Friday, August 13

Visiting Caves at Sunnmøre

You have probably heard about the two most famous caves at the islands north of Ålesund:
Skjonghelleren and Dollsteinhola
Skjonghelleren is situated on Valderøy in Giske municipality, and is an exciting cave 57 metres up in the mountain side.
The cave has got a 100 metres deep tunnel, and you can walk while standing up straight until you reach the final 30 metres. There has been found traces of settlement dating back to the Stone Age here, when the neighbour island Giske barely had risen from the ocean after the last Ice Age. There has also been found traces of wildlife dating over 30.000 years back in Skjonghelleren, and you can hear more about it at Godøy Coastal Museum.

Dollsteinshola is one of the largest and most intriguing caves in Norway, and has has been mentioned in historic documents for centuries. The cave is situated at the west side of the island Sandsøy in Sande municipality
The cave is 180 metres long, and has got 5 rooms that are separated by long and narrow passages. You need to be dressed appropriately and bring the necessary equipment to explore the cave, since the trip inside includes climbing over walls of 3-4 metres, crawling, and holding on to a rope down a 50 metres long hill. Dollsteinhola is a protected area.The cave has got a lot of legends and myths connected to it, and it is said that the English King Arthur buried a lot of treasures in the cave during the 6th century, including The Holy Grail. None of these treasures have been discovered so far, but an exploration of the area is a fun and exciting activity!
I have to wait till another trip to the islands before I can show you photos from these caves, but if visiting The world´s best destination on the web, you can read more.
My cave this time was the unnamed cave on the north side of Flemsøya.
This is the living room with an opening above for the smoke from the fireplace.
This is what I was told to be the sleeping room. The innermost part and dry even when the rain was heavy outside.
Outside the opening of the cave as seen on the first photo, the ground was deeply covered with
pine needles making it very soft. The view between the trees was out towards the Norwegian Sea. In the ancient times after the last Ice Age the sea-level was much higher, and the cow had been wading like me as shown in an earlier post.Take a journey to the North Islands of Sunnmøre, and if the ferries are in order, you may bring your cars with you all the way. If not, Cycling is a possibility

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