Even before I begun to travel, I knew I wanted to explore the world. No surprises geography was one of my favourite subjects in school. I loved learning about different countries and our natural world and how it was formed. Since we arrived in Norway I feel like I have been experiencing a giant living classroom. Where glacier ice and water, throughout multiple ice ages, have carved out deep passages to the sea. And it is jaw-dropping.

Inky black fjords, push inward from the sea and branch like veins, for hundreds of kilometres, into the landscape. Precipitous cliffs tower over them on either side, reaching as high above sea level as the freezing cold waters are deep, over 1,300m in some places. Waterfalls thunder out of hanging valleys to the fjords below, polishing rock smooth and filling the area with mist. The scale of this terrain is difficult to comprehend, until you see enormous 18 story cruise ships dwarfed by these majestic landscapes.

We have driven along glacier carved valleys where fast flowing rivers are broken up by a string of perfectly still lakes that reflect the surrounding mountain vistas. Tigín has switch-backed up narrow mountain roads as we climbed up from sea level to upland plateaus, dotted with still frozen glacier lakes. The landscape here is different, it is a harsh tundra environment. Gone are the trees, except for a few twisted branches growing close to the ground. Trolls lived here and are believed to have been turn to stone when they are hit by sunlight and it isn’t difficult to find their final resting place when you see their craggy faces in the rocks with tufts of heather and bracken, like hair atop. 

If the Western fjords of Norway are not on your bucket list I would encourage you to reconsider. This is a place like no other, for its vastness and beauty, neither my pictures or words can do it justice, it has to be experienced first hand. We have loved exploring it and will stay in the area for another few days before we head further north and a change of pace as we make our way back to the coast.

If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, you might like to for real time updates and videos of some of the spectacular scenery we are encountering: @kate_ullwer