eight bridges—the most prominent being Storseisunet Bridge. On a beautiful warm sunny afternoon the drive is idyllic but I guess that, being exposed to the North Atlantic, it could get pretty blowy in winter. The road ended at the Atlanterhavstunnelen a 5.7 km excavation that runs under the Bremsnesfjorden and is one of the deepest sub-sea tunnels in the world. I could tell that from the way the road plunged down under Florence's bonnet as we passed the portico.

A ferry crossing gives us a chance to check the roof

One more ferry crossing and we arrived at our overnight stop in the district of Halsa. An information board near our parking spot tells us that it is the home of the goat boat, (geit boat in Norweigan) a design of small wooden boat that has barely changed since the 16th century. Its curious name comes from its ability to climb waves, just like a goat. Back in 2014 the Norwegian Technology Research Institute pitted this relic of the middle ages against a modern design. It turned out that the goat boat was faster, easier to row and steer, especially in strong winds. Sometimes older is better.