In search of the Vikings, Edvard Munch and the Midnight Sun.

[Langtoftlad]

I knew about the Reindeer (and the Sami), and about the Moose but not about the Musk Ox...
Nor about the reindeer moss.

Experiences like this are worth any money

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We had a quick walk as it doesn’t get dark here into the town. The valley is beautiful even in the rain.

We stopped at the church where there are 32 Commonwealth war graves. They are mostly Green Howard’s killed at the Battle of Otta on 28th April 1940 trying to stop the German advance.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

I knew about the Reindeer (and the Sami), and about the Moose but not about the Musk Ox...
Nor about the reindeer moss.

Experiences like this are worth any money

Yes almost priceless.

 

[Barti Ddu]

Anyone else get the Norwegian Emergency Alert message around Midday today?

Scared the life out of me. We were hiking in the middle of nowhere in the Magma Geopark on the south of the country when both our phones went berserk. As we started to read the Emergency Alert message on our phones we could then hear the emergency "air raid sirens" carrying on the wind from the nearest settlement.

Thought WW3 had started!

Having read the message in full, it turns out to be a test!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Anyone else get the Norwegian Emergency Alert message around Midday today?

Scared the life out of me. We were hiking in the middle of nowhere in the Magma Geopark on the south of the country when both our phones went berserk. As we started to read the Emergency Alert message on our phones we could then hear the emergency "air raid sirens" carrying on the wind from the nearest settlement.

Thought WW3 had started!

Having read the message in full, it turns out to be a test!

Yes we were visiting a stavkirke. All I saw was EMERGENCY ALERT. to begin with.

 

[Jane NotRog]

What a fantastic day seeing the musk oxen. One for our Norway notes!

 

[Barti Ddu]

Had a super day today once the rain had come through again, and the sun and blue skies returned.

Went for a hike in the Magma Geopark in the south of Norway to find the Trollpikken rock. Trollpikken translates literally as the "Troll's Dick"!

Trollpikken made the news when in 2017 it was vandalised when persons unknown snapped off its appendage - Norway's own version of the Sycamore Gap. The authorities subsequently managed to reattach it's manhood using internal steel rods - in an operation I'm guessing John Wayne Bobbitt would have been proud of!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Had a super day today once the rain had come through again, and the sun and blue skies returned.

Went for a hike in the Magma Geopark in the south of Norway to find the Trollpikken rock. Trollpikken translates literally as the "Troll's Dick"!

Trollpikken made the news when in 2017 it was vandalised when persons unknown snapped off its appendage - Norway's own version of the Sycamore Gap. The authorities subsequently managed to reattach it's manhood using internal steel rods - in an operation I'm guessing John Wayne Bobbitt would have been proud of!

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Looks like you are having a great trip.

I wonder whether it might be a good idea to start your on blog though. I think posting your trip on our blog might not confuse, especially as we will be in Denmark soon.

I’m sure many will follow you and I can then keep this a blog of our trip.

 

[Barti Ddu]

Looks like you are having a great trip.

I wonder whether it might be a good idea to start your on blog though. I think posting your trip on our blog might not confuse, especially as we will be in Denmark soon.

I’m sure many will follow you and I can then keep this a blog of our trip.

Sorry. No worries.

We usually post photos from our travels on the "Photo of the Day" thread. I'll continue posting on there.

A photo of the day thread

Abersoch ☀️

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Good luck with the return journey. Fingers crossed that the temporary fuel line fix holds up.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Sorry. No worries.

We usually post photos from our travels on the "Photo of the Day" thread. I'll continue posting on there.

Good luck with the return journey. Fingers crossed that the temporary fuel line fix holds up.

Thanks. I was only concerned it will begin to become confusing.

For what it’s worth, I’d really enjoy reading your blog if you chose to do one.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Today has been more of a road trip day. We stopped for a break at the stavkirke in Ringebu. Another wooden stav church where engravings suggest work started in the C12th.

So far so good on the fuel pipe so we pushed on. We are now at the fabulous free air at Eidsvoll. The aire is well spaced out and has a nice view of the lake. There are also showers and toilets that you pay for using a credit card. Showers work out at around £3.20.

Eidsvoll is best known as where the Constitution of Norway was signed in 1814. Today there is a statue to celebrate near the train station and a pedestrian bridge.

The town has a really nice mix of old style Norwegian buildings and modern penthouse style flats looking out over the water front. It is nearly 50 miles from Oslo, but there are very regular trains that only take 40 minutes so we think it must be a commuter town. The airport is only 10 miles away too, probably another big employer.

We retired to a bar on the river and debated our next steps. We were really tempted by the idea of popping into Sweden but in the end we decided we have just over two weeks left so we will try to cross at Kristiansand on Saturday and do a mini tour of Denmark. Hopefully do the Viking part which we missed here.

