We’ve had a fairly busy day today, with a mix of housekeeping, sightseeing and driving. First of all, we headed to a nearby LPG station in Alta to top up Molly Moho’s gas bottles, then we went to a supermarket to top up supplies. We were low on fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, and now have plenty to last us about 6 days.
The supermarket wasn’t far from the Northern Lights Cathedral, so we left Molly parked and walked there. The building is modern, built of concrete and clad with titanium sheets. It’s very striking, especially when the sun is on it. I bet it’s magnificent when it’s lit under dark skies or the Northern Lights too.
We decided to pay to have a look inside, and we’re glad we did because the interior was just as beautiful. The altar wall is glazed in blue to accentuate the bronze statue of Christ, and the floors and furniture are oak.
The baptismal font is blue marble stucco and has a clear glass bowl with an inlaid Star of Bethlehem and a fish. We also liked the 7.5 metre high gilded Jacob’s ladder inside the tower room, and the gold-plated reliefs for the 12 disciples on the outside. In my opinion, the cathedral had a lovely warm and welcoming atmosphere, unlike many cold, dark and extravagantly decorated historic cathedrals.
On the way back to Molly, we had our first visit to a Scandinavian wine shop. Vinmonopolet is the only retail chain in Norway that’s allowed to sell alcohol over 4.75%. It’s state-owned, with the aim of managing alcohol consumption. We bought a couple of wine boxes and the cost wasn’t as bad as I’d expected, working out at about £9 a bottle. I don’t begrudge paying that, especially as we aren’t eating out very often.
Next we set off to drive to the trailhead for the Gorsa Bridge waterfall walk. There’s been plenty of rain, so I’m expecting the falls to be impressive. On the way, we stopped at a pretty aire on the coast for lunch. We also took the opportunity to empty the toilet and bin, and top up the fresh water. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get rid of our waste water here.
John, therefore, found another aire en route where we could drop the waste water. We paid about £7 to use the services, which included use of the lovely clean showers. We have a shower in Molly but it’s only small, so it was good to find somewhere more spacious to wash my hair.
On the last leg of our journey, we stopped again when I spotted cheap diesel. John also chose to top up the AdBlue as it was available from the next pump. Molly’s now full of everything we need, and empty of everything we don’t want!
Our drive to the car park where we’re staying tonight, ended along a muddy pot-holed track. There were even sheep grazing along it. We’ve parked up and had a short walk to look at the river. It looks as if its course has been diverted away from the road, and a lovely new wooden bridge has been installed.
Now for dinner… hopefully the sun will shine for our walk to the waterfall tomorrow!
Ramblings 
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