Norway part 2

Continuing our trip along the South Norwegian coastline, we emerged from the Hardangerfjord in Haugesund.  This town had a strong commercial feel to us and we were surprised to find that it is smaller in population and size to Bergen.  We were fortunate to have a lovely spot on the public Quay near bars and restaurants playing music and lots of people passing by.  The nice weather brought people out all over town and several stopped to say hello to us.  Melanie, our BWA agent extraordinaire, recommended a trip to Avaldsness.   We are so fortunate to have someone guiding us on this journey who is familiar with the area.  We would have missed what turned into a lovely day.  We dropped the bikes and went for a ride to the next island over and spent the entire day wandering around this old  Viking town.  Dating back 3500 years, Avaldsnes was a commercial trading port and center of power and remained so until the Middle Ages.  Not unlike current times, the city had its strongest and wealthiest growth when the International contact was highest.   Harold Fairhair put his royal seat in Avaldsnes in the 9th century AD.  The descendants of Harold maintained the royal seat for 500 years.   Burial grounds, a church from 1250, and artifacts which are being excavated today continue to tell the tale of this rich and storied Viking town.  Avaldness has built a modern and informative museum on acres of lush farmland adjacent to the Olaf Cathdral.   In the outdoor museum, employees demonstrate the Viking way of life in the Medeaval times.  It was a delightful and unexpected way to spend the day.  When we returned to Haugesund, we found a pedestrian only road with throngs of locals out enjoying the beautiful day.  We planned to leave in the morning so we collected some fresh bread at the bakery and continued back to Gratitude.  

When I began this blog in 2018, I was grossly unfamiliar with WordPress or pretty much any aspect of blogging.   Opting to keep things as simple as possible while I learned some of the basics, I used one of the templates offered by WordPress.  This particular template spoke to me as it was a woman standing at the precipice of what appeared to be a cliff thousands of feet in the air.  I had no idea where the photo was taken, who was in the picture or anything about it, but it looked the way I felt before we began this trip.  As though I was about to embark on a journey which would be at different times, life altering and terrifying.  I felt the way that I imagined the woman standing on the cliff felt, – terrified but exhilarated.  Well, my readers are more educated and well traveled than I – so I immediately got feedback asking when we were in Norway and did we love Preikestolen.  Since it was not my intention to pretend to be the lovely woman doing a gorgeous yoga pose on what I now know is Preikestolen, I took the photo down, changed the template and now the photo which appears is the most recent blog post that we do.  All of this is to say, that ever since I learned that the photo I originally had on the cover page of the blog was Preikestolen, I have wanted to go there.  I wish I could have climbed it with Kelly when she was here but given the time contraint of her 8 day trip, we would have spent more time underway than actually sightseeing all that there is here.   So leaving Haugesund on a day that would give us the best oppportunity to see Preikestolen, we made our passage and docked in Jorpeland.  

Jorpeland itself is  tiny town with 1 or 2 restaurants but lots of campers and hikers making the pilgrimage, as we were, to one of the most photographed wonders we have ever seen.  Most people will probably come from Stavanger and we had considered it but Jorpeland worked better for us.  A short 15 minutes from the trailhead or base camp, we were able to get a bus early in the morning and we finished the hike by 1300. 

 If I had it to do over again, I would have taken a taxi to base camp and started the climb earlier.  We were warned that it would be crowded and we even opted to climb on Monday rather than Sunday to avoid some of the throngs of visitors but what can ya do?  It is a place of exceptional beauty and naturally, this is the time to see it – so we cant be surprised that we aren’t the only ones there.  One of the huge bonuses of our trip up is the weather we encountered.  It was overcast and forecast to be foggy upon our summit but in fact, it was clear and gorgeous and we could see for miles.  We must be the luckiest people alive because after we enjoyed our picnic lunch, a nice rest, and we took in the magnificence of our surroundings,  the clouds rolled in so fast and the views disappeared as fast as the blink of an eye.  We began our return trip down passing so many hikers who I couldnt help but feel sad for the view they might not see. 

So, some history on the geology of this amazing site…. We learned from our glacier guide that the reason for so many flat mountain tops in Norway was due to the glacier activity here at the end of the most recent ice age (12 -13000 years ago).    As a short refresher on glaciers, they are formed from snow being compressed snow fall after snow fall over thousands of years, not melting, and all of the air being squeezed out of them.  When the snow began to melt away from the glacier, it forced its way through the mountain crevices and whole sides of the mountain were chiseled away – like a sculpture, what remained is what is known as Preikestolen, or “Pulpits rock.   Named by a passing sailor in the 19th century, He thought that the cliff resembled a preachers pulpit. The Stavanger tourist guide liked the name and used it from then on.  Plummeting down the side of the mountain roughly 2000 feet down to the Lysefjord which is nearly 1400 feet deep – the scope, the scale of it, is at once, staggering and breathtaking.  

There are 2 things I love about hiking in Europe.  The first is that nature is left unspoiled by fences and sign posts warning people to use caution.  When I was researching this hike, I found this quote on the Norway travel guide website:   “In order to not spoil the natural beauty of Preikestolen, authorities have up until now opted for not installing fences around the edges…. The general opinion in Norway is that nature is inherently dangerous and it should not be the authorities mission to baby prooof nature in a way that would make it unnatural”.  I love this!  And I agree wholdheartedly.  We have found the same in most of the countries in which we have hiked.   Alec or Jack getting anywhere close to the side of the mountains made my stomach lurch.  Alec crawled nearly to the side to look over and I nearly did the same but even as I think of it now my stomach flips.  The hike was approximately 5 miles round trip – uphill most of the way there obviously, but the terrain was very well groomed.  There were no collection boxes for money, nobody selling tickets yet great care was taken to make the terrain conducive to an enjoyable and reasonably safe hike.  I did hear that a German tourist had to be airlifted off by a man who was helping the poor soul who twisted his ankle.  Care should obviously be taken when stepping on loose rocks and step stones, but we all found the hike incredibly enjoyable.  

