.: ferries, fjords and waterfalls :.

After the amazing range of challenging terrains on the hike to the Preikestolen, the stony path ruttled with roots making a stark transition from forest, to marsh, to pools arrayed across a flat karst ledge, we were left spoilt for choice, and leaving Jørpeland to head north, Norway certainly did not fail to deliver again for beauty and variety. We stuck to the ribbon of road that stenciled the Idsefjord and found some more ancient cliff carvings of boats at Solbakk and proceded to Hjelmeland for the ferry to Nesvik. We crossed the Rogaland to Sand, with something spectacular to see rounding every turn and corner, stopping to take pictures and stand in awe of the view every kilometer or so. Many times, more often. We crossed the fjord at Sand with another ferry and went along the scenic route towards Røldal through Sauda and many, many gorgeous and outstanding though nameless places. It was a challenge to sort through all the pictures and make a choice which ones to post, let alone resist stopping and basking in the scenery. Before Sand, we could see snow and ice on the horizon, high up in the mountains and had gone from elevations just below sea-level (Normal Null) to heights nearly a thousands meters and above the tree line in just the space of a few hours. Even with eighteen degrees outside, there was snow on the ground, in an otherworldly alpine climate, ice next to lush ferns. Our campsite in Røldal looked back on that range of high peaks and we are looking forward to exploring next the Folgefonn glacier near Odda in this area. The initial weatherman's account did not sound very encouraging but such forecasts are often wrong.