Halsnøy Monastery

Halsnøy Monastery is situated in the midst of the lush fjord country in Sunnhordland, on one of the old spits, or “necks”, that has given name to the island. Gently sloping fields lead down to the sea on both sides, in the south towards the Kloster Fjord, to the north towards the sheltered Klostervågen.

Kalandsvatnet and Klokkarvatnet

Klosteret

Nordåsvatnet

The Post-war Era came to Fana with its population growth and modern sanitary equipment. This had nearly catastrophic consequences for Nordåsvatnet as a recreational area. After the runoff water got re-directed to deeper water, and later also to the fjord outside, Lake Nordås won back both its swimming guests and its sports fishermen.

Store Lungegårdsvannet

Vidden

Jonstein

When high school student Arne Handegard collected plants for a herbarium in 1962, he didn’t know what kind of rarity he had pressed into his notebook. 30 years later he attended a botanical lecture, where a picture was shown of a plant he recognized: “Norwegian Sagebrush, which in Norway is only found in a large area of Dovre and in Trollheimen, and in a little area in Ry county”. Arne Handegard raised his hand: “That plant grows on Mt. Jonstein in Jondal”.

Svåsand

Down by the fjord at Svåsand, close to the main highway, there is a long row of boathouses, one of the well-preserved, older boathouse locations along the Hardanger fjord. It is the farms at Svåsand that have their boathouses here, four main farms with origins far back in time.

Skogseidvatnet

Lake Skogseidvatnet is the most famous fishing lake in Hordaland, with good stocks of both char and trout. There is fishing here throughout the year: with a net in the autumn, through the ice in winter, and with a fishing rod in the summer.

Vinnesholmen