Despite transiting many times and visiting for work purposes, we had never really allocated time for leisure in Singapore and given that our Finnair flight from Helsinki didn’t exactly align with our Malaysian flight home, we decided two nights would break the journey nicely.
I had booked the Changi Airport Hotel and at check in we were upgraded to a spacious room overlooking the pool where we basically vegged out for the evening and ordered room service (cheap by Norwegian standards!) 🤣
After a leisurely breakfast the next morning – great breakfasts at this hotel just quietly – we walked next door to the massive Jewel complex.
“Jewel Changi Airport (also known as Jewel) is a nature-themed entertainment and retail complex surrounded by and linked to one of the passenger terminals of Changi Airport in Singapore. Its centrepiece is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, the Rain Vortex, which is surrounded by a terraced forest setting.”
By now you know I have a bit of a thing for waterfalls and so we checked this one out from all angles.
We paid our money to visit the Canopy Park and its attractions… the rope net (me), mirror maze, bridge and spectacular garden displays.
I highly recommend if you find yourself with spare time in Singapore 👌
After lunch in one of the 112 food outlets (!) we caught a taxi to our next attraction, Gardens by The Bay.
Gardens by the Bay was part of the nation’s plans to transform its “Garden City” to a “City in a Garden”, with the aim of raising the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the city. It spans 260 acres and features Supertree Grove and two cooled conservatories, home to Floral Fantasy and the Cloud Forest.
Recorded visitors topped 50 million people by 2018 and in 2024, TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Awards Best Of The Best ranked it the eighth-best attraction in the world and the best in Asia.
I had my eye on visiting the Cloud Forest with its Jurassic display but as luck would have it it was scheduled for maintenance and closed. We went instead to the Flower Dome which was awe inspiring. There was even an Australian garden display.
Next we made our way to the queue for the Supertree Skyway, twenty two metres above the ground and connecting two of the Supertrees. More by good luck than management we ascended the lift about fifteen minutes before sunset.
As the sun went down it only got more spectacular and we began to see people gathering below to find a vantage point for the free light and music show due at 7.45 pm.
With this in mind we also headed down and found ourselves a pretty good position to view the show, tonight with a retro disco theme, perfect for us old farts 🤣
It was amazing! I was tempted to stay for the repeat performance at 9.45 (for the ‘big kids’) but instead we temporarily got lost in the park in the dark but eventually made our way to Satay by the Bay for some sustenance…
… then got temporarily stranded at a non existent taxi stand but that’s another story. We made it back to the hotel to in time to have a glass of wine and watch the last of the World Aquatic Championships – being held in Singapore and of course featuring the Aussies.
Homeward bound the next day, check in was uneventful except that who knew there was another waterfall in Changi airport???
After nearly 8 weeks in northern climes we arrived back in Adelaide to the coldest temperatures we had experienced the whole time away.
This trip was huge in the making, lots of moving parts and and involving relatively isolated parts of the world with limited accommodations and tourist resources requiring careful planning. I’m happy to say with the exception of our missed lagoon tour (more due to fatigue and inattention) it went off without a hitch and we got to see and experience some truly unique regions of the world.
For those that are still with me, I hope you’ve enjoyed the pics and been informed of one useless fact that you didn’t know before reading my blog – bonus points if you tell me what it was 😉🤣
Today we are headed to Nusfjord, a so called living museum.
Situated just over 6 kms off the E10 via a road only built in the 1960s, this village was home to more than 1,500 fishermen in the so called ‘golden age’ of the early 1900s. It was a hub for the very lucrative cod fishing industry (still a major part of the Lofoten economy today) with an estimated 600,00 cod on the drying racks simultaneously.
Cod dried in this way is known as stockfish. Between February and May, the climate is perfect for the drying process. With the ambient temperature hovering around 0 degrees Celsius, the cool, dry air keeps the fish safe from spoiling as it would in warmer climates and evaporates 80% of the moisture content in the fish. This results in a lighter and more stable product that is easy to transport and indeed most of the stockfish from the Lofotens goes to Italy where it is a delicacy. We had seen drying racks everywhere in the Lofotens but were a little too late in the year to see the fish actually on them.
