Rubbestadneset

Etne river

There is still life to be found that is just “hanging on a string”. The Etne river has been the most important river for sports- fisherman in Hordaland after salmon fishing in Vosso was temporarily forbidden. As late as 2000, 4 tonnes of salmon and sea trout were taken out of the Etne river, the best fishing for 10 years. In the whole of the county there are only 15-20 rivers that can compete with this haul.

Engesundsvatnet

Ådlandsvatnet

Plants that grow in and beside water have to be prepared for marked and rapid changes in their living conditions. They must be able to tolerate living under water without drowning, and getting totally dried out without whithering. Many swamp plants are well adapted to these kinds of changes.

Bordalsgjelet

Deep down between the stone polished phyllite bedrock in Bordalsgjelet canyon, there is a cascading river. In close cooperation with hard polishing stones, the water has carved into the bedrock for thousands of years - and is still doing so today.

Vosso

There is probably no bigger salmon to be found in the whole wide world than in Vosso. The average size varies from season to season of course, but for many years this fish has had an average weight of over 10 kilograms. Thumping big ones of 30 kg. have been fished from the river, but one must go back to the 1940s for the last salmon of this size last that was caught.

Skårsvatnet

In September, 1901, a load of golden orfe fish was transported from Preussen to Bergen for stocking of Nygårdspark. One of the originators of the project was the well known doctor Klaus Hanssen. Thirteen years later, Hansen was called to help. Would he please come to Øystese to assist the district doctor Peter Munch Søergaard in his attempt to combat tuberculosis in the village? Hanssen came - and had in his suitcase living "goldfish" from Nygårdsparken.

Tyssedal

Today Tyssedal appears like a classical industrial community, a picture of modern Norway from the turn of the former century until today. A/S Tyssefaldene was established in 1906, and on 1 May 1908 Tyssedal power station was put into operation. The work on the first stage of the facility was completed in a short time, with a work force of 500 men. They built water tunnels, regulation reservoirs, power station, penstocks, harbour, cableways, office buildings, houses and 6 km of power lines in the wild mountains above Odda to provide the new melting plant with power.

Kinso

Lysekloster- The monks and nature

Lysekloster was the largest agricultural property in the country when it was phased out during the Reformation in 1537. In its prime this cloister encompassed two-thirds of all the farms in Os. The monks introduced and cultivated new plant species and it was probably they who stocked the waters with fish not indigenous to the area. This legacy from the Middle Ages has left a lasting mark.