Fosnavåg - Runde island roadtrip

It remains vivid in the memory of those who experienced it. The horror when fire and flames shot up from the roof of the old wooden church. People ran in and out of the church, to try and save the church’s art and whatever else could be salvaged. But those who stood next to the church on that fiery night during the Christmas time of 1998, remember also that the tower of the church dived down in a shower of sparks. Then the people were reminded of the old hymn «The church is an old house, that stands though the towers fall». The church is a building made of living stones, and those living stones set about building a new church house. They raised many millions of kroner from everything from collections and lottery sales to large gifts from private individuals and companies, and just four years after the fire the new Herøy church rose from the ashes. Now you can once again see the church tower rising high over the parish. Inside the tall tower there is a sky light that spills light into the church and it is popular for children and confirmants to challenge themselves by trying thier hand at climbing all the way to the top of the tower.

Golleneset lighthouse flashes a welcoming light. The small lighthouse clings to the end of the rain-washed headland. After a short hike on light terrain of just under one kilometre from Kvalsvika, you can enjoy the long shore line and a perfect spot for sunbathing by the sea. But only when the sun is out, because this sea can be fierce and you need to take care on windy days. In Golleneset, you may occasionally experience the sea whipping up foam. Sea foam. It’s like a giant bubble bath with lots of salty bubbles between the rocks and on dry land. The sea has always captured and fascinated people and on your hike out to Golleneset, you'll pass Kjemperøysa, a burial cairn that is estimated to be around 3,500 years old. The name Kjemperøysa (Giant burial cairn), is not so hard to understand. Before they built the pier and harbour in Kvalsvika, there were several smaller cairns by the beach, but the biggest one, the giant one with a diameter of 17 metres, is still there and is an extra sight to see on your way to Golleneset.

Whether you want to go scuba diving in caves, wreck diving or scuba diving in fantastic, colourful kelp forests, Havlandet offers good and varied diving opportunities. In good weather, you can spend a long time at sea, perhaps hunting for more treasures outside Runde? When the sea is at its calmest, the caves in the colourful bird cliffs at Runde are also worth investigating. If the sea is rough, take a dive trip inwards in the water between the islet and the skerries. Here you can see the giant pots that lie below the sea surface at the island of Herøy. Whether you’re diving far out at sea or closer to the shore, the water is always clear, with good visibility, and you're likely to come across fish and seals. Or how about catching some scallops and catfish for dinner? Several finds are also worth exploring. Perhaps the most famous is Akerendam, which sank off Goksøyra on Runde where the great gold find was made. There are still several canons spread around on the seabed. And of course, it's not certain they got all the coins. Herøy dive club offers plenty of information about dive sites on its website. It's just a matter of diving in!

The park in Fosnavåg has a history that in many ways reflects the development of this coastal town and its community. Originally, this area was wild nature, swampy marshes, and a place to live. In the 1970s, it was brought under control and given plants and nicely laid gravel paths. The flat area was perfect as a circus space, and even had elephants wandering freely at one time. There was an even bigger event in the mid-70s. There is talk of as many as several tens of thousands of visitors who wanted to see the Kvalsund ship and the then-celebrities of the time such as Dizzie Tunes, Kirsti Sparboe and Per Asplin also visited Fosnavåg. The park was a natural meeting place with large circus tents and a stage. Over the years, the park slipped into hibernation, and was somewhat forgotten, to be later rediscovered by the residents of Fosnavåg and the municipality. It now boasts a large climbing and play facility together with a barbecue hut. The park has also been equipped with a parking lot for mobile homes and public toilets. The latest development is a new path. Today the park is a popular meeting place for Fosnavåg residents and visitors. You'll find children playing here, alongside young people having a barbecue and visitors camping in the mobile homes or their own caravans.

Anyone interested in the history of this lighthouse will discover a story involving transport, a state building, work and family life - and of course the weather. Runde Lighthouse is one of the oldest in the country, and the oldest north of Stadt. Bailiff Koren in Kristiansund was a businessman who got permission from the state to buy a farm with some land in Goksøyra on Runde island, so that he could set up a business and manpower to run the lighthouse. And the business was the lighthouse – literally speaking. Back in 1767, the lighthouse was simply a pot with fire in it. The 200-300-kilo iron pot was fired up with peat and coal. The light was natural enough, but when the state took over in the 1800s, the lighthouse was given an upgrade. A lot of people were needed to keep the lighthouse running, so the lighthouse keeper had both a lighthouse manager and a lighthouse assistant. And the men happily brought their families with them, so that at Runde Lighthouse there were both lighthouse managers, their wives, children, servicemen and governesses. A small mini-community of several townhouses and workhouses was built towards the great ocean. This is where children grew up, the love between governess Ingeborg and Martinus blossomed, and where a ten-year-old lost his life on the bird cliff. The forces of nature are powerful this far out by the sea. The last lighthouse keeper experienced a winter storm so strong that it lifted a huge barge far up onto dry land. Runde Lighthouse was upgraded and moved four times. In 2002, the lighthouse was automated and the area was depopulated. Today Runde Lighthouse is a popular DNT-cabin that you can spend the night in.

