“There is no such thing as a bad mistake…only new opportunities!”

“There is no such thing as a bad mistake…only new opportunities!” This was a quote said to Rebecca when she was first learning to carve. It was the lesson that Rebecca and I re-learned over and over again today. While we made many mistakes, it also provided us with new opportunities and several surprises.

Our morning trip from Eggedal to Rjukan not only took us literally on many zigs and zags, the mistrust in “Naggie the Navigator” took us on small one-lane mountain roads into beautiful back country. On one of these tiny backroads, we came upon Vatnås Church which was erected in 1655 on the property of a former stave church. Rebecca was elated and we took a break to photograph the outside of the building and walk through the graveyard. Farther down the road, we realized we were following the saboteurs’ route from Rjukan to Nesbyen and onto Sweden. Both of us were thrilled by this misdirection.

The goal for this trip to Rjukan was to deliver silver sent by a Norwegian jeweler who made all of my bunad silver. There was one piece I had mistakenly ordered years ago, and he had so graciously said to me way-back-when, “No worries….when I am back in the states, I will pick it up from you.” I thought it was a great opportunity to return it to him and thank him for all the wonderful silver he made for me. Meeting Jørgen did not disappoint in the least, and we were thrilled when he took time away from his busy schedule to show us around. Jørgen should be a tour guide, for his love of Rjukan is so evident and he did a wonderful job of explaining things.

Rjukan is known for several things…first, the hyrdo-electric plant of which produced the heavy water that the Nazis wanted. Saboteurs eventually bombed the facility and stopped Germany from accessing the heavy water needed to make the atom bomb.

Second, it is known for “Solspeil”, or sun mirror, above Rjukan. The founder of the town, Sam Eyde, saw the need for light not only in the summer, but also in the winter. He knew it was important for sunshine in the town that was wedged in between two mountains. As a business owner of fertilizer, he knew the importance of keeping his workers mentally and emotionally healthy. He lost out to other competitors, but in 2005 an artist and resident of the town, Martin Andersen brought the idea up again. In 2013 the mirror was officially opened,100 years after Eyde’s idea.

A computer-driven heliostat stands high on the mountain wall and directs the sun’s rays into Rjukan’s town square. Today I sat on one of the specially built benches to soak up the sun’s rays.

Third, is Sam Eyde himself. A business man, he was far beyond his time. He had this idea of using hydrogen to make fertilizer, but needed the spark powerful enough to do it. Long story short, it became a success. But that’s not what made this man so famous. It was his forward-thinking in creating a town with the workers’ well-being forefront. He created the first fire department, that in its day, would rival Oslo’s own fire department. He developed schools for the workers’ children to train them in jobs they could eventually do. He helped design the town in such a way that all workers with families had suitable housing. In each thing he accomplished, he knew that in order to have productive workers, they had to be happy and healthy.

Jørgen drove us up to the gondola, which defeated Eyde’s idea of the sun mirrors. In 1928, it was built to transport Rjukan´s inhabitants to the winter sunshine. This gondola is called Krossobanen. We didn’t take a ride in it today for between the fog and rain, we would not have seen much. However, it remains functional, and is an important connection between the town and the mountains, where the sun´s rays are limited in the winter months. Krossobanen transports thousands of people to the mountains every year.

Jørgen then drove us to Vemork where the heavy water had been produced. He shared with us so many interesting facts including ones I hadn’t heard of before. I knew there were two attempts to sabotage the plant. What I didn’t know was that the group were all boy scouts and according to Jørgen, that thing prepared them for what was ahead of them - preparation and being able to react to unknown situations allowed the second attempt of bombing the facility a success. One of those in the final group was a Rjukan native. If you would like to learn the entire story, scroll to the bottom of this blog.

Jørgen needed to get back to work so Rebecca and I walked the town, enjoyed the square, and did a little shopping. Stores are filled with things to use to celebrate Syttende Mai.

We eventually traveled up a high mountain road to Gaustatoppen, 6,178 feet above sea level to a ski resort to spend the night. Despite the harrowing drive up, the resort is warm and koselig. The perfect example of a Scandic feel. As the sweet young gentleman shared with us after dinner, it’s the perfect place - a Swedish hotel with Danish decor, located in Norway. We will sleep well tonight!

The following is an except from the article called “HEAVY WATER WAR - THE STORY” (https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/heavy-water-war-the-story/1474/) if you wish to learn more about the missions to destroy the heavy water plant.

It all began in March in 1942 when a lone parachutist was dropped to gather knowledge about the production of heavy water. On October the 19th, four other Norwegians were dropped near Sognadalen, just west of Rjukan. They were all local boys and knew the area well. Their task was to prepare the sabotage operation and to send radio messages to England. The group had the code name “Grouse".

A month later, on November the 19th in 1942, a British sabotage group of 34 specially trained men was dispatched from England. Their task was to attack the heavy water plant at Vemork and destroy it. The Grouse group was to act as a reception committee and prepare the landing at Skoland near Lake Møsvatn.

But then disaster struck. The men had been transported in gliders and one of the planes and the glider it was towing crashed into a mountain. The other glider failed to land prope///rly after being released, killing some of its occupants, and the Germans shot the survivors.

In spite of this setback, the Grouse group consisted, although they had changed their name to "Swallow". They were forced to spend the winter hiding in the harsh wilderness of the Hardangervidda mountain plateau, eating what was left of their rations, and supplementing their diet with wild reindeer meat. They even ate the contents of the reindeers' stomachs in order to obtain essential nutrients.

On February the 16th in 1943, a new group of young Norwegians specially trained for the mission landed on the Hardangervidda mountain plateau. They landed 50 km from their intended destination and walked straight into a blizzard. It took several days before the 6 members of the new "Gunnerside" group were able to join forces with the former Grouse group, now renamed Swallow.

They placed explosive charges on the heavy water containers, destroying most of them. Oddly enough, none of the German guards on duty noticed anything until it was over.

By that time, however, the saboteurs were long gone on their trip up to the mountains, speeding their way along the old work roads under Krossobanen. The snow lay deep and it was getting very dark. It was a hard trip, but they all made it back safely.

The group split up into two groups after a rest. One group was fully armed and in uniform and they skied all the way across Norway to the safety of Sweden.

The Germans, however, rebuilt the heavy water plant. The Americans considered this so dangerous that they decided to bomb the factory. On November the 16th in 1943, 160 Flying Fortresses flew in over Rjukan and bombed Vemork, the power station and the factory.