Next stop Runde

We travelled from Dovrefjell to Runde and made a couple of stops at scenic spots like Slettafossen and the Troll Wall, famous places well worth a stop if you ever pass by. I would have liked to drive Trollstigen, but we didn´t have time to try the serpentine mountain road this time so we’ll have to do it another time.

Our destination for the next couple of days was Runde, an island famous for the huge amount of breeding sea birds. The main attraction is of course the handsome Atlantic Puffin. We stayed at Runde for three nights before we continued our journey northwards to the town of Ålesund for a night at a good hotel.

The trip from Dovrefjell to Runde was straightforward with only one ferry that took us over one of the long fiords that this area of Norway is famous for. The rest of the sea crossing was done by bridges and they weren’t few of them.

Runde has a population of just over 100 people, but I expect it to at least double during the breeding season of the birds as this is the most southern bird cliff in Norway meaning it is fairly easily accessible by car for us northerners.

Neither of us had ever been at a bird cliff before so it was a great experience, giving us a lot of ache in our legs. Runde gave us really challenging weather conditions. The weather was truly horrible at times with strong winds, wet conditions and none of the evening had good light which was sad. Still it produced some nice pictures and the boat trip around the island was a highlight done during a period of decent light and a fairly calm ocean. I would recommend all whom visit Runde to do this boat trip.

The breeding season at Runde also seemed to be late as we couldn´t see any Atlantic Puffins bringing back food to their partner. It would have been nice to see that behavior, but it will have to wait for another time for us. Still it was nice to see all the different sea birds that you usually don´t see back in Sweden and the Great Skua is probably a new favorite on my list even if its parasitic behavior isn´t likeable.

We are now currently at the hotel in Ålesund licking our wounds before continuing northwards towards the island of Smøla.

Please enjoy the gallery from the last couple of days.

Photo Gallery: Next stop Runde