When it comes to mountains in Havlandet, there are no impressive heights, only impressive views. A short mountain hike rewards you with a fabulous view of the sea, with a horizon so long that you can see the earth curving. Behind you rise the steep Sunnmøre Alps with their sharp peaks. You can walk over heather-clad heaths right out to the sea – or you can walk over larger plains, and up to 661 metres in altitude if you stay on Gurskøya, the largest island in Herøy. You can stroll in walking shoes on Heid’s hiking trail over the city mountain in Fosnavåg, or you can find your own trails on one of the many islands. You could also head over to Skorpa and can climb the steep slopes in the company of the wild goats. Or perhaps you'd prefer to sit down with a pair of binoculars to enjoy the rich and diverse bird life. There are those who take on twelve peaks in one day, and collect thousands of metres of altitude, and then there are those who stop for a coffee, lie down in the heather and listen to the gentle buzz of the bumblebees. Whatever type of mountain hiker you are, there's a mountain for you in Havlandet, and views guaranteed to impress. Nettsida morotur.no provides practical tips and good maps for numerous hikes in Herøy.

Wherever you go, you can't get away from the fact that boats and fishing are the mainstay of Havlandet. This is also the case in the coastal town of Fosnavåg. Even well into the 19th century, there were only a dozen or so houses here with several dozen inhabitants. But during the cod fishing season, there could be over a hundred boats with crews of over 700 men, who found places to live in people's attics and boathouses. Throughout the 20th century, the small coastal town grew, and it remained rooted in fishing and fish processing; herring salting, herring oil and canning, cod steaming, fillet factory and clipfish drying. A cafe, a guest house and fishing homes arrived. The number of shops grew, and one butcher from the 1930s still has descendants today who use the same recipes and who sell meat products and other food in the Meny store in Fosnavåg town centre. Then came the herring boom in the 1950s. There were several thousand men working on land, and so many boats in the harbour, that you could walk across it without getting your feet wet. The activity and value creation was enormous, and the capital and self-confidence that grew gave room for new initiatives when the herring later disappeared. The next big step for Fosnavåg was the oil boom. The fishing boat owners brought their maritime knowledge with them into the offshore industry, and soon there were several listed offshore companies in the small coastal town, enough to secure Fosnavåg the title of best commercial town in Norway. And town, well it's more of a village. On 7 June 2000, Fosnavåg received its town status. The most important thing about this was that the fishing boats could be allowed to paint the Fosnavåg name on their boats next to the boat’s name.

A raging storm rips at the sails. Captain Nicolaas de Roy is unable to rescue the Dutch ship. She was thrown into the mountain wall in Goksøyra on the night between 7 and 8 March 1725. All 200 people on board drowned. Crew, officers – and their wives. Two tons of gold and silver stored in nineteen chests were swallowed up by the sea. Almost 250 years later, someone knocked on the reception desk of the Sunnmøre Police Station in Ålesund. It was a diver with 75 kilos of coins. The kelp forest and stretches of white sand were once the location of one of the biggest treasure finds in Europe. 57,000 coins were picked up along with canons, bronze vats and embroidery scissors, pipes, silver forks and belt buckles. Many of the coins were sold, and the treasures were stored at the Bergen Maritime Museum, before rather symbolically being once again transported by boat back to Runde and the Runde Environment Centre. Here, people can see the gold coins, weapons and tools, decorations and splendour from the Akerendam trading ship . Many people long to find more wrecks on the seabed in Havlandet. There's a story of a ship, “The Invincible Castle” from the Spanish Armada, which is supposed to have sunk near Goksøyra at the end of the 1500s. It is believed that this vessel was also carrying great wealth. Even if you don't find any treasure, diving in this area of clear water and exploring the kelp forest is still an incredible experience.

Herøy is the bridge municipality. Ten bridges link the islands in the municipality together, and the king of the bridges is Rundebrua, which is right by the ocean. Once the wind was so strong here that it turned over a lorry. Fortunately the railings stopped the lorry from going any further and the lorry driver survived. Sometimes the sea fills the road with rocks and water. As you cross, look out for the small holes at the bottom of the side walls, which serve as outlets for the sea when there is flooding. Sundet under Rundebrua are good fishing spots, and you rarely see fishermen at the top of the bridge. If you happen to get a catch, you can only hope that the fish has latched on well because you'll need to carry it twenty metres back up.