No buildings have been constructed in Nusfjord since the golden age and many of the old work buildings, such as the smithy, smokehouse, boat houses and cod liver oil factory, have been preserved and now form part of the historic tour that takes you through the classic Lofoten fishing village.
Undoubtedly the crowd favourite is Hansines Bakery, home to reputedly the oldest wood oven in Europe.
It was a bit of a gloomy day in Nusfjord but a cinnamon bun seated with our backs to the wall of the oven was just perfect.
We spent quite a while checking out the village and then walked further along the coastline for a couple of kilometres to the Nusfjord lighthouse.
We had worked up enough of an appetite to justify pizza back in Nusfjord and by now there was enough sunshine to enjoy it outside.
Russell had a beer and I had my new favourite drink, a glass of local Reinebringen Refreshing Rhubarb Drink!
On the road leaving Nusfjord, dramatic like all Lofoten roads 😉
On the way home we stopped in for a quick peak at Flakstad Church, the second oldest church in the Lofotens (completed in 1780) but rain started falling and so we resumed our journey home.
Tonight was our last night so that awful job of consolidating and clearing out leftovers and rubbish was a priority…
A late morning flight left us time for a leisurely drive the next morning into Leknes, an even tinier airport than Svolvaer where we caught our flight back to Oslo.
Tomorrow, we depart Norway heading toward home but with a two night stopover in Singapore.
It is only a little over two hours drive from Svolvaer to Reine but what a drive it is!
We ‘island hopped’ along the E10 but detoured off periodically to visit locations on my hit list, none of them disappointing except perhaps for Haukland beach. The beach itself was stunning but so popular we couldn’t even park long enough for a photo 🤔 No wonder its been voted Norway’s most beautiful beach.
Every bend in the road delivered a new vista.
Unstad ChapelSkagsanden Beach
We went through some more unusual parts of the islands …
… but our jaws really dropped when we found our rorbuer for the next three nights on beautiful Olenilsøy, a stone’s throw from Reine.
This was the view from our living room window, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven (unlikely I know 😉)
We had certainly saved the best until last. The apartment was beautifully appointed, quality appliances (including the always important washing machine), a lovely balcony and THAT view.
I would probably have been happy just sitting there for three days to be honest.
We were only a short walk from Anita’s Seafood, a dining legend in the Lofotens. It would have been sacrilegious to forgo a visit so we feasted on prawns and sushi with the magnificent Mount Olstind watching over us.
The following morning with our joints and muscles still complaining about Mt Hoven we decided to tackle a very gentle stroll that started basically in our car park and wound its way up to a small hill behind our accommodation.
I’ve screenshot the map of the area here to try and give you some perspective about how these tiny islands work. That’s the E10 ‘main highway’ that stretches the length of the Lofoten archipelago. We were staying on Olenilsoya in centre of pic.
The Hamnoy viewpoint you can see is the spot for some of the most iconic Lofoten photographs and only a fifteen minute walk for us.
NB: This is only a tiny section of the Lofotens.
The fifteen minute walk took about an hour and included MANY photo stops.
Apparently it is not uncommon for this bridge to be lined with photographers and their tripods capturing the view and you can absolutely see why.
I would love to come back and photograph the winter view one day.
After lunch we drove south to the village of Å.
Yep, that is it’s name, no abbreviation, just Å, the southermost village on the Lofotens with a rich fishing heritage. The village itself was tiny and we thought a little unremarkable but the nearby coastline was a real highlight.
Å is also the home to many noisy seagulls that nest on top of the village buildings.
Our last mission of the day was to photograph another iconic view back in Reine and given the scarcity of parking we used the local bus from our accommodation which worked out really well.
How beautiful are the Lofotens???
Honestly the scenery was just surreal in places ❤
We topped the day off with dinner at another restaurant within walking distance of our cabin – an interesting Mexican/Norwegian blend where we had some of the nicest tacos I’ve ever had.
