Stavanger

There are many advantages to travelling on your own, and I have certainly learnt more about myself over the past 2 years or so and gained more confidence and independence travelling on my own, but there are certain situations when it would be nice to have a travelling companion (and not just for the company). One of these situations is when things go wrong in a non-English speaking (or an English-as-a second-language) country, just so that you're not alone in your ignorance of what is going on.

I boarded my train from Oslo to Stavanger early on Thursday morning, and it left the main station in Oslo on time. About an hour or so later, as we were pulling into the station at Drammen, there was an announcement over the PA in Norsk, during which everyone else on the train groaned and started standing up and collecting their things. I was pretty sure that not everyone could be going only as far as Drammen, so I asked the guy beside me what was happening. Apparently there was a problem with the electricity along the line, so we were all going to have to catch buses the rest of the way to our destination.

We all crowded at the entrance to the station, waiting for the buses, and a rail worker kept making more announcements, instructing which bus people were to get on. Again, all the announcements were of course in Norsk, so I had to keep going up to the man to ask him if I had to be on the bus. This is where a travelling companion would also be nice, so that you could share the duties of being the annoying English-only-speaking tourist. After about an hour of waiting, the bus I had to be on arrived and we were finally on our way.

After all the waiting and bus catching, I thought for sure that I was going to be in Stavanger much later than scheduled, but in the end I was only about 2 hours late.

I met my friend Ryan at a coffee shop in town, and we walked up to his house, via the supermarket. Whilst in the supermarket, I was handed my wallet by a man who was walking past me and he told me that it wasn't a good idea to walk around with my bag open! Oops! Obviously it was unintentional and luckily I had only lost the book I was half-way through and the bookmark that was in it. I was a little disappointed to lose the bookmark as it had been a present from a friend, but I consider that I was VERY lucky that that was all that was missing.

After dinner, we walked around to Ryan's friends Joel and Emma's house where we had to pick up Ryan's spare key and have a glass of red. Joel and Emma have a lovely black Labrador called Cooba, who I had castrated when they lived in Launceston. I don't think he remembered me without my scrub top though!

The next day while Ryan went to work, I walked to the tourist office to see if they had any suggestions on must-see places to visit in Stavanger. I was just flipping through a brochure when I noticed an advertisement for a cruise down Lysefjord which only went at 12pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at this time of year. It was 11:45, so I rushed down to the Vagen and found the boat and got on board. Luckily, more than the minimum number of passengers (15) required arrived on board, so the cruise was able to go ahead.

Apparently Lysefjord is one of Norway's most beautiful fjord's. I certainly can't disagree with that as I didn't see any better on my trip to Norway. It was a beautiful day for a cruise along the fjord as the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the water was calm, and visibility was excellent.

We of course cruised past Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock). Unfortunately, due to the time of year, I was unable to actually hike up to Preikestolen as it would have been icy and a little dangerous (although the lady at the tourist office thought that it would probably have been possible with the right gear). I guess I will just have to visit sometime during a summer season to experience that.

Preikestolen

Preikestolen

We also cruised past a waterfall where the guys on the boat collected a bucket of water so that we could all have a taste! Swimming around the base of the cliffs near the waterfall, we also glimpsed some seals.
The boys collecting water from the waterfall

You will just have to believe me that the ripple in the water in this photo is a seal!

On the cruise back to Stavanger, just as we were entering the harbour, I also spotted a dolphin!

I had a very late lunch when I got back to Stavanger, then wandered the streets a little. I found my favourite street: Ovre Holmegate, where all the houses are painted a bright, candy-colour, in stark contrast to the rest of the white buildings in the town.

In the evening, I met Ryan at Joel and Em's, where we had a drink (well, the boys had got a head-start and had several), then went out for dinner at a sushi/noodle restaurant. Afterwards we had a few drinks at a bar, before walking back home. Along the way, Joel and Ryan decided to play silly-buggers at the lake which had recently been frozen over, but was thawing. I asked Joel if he thought the ice could take his weight - he didn't think so, but Ryan thought he'd try it out and ended up with one leg ankle-deep in ice-cold water!

The next day, Ryan and I met another one of Ryan's mates, Mitch, who had also studied in Launceston. The three of us went sailing with a few of their friends, just outside of the harbour on one of the guy's (Alex) father's yacht. Unfortunately, the day was pretty much the opposite of what the previous had been: wet, dull, cold and visibility was poor.

