Contents.
Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->2007-->Scandinavia.-->Day 14

Day 14-2. Gjerda to Nigardsbreen and back.

The only minor irritation was that the family behind me had a habit of stopping without warning to take a photo. The first thing I would know about it was the rope tightening behind me. I was a little concerned that I'd pull the six year old over at some point but fortunately it didn't happen.

Back at the foot of the glacier they untied us and we took our crampons off. We decided to amble about a bit more, as there would be a rush for the boat if we left now. We wandered across to the river that comes out of the bottom of the glacier and found another powerful flow of water. With the sun out the light was once again different, and the water glistened as it flowed away from the glacier. I was amazed to see a small tree clinging onto life on a particularly barren patch. There was only a small amount of moss and no earth to speak of, and yet the tree was there. With the sun shining the glacier begged to be photographed again, as did Damae. But now it was time to go back to base, but we could have stayed there snapping photos for an hour or so longer.

On the way back we dropped in on the visitors centre but it was almost closing time, so we decided to come back up the following morning. Then, heading back down the hill to the campsite we stopped at the grocers and general store next to the campsite to pick up some food. This was a brilliant little shop with really fresh vegetables and a good range of other produce. We settled for some new potatoes, cauliflower, onions and mushrooms (Dutch but still much fresher than we get at home) and frozen peas. I discovered a very yummy chocolate pudding with vanilla sauce, and we got a litre of orange juice to complete the meal.

Back at base we made use of the kitchen again, and I concocted a mix of the potatoes peas and onions in a curry sauce, boiled the cauliflower and gently fried the mushrooms in butter. We were ready for the meal and sat outside just out of the rain looking out over the river. It was now a normal green colour and a good half metre lower than the day before. The crisis was over, and we knew the road would be clear the following morning. We retired early to bed as there was precious little else to do, on a damp drizzly evening in Jøstedal after the official end of the Norwegian summer. Damae was not terribly sleepy though and played with her camera for a while.

Previous page Next page