After the ‘lake above the sea’ in the Faroes and Studagil Canyon in Iceland, the other Insta post that had helped shape our itinerary was one of the Lofoten Islands.
The Lofotens are an archipelago in the the Norwegian county of Nordland and are known for their distinctive scenery – dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays and beaches. In short, a mecca for photographers from around the world both amateur (me) and professional.
They are a LONG way north, the main town of Svolvaer sitting 169 kms north of the Arctic Circle and only 2,400 kms from the North Pole. In the interest of time we had decided to fly there rather than drive and so we boarded the little Wideroe plane in Oslo for the 2.5 hr flight to Svolvaer.
The skies were pretty clear and we flew over some amazing scenery en route but our first glimpse of the Lofotens was breathtaking. Photo below is a photo on the wall inside Svolvaer Airport to give you an appreciation of the airport’s location…
Suffice to say we pulled up pretty quickly on landing 😉
It didn’t take long for Russell to retrieve our luggage whilst I got the rental sorted and we were soon on our way to our accommodation in nearby Svolvaer.
It was like a postcard coming to life in front of my eyes, stunning whichever way you looked and within 15 minutes we were driving over the bridge which led to the little island of Svinoya where our rorbuer was situated.
“A rorbu (plural rorbuer) is a traditional Norwegian fishermen’s cabin, originally built for seasonal housing for visiting fishermen during the cod fishing season, especially in the Lofoten Islands.”
Basically most of the island village was part of a huge accommodation complex consisting of numerous rorbuers as well as other historic buildings, (all part of the original fisherman’s village) we were situated in the two storey Telegraph building with two apartments on each floor, looking back over the bridge to the Svolvaer town. It was spacious and well appointed but not directly on the waterside as I had anticipated. Nevertheless we were surrounded by mountains and sea and after a quick unpack we headed off on foot to explore.
The island was very quiet with beautiful views out to sea and after a loop around there we walked over the bridge and into Svolvaer proper which was busy with Sunday afternoon festivities in the sunshine. The large Hurtigruten ferry which travels up and down this coastline was docked virtually in the middle of town.
Over the next couple of days we endeavoured to to cover as much of the northern part of the Lofotens as we could, the weather gods were still being kind and we enjoyed beautiful blue skies and sunshine for nearly 22 hours, it never really got dark. Thank goodness for eye masks 🤣
Our first stop was just off the E10 or main ‘highway,’ at stunning Rørvikstranda Beach. It was about 23 C and there were a handful of people in the water, I so wanted to go in but we had too many other things to see so reluctantly left after a short paddle. The photos don’t do the clear turquoise waters justice, one of the many times when a drone would have fit the bill.
Rorvikstranda
We continued as far as the bridge to Gimsoy which literally disappeared into the clouds.
Having a cup of tea in the picnic area, we watched the mist eventually disperse and then continued over the bridge towards Hoven.
I had researched a hike up Mt. Hoven that was one of the few in Lofoten hiking guides described as ‘easy’ – more on that later – but as we continued along the coastline the mist descended again with a vengeance. By the time we got to Hoven the mountain was nowhere to be seen, indeed visibility was down to less than 50 metres so we decided today wasn’t the day and headed back.
Back at the bridge again the mist had completely disappeared so we decided to make for the little fishing village of Henningsvaer, very popular on the tourist trail and indeed just the road to get there, narrow and cliff hugging in places, was spectacular. The village itself was interesting but extremely busy and it took quite a while just to get a park. One of the most photographed features here (usually illegally by drone) is the soccer field – surely one of the most picturesque anywhere.
Determined to get some shots from ‘on high,’ we headed back to Mt. Hoven the next day and indeed there wasn’t a cloud in sight when we arrived into the golf club car park from where the trail starts.
Full of enthusiasm, backpacks containing snacks and water we headed off on this ‘easy’ hike, suitable to “… take the baby and the dog on a Sunday afternoon …”
THEY LIED.
