Under The Atlantic

Boy, how time flies! Just a few weeks ago, my parents rented a beast of a car (a VW diesel 8 seater van) so we could drive south to the beautiful coastal town of Ålesund. We took the scenic route and drove roughly 10 hours (with lots of stops, of course,) through breath taking mountain and fjord scenes.

A highlight of this trip was driving along The Atlantic Ocean Road. This is a unique road that takes you by, over, and under the Atlantic ocean. The road connects islands together - one such city, Kristiansund, is a city entirely made up of small islands, connected by bridges, ferries, and underwater tunnels.

The light at the end of the tunnel has never looked so bright.

The Atlantic Ocean Tunnel is 5.7 km long and goes 250 meters below sea level. It seemed to have steep decline and incline, with the deepest part of the tunnel having a bluish light. I did not take any pictures of this, but was able to find this picture from the opening of the tunnel. Most of the tunnel seemed dark and damp. A little freaky, but an exciting adventure.

These two pictures show exactly the placement of the tunnel and the islands it connects.



























Then we went onto the Atlantic Ocean Road. This is was such a good picture of the road that I "borrowed" it to put on here.

One of many bridges connecting islands together.

OK, two more pictures that I "borrowed".

The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We drove through mountains, passed fjord's, and rode ferries truly enjoying the spectacular beauty around us. This was one the many fjords we passed.

The kids had so much fun on the ferries. Every possible minute was spent on deck looking for creatures in the ocean. They saw many jelly fish and once even spotted three small minke whales.

This road was right next to the fjord for several miles before cutting through a mountain.

Keikos, also known as "Free Willy", the killer whale, when retiring from his Hollywood career was released into the ocean up by Iceland. Probably due to his being in captivity most of his life, he found his way back to the the public and spent the remainder of his days in this fjord in Norway. He was quite the local celebrity and let the local children pet him, ride him and swim with him. It was a sad day when he eventually died, and the local town provided him with a burial. We passed his grave place and followed the signs for a while, but wasn't able to find the exact place of burial. But here's a picture of the road sign....

Ålesund, our destination. A beautiful city with a European charm to it. The yellow building in the back was our hotel. It used to be an old fishing industrial pier. Our room had apparently been the office of a fishery manager and had relics from that time in it. The kids were able to get a close look at the old typewriter, radio's and desk calculators that were still there.