 

[Peavy]

do a mini tour of Denmark

I think that's a great idea. Looking forward to that, as I'm curious how friendly or easy will be the country in a MH.

 

[VXman]

We got 'rinsed' in Bergen yesterday. £30 to stay for a day in a 'car park'. £15 for laundry ,£10.50 for a beer. Not sure how much the 'environmental zone' charge will be. To add to the insult it just rains all the time.

Had a lovely and not too expensive Indian though.

 

[VXman]

I think that's a great idea. Looking forward to that, as I'm curious how friendly or easy will be the country in a MH.

We stayed in Ribe and there was a lovely motorhome park with toilets, water and dump facilities. All free.

However, Kristanland was expensive to stay. Probably because it's a captive audience with the ferry going from there.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We got 'rinsed' in Bergen yesterday. £30 to stay for a day in a 'car park'. £15 for laundry ,£10.50 for a beer. Not sure how much the 'environmental zone' charge will be. To add to the insult it just rains all the time.

Had a lovely and not too expensive Indian though.

Glad we missed Bergen then

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We stayed in Ribe and there was a lovely motorhome park with toilets, water and dump facilities. All free.

However, Kristanland was expensive to stay. Probably because it's a captive audience with the ferry going from there.

Yes we stayed in Ribe, it will be early on somewhere in the blog.

 

[VXman]

Glad we missed Bergen then

Actually, a much nicer day today. Got out and did lots of exploring. It is a lovely town with lots of really interesting history. The provision for cyclists is fantastic. Found a 7 Eleven for a cheap lunch! Also found that decent coffee I was craving.

 

[VXman]

Another success today - Booked tickets for us and our bikes on the Flåm Railway. Train up to Myrdal and cycle down on Saturday. Looking forward to that.

 

[tonybvi]

That old sailing ship in your photos is the Statsraad Lehmkhul which we’ve been on many times! When we lived in Bergen our sons shared lifts to school with the son of Johann Reksten who was a shipowner. One day driving past the harbour Johanns son happened to mention that his grandad Hilmar owned the Statsraad!!! It was true and we had many invites. However he donated the shop soon after to a foundation!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Another success today - Booked tickets for us and our bikes on the Flåm Railway. Train up to Myrdal and cycle down on Saturday. Looking forward to that.

We looked at Flam. It was very busy with big cruise ships so we gave it a miss.

 

[VXman]

We looked at Flam. It was very busy with big cruise ships so we gave it a miss.

Yep - aware of the cruise ships that why I was pleased at getting seats in the train at late notice. Apparently it's difficult to get tickets when the cruise people are in. That suggests we might have happened on a day without them

 

[Wanders from Glos]

I don’t know if anyone else where does this. After spending time last night planning where to go next and looking at Denmark ferries, we woke this morning and decided to go somewhere else.

We are in Fredrikstad south of Oslo. The camper stop we are on includes free washing making it a bargain, so we got some washing done and as it is clear blue skies hung it out to dry. Today is the first day when the sun has been out all day. It is still a chilly wind, but nonetheless very welcome.

The camper stop can be found at https://park4night.com/en/place/487671

The old town is a 15 minute bike ride along cycle paths and the side of the fjord. The fjord is stunning and in parts lined with restaurants, fully rigged large sailing boats and some fabulous statues.

The journey includes a ferry to cross over the fjord, which amazingly is free.

As you cross you get a great view of the new road bridge, even though the ferry goes very fast, veering sideways to conteract the current.

The old part of Fredrikstad is a citadel built in the Dutch style in the C17th after repeated attacks by the Swedish. Fredrik the king granted permission to move the whole town to its current position on an island and it is pretty much unchanged for the last 200-300 years.

You can pass through various gateways and walk the walls which are still lined with cannons.

The approach from the opposite side of the water used to be across the drawbridge which still works. Until the 1900s it was raised every evening, requiring the muscles of thirty soldiers.

The old town itself is all low level wooden houses and squares. It looks almost unreal, like a too neat film set, but it is beautiful.

We had been told to bring quite a bit of cash for campsites with us but we haven’t really needed it. So, we decided to spend it at a restaurant called Slippen that had been recommended to us. The meal was pricey, but fabulous. Easily the best food we have had this holiday, or indeed for a while.

 

[Langtoftlad]

To add to the insult it just rains all the time

4x the annual rainfall of London, wettest city in Europe.

IMO Flam railway journey is not all that it's cracked up to be, some glimpses of nice scenery between the 20 tunnels, but no nicer than you'll have already seen.

Best bit about Flam


But I expect the bike ride to be awesome

Part of the cycle track glimpsed from the train

 

[VXman]

4x the annual rainfall of London, wettest city in Europe.

