The train trip from Oslo to Bergen is known to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Today we were fortunate to do the trip with clear skies, bright sunshine, and plenty of snow.
The first couple of hours are through the outskirts of Oslo. The towns filled with houses, halls and schools, with plenty of people going about their day-to-day. The landscape shifts to countryside around Noresund as the train slowly climbs into the mountains, and frozen rivers and lakes appear.
The train follows the rivers through the hills, and there are little towns dotted along the way. It’s clear that the train would sustain these towns, and make them accessible year round.
The town of Finse sits about 1200m above sea level, and clearly is a haven for skiers. We saw small groups of cross-country skiers around the station, in between the blasts of snow. The train is clearly designed for these conditions, ploughing through and immersing the whole carriage in snow. It’s very pretty, very cold (apparently felt like -16!) and hard to imagine living here!
The descent into Bergen saw the white snowfields make way for rivers and green valleys. This area clearly gets pretty high rainfall, and is rich farming land.
We finally made it to Bergen around 3:30, enough time to grab a couple of items before the town shuts down for the New Year holidays. Like Christmas, the Norwegians respect the public holidays, and literally everything shuts down, even in a tourist spot. We did manage to make it to the wharf for a quick inspection of dinner in the coming days…
Our day was a huge contrast to the Australia that we’re seeing on the news. This time 4 years ago we were on the drive from Melbourne to Sydney, through East Gippsland and towns like Metung, Nowra and Mallacoota. This is one of the most magnificent parts of our coastline. Our thoughts are with our fellow Aussies as we head to 2020, hoping that the new year brings much needed rain.
Wishing everyone a healthy and happy new year!
Love M & theBunch x
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