Huge item checked off the bucket list later, we left Jorpeland and the next stop was Egersund.  So much of where we go and how long we stay depends on the weather and the moving plans on board.  We typically have spots highlighted along the path which are mandatory stops, such as Preikestolen for example, while others, Egersund, is just the right distance for the weather and conditions.  We sometimes do overnight passages and some of these for several days at a time.  It’s a necessary requirement on a boat which travels a bit faster than a walking pace.  But we prefer not to do overnight passages if its possible and wont interfere with other plans.  This keeps the “pleasure” in pleasure boating.

Other stops are made because of recommendations from others – cruisers, bloggers, or in this case, Kristina and Atle, Alecs sister and brother in law.  Atle is from Norway and they have lived here and cruised these waters more than anyone we know.  We have been the lucky recipients of some of this knowledge and we loved this next stop recommended by them.  

Flekkefjord is a town at the end of the Flekkefjord (clever right), and has a rough population of 10000 year round residents.  We loved strolling the streets of this charming little village and upon meandering into a local art gallery, we learned a new favorite phrase to describe such a place – a “slow walking city”.  Flekkefjord is a perfect example of a slow walking city and with a coffee shop that opened earlier than any we have seen in all of Norway at 9:30  we were thrilled.  We found a fabulous pizza shop, an amazing dinner, well stocked grocery store, charming shops and memorable natural beauty we wont forget.  

Some local firemen came to help us tie up – hero’s welcome to be sure – and they told us that they would be setting a boat alight on the coming Friday.  This is a tradition dating back to the 18th century and a throw back to their Norse heritage.  On the summer solstice (our good fortune that it was postponed due to risk of fire), a boat is set on fire in the harbour.  This is a huge celebration all over town and boats of all sizes (occupants as well as float craft) head to the party.  Those not fortunate enough to attend the event by boat assemble at the beach and I believe all 10,000 people were there that day to watch the flames climb to the heavens.  

We have met the nicest people in Norway and 2 among them, Jeffrey and Kirsten in Flekkefjord.  Jeffrey is a musician and artist and his lovely wife works as a chef on an oil platform.  Such an interesting couple and this is a thanks to Jeffrey and Kirsten for showing us your lovely home.  A traditional Scandinavian home there are candles everywhere and it was sweet and cozy and looked like a perfect place to snuggle up in the winters – with a lovely garden to appreciate the sunny summers.    

Heading out of the Flekkefjord, the next stop was Kristiansand.  Recommended to us by Frank and Iris (more about them when we make it to Stuttgart, Germany) we stayed at a fishing dock about a 30 minute walk outside of town.   The town itself was charming and well designed with a typical Roman grid and an easy to navigate geography.  We had rain for 2 days which gave us an opportunity to tackle some boat cleaning and projects and life admin tasks.  When the weather cleared, we had a couple of lovely walks to town.  On one such visit we tried a Norwegian treat of pancakes with jam and cream and jam and Norwegian cheese called Gjetost.  Made from whey – the leftover liquid from cheese making, it is boiled until the liquid reduces and what remains is a carmelized sugary butterscotch like concoction that looks like a brown cheese.  

It is sold as cheese as well but it tastes sweet and is delicious.    Alec had memories of this from his childhood and this transported him back through the years.  

I wish we could have stopped at every one of the darling towns that we had to pass to Port but we had to keep going and our next stop was Risor.  

With a charming natural harbour and cute town, it was a terrific stop.  We only had 3 days to enjoy here but the shops were quaint, and in terms of photographic beauty, I cant think of a place we liked more.  I was able to find a salon to squeeze me in to get my hair cut and Alec and I had a rare “date night”.  Jack has been encouraging us to take a couple of hours to have dinner by ourselves.  I secretly think that he sometimes really enjoys being alone for a few hours – dont we all, but he is very sweet about how he encourages the romance in our lives and we decided to take him up on it.  I enjoyed one of the freshest and most delicious crab dinners I have ever had, and all in full view of our boat.  This somehow reassured me while we enjoyed an adult conversation that didnt include Lego, Minecraft, stop motion or Star Wars.  

Continuing along the South Coast of Norway, our final stop was Tonsberg.  Primarily intended as a jumping off point to visit Oslo, it was a nicer town than we had expected.  

A short walk from the marina was the train station and a short 1 hour later, we were standing on Karl Johnas gate, the busiest and most famous street which runs from the train station to the Royal Palace.  Along the way were lovely shops, restaurants and cafes as well as a park which ran in the center of the road.  We strolled through the Palace sculpture gardens and meandered around town.  I think Jack was missing the US when we ran into a Subway sandwich shop and he begged us to let him eat there.  Clearly not what we had in mind for our “big city” linner (lunch and dinner combined), but unable to say no, we let him eat at Subway and we later enjoyed one of the nicest Asian fushion restaurants ever.   We enjoyed a train ride back to Gratitude and several thousand steps later, settled into a popcorn and a movie night aboard for our final night in Norway.  

Nearly a month after we arrived, we crossed the small black line on the chart that separates Norway from Sweden.  This has been one of the most unspoiled, beautiful countries in which we have ever cruised.   The natural beauty, soaring mountains and cavernous fjords have made this truly a summer to remember.  

Next stop…. Sweden.