A jetboat used to sail a fixed route between the islands, transporting people, mail and goods. Many had their own motorboat or rowing boat. The car went on to change people's habits and caused the islanders to rethink their lives. Even before the Second World War, the islanders had wanted to build bridges between the islands. But it would take a while, and it wasn't until March 1967 that you could drive across Remøybrua bridge. It was a long-awaited moment. Several people on Remøya had cars before the bridge arrived, despite the fact that they could only drive on the two kilometres of gravel road on the island. In September of the following year, there was an official joint opening together with Nerlandsøybrua, the twin bridge a little further south

“Rrrrhhhrr, arrhhrr”. You could be forgiven for thinking that it was a flock of chainsaws making its way across the sky, but it's only the puffin colony. In spring, puffins come in from the sea to mate, nest and hatch. Mating is brief, as puffins stay with the same partner throughout their entire lives. And they can live up to 40 years old. After a winter out at sea, the puffin nests back in the same nesting spot; holes and paths that they dig in areas of up to two metres into the mountains. This is where the female lays her eggs, but both birds take turns to keep the nest warm. Mum and dad share the incubating and fetching of food. With their jagged tongue and beak, they can easily capture ten wrigling fish to bring back to the nest. Puffins with up to sixty fish in their beaks are a common sight. And it's the beak with its bright yellow, orange and blue-brown stripes that have made this bird so popular and given it the name of sea parrot. In Lundeura on Runde island, you can get close enough to touch the female puffin, who has more than just good looks to offer. The puffin is one of the few birds that stands upright. It is about as tall as an A4 sheet of paper. These small wings can flap 300-400 times per minute and give the bird a top speed of almost 90 kilometres per hour. And it’s even better at keening. Puffins spend much of their life at sea. This is where they can breathe and dive as deep as 60 metres. But despite its strength and speed, puffins are on the red list and a vulnerable species. There are tens of thousands of puffins in Runde mountain during nesting season, but that’s less than half of what there used to be. You are visiting a beautiful and rare creature. Give her peace and quiet to gather food and to feed her baby.

På ei øy som er så langt ute i havet at ho har fått namn etter graset som greier å vekse der ligg Grasøyane fyr. Her kom det fyr i 1886 og saman med fyrtårnet er det både uthus, naust og fyrvaktarbustad. Fyrvaktarane hadde med familien sin og ein av dei som vaks opp der ute seier at ein betre barndom kunne ein ikkje ha. Men einsamt, ansvarsfullt og langt til havs var det for dei som var vaksne. Kommunikasjon kunne vere vanskeleg, og det var avtalt med folk i land at dersom dei såg at det var hengt ut eit stort svart, tøystykke på husveggen der ute på Grasøya, så trengdest det hjelp. Etter krigen fekk fyrvaktarane turnus og hadde ikkje lenger med seg med seg familien på fyret. I 1986 vart fyret automatisert og avfolka. I dag er det fuglane og selane som regjerer på Grasøya. Øyane rundt fyret er ein del av Runde naturreservat. Her er ein selkoloni med både steinkobbe og havert. Dei er mange og dei kan ligge både i fjøresteinane og kome nysgjerrig symjande rundt båten din. Husk at du er ein gjest på besøk i deira heim, og både fugl og sel treng ro og avstand. Jakt, fangst og øydeleggingar av alle slag er sjølvsagt forbode. Dei som kjem etter deg skal også få oppleve og glede seg over dyre- og fuglelivet.

The bird cliff rises 300 metres from the sea. It is the third largest and southernmost bird cliff in Norway, with 230 registered species and 500,000 birds. But numbers can never replace the experience of lying completely still in a boat while watching the dizzying and bustling bird life above you - or sitting on the edge of the cliff and looking down at them all. The northern gannet soars through the air looking for prey, olds its 1.5 metre+ wingspan and forms itself into a torpedo that plunges towards the sea's surface at a speed that can reach 100 kilometres per hour. Seagulls cry above you and bird droppings have stained the entire mountainside white. And if the weather is good, you can sail into the cave, which is like a quiet bubble in the sloping mountainside, full of magical colours and just the echo of your voice. As you leave the cave, look out for the sea eagles. Kings of the air and the largest bird of prey in Northern Europe. There are plenty of sea eagles around Runde and you'll be able to see a whole flock of them at once. The eagle has a wingspan of around 2.5 metres - in other words it's gigantic. Having them fly around you is a real experience. Whether you're here by boat or on foot, keep your distance and take care The birds need their peace and space. You are only visiting.