Another busy day here of course but before we head off to Fure again to have more time with our family, we wanted to take a morning boat ride to the island of Selja.

The history behind this place is very mysterious and interesting. Tickets were purchased at the Tourism office right next to the docks and we grabbed a fast bite to eat from the 'gas' station...yes, you heard me...we didn't want another huge breakfast, like we've been having every morning! So coffee out of a machine and a packaged danish was breakfast for me :)

These little guys were flitting around us, probably looking for handouts, and were very cute!

The boat wasn't too big, but surprisingly, inside could hold a large number of tour guests...we were hoping to have someone who spoke in some English but instead our guide spoke only Norwegian on the way there...here's the boat docked after about a 15 minute cruise to the island of Selja.

Taken straight from the Travel Norway Guide online!

The Monastery of Selja

People have traveled here for over 1000 years, to experience Norway's first pilgrimage place, with unique cultural heritage from the Viking Age and the Middle Ages.

Selje Monastery

Photo: Thomas Bickhardt

Photo: Terje Rakke/Nordic Life/Fjord Norge

The first pilgrimage in Norway

On the island of Selja, 15 min. from Selje, lie the ruins of Selje monastery, perhaps the oldest monastery in Norway. The monastery tower is still intact. The monastery was built by Benedictine monks in the early 1100s, in memory of St. Sunniva. You can explore this part of Norwegian history on a guided tour during the summer season.

Selja was in 996 the first pilgrimage in the country when King Olav Tryggvason found relics in a cave on the island.

Norway has two male saints, (St.Olav and St.Hallvard) and one female, St.Sunniva, the patron saint of Western Norway. She came ashore on the island of Selja. The St.Sunniva cave, where Sunniva died, is a large cave with traces of the first church, consecrated to the Archangel Michael. From 1068 to 1170 Selja was the diocese for the entire West Coast.

"Acta Sanctorum in Selio" - The story about the saints of Selja

The story tells that the Irish princess Sunniva escaped when her country was overrun by heathens and the new king wanted to marry her. Wind and currents led them north. The boat Sunniva was in stranded in the harbor at the end of the island of Selja. Here they lived in caves. The earl Håkon, who had previously conquered all of Norway, was now on his way to the island after hearing rumors about the uninvited guests. When they saw that Hakon Jarl and his companions were on their way, they went into the cave and prayed to God that he had to "give their souls the everlasting rest and let his angels break down the mountain and bury them under it." The prayers were heard, and the rock came down. A little while later the earl was killed, and the christian king Olav Tryggvason took over. Unexplained things happened at Selja, and more and more stories reached the new king. Finally the king and the bishop went to the the island. They examined the place, and found remnants of the Irish people. After this, they built a church on the island, and the story says that "God has made signs and great deeds to this day" on the island of Selja. In 996, they found the body of Saint Sunniva, whole and unharmed. In 1170 they moved Sunniva to Bjørgvin and put the casket in Kirstkyrkja church.

On the island you will also find:

The remains of the first parish church, which was later moved to the mainland.
Ruins of the St.Sunniva church, on the same spot where King Olav Tryggvason built one of the first churches in the country.
Ruins of the St.Albanus church - a monastery church consecrated to the English saint St.Albanus.

Monastery ruins are currently being used for church ceremonies, for example fairs and weddings. On the south side of the island there have been found several Viking graves and remains of a longhouse (farm building) from the Iron Age.

This is the path up to the cave where Sunniva's remains were found...

Taking a rest PART way up to take a photo of the view from half way up (photo above)...more stairs and then deep into the cave (photo below)...

Ruins of the church King Olav built are just to the right in the photo above. Evidence of 'tagging' or graffiti in the early days?!!! (below)

The view in the photo below is from the church entrance just before the cave opening...

Deep inside the cave, a stone alter...

It was a great climb up and now I need to head back down again...in flip-flops I might add..no problem!

Our guide told us about a legend that if you drink from the stream using your right hand that you will become younger, smarter and prettier...so Barb and I headed right over!!!

Right after I drank from the stream, I stood up and a black butterfly came towards me...landed right on my necklace around my neck...I exclaimed to Barb, "St. Sunniva has just blessed me!" and the butterfly flew away...I'm not sure how long it takes to work...but I'm hopeful :)

It doesn't seem like much from the water...kind of small looking...

There are 8 people currently living on the opposite side of the island...

Here's the view of the Selje Church from the water...beautiful...

St. Sunniva and Me!!!

Food in Selje is not impressive...the meals we've gotten from the Doktorsgarden have been fantastic but really no where else...we stopped in a cafe right next to the boat but the fish was super salty and so were the chips...too bad :(

The bank machine is really close to where we are staying and the grounds around the bank are large...I wanted to take a photo of the robot lawn mower we saw...this picture is of it charging but I did see it cutting the lawn yesterday!

This is the place we've been staying at...Mom, Nancy and I are in the red room and the windows are the center top ones...

At this point in the day, approximately 1:00AM, I've dropped my camera...once again! We are on our way to Fure and will have to see what I've got to work with...

Here's the church in Leikanger. It is on the way and we wanted to check the cemetery to see if some of our family members were buried there...

After a short walk about we've found...my Great-Grandmother's sister's grave...we have learned recently that my Grandmother was raised in her first two years by her Auntie Petra and Auntie Entse...so finding these grave markers were very special for us.

SO at this point my lens is definitely not working on autofocus mode...I can focus manually like I dii in the photos above,,,but the photos below I took on Mom's camera...I broke mine so obviously the first thing I do is take Mom's from her, right?!! Naughty daughter!

I know it seems a bit morbid or dark to be cruising around grave yards and old churches but I have to say that I find them really peaceful and beautiful...here's one we went to see with Kjell and Marit. They drove and the rest of us loaded into their cars...they are experts on their roads and guided us to this beautiful spot...an extremely OLD graveyard and church but the beauty was in its location!

The area is called Ervik and it's the location of a German POW camp during WWII, there were many Russian POWs that were killed here and the Norwegian government erected a memorial in rememberance of them. Visitors can go inside and pray or meditate here.

This is the Lutheran Church in Ervik...

It's also a hot spot for surfers! They come from all over to enjoy the sun, sand and surf...

The sand was amazing! Super soft and beautiful white...such a surprise to see this today...seemed really strange next to the mountains and so much green lush grass.