IMO Flam railway journey is not all that it's cracked up to be, some glimpses of nice scenery between the 20 tunnels, but no nicer than you'll have already seen.
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Best bit about Flam


But I expect the bike ride to be awesome
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Part of the cycle track glimpsed from the train

For me it's more about the cycle down but my wife is a tad nervous!

 

[Peavy]

I don’t know if anyone else where does this. After spending time last night planning where to go next and looking at Denmark ferries, we woke this morning and decided to go somewhere else.

We are in Fredrikstad south of Oslo. The camper stop we are on includes free washing making it a bargain, so we got some washing done and as it is clear blue skies hung it out to dry. Today is the first day when the sun has been out all day. It is still a chilly wind, but nonetheless very welcome.

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The camper stop can be found at https://park4night.com/en/place/487671

The old town is a 15 minute bike ride along cycle paths and the side of the fjord. The fjord is stunning and in parts lined with restaurants, fully rigged large sailing boats and some fabulous statues.

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The journey includes a ferry to cross over the fjord, which amazingly is free.

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As you cross you get a great view of the new road bridge, even though the ferry goes very fast, veering sideways to conteract the current.

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The old part of Fredrikstad is a citadel built in the Dutch style in the C17th after repeated attacks by the Swedish. Fredrik the king granted permission to move the whole town to its current position on an island and it is pretty much unchanged for the last 200-300 years.

You can pass through various gateways and walk the walls which are still lined with cannons.

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The approach from the opposite side of the water used to be across the drawbridge which still works. Until the 1900s it was raised every evening, requiring the muscles of thirty soldiers.

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The old town itself is all low level wooden houses and squares. It looks almost unreal, like a too neat film set, but it is beautiful.

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We had been told to bring quite a bit of cash for campsites with us but we haven’t really needed it. So, we decided to spend it at a restaurant called Slippen that had been recommended to us. The meal was pricey, but fabulous. Easily the best food we have had this holiday, or indeed for a while.

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Wow, impressed with this city and the pictures. Goes to the list among other places from your trip
What a surreal blue sky.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

For me it's more about the cycle down but my wife is a tad nervous!

Yes the bike ride down left looks awesome. Hopefully Flam will be a bit quieter than it can be.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Wow, impressed with this city and the pictures. Goes to the list among other places from your trip
What a surreal blue sky.

Yes it’s a great place. We’ve really only properly liked Trondheim and Fredrikstad, although Oslo was worth a visit.

 

[G-RMPS]

Menu doesn’t look outrageously expensive, I just paid £140 for a two course meal for two in Glasgow - though that did include a bottle of “cheap” wine.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Menu doesn’t look outrageously expensive, I just paid £140 for a two course meal for two in Glasgow - though that did include a bottle of “cheap” wine.

I didn’t say it was outrageously expensive, I said pricey. We had dishes of the day which weren’t on the main menu and were expensive by comparison to the other restaurants around it, but it was very good.

It was a bit more than £140 to be fair which is more than we would normally spend on holiday because we eat out a lot more.

I’m sure most of us have paid more for a meal in the UK. I’m not sure that is the point. I’m trying to give an idea of our experience in Norway especially for those (like us) who normally motorhome in places like France or Spain. It’s inevitably going to be a personal take on things.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Today we crossed into Sweden.

Before crossing the border, our last stop in Norway was to look at some Bronze Age carvings. There is a rest area near Skjeberg with lots of information about them. You could climb the tower which, at the top, showed where nearby signs of Bronze Age settlements and their carvings could be found.

In all there are 2,700 sites with Bronze Age carvings in this part of Norway. They were placed on the side of slabs of stone so that they could be seen by passers by. It is thought as part of the trading system that existed at the time. We drove to one of the sites, not far off our route, where there were two examples of the carvings dating from between 1,000 and 1,700 BC.

The two examples were close together, but differed in that the first had been painted in by archeologists in the first half of the C20th. There is no evidence the carvings were actually painted in this way and the practice has now stopped.

Nearby was another rock face with the untampered originals. We found it truly remarkable these have survived for so long with their clear depiction of what we now think of as Viking ships. They are not small, each ship carving is between one to two feet long.

We carried on travelling to a coastal resort called Smogen in Sweden. We are at a camperstop overlooking a rocky inlet. These rocks are all smooth and bulbous, apparently made up of some form of conglomerate. They make up multiple shallow inlets you can swim, sail and kayak in.

The fishing village of Smogen is about 10 minutes walk from where we are parked in another inlet. It was very cute despite the weather and clearly caters for tourists in an upmarket kind of way, with mornings for pleasure craft rather than trawlers.

By now it had began to gently rain so as we are also tourists we performed an important price comparison between beer in Sweden and Norway. The result, Sweden is a little cheaper.

We also learned that the reason so many houses are red is because historically only the nobility could own a red house. That meant other travelling nobles would know where to head when they came to town. Once the law was repealed a red house became a sign of aspiration or rebellion.

It is absolutely pouring now.