A Rest Day at Halholmen

Today, we had a break from driving with a rest day at Halholmen. We slept in, did nothing all morning and then continued doing not much in the afternoon.

This little island in the Hustadvika Bay has been a former fishing community since the beginning of the 1700s. In 1898, the current owner’s grandfather, Bård Bergseth, purchased the place and settled down here. Fishing operations continued up until 1960 and the Bergseth family lived here permanently until 1978. In 1989, his grandchildren, brought some new life to the 300-year-old fishing village by building a collection of recreated huts and buildings.There were eight of the original buildings still standing at that time and about fourteen others have ben added for accommodation and restaurants. The place is now managed by Classic Norway, a large hotel chain. 

I tell a little lie – I didn’t really do nothing this morning, well not much anyway. I did potter round taking some photos as this place is very photogenic.

There is always some bird life around the sea and there were some here just waiting to be photographed.

After lunch, we took the hourly boat shuttle back to the Ocean Road to take some more photos.

The road is a 8.25 kilometre long section of County Road 64 that connects the island and municipality of Averøy with the mainland at Eide. The road runs across an archipelago of partially inhabited islands and skerries. To the north lies Hustadvika, an unsheltered section of the Norwegian Sea, to the south Lauvøyfjorden. The road consists of eight bridges and four resting places and viewpoints.

The first proposals to use the route were made in the early 20th century. It was originally planned that a railway line would travel this route but that idea was soon shelved. The proposal to build a road was approved in 1983, after it had been supported by the local municipalities. During construction, the area was hit by 12 hurricanes. These supported the construction of the road and allowed a nearby ferry service to be terminated. Construction cost NOK 122 million and was originally financed through tolls. By June 1999 the road was paid off and tolls removed.