It started off ok, winding its way past the golf course, through a bit of a boggy low lying area and then up a fairly gentle gradient, the views getting better by the step. The path, however, did not get better. Well not at least before it got a lot worse. Calling the steep, rocky, boulder strewn route a path is a lot too generous.
It was challenging and steep, did I mention steep?? We laboured away, got through the first rocky section and were then faced with a hillside section so steep I was on hands and knees in part and very envious of Russell with his hiking poles. Another rocky section followed and finally the summit was within sight but I feared not within my reach 🏔
I was really gassed at this point so I sat down to eat my muesli bar whilst I caught my breath. Russell was slightly ahead of me and after a short time I started following him again, albeit very slowly and with lots of stops. OMG it was hard – definitely not ‘easy’ – but the 360 degree views at the top were worth it. A family were just coming down when we got to the summit and the mum very kindly took some photos to prove we made it, at this stage we had no idea how we were going to get down 🤣
Mt Hoven
Feeling well pleased with ourselves we took some time to enjoy the solitude and contemplate the descent.
I decided if I made it down I was heading straight for that beautful beach we could see and jumping straight in!
Make it down we did, all bones intact and drove the short distance to Hovsvika Beach where we ordered fish and chips which did a good job at re energising us. My face was still beetroot red (under the dirt) and I decided that this was the day I was going to swim in the Arctic Circle!
Rather than being cold, it was actually gorgeous and I would have spent longer in if I’d had some company 😉
The next morning both of us could hardly get out of bed 🤣 but eventually the car was loaded (three trips up and down the stairs) and we were on our way south, our eventual destination tonight Reine.
Departing Keflavik airport was a bit of a nightmare (allow PLENTY of time if ever you’re there) but only a couple of hours later we began to see islands dotting the ocean (and a submarine!) as we neared the Norwegian coastline.
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, home to just under 300,000 people and is situated on the west coast in the county of Vestland. Trading in Bergen is thought to have started as early as the 1020s with the city probably founded in about 1070 by King Olav Kyree and it was Norway’s capital until the 13th century.
We were staying in Bergen for two nights before departing on what is known as the Norway in a Nutshell Tour (NIN) – more on that later.
Disembarking the plane the first thing we saw walking through the airport was this sign outside …
It is apparently the result of an art competition and is “… intended to invoke a sense of curiousity and of anticipation of what can be experienced in the region…” – it could also make a tired traveller look twice at their ticket 🤣
We caught the airport bus into the city and it was a relatively short walk to our accommodation in very warm conditions, about 26C! The city was teeming with tourists and locals enjoying the weather and we unpacked quickly in our beautifully spacious apartment (with a much needed washing machine!) and headed out to join them.
Our apartment was in a great location and only about 200 metres from the Fløibanen, Bergen’s famous funicular railway and so we headed that way. Fortunately the queue wasn’t too bad and 15 minutes later we were at the top of (Mt.) Fløyen, 320 m above sea level and offering wonderful views of the city and surrounds laid out below. (featured photo top of page)
We spent some time walking around the top, meeting the resident goats and checking out the souvenir shops but lunch at the wharfside fish market below beckoned.
The Fish Market in Bergen has existed since the 1200s and is a lively (and smelly) meeting spot for locals and tourists alike with a wide range of fresh seafood options as well as some local farm produce such as berries and other fruit.
The choices were eye popping (some literally), cooked in front of you and delicious enjoyed in the sunshine with a water view 😉
Across the water we could see the historic district of Bryggen, a collection of characteristic wooden houses which are a picturesque reminder of the town’s importance as a trading centre in the Middle Ages. Several fires have ravaged the area since then but 62 buildings remain of this former townscape, repaired or rebuilt faithful to their original style and the area is now World Heritage listed.
We wandered through this historic area which included the Rosenkrantz Tower, the Bergenhus Fortress (owned by the Royal Norwegian Navy and housing administrative personnel), the Mariakirken (St. Mary’s Church) and ended up wharfside where several cruise (and other) ships were in residence.
