Geirangerfjord

On our last day in Oye, we drove down to what’s said to be Norway’s most scenic fjord. The mountain slopes are much steeper on this one than others and so other than hydro-electric power, the economy is basically driven by tourism now.

Down there you can see the town of Geiranger. Not sure if the town is named for the fjord or the other way around. Here’s the road we took to get down there –

Isn’t that fantastically crazy? It illustrates just how difficult it is to farm or do anything on this particular fjord. The banks are MUCH steeper than on others, but even so, people try to carve out livings on any available land. Check out the buildings crammed onto the cliffs there. So steep it’s nutty, but the road is kind of fun to drive, even in a Volvo SUV which is basically like driving a couch.

Because of those precarious cliffs, the fjord is known for waterfalls that thunder down by the dozens. Unfortunately we had bluebird skies and harsh light so I didn’t try for too many traditional landscapes like this one –

Instead, I tried to work with the light which could make things very dramatic if I could dial in exposure, composition and editing. I think I did as well as I could considering the conditions. My hubby helped me out here by shading my lens with his hands to keep the flare to a minimum –

With bright sun like this, the shadows render very blue out of camera and it’s the bane of my existence. A combination of global and local adjustments using White balance, Point Color and Color Mixer in Lightroom, I was able to tone it down without it seeming too forced. At least I think so. Let me know if anything still looks weird. I also had atmospheric haze to deal with, especially around the waterfalls because they kick up so much mist.

Another thing I focused on was abandoned farms and homesteads. There were plenty on this fjord and it shows just how hard it was to scratch out a living here before tourism. That’s a little homestead up there on the edge that could be still occupied, but can you imagine the constant noise from that waterfall? Great for like 10 minutes, but after that – omg!

Standing on the upper deck of the ferry and whirling around like a mad woman, I picked out little buildings and scenes as well as I could with a lot of other people doing the same, but with phones. That probably didn’t work out as well, but everyone was having fun and enjoying the rare April sunshine.

I don’t think there is a road to this one at all –

Almost all of them had these in their yards –

Some of the homes looked a bit worse than the boat houses and piers, so maybe sometimes people still come to these places for picnics or to remember their grandparents. Look at the little orchard here –

And a little black and white just for fun. This abandoned building is just outside of the harbor at Hellesylt, where we ended our time on the fjord.

Phew. I didn’t realize just how many photos I had from this ferry ride. We took a lot of them and drove through a lot of tunnels in our time in this region – basically it’s the only way to get anywhere. Very few bridges connect the various peninsulas and islands. Tunnels and ferries are much easier and probably less expensive to maintain, especially in winter. Some of the fjords do freeze and fill with floating chunks of ice that fall in avalanches, but those are temporary problems and of course wouldn’t affect a tunnel. Some tunnels are built at the avalanche-prone areas in order to keep the roads open and the population safer.

More Norway coming as we wind down the trip in the Skodje region a little further north and on another fjord. We climb mountains and eat reindeer and pancakes. Well, not at the same time. I took too many food pictures – fancy a food post?? LOL.