Not Your Usual Trip to the Farm! (in rural Norway)

Monday 26 August and Tuesday 27 August

Monday

We were all excited at the prospect of a road trip today to visit Synne's family home in Rauland - Jess and I would be seeing new sights and Synne was happy to have the opportunity to visit her parents, brother and grandma.  We only needed an overnight bag and it was just a few blocks to the Avis depot where we collected our sweet little almost brand new Fiat 500.  The girls were delighted -they thought the car was sooooo cute - and Synne was happy to drive which was great for me - I could sit back and enjoy the view.


Road trip anyone?

Our route took us on a motorway southwest of Oslo and to the port city of Drammen where we turned off to head west, through a long tunnel in the hills and then on to the old silver mining town of Kongsberg.  There is a mighty river here that roars over rapids through the centre of town.

River at Kongsberg

We stopped off for coffee at a pretty bakery which was being very well patronised this morning.  It was very cosy with a sunny courtyard at the back.  By now we had driven an hour and a half and we were almost half way.  We passed by farms with delightful red, white or mustard coloured wooden farmhouses and the hills began to get higher. 

Into the hills - farms and forests

Soon after Kongsberg the road narrowed and we were really in the woods and climbing towards the mountains of the Telemark region of Norway.  All along the roadside were lovely silver birch trees and further up were hundreds of kilometres of conifer forest covering even the steepest rocky slopes of the mountains.

Mountain road - heading for Rauland

What a sight and so many lakes and streams.  There must be thousands of lakes, big and small, in this part of Norway.  Many waterways are used for hydro-electricity production.
It was a long steady climb up through the mountains with occasional descents into pretty valleys and the higher we went the more lakes we encountered. 

The road skirts around so many lakes

Strangely enough there did not seem to be any waterfowl and although there were plenty of signs warning of moose crossing the roads we did not see any.  Synne says that they are more likely to emerge into clearings at dusk.  The final 16 kilometres was very steep and winding and the road was pretty bumpy - it freezes in the winter which causes undulations in the surface.

First view of Lake Totak

At last we reached the small town of Amot and then a little beyond that turned onto another road and the most spectacular sight lay before our eyes.  There was the Seltveit farm overlooking a huge lake (Lake Totak) - a stunning location with mountains in the distance. With not a breath of wind the water was like glass.

 Top spot - Seltveit farmhouses, Nesland, Rauland

 Synne's mother, Berit, was at home as she doesn't work on Mondays and she had a delicious lunch ready for us which we ate on the sunny deck overlooking the lake.  Synne, her brother, Sveinung, and two older sisters grew up here as her dad inherited the farm and unsurprisingly have very happy memories of their younger days in this blissful place.

Lunch at the farm

  The family lives in a restored farmhouse, part of which is very old and part is a newer extension.  Synne's grandma lives in another house on the property which was built for her - but in the same style as the original house.  Inside the house is modern except for the large living room which has been kept in the traditional Norwegian style with rosemaling paintings on the door frames and the original split log walls, as well as some furniture from the 16th century.  It is decorated in the typical shades of cream, dark red and green and is quite lovely.

Original furniture with rosemaling in the living room

 Berit and Knut both work and these days do not run any animals on the farm as they don't have the time.  Only part of the farm is here by the lake, the rest being higher in the mountains, where Knut has built a cabin.  Probably the most eyecatching thing about the houses in this area is that the roofs are covered with grass and wildflowers.  These planted roofs last around 25 years before they have to be replaced with new soil and seeds.  Maintenance is very easy - just the occasional rogue sapling to be removed apparently.

Grass roofs - Grandma's house and storehouses at the farm

After lunch and a bit of a siesta Synne drove us to the very mysterious sounding "Sherpa Steps"  - quite a landmark in the area.  We drove along the lake shore and then took a very bumpy narrow road to a high plateau north of  Rauland.  After about 10 kilometres we had emerged from the conifer forest to a wild landscape of low growing trees, grasslands, more lakes and a feeling of absolute remoteness.  We came to a small car park and there before us, leading up through the scrubby trees was a  path built of pale grey flat rocks.  It is very new, having been built by a group of sherpas from Nepal (with the aid of a helicopter) over a period of 7 weeks last year.

Sherpa Steps Trail

  The path and the steps form a 3 kilometre walk that rises to a height of 1096 metres and a high ridge called Falkenuten (falcon hunting place).  This is where falcons were trapped and then sold to the local gentry as far back as the middle ages.  We set off through the trees and noticed how boggy the ground is - and how many little brooks are tumbling down the slopes.  Standing on the thick grass, one sinks in to the ground and it is quite squelchy underfoot.  Most of the way the incline is not too steep and where it is there are steps.  We soon left the little trees and emerged into open terrain consisting of tussock type grasses, heathers and rocks.



Almost there - nearing the summit on the Sherpa Steps



  And the view!  We could see across the plateaus and lakes to far mountains with only the occasional sign of human habitation in the form of cabins and in the distance some power pylons.  At the summit where there is a small stone cairn and 360 degree views of this magnificent country, much of it encompassing the Hardangervidda National Park.  At the top it was cool and windy so we didn't linger.

Summit view - Falkenuten



Coming down the path we encountered some curious and quite friendly sheep - local farmers are allowed to graze their sheep up here during the summer months.