Rain was threatening though and all of a sudden the skies delivered and we were running for cover, exploring over for now. I hit the shops when the weather cleared and bought some new hiking boots as my others had sprung a leak and there were more miles to be walked and then we headed back to pack for a fairly early start the next day.
So, the Norway in a Nutshell experience basically encompasses travel between Bergen and Oslo or vice versa. It consists of three different modes of transport – bus, ferry and train – which are all forms of public transport that are coordinated to connect with each other in one full day. It is not guided – you complete it as an independent tour following signs and announcements and can stop over at your own discretion anywhere along the way. You can book it very conveniently as a NIN package on some websites but of course there is a surcharge for this. I had booked all of the legs independently on various different transport sites and saved us about $150, now I just hoped I had it all correct 👌
Our first leg was a relatively short train ride from Bergen to Voss – scenic, but we were not on the best side, choose left hand side if you do this although the MANY tunnels negated this for much of the way anyway.
Disembarking at Voss we had a short wait (with dozens of others) for the bus to Gudvangen and once on board settled back to enjoy the ride.
The route includes a detour to the historic Stalheim Hotel which overlooks the Nærøydalen valley and where you have about 20 minutes to get some pics 😉
For me, the road included a few too many bends and my tummy was glad when we reached beautiful Naeroyfjord to join the ferry for the next section.
We then had to queue for about 40 minutes in very warm sunshine with literally hundreds of others, all of us very thankful when the ferry glided silently into the dock.
The Future of the Fjords was the first boat of her kind when she arrived in 2018 – a fully electric, carbon fibre boat designed to allow passengers to enjoy nature to the fullest with no noise and zero emissions. We made a beeline for the top deck which allowed magnificent views but clearly wasn’t designed to ‘seat’ passengers – I guess most of the time the weather is too inclement to linger outside – so we sat literally on the deck on our bums and settled back to enjoy the scenery.
The ferry traverses the UNESCO-listed Nærøyfjord, gliding past towering cliffs, remote villages (some of which still have no road access) and waterfalls tumbling straight into the water. The Nærøyfjord is a narrow fjord so we were never far away from the towering mountains either side and we were so lucky with the weather, a bright blue sky providing the perfect backdrop.
Eventually we made a right hand turn down the Aurlandsfjord, our next destination, Flam, sitting at the end of that. Flam has come under a lot of attention in recent years as a victim of its own popularity. It is a feature on most cruise ship itinerarys and the tiny village is often dealing with thousands of cruise ship passengers and their ships. It is said that air pollution in Flåm during the cruise season is similar to that of a big city 🤔
Fortunately there was only one in residence when we arrived, ironically named “Iona” – the island we had visited weeks ago in Scotland.
We had a short wait here for our next sector, the fast catamaran to Balestrand where we had chosen to break the NIN tour for a couple of nights. We had a quick look through the (very touristy) Flam shops but I was feeling a bit hot and bothered after two hours in the sun so we spent most of the time sitting under a tree on the lawn watching the comings and goings until our vessel arrived. That’s her next to the Iona above.
The journey was about 80 mins long, back up Aurlandsfjord and eventually making a left turn into the Sognefjord.
I had booked a self contained apartment in Balestrand which turned out to be a short walk from the dock and and in no time we were sitting on our huge balcony enjoying a cup of tea.
The very warm weather (which we later heard only happens once every five years or so!) had the locals jumping of the small jetty and sunbathing on the boards and I so wished I had my bathers with me. We had travelled with only our backpacks for this part of the trip, sending our main luggage from Bergen to Oslo with a porter service which saved us lugging it on and off various modes of transport and worked really well except I’d never thought to pack my bathers for a mountain fjord stopover LOL
Balestrand was tiny but the dock provided endless entertainment and the mountains a stunning backdrop. It was interesting to watch the small pleasure vessels that docked occasionally, kids and often fur kids had a swim while mum stocked up in the grocery store across the road before they were on their way again.
The historic Kviknes Hotel, dating back to 1752 and owned by the Kvikne family since 1877 is a landmark in town and I had initially booked there but decided to spend the considerable $$$ on something else – it looked beautiful though.
