Today is amazing - clear and sunny (and it's only 7.30). So we will get to the Funicular after all!

A rare sunny day in Bergen

Norwegians love tunnels. We drove through dozens today. This one went for 8km and then had a ROUNDABOUT IN THE TUNNEL leading to more tunnels, one of which popped out the side of a mountain, crossed a fjord with a bridge and dove straight back into another tunnel on the other side. Awesome!

Those numbers and directions that appear on the road are from our rental car's HUD. It's a Volvo V90 and it's pretty swanky; we're going to enjoy our ride for the next 10 days up to Tomsø.

Big driving day today. It took us just over 9 hours to travel 340km. Lots of hairpin mountain roads. Spectacular scenery though and well worth it.

We went from Eidfjord to Sognefjellet Ski Lodge which is around 1400m above sea level.

Also, here's a waterfall:

This is where we are staying. It's really toasty inside!

Also, here's another waterfall:

We drove from Sognefjellet to Ålesund today. 300km in about 8 hours. More mountain passes in the morning and valleys and coast in the afternoon. I'm loving driving the mountain roads!

Here is a classic stave church in Lom built in 1158. These things are don't tend to last as they're highly flammable. There are only 28 left in Norway. Lovely hand hewn woodwork.

Stopped in Hjelle for lunch. It's been bypassed with a new tunnel and so was nice and still and we had the place to ourselves.

Ålesund this morning.

We've managed to catch the end of berry season and found these in the Juvet valley. A nice car snack but I've got a feeling we might feel the effects later.

Trollstigen! Fantastic drive down this valley but a total tourist trap at the top. 

Norway is into building interesting rest places along their tourist routes. This was in Vevang near our accommodation for tonight in Kristiansund.

Just before we hit Kristiansund we entered the 6km Atlantic Ocean Tunnel (Atlanterhavstunnelen) which dives into the ground and under the ocean to a depth of -250m. These Norwegians really know how to dig tunnels and build roads!

Kristiansund to Trondheim today. A pleasant drive around many inlets and forests but no pictures to show for it. We're spending two nights here at an Airbnb.

We are in Trondheim. Quite a few months ago, Damian closed his eyes and chose a place on the map - this is it.  Quite a bit bigger than expected and very nice. A day off driving today so a slow start. To get here we have travelled under water, over water and on water in our car.  We have been up mountains and around lakes. We have seen a fjord or two. We have seen many waterfalls. We have tried apple dessert wine in Hardanger. Damian ate river trout. We have seen eagles. We have used the automatic park function on the car (successfully). We have used the self drive function on the car (nervously). We have tried as many local brews as possible. Damian became a pescatarian (who eats meat).

"Damian became a pescatarian": I'm a loose pescatarian. Pigs taste the best but I think alive piggies are nice and most of the time the meat (bacon, salami, ham, etc) is not that great for the health. If there's a good fish option I'll favour that. If not, I'll eat whatever I feel like. Sal doesn't like it that my approach isn't black and white. Norway's a great place to eat fish. Today I had a deep sea pulled pork burger.

For the last two days we've been driving north: Trondheim to Medjå with a couple of detours along the way where we stayed in a campground and there to Mo I Rana via Skomo and Mosjøen today where we're staying in a nice hotel. 

Yesterday was a bit of a downer (#firstworldproblems, I know) with a possible ~$375 speeding ticket for going 80km/h in a 70km/h area (we saw the light go off and they're very strict here) as well as a couple of poor service incidents. The campground was a bit crap, too. There were nice points though: We had lunch at a little farm shop (named Gulburet) and it was perhaps the tastiest meal we've had so far in Norway.

Today was excellent with a ferry crossing and a lot more coastal cruising. Above is the town of Mosjøen in between showers.

We're now in Mo I Rana which is right on the arctic circle which, I learnt today, is the point at which in the winter the sun no longer pops over the horizon.

VERY long day today. We left Mo I Rana this morning at 08:00 and drove through storm conditions to Bodø to catch the ferry across to Lofoten and Nusfjord where we had booked to stay in a quaint fishing hut. Unfortunately the weather gods had conspired against us and after waiting 2 hours for the 15:30 ferry it was cancelled due to high winds. 

We decided to cancel our booking and continue north as far as we could so we can keep our booking tomorrow night in Hamn. Made it as far as Narvik by 21:30 and have found accommodation here for the night.

Exhausted.

Oh, and here's us at the arctic circle. It was a mild day but here it was a bit higher up and the wind was bitingly cold.

Today we're further north than the northernmost point in Iceland.

Here's what really happened .... We had a lovely breakfast in Mo I Rana and left about 8am. A really pleasant drive up to the Artic circle with lots of pine trees and waterfalls. We stopped at the Artic centre which is the craziest gift shop I have seen -what tat can't you put 'I've been to the Artic circle' on? We saw a polar bear, lynx, wolverine, bear (stuffed) and a moose/ elk  (real). We stopped at a lovely cafe for coffee and cake. We arrived in Bodo 2 hours before the ferry was due to sail. Never considered that it might be too windy (but it was very windy). Anyway, after much to-ing and fro-ing decided to make a run for Narvik - or get part of the way at least. The lovely people at our accommodation in Nusfjord in Lofoten agreed not to charge us for our accommodation - which was very kind. We got some supplies for the car and off we went. Our first challenge was to get to the ferry (but not breaking any speed limits of course). We did it with 2 minutes to spare. Over the other side of the fjord the weather had taken a turn for the worst and it was now dark - oh and judder bars are not painted here so we had a couple of interesting scrapes (wouldn't have been acceptable in the Skoda but ok in the rental it seems). Now having a beer in bed to keep Damian company. Hats off to the driver

We arrived in Tromsø yesterday, returned our trusty Volvo at the airport and cycled back into town. We both really enjoyed the last couple of weeks in Norway; it's been expensive but definitely one of the best places on earth to explore.

We're here for 3 days and will be flying to Stockholm on Monday.