The boys didn't mind seem to mind though, as they can drink in any weather, and so the day of sailing turned into a booze-cruise. I also partook in a couple of (very STRONG) Irish coffees and a glass of red wine, which I regretted later that evening, as it was Mitch's Birthday the coming Monday and we all went out for dinner with a few more of Mitch's friends at a lovely restaurant. As I had been drinking that day, I was already experiencing a mild hang-over by the time we reached the restaurant, so didn't feel like eating much of the beautiful food which was brought out. Thankfully, I had recovered a little by the time dessert was brought out, so was able to sample that, and then continue drinking a little more.

After the restaurant/bar closed, we lined up at another bar, where I felt like the shortest person that had ever walked the earth (I was surrounded by people who were 6 ft and over), before we decided that we couldn't be bothered waiting in line anymore. We went to another bar where we didn't have to line up, and continued drinking and dancing until that bar was closing and we walked home.

The next morning, Ryan and I visited Ryan's boat, then went to the Petroleum Museum, which is a lot more interesting than it sounds. I thought so anyway, Ryan didn't think it all that enjoyable, but he works in the industry so probably didn't learn anything new. Afterwards we visited Ryan's friends Regina and Ulf (who are Swedish), who had made some special Swedish buns for Mardi Gras. They had never made them before and had been nervous about how they would turn out, but they were delicious! The filling had a special almond paste in them which Regina had to import especially from Sweden, but which made the buns more interesting and special than an ordinary cream bun.

Ryan and his pride and joy!

The next day, whilst Ryan was back at work, I walked into Stavanger again. It was another sunny day and I didn't feel like spending it in a museum, so wandered around Gamle Stavanger and around the Vagen.

Gamle Stavanger

In the afternoon, I went sailing again with Ryan and his friends, again on Alex's dad's yacht. It was a much better day for sailing that afternoon, and I enjoyed it much more than on the Saturday. Of course, being such a beautiful day, the boys had a few beers as well...

Alex (in yellow), teaches Colin and Peter about tell-tails and sailing

Me, with Alex teaching Colin how to steer in the background

Adam and Ryan cracking jokes

The beautiful sunset

Boys will be boys...

The following day, I went to what is one of Stavanger's must-see museums: The Canning Museum. This is housed in the old Canning Factory in Gamle Stavanger, where brisling used to be brought up from the boats in the harbour, smoked and canned. They still fire up the ovens on certain days so that you can sample the product, but not on the day that I visited unfortunately.

After lunch, I went for a walk around Mosvangen, a large lake and park near Ryan's house.

The weather was very "atmospheric" on my walk around Mosvangen

The lake was still frozen enough for the birds to walk on it

This was a tree next to the lake, onto which people had tied baby dummies. I asked Ryan if perhaps women who wanted to become mothers did it, but he didn't know what it was all about. If anyone does, please let me know...

The next day I went for a long walk around the shoreline on the east side of Stavanger, and nearly drowned in a downpour! Of course, just as I was walking back to Ryan's house, the weather started to fine up again.

Looking down towards Vagen

Breiavann

Breiavann

That night was my last in Stavanger, so I took Ryan out for dinner at an Indian Restaurant to thank him for letting me stay at Watts' B&B Stavanger.

The next morning I caught the train back to Oslo. The journey back to Oslo was thankfully more relaxing than the journey to Stavanger!

Oslo

I arrived in Oslo on Monday evening (the 16th February) after catching a plane from Kirkenes (which weirdly stopped in Alta to pick up a few more passengers before heading on to Oslo) and a bus from the airport to the city centre.

I found my hotel without too many problems, then found a great Thai restaurant for dinner. The waitress gave me a Norsk menu instead of one of their English ones by mistake, but thankfully Pad Thai is the same in any language.

The next morning, I went to the National Gallery where I saw some great pieces of art including Munch's The Scream, and Rodin's The Thinker. After visiting the Gallery, I went to a coffee shop across the road for lunch.

Lunch: a bowl of mocha and a sultana scone

Feeling refreshed after lunch, I walked up to the Royal Palace, where I witnessed what I think was the Norwegian version of The Changing of the Guard. I only saw the last 2 minutes of it, but it seemed a bit more low-key than the English version (there were no instruments, they didn't play any Beatles medleys and they weren't protected behind any kind of fence).

The Royal Palace

The changing of the guard

I then walked to Akershus Festning where I visited the Norwegian Resistance Museum and spent a few interesting hours learning about Norway's part in World War II.

The National Theatre

Stortinget (Parliament)

Grand Hotel

The next morning I walked to Vigeland Park, which features many statues which were designed by Gustav Vigeland (hence the name of the park).

