We set off after breakfast at 09:00 to our next hotel in Stalheim, arriving around 17:15.

The first hour or so repeated the first hour of yesterday… still pretty, but after another hour or so more we began to enter fjord country. If yesterday was stunning there isn’t a word in English to increase the superlative… stunningest?

We made a few stops along the way, mostly for photos of something dramatic - waterfalls, valleys, gorges and snow-topped mountains. One, however, was a small shopping zone where someone had a sense of humour with displays and other things to make you smile. Amongst my favourite was a t-shirt, which read, “I fear Oden and my woman - You are neither!”

We had an hour’s lunch break in Odda where we stumbled upon a middle-eastern eatery that served up incredibly good griddled flatbreads filled with chicken, cheese and herbs and a side of paprika seasoned fries.

The journey also included a 20 minute road-ferry across Utenfjord; Road-ferry? There are no bookings, you turn up and the ferry’s route across the fjord appears on a satnav with a road number (550).

The Stalheim hotel is situated at the head of a spectacular valley and first impressions are good.

Our room overlooks the valley and is nicely set out… except there’s very little storage for clothes, very few powerpoints and nowhere to put suitcases out of the way. Overall, however, more than pleasant enough for a 3-night stay. 

The restaurant, however, suffers from the same problems as Vrådal. Both are tourist hotels used mostly by coach groups staying just a single night. As a result, the buffet is mobbed by hungry Germans, Koreans, Dutch, etc. and so, it’s a free-for-all noisy bustling environment, not conducive to having a pleasant evening meal, although the food itself is plentiful, tasty and there’s a wide choice