Quote of the Day:- 'Don't count the days, make the days count'
Day 4
After travelling a distance of 126 Nautical Miles we arrived in Eidfjord at 8a.m. This little village is at the end of the Hardangerfjord.It was overcast and looked like rain, but that didn't matter too much as we were going on a tour.We visited the Sima hydro electric power plant which is one of the largest in Europe and built 700 metres inside the mountain. It is 200m long, 20m wide and measures 40m in height. There are only a handful of staff in the building as the plant is operated by remote from a works several miles away. We sat in a little theatre and were shown a film of the making of the power plant. A great engineering feat which was eventually completed in 1980. A true example of the strength and determination of the Norwegians who worked in extremes of weather and terrain to get this plant to an operational state. We boarded the coach again for the next part of our trip which was a small farm situated up Kjeasen mountain. It was drizzling with rain all the time at this stop, so the pictures are a little hazy, but it must be amazing on a summer's day. The farm is now occupied by an elderly lady (84 years and still going strong), living on her own apart from her goats, sheep and a cow which she still looks after on the farm. Last year (2008) was the first year that the lady spent the winter down in Eidfjord. She had admitted that she found the winter nights very lonely and dark so far from the village. She has been 'recognised' by the local Commune and they have awarded her the free use of a taxi once a month to take her down into the town to stock up on provisions. We didn't see her, and I didn't like to go to close to her farmhouse to take pictures, but I could see she had lots of colourful plants at the front of it. Kjeåsen in Eidfjord has been described as the world’s most isolated farm. Well into the20th century, two families made a living there. When their children were small, they had to be tied to a rope so they did not fall over the mountain edge. In winter the farm was cut off by snow. When Sima was developed, a road was built to the power station through an S-shaped tunnel 2.5 km long. This improved access to the farm and to the area for tourists. However, many visitors still use the old pack road which has been restored. It involves 125 bends and 1500 steps!
Our tour guide told us, on the return journey, that if anyone wished to settle in Eidfjord they would be awarded 200,000 Norwegian Kroner and a free plot of land to build a house on! The local population is dwindling because the young ones move away to the bright lights. For all they have a huge Power Plant, electricity worked out at £2000 for last winter's bill for our guide!
In the afternoon after lunch, we went for a walk all round the village of Eidfjord. A beautiful little village with its backdrop of the mountains. The ladies of the village got busy last winter and knitted socks for the trees along one of the roads! Our guide had said they had time on their hands !
Arriving at Eidfjord. Views from the ship
Looking back down the Hardangerfjord
Entrance to the Sima Power Plant
Inside the Sima Power Plant ( I had to use a photo from a website because the one I took didn't turn out!
In the grounds of the Sima Power Plant
On the way up Kjeason mountain to the farm
David looking out over the fields belonging to the farm
Outbuildings at the farm
More pictures of Eidfjord village taken in the afternoon
Heron, fishing on the river
More of village
Socks on Trees!
Our next port of call should have been a village called Gudvangen, but the captain had a report that there was a lot of debris in the port following storms, so he took us on a diversion up another leg of the fjord for a sight of an iceberg. See pics below. Some taken of little villages on the way. One of the villages was the home of a nine year old girl who was celebrating her birthday. She is daft on cruise liners and had been hoping to see our ship at Gudvangen. Because we couldn't dock there the captain had promised her that when we passed her village he would fire a couple of blasts of the ships hooter. And he did! Such a nice thing to do for a little girl on her birthday!
First glimpse of the glacier, bit cloudy though. Patch of green just showing under the cloud
Now you can see it, just to left of middle of the picture! It spills down between the two mountains.
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