We did a half excursion with local Lars in his RIB vessel (rigid inflatable boat) down an even smaller fjord which was exciting and VERY fast. Finnabotnen at the end is only reachable by boat and was once a thriving boat building community but is now inhabited by a solitary goat farmer. Lars was a great guide and we learned a lot about the history and culture of this part of Norway.
The other highlight of Balestrand was the lovely dinner we had at a tiny Ukrainian restaurant overlooking the fjord, Pearl by Harbor – delicious food and a very entertaining waiter as well as an English couple on the next table that we discussed cricket with at length.
Our short stay over, the next day we boarded the fast ferry back to Flam to connect with our next mode of transport, the Flåmsbana.
The Flam Railway is a spectacular and steep 20 km journey connecting Flam with the mountain station of Myrdal.
Known as one of the world’s most beautiful and scenic railway lines, it ascends 867 meters, traversing dramatic mountain landscapes, numerous tunnels and waterfalls.
The most impressive waterfall is Kjosfossen where it actually stops and passengers can disembark to have a closer look.
This is then followed by a ‘mysterious’ woman with long hair and a red dress emerging from the forest, dancing to a Norwegian folk song.
She is the Huldra, an elusive forest spirit from Norse mythology. According to local folklore, she lures men into the woods to seduce them.
Fortunately Russell didn’t succumb and we climbed aboard for the remainder of the trip to Myrdal.
Myrdal is actually not a village, it is a remote train station that serves as the junction between the Bergen railway (the train route between Oslo and Bergen) and the Flam Railway. It consists of basically the train station and another building which I think is a mountain biking lodge. We waited here a short time before our train to Oslo arrived and we climbed aboard for the last leg of our journey.
The scenery was amazing, in many places there was still ice on the ground, not surprising given that Myrdal sits at 867 m above sea level. (If you do this trip, right hand side of the train.)
We rolled into Oslo a little after 11pm but it was of course still light and we easily found our hotel, the Clarion Oslo, a short walk from the train station.
The next day was forecast to be 30 C in Oslo and our wardrobe was not equipped for such eventualities!
We first visited the impressive Oslo Concert Hall, completed in 2007 after the architectural firm Snohetta won a competition for the design.
The roof of the building angles to ground level, creating a large plaza that invites pedestrians to walk up and enjoy the panoramic views of Oslo which we did. Much of the building is covered in white granite and La Facciata, a white Italian marble and VERY reflective on this sunny day!
It did provide a lovely elevated spot to check out the very busy harbor though where the locals were taking advantage of the unseasonally hot weather.
A little too hot for us, so deciding that an indoor attraction might better fit the bill we headed to the Munch Museum.
The Munch museum is dedicated to the life and works of Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch (1863 – 1944.)
For those of you not particularly into art and thinking you have never heard of him, you probably have… He is the artist who painted the very famous painting “The Scream” (of which there are several versions) which became even more famous when one version, as well as another painting, were stolen from the museum in 2004 by two armed robbers and not recovered until 2006.
He is somewhat of a tragic figure, his childhood overshadowed by bereavement, illness and the dread of inheriting a mental condition that ran in the family which absolutely shaped his w. To my surprise, I enjoyed the Museum immensely, his story sad but fascinating and his talent undeniable. You can read more here.
The Scream
You might be able to tell I was I impressed. 🤣
We visited a couple of other exhibitions in the building, interesting but not so memorable and finished off with a surprisingly good lunch in the museum cafe. We passed on The Scream cookies though.
The museum also provided a nice view of the skyline from its roof terrace and the locals who were out enjoying a swim and sunbathe in basically the city centre!
After lunch we found our way to the main shopping strip (very crowded) and eventually to the Oslo Cathedral, more impressive inside than out we thought.
We were back at the hotel for a relatively early dinner then retired to our room for some reorganisation of our bags. Due to our ‘cheap’ airline’s baggage allowances we weren’t taking all of our luggage with us tomorrow, the Clarion would hold it until we were back in 6 days.
