Oslo to Dombas, Rauma valley, Atlantic road

Tuesday, June 04, 2013
Kristiansund, Western Fjords, Norway
A fabulous day of traveling!
We arrived in Oslo, on the overnight train from Bergen, at about 6 .30 4th June. We had a take away breakfast which we ate sitting in one of the many waiting areas - along with lots of other travellers. The train left for Dombas at 8.02. We heard that there'd been a landslide from all the rain and we'd have to go from Lillehammer to Dombas by bus. So we all got off the bus at Dombas and piled into a load of buses. The bus trip was fine and followed much the same route as the railway. We saw many raging streams and quite a bit of damage to the banks - and also to the fields which had channels in them cut by the water. Unfortunately, I was never quick enough to get any photos. The bus trip was slower than going by train, so we missed the Dombas to Andalsnes train at 12.09. The next train was at 14.07.

At Dombas we could have taken another bus for free, if we wanted to. A guide taking a group of about 5 young ladies advised us all that the train trip was way better than the bus trip, so several of us opted to wait for the train. I knew we could still get the buses through to Kristiansund - just arrive two hours later than planned . The lady "stationmaster" was very helpful, and let us put our bags in the office so we could take a walk down to the township of Dombas - very attractive little shopping centre. Despite being an important road and rail junction, the population of the village was just 1,185 in 2012. Just had to take a photo of one of the power poles - the ground must be a bit hard - "let's just stand it here on this rock!"

The Rauma Railway was spectacular! There are 32 bridges between Dombas (at 660metres) and sea level at Andalsnes. The railway follows the course of the River Rauma as it carves its way down to the fiord, and has to cross the river several times in order to cope with the huge change in altitude. It took 12 years to build, is 114 km long and opened in 1924. Soon after Dombas, we crossed Jora Bru (Bridge) which is 85 metres long and the longest of the four granite bridges; past Lesja kirke (church) built in 1748; and then traveled beside Lesjaskogvatnet for 11 kms. This lake is at the watershed between eastern and western Norway - it has large stocks of trout and grayling (it says so in the guide) . On through Bjorli with its 150 permanent inhabitants and the most stable snow conditions in Norway - the ski runs are open nearly 6 months a year. Then we got to the steep part! Over the Stuguflaten bru and then into the Stavem vendetunnel. After entering this 1340 metre tunnel, the train almost completes a circle inside the mountain before emerging from the tunnel travelling in the opposite direction, 19 metres below the place it entered the tunnel shortly before.

Through another tunnel and over the Kylling bru - this bridge, at 76 metres long and a height of 59 metres, is the most photographed in Norway; past Vermafossen - a 380 metre waterfall used to power a hydroelectric plant; and more bridge is cs. Then we went past the Trolltindene - the Troll Peaks which tower 1700-1800 metres a.s.l. An ancient legend has it that the mountains were turned to stone when caught by the light of the sun. Trollveggen is Europe's highest perpendicular mountain wall - a total drop of 1,800 metres, 1,000 of which is sheer precipice . Climbers first conquered this in 1965; it was also popular for BASE jumping, but this got outlawed in the 1980s following several serious accidents. I'd forgotten "trolls" were from Norway - I can remember troll stories from when I was very young.

Andalsnes is in Møre og Romsdal county; has a population of about 3,000; is on the Romsdal Fjord; and is surrounded by high mountains. A lot of cruise liners call in here as it is a great base for trips. We arrived at Andalsnes at 15.26. The connecting bus to Molde even showed on the train timetable (15.50 - 17.15). The bus connection to Alesund was also there (15.40 - 17.45). The Norwegian public transport system was very good. The train timetable in operation at the time finished 8 Jun, so we were lucky to be able to find copies of various timetables at the stations. "NSB Regiontog" was a 72 page 15cm x 17cm booklet which ran from 9 Dec 2012 to 8 Jun 2013. It was great, because it gave the names of all the stations - and the bus links!

Next - Andalsnes to Kristiansund via County Road 64 - 126 .2 km with a few bus changes. Found the bus to Molde okay - got a Eurail 50% discount so paid 58 NOK each (and 48 NOK because we put our bags in the luggage compartment - silly us!). This was the Veoy bus company. Bus nr. 420: Åndalsnes-Molde (55 km) www.177mr.no

An interesting trip - we turned east to go around the inlet via Isfjorden; then over the hill to Langfjorden. We crossed this side fiord on the Afarnes-Solsnes ferry - the ferry just kept going back and forth; across the Skala Peninsular; over the Bolsoy Bridge; across Bolsoya Island; and finally through the Fannefjord Tunnel to Molde. There was a traffic jam and I was pleased there was a 45 minute window, in my timetable, before the next bus. Andalsnes to Molde took 1 hour 25 minutes.

The bus to Kristiansund was harder to find. There were no Eide buses anywhere in the big carpark. It had to be the Eide bus to Kristiansund because it went over the Atlantic Road and the others didn't (from what I could find on the internet when I was researching back in Oz) . Asked a couple of different drivers and they said we were in the right place. Finally arrived and took off as soon as the 5 of us were on board. Got our Seniors discount again! Cost us 276 NOK for both of us - and we got two tickets as we had to change to another company's bus.

Through another tunnel - the Tussen - and on through Eide to Vevang and the Atlantic Road! The road zigzags across bridges and rock-fills from island to island right out at the ocean’s edge. The water was quite calm when we were there, but apparently many people take a trip out here when the autumn storms start to rage. It is quite a sight when the big waves break beside (and sometimes across) the road! The road workers experienced 12 hurricanes during the construction of the Atlantic Road before it was opened in 1989. The bus continued on across the island of Averoya; we changed buses near a service station at Karvag, and then then through the Atlantic Ocean Tunnel to Kristiansund.

The driver dropped as at a roundabout close to the Atlanten Turistparken (camping, caravans, motel, cabins) at about 20 .00. We got upgraded to a 2 bedroom cabin. The walls were thin but what can you expect in a caravan park? It was fine for us. The room and breakfast was 795 NOK ($151.51 on Visa card) . We walked down to the town to try and find some dinner. We went the long way - followed the road up and down a hill. On the way back we went along the waterfront and halved the time! So we found where the Express boat would leave from and then went to the supermarket. Such a joy to find a supermarket instead of a 7Eleven or minimart type of place. I can't remember what I bought in the end for dinner - cheese and bickies, fruit. Bryan was ecstatic because there was beer - and at a reasonable price. We took 3 cans of Heineken to the checkout with us - but we weren't allowed to buy them!! TRUE! They couldn't sell alcohol after 20.00 (8 pm). Bryan wasn't a happy chappy for the rest of the evening. We called in at a restaurant we'd passed, but a beer was about $14.

As I mentioned earlier, the walk back to the park was shorter. It was through the old ship yards - like a museum. Very interesting.

Breakfast was an eye opener. The park was home to a lot of workers (a bit like our flyin-flyout mining workers). So apart from the juices, coffee, cereals, yoghurts, fruit, different breads and crispbreads, cold meats, cheeses, (& all the fish stuff), there were hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sausages etc etc. The workers would also fill their lunch boxes - they might go back 4 times! Set us up well for the day. It was good the workers were there, as breakfast started at 6.00. Originally we thought we'd miss breakfast as the express boat for Trondheim leaves at 8.00.
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