Storavatnet- Red-throated diver

The troll-like sounds from the Red-throated diver carry long distances between the mountains around Storavatnet. The high-pitched, haunting screeches on quiet evenings in May are a sign that the mating season has begun.

Storavatnet- shoreline

The regulation of Lake Storavatnet has created a rare geological phenomenon: When Herlandsfossen power station taps the reservoir during the spring and summer, the old shoreline of hard bedrock comes into view.

Valestrand

Valestrandsfossen- tanning industry

Valestrand became a centre for the tanning industry in Osterøy; one of the old crafts that has developed into a local industry with many places of work. From the 1870s ever more ventures were started. Many of the large sea houses we see today around the bay have been places for tanning and leather enterprises.

Valestrandsfossen- Youth centre

Møkstrafjordøyane

The sea keeps the bedrock in the outer skerries smooth and clean. When the bedrock is also varied and interesting, the setting is perfect for a discovery tour of these bare-faced outcrops.

Godske farm

Møkster- seabirds

Fish and guests smell after three days, it is said. The cormorants do not need this long. If you follow your nose, the cormorant is not difficult to find.

Hufthammar

Farming in Austevoll has nearly all been in combination with fishing as the main industry. The farms in the district are therefore small, even in a west Norwegian context.

Havrå

In the sunny, steep fjord landscape along Sørfjorden on the east side of Osterøy is the farm Havrå. The small “hamlet” is one of the few undisturbed farming communities that gives us the impression of the large communal yards in West Norway in the 1700s, with houses built close together and strips of arable land.