 Summer pastures for friendly sheep

By the time we returned to the farm it was close to 8 pm and we had very healthy appetites.  Just as well because Berit had cooked a wonderful meal  - mooseburgers with ligonberries and brown sauce, freshly dug potatoes and broccoli.  The mooseburgers were very good - not at all gamey - and the ligonberries (cowberries) were a delicious accompaniment.  After two helpings each we had a special treat - cloudberry cream.  Wow!  Cloudberries look like large pale orange raspberries and only grow wild in the arctic regions of the world - Scandanavia, Russia, Canada mostly.  They cannot be grown commercially because they require very specialised conditions to bear fruit and ripen.   

Cloudberries

Norwegians like Berit and Knut know where to locate them and apparently families have their "secret" places where they are most likely to find them growing.  Berit said that this has been a good year for cloudberries and she has plenty in her freezer for Christmas and other celebrations.  Some years there are very few to be found.  The popular way to serve them is stirred into a bowl full of whipped cream.  They are absolutely delicious and we felt very fortunate to have had this gastronomic experience.  The berries grow on little stunted bushes on the alpine meadows and are apparently very, very nutritious (not sure about all the cream though!).
Well after all this fresh mountain air and wonderful food we will surely sleep well tonight. It is so fantastic to be warmly welcomed into the home of the Seltveit family and to enjoy some Norwegian traditions and to learn about the life and culture in this lovely land.  Fortunately for us everyone seems to speak English quite fluently so no trouble communicating.  And what a fantastic place to have spent one's childhood!

 Synne and Jess on the Sherpa Steps trail

 Jess and Ann- a bit of a rest, halfway up the Sherpa Steps Trail

Tuesday

Another day of cloudless skies and stupendous scenery!  Even the bathroom has views to die for.

Bathroom window view!



  Synne made us a delicious breakfast with Berit's homemade bread, rolls and jam as well as a new treat for us - Norwegian brown cheese.  Sounds not so good and looks a bit funny but it is truly yummy.  It has a sweet, nutty flavour.   We had a plan for the day so it was into our little Fiat and off to our first stop, the middle school at Amot, a small town just fifteen minutes away.  Berit is a  counsellor at the school and she wanted to show us around the brand new school building which had only opened the week before.  Middle school encompasses the years 6 - 10 in Norway and the 150 students at Berit's school certainly do have a wonderful facility that has been carefully designed to maximise the learning and teaching experience.  It was mid break morning so we got to chat with some lovely, very tall young Norwegians who were keen to practice their English skills. We also met some of Berit's adult Norwegian language students - refugees from Africa who are being integrated into this small town with great success.  What a pleasure it would be to teach in such a lovely environment

Berit's uber-modern school

We made arrangements to have dinner with Berit later on and took a high mountain route to the town of Dalen, location of the high school for the area.  Sveinung has a 40 minute bus ride to school each day but we took a longer route in order to see an old stave church (dating from 1250) in the small village of Eidsborg which nestles in a lovely green valley.

 Eidsborg stave church

Beside the church is a small museum and a café, just the spot for a bite of lunch.  The church sits on a hilltop overlooking the valley and is very imposing - a dark wooden structure with very distinctive architecture and one of the best preserved of its kind.  Unfortunately it was locked so we were not able to see the interior, but we enjoyed strolling around the outside in the sunshine.  I especially liked the field of wild flowers below the church - tall purple coloured flowers that we have seen growing everywhere on the road sides.  Behind the church are some old medieval farm buildings - they stand at the edge of the forest and have a timeless feeling about them.  The silence of the place, interrupted only by birdsong, is wonderful. 

Ancient farm buildings at Eidsborg



We drove on through the mountains and forests, more lakes and lovely farmhouses and then made a very steep, hair-raising descent to Dalen which is located at the top of Lake Bandak, a large lake that looks very fjord-like  - in fact this part of the lake is apparently called Bandakfjord.

Bandakfjord - the road down  to Dalen

 Dalen is large for these parts with 800 residents and has a stunning and quite renowned bight yellow hotel on the lake shore.  We had a stroll through the beautiful old reception rooms and admired the lakeside gardens.  It seemed to be a real throwback to a bygone era - today it is popular for weekend getaways for stressed city people, although Norway is such a calm and gentle place, I cannot imagine the population being overly stressed.

 The old and rather curious Dalen Hotel

\Synne showed us the high school that she attended and the apartment where she lived from the age of 16 while she completed three years education in Dalen.  I cannot imagine many Aussie kids coping with apartment living while studying in senior school but it is not unusual in rural Norway.
As the day was getting on and we still had to drive back to Oslo it was time to return to the farm, pack up and then meet Berit and Sveinung at a little restaurant in Rauland village for dinner (Knut had to work late so he couldn't be there).  The Raulandstoga Cafe is small and cosy and serves the most delicious food using locally sourced ingredients so everything is fresh and very tasty.  Jess and Synne were over the moon to discover that cloudberry cream was on the desert menu today - obviously the owner has been out berry picking!

Raulkand Stoga Café



Just after six we said goodbye to Berit and Sveinung and set off for Oslo - an uneventful trip and downhill most of the way.

 Goodbye to the mountains, forests, farms and lakes of the Telemark region

It has been a marvellous two days and Jessica and I have loved our visit to the farm.  Norway is a beautiful country and the people we have met are gracious, hospitable and fun.  Thank you Synne and family!

Looking across Lake Totak to the Seltveit Farm