Bronze statues in Vigeland Park

Granite Monolith in Vigeland Park

Sinataggen (Little Hot-Head), Vigeland Park

I caught a tram from the park to Aker Brygge (the harbour), where I had lunch at Pascal, which is inside the Nobel Peace Centre. After lunch, I looked around some of the shops, gagging at the pricetags on all of the clothes. If I had bought a dress from Esprit in Norway, it would have been 10 pounds more than if I'd bought the same item in the UK!

Nobel Peace Centre

Aker Brygge

A sculpture on Aker Brygge

I thought Oslo was a great city. There is a great mix of architecture, outdoor sights and activities, and interesting museums and galleries. I could have spent a lot more time there and not have gotten bored (although maybe a bit lonely on my own!).

Hurtigruten

Just a reminder that you can click on any of the pictures below to view a larger version!

On the evening of the 9th February, I boarded the MS Nordlys in Bergen. The Hurtigruten is also known as the Coastal Express, and is the postal service operating along the coast of Norway between Bergen and Kirkenes, stopping at many ports along the way. We didn't set sail until after 10pm, and I stood out on the deck while we left Bergen.

Above: MS Nordlys and my cabin: room 618. Below: Leaving Bergen and the view from the deck the next morning.

The second day was not greatly enjoyable for me. Just as we were finishing breakfast, we had our first open-water crossing, and we had another that night which we started just after having dinner. I thought that I might have been becoming bullemic, as lunch was the only meal that stayed down that night.

The boat is docked in Maloy
Maloy

Me on the deckSomewhere between Torvik and Alesund

After lunch, we stopped in Alesund for a few hours, which gave us the opportunity to disembark and have a look around the town and stretch our legs. I joined a walking tour of the town and we visited the Art Nouveau Museum. The whole town burnt down in 1904 and was rebuilt in the Art Nouveau style which was the in-style of the time.

Alesund

Above: Inside the Art Nouveau Centre and a building in the Art Nouveau style. Below: An owl, typical of the Scandinavian Art Nouveau style and a lighthouse which is now a hotel room!

That night, I disembarked at Kristiansund and took a quick walk down the pier. After that day, I took every opportunity to get off the boat and get some fresh air whenever possible.

The statue of a fisherwoman on the pier in Kristiansund (covered in snow!)

The next morning when I woke up, we were docked in Trondheim. After having breakfast, I went for a walk around the city which is the second oldest in Norway.

Gamle Bybro (The Old Town Bridge)

The view from Kristiansten Festning

A hill that leads from Gamle Bybro to Kristiansten Festning, note the object in the lower left quadrant of the photo.

The bicycle lift! I would like one of these installed at the bottom of Punchbowl Road please!

Above: Later that afternoon we passed Kjeungskjaer Fyr, considered to be one of the most beautiful lighthouses along the Norwegian coast. In the evening we docked at Rorvik where the MS Lofoten was also docked. I went on board for a look as it is a ship from 1964 and is a listed and protected monument.

Above: something else which is listed and protected which I found on board MS Lofoten!

The next morning, at around 7:30am, we crossed the Arctic Circle. The night before we had to put in a guess of the hour and minutes and seconds on when we thought we would pass it. I had put in 7:09am, so unfortunately, I didn't win.

There is globe on a piece of land along the course of the Hurtigruten which marks the point (roughly, as there is no piece of land on the exact point) where we cross the Arctic Circle.

Me, just as we'd crossed the Arctic Circle and the view as the sun was rising

I got a bit carried away taking pictures of this sunrise...

More sunrise...

More sunrise...

Ornes

In the afternoon we stopped in Bodo for a few hours. Apparently there isn't a lot to see in the town of Bodo itself, so I joined a bus tour which took us on a short spin around the town, then took us to Saltstraumen to see the maelstrom. The commentary on the bus itself was quite dry and entertaining, and the maelstrom was amazing to see.

Saltstraumen maelstrom as seen from the bus on the bridge

Saltstraumen maelstrom as seen from the shore

Once we were back on the ship, we had a special presentation on one of the decks to celebrate the crossing of the Arctic Circle. Here we were joined by Neptune, who "baptised" us all with freezing water and iceblocks. I ended up quite wet with icy water even down the back of my pants. We were also given a special drink which was some kind of liqueur, a certificate to say that we had crossed the Arctic Circle, and a hurtigruten beanie.

Neptune arrives on deck 7.

Neptune and the tour leader Eskild "baptise" one of the passengers, while one of the crew pour drinks.

After dinner that evening, we docked in Svolvaer, where I visited Magic Ice, an ice sculpture exhibit, where I had a special vodka drink from the bar which was served in an ice glass.

Later in the evening we had free fish cakes on the deck and a special drink which Keeka, Chris (a young English couple that I sat with for dinner every night) and I think was rum mixed with very sweet warm tea. This was to celebrate our sailing past Trollfjord, a very special fjord which the Hurtigruten sails through in the summer months, but only sails past during the winter, as it is so narrow it would be quite risky going through it in the dark!

Trollfjord

The highlight of the fifth day of my cruise was visiting Tromso. Here, I caught a bus with other passengers on MS Nordlys to a wilderness centre where we went dog sledging! Here we paired up, and a team of 12 huskies pulled each pair around a track on the grounds of the wilderness centre. It was great fun, although quite bumpy, and my stomach muscles were sore afterwards from trying to keep in position (I kept sliding forward with every bump!). Afterwards, we had a chance to pat some of the other dogs as well as a 2 week old puppy. We also had tea and coffee and scrumptious chocolate cake in a Sami tent.

Tromso

A couple of the other teams of dogs
The view from the sled

Me in my sled with a couple of the dogs in front

Above: Eyes just open- one of the 2 week old pups, and inside the Sami tent.

That night during and after dinner, we saw Aurora Borealis. Unfortunately, it has been the worst year since 1930 for the Northern Lights, so I feel very lucky that I saw anything at all. I won't put any pictures of it up though, as you can't even see it with the most elaborate imaginoscope in any of my photos.

Above: Somewhere between Hammerfest and Honningsvag Somewhere between Hammerfest and Honningsvag

On Saturday afternoon (day 6 of the cruise), we arrived in Honningsvag. I disembarked here and boarded a bus which took me to Nordkapp (North Cape), the most northern point on the European continent (well, the northernmost point accessable by vehicle anyway). Here we were able to walk around the centre, check out the Children of the Sun sculpture, check out the view from the lookout, and partake in some free soup (which was pretty much bonnox). Our guide on the bus gave us lots of information about the sights we were seeing from the bus window on the way there (which included fish drying on stocks, and the northernmost beach in Europe) and on the return journey she talked to us about Sami culture.

Honningsvag Sculpture opposite the Children of the Sun Project Me at Nordkapp Nordkapp

Back on MS Nordlys that evening, we were called out to the deck to see the special mountain formation of Finnkirka, which is important to Sami people. During this time, we saw a small fishing boat which pulled up along side us and one of the men in the boat jumped on board! A few minutes later it was announced that if we went up to deck 7, we could meet the fisherman and his King crabs which he had brought with him!

Above: the small fishing boat alongside MS Nordlys, and me and a King Crab. Below: King Crabs.

That night we had a seafood buffet for dinner. There was plenty of variety of fresh and tasty seafood, plus some non-seafood dishes too including Reindeer Stew which was DELICIOUS! My mouth is watering just now as I'm thinking about it!

The next morning we arrived in Kirkenes shortly after breakfast. This was my final stop on the Hurtigruten. Before leaving the cruise entirely, I joined an excursion to a Reindeer Park and Snow Hotel just outside of Kirkenes. Here, we fed the reindeer their reindeer moss, had a drink in the Snow Hotel, then looked in all the rooms of the hotel, and finally we were treated to a snack in the hut alongside the hotel which consisted of a special reindeer sausage in a flatbread made from potato. Quite tasty, but quite chewy also. As I spent one night in Kirkenes, I had considered booking into the snow hotel. After looking inside, I was glad that I hadn't- while it would have been a bit of a novelty staying there, it would also have been slightly uncomfortable I think.

Last morning on deck of MS Nordlys View of Kirkenes A Reindeer A room in the Snow Hotel

Above: an engraving on a wall in the Snow Hotel and me on a snow seat in the hotel. Below: The Snow Hotel from the outside.

After the visit to the reindeer park and snow hotel was over, the bus driver dropped me off at my hotel in the centre of Kirkenes. After checking in, I had a walk around the town, seeing the sights, which took all of about half an hour! In the evening I was just going out the door to find some food and a man who I recognised from the cruise told me that it was -14 degrees celcius outside! It actually didn't feel that cold though, as there was no wind. The next morning at the airport it was -22 degrees!

Above: The burning metropolis that is Kirkenes, and looking out to sea from Kirkenes

Above: Bears on the lamp-posts outside the Russian consulate in Kirkenes
I really enjoyed the cruise (despite not being a very good sailor!), and I would love to do it again during the spring or summer (sometime in the next 20 years or so) just to see the scenery in a different season, and also to travel down some of the beautiful fjords which I didn't get the opportunity to see because of the season.