Brown cheese, the back roads and reflections on Norway

One of the adventures in a foreign country is sailing around a supermarket trying to identify the names on the labels and decipher exactly what we are buying. Having run out of cheese we popped into the shop in Grong and selected a block of something or other labelled Gudbrandsdalsost. When we finally unwrapped it we found that it was light brown. Neri assumed it was a wax wrap but it wasn't. It turns out this is a mixture of goat and cow milk with added cream which is then boiled. That releases the natural sugars and caramelises the mixture, hence the brown colour. It is absolutely delicious, particularly as an ingredient of an open sandwich on fresh brown bread. One blog suggested that the way to cheer up a homesick Norwegian in foreign parts, was to offer them a slice. 

Negotiating roads packed with traffic is tedious

We are around half way up Norway and it has made an indelible impression on us. At least one travel writer has called it 'the most beautiful country in the world' and it would be difficult to argue with that opinion. Now we are in the north, away from major towns and cities, every turn in the road brings a new vista of forests, fjords, lakes and mountains. Waterfalls tumble down the sides of sheer rock faces and impossibly wriggly hairpin bends in the road wind their way up and down the landscape.

There are no bad views here

There are downsides. Norway is horrendously expensive. We are beginning to get used to paying the equivalent of £3.40 for a loaf of bread, £2.90 for half a dozen eggs or £2.00 for a litre of milk. We haven't eaten out since we arrived and little luxuries like dark chocolate are now off the menu as it costs £4.00 a bar. We are dreading running out of wine because a bottle of bog-standard Pinot Noir that would cost £8 at home is more than double that here. Part of that is due to wages in Norway, especially at the lower end of the scale being much higher than the UK. Also the fact that taxes are high, all food has 15% VAT added for example, and the Norwegian government slaps massive levies on alcohol. In a country where, in the winter, the sun barely shines between November and January, perhaps that's a sensible idea.

We were able to view the Stone Age carvings on our walk with the spaniels that took us

A deer carved by someone around 5,000 years ago

through some beautiful woodland before we climbed aboard and headed north again on the E6, a road that would eventually take us to Nordkapp. A stop for groceries and we then got some miles under our belt before crossing the border between the region of Trondelag and Nord Norway, marked by a most impressive structure across the road. We overnighted in another picnic area along with another British motorhome, the first we had seen since leaving Trondheim. 

The next morning we negotiated a few miles of roadworks on the way to Mosjoen where there was a service point. The town is overshadowed by a giant aluminium smelting works but also boasts Sjogata, a lovely street lined with the largest collection of listed

Wooden buildings in Mosjoen

wooden buildings in Northern Norway.

Turning off the E6 we went though the longest tunnel we had experienced so far, 7 miles, before we turned onto the 17 road, which is being marketed as a tourist route, much like the NC500 in Scotland. We were not disappointed. The road runs past beautiful fjords, swoops up and down impossible inclines and suddenly disappears into tunnels. Ferries here are part of the road system and we took the boat from Levang to Nesna, a lovely thirty minute trip across a shimmering blue fjord. This was the first ferry on which we were obliged to leave the vehicle and travel on the upper deck, leaving the spaniels to doze in the van.

Regional border signs are so understated

Tonight finds us in an abandoned quarry which the local authority has turned into a motorhome area. Lovely tarmac areas between green grass and stone picnic tables, with a view of the massive escarpment across the fjord in front of us. This evening was enlightened by the arrival of a man on a bicycle, laden with luggage and towing a trailer containing a large husky-type dog. He is apparently attempting to travel around the world with no money. We offered him water but he politely declined and pushed on. We also met a couple from the Lake District, on their way back home. It must be a trial having to go back to work. 

Who